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By the way, you can immediately see how this progression works so well (and is the foundation of 95% of Iron Maiden songs), because all the triads use notes that are in the root key of Em, the relative minor of G major (E, F#, G, A, B, C, D, E).
If you want to extend the chord tones to include the 7th, and still stay in the chord tones, it's good to know that the piece is not only in E minor, but it's in E Aeolian, which has a natural 7, so the D is Mixolydian, and the C is Lydian. You're therefore playing the I chord, the VII chord and the VI chord.
(You know the E is minor, so it's either Aeolian, Dorian or Phrygian - if it were Dorian, it would have to have a C# chord not a C chord as the 3rd chord; it could be Phrygian, but then the D chord would have to be a D minor. But it's not, so the first chord is E Aeolian).
So therefore the chord tones (including 7ths) for the progression are:
E-G-B-D (Em7)
D-F#-A-C (D7)
C-E-G-B (CMaj7).
Of course, there's no reason why you have to confine yourself to the chord tones, you can noodle away using all the notes of E Aeolian (which is the same as D mixolydian and C Lydian, just different starting points), but obviously accenting the relevant chord tones to align your solo to the underlying chord at the time.
Your signature - is the the correct order for getting undressed too?
Supportact said: [my style is] probably more an accumulation of limitations and bad habits than a 'style'.
@viz You're slightly wrong. It 97.6% of Iron maiden songs. The only other Keys I can think of the top of my head are Am and Dm, and quite often modulation between Em and Am (Ie The Trooper mostly Em, but second solo in Am)
Use the same theory in Aminor (from Viz) for Stairway........
Ringleader of the Cambridge cartel, pedal champ and king of the dirt boxes (down to 21)
Supportact said: [my style is] probably more an accumulation of limitations and bad habits than a 'style'.
Fwiw the whole of A matter of life and death was Eminor, except one song, in Dminor........
*Mike goes to find a life, gives up relies on a complete knowledge of IM songs to get through*
Ringleader of the Cambridge cartel, pedal champ and king of the dirt boxes (down to 21)
Supportact said: [my style is] probably more an accumulation of limitations and bad habits than a 'style'.
Ringleader of the Cambridge cartel, pedal champ and king of the dirt boxes (down to 21)
Following on from @viz 's advice, try Infinite dreams
Em7 - D -C
Ringleader of the Cambridge cartel, pedal champ and king of the dirt boxes (down to 21)
I had a similar thread back in November.... you might want to have a look.
http://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/5504/how-to-go-from-licks-to-chord-tone-soloing#latest
1) Get given a song sheet - which is a sheet of chords about 1 minute before going on stage.
2) Get told to play a solo over it, part way through the song.
3) Panic a little and play notes from the chord patterns you've busked for the previous two verses.
4) Survive.
5) Take the song sheet home.
6) Remember the good bits and add some more twiddles.
7) Return and play the solo again the next day with a little more embelishment.
This is exactly what Charlie Christian did. You have a look at his transcriptions and you'll see they all revolve around E, A and C barre chords. He added grace notes around the chord patterns.
Want the final proof of this? Tommy Flannagan playing piano on John Coltrane's Giant Steps - now, Coltrane had given himself a 3 month headstart learning this tune - if you listen to the outtakes CD you'll hear Coltrane playing the same licks again and again in different sequences (it's actually a master class in lick building)... but the rest of the band had the chart shoved under their noses minutes before the track was recorded. Giant Steps is a progression of major thirds (giant steps) that means the piece changes key every 2 bars. So when Tommy gets this thrown to him, he struggles at first but then goes to chord tones and creates a masterful solo... so much so it kinda reminds me of Thelonius Monk in parts.
But chord tones are a guarantee of nothing, by themselves, the knack to using them is timing, they get used on the strong beats of a bar - 2 and 4 in Jazz in a 4/4 time or 1 and 3 in a Latin 4/4 time.. on the weaker notes you can pretty much play any other note..
Em D7 CMaj is a iii II7 I progression - you can play either Dm or D7 (or both) - it is a ii that is Dominant rather than Minor - happens a lot in jazz.
It would be easier to play a ii V7 I progression (Dm G7 C) - you can then play all sorts of games - play G7 over Dm and vice versa, and playing the chord tones half a bar before the chord etc
Feedback
@HAL9000 I'm a bit like that, always aim to finish a lick on the root note of the underlying chord. :-/
Mostly by luck, rather than judgement.
Ringleader of the Cambridge cartel, pedal champ and king of the dirt boxes (down to 21)
Here, I'll cheer you up a little - if you learn the Bebop scale (Major scale with an added flat 7) it's an 8 note scale and you'll play chord tones if you play up and down the scale starting on the first beat of a bar that's how bebop started