Question about Chords and Root note and scales

Gru

Last night I was playing with the looper

I put a simple chord progression of
Am, C, G and the messed around looking for things to add over the top.

If I was going to play a pentotonic over the top, my position 1 scale would be in Am, and start on 5th fret E? Is that right?

Because the C and G chords are present, could a C or G scale also be thrown in and work?

I think the looper is going to do wonders with helping me find what works over chords, just trying to get a little more understanding.

Thanks.

monquixote

You would naturally assume A minor which is identical to C major so either of those. 

You could also try G major or E minor which would other those chords as well

randomhandclaps

Yes, with just those three chords both would work (baring in mind C Major is A Minor).  Try it! 

Gru said:

Because the C and G chords are present, could a C or G scale also be thrown in and work?

This isn't the reason though, it's because all three chords feature in both keys -

C Maj / Am =  C / Dm / Em / F / G / Am / Bmb5

G Maj / Em =  G / Am / Bm / C / D / Em / F#mb5

Gru

Great information. Thank you. Damn I have so much to learn.

I wasn't aware that C Maj was the same as Am. Will have a look at this.

monquixote

Gru said:

Great information. Thank you. Damn I have so much to learn.

I wasn't aware that C Maj was the same as Am. Will have a look at this.

This is a really important concept. 

All of the basic modes are the same just starting on different notes.

Ionian/Major Scale: C, D, E, F, G, A, B, C

Dorian: D, E, F, G, A, B, C, D

Phrygian: E, F, G, A, B, C, D, E

Lydian: F, G, A, B, C, D, E, F

Mixolydian: G, A, B, C, D, E, F, G

Aeolian/Natural minor scale: A, B, C, D, E, F, G, A

Locrian: B, C, D, E, F, G, A, B

Bellycaster

It's great that you have your Looper, hence you can choose your own chord progs, happy looping :-)

You may have done what I'm about to suggest anyway, but another great and proven way (for me) of improving your soloing over progressions is to go on youtube and find the wealth of backing tracks on there. Every style and genre known to man and they all list the chords in the vid.

This is good if you feel worn out thinking of progs and it's surprising how varied the backing tracks are.

Quist is great backing track provider, but there are many more great channels. I usually type in the search "Funk(Or whatever style) Backing track" and the results are plentiful, you will eventually get to know all the best sources through repetition.

Happy Soloing!

Gru

In my case more like 'slowlo'

MatthewShreddery

Yes your A minor pentatonic will start on the 5th fret of the low E string.

See of you can learn the other positions of that scale.

A G major scale will give you a Dorian sound, which is a minor scale with a raised 6th degree (F#).
This is a slightly brighter sounding, hipper version of a natural minor scale.

There are many many more ideas I could give you but for now just work on those pentatonic boxes and enjoy jamming and experimenting.

TinLip

I'm making my way through The Advancing Guitarist by Mick Goodrich and also the guitar theory book from Justin Sandercoe and have found them a pretty good way to start understanding all of the theory.

Chalky

@Gru - simple suggestion: record a loop of 4 bars in the chord sequence G Am G C. Over the first two bars (G and Am chords) improvise a melody from these 3 notes - GCF#. Over the second two bars (G and C major chords) improvise a melody from these 3 notes - GCF. Do this for a dozen repeats and listen for what you think sounds good. Then using the same loop, improvise using GCF over the G and Am, then improvise using GCF# over the G and C chords of the loop. Again do this for a dozen loops. You will develop a sense of where the F note works best and where the F# note works best. Then move to improvising over all 4 bars using the 4 notes CFF#G. At this point you will be improvising using chromatics and developing your sense of what sounds good over each chord. It only a two note choice - F or F# - but its a simpler choice to start learning than an 8 or 11 note choice