Despite the bass riff having a fairly prominent minor third the song definitely has a major feel. For soloing I would almost certainly be using a major scale. Ok, I know the rules are that there are no rules but I’ve always been led to understand that playing a major key solo over a minor riff isn’t going to go well. So how come it works here? I’m guessing it’s because the underlying chords are major? (Although listening to The Clash version I suspect the I and IV chords are A5 and D5 so neither major nor minor.)
I know I’m overthinking things but am genuinely interested to know the theory behind it.
I play guitar because I enjoy it rather than because I’m any good at it
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One of the most important developments that rag, jazz, blues, rock and punk brought to classical music was to blur the line between major and minor, allowing both modalities in the same piece, even within a single chord (eg the Hendrix chord). A great way of demonstrating this blurring is to play major bar chords up the minor pentatonic scale:
E major
G major
A major
B major
D major
E major
Supportact said: [my style is] probably more an accumulation of limitations and bad habits than a 'style'.
The Clash, living in a squat, pissed up, drugged up... enter a cold studio at 10.30am to start recording London Calling. First day.
The sound engineer asks them to play for levels.
They play ‘Cadillac’. Once.
Brand New Cadillac doesn’t have an obvious minor feel to it whereas something like The Thrill is Gone is clearly minor. I think I was therefore assuming it was major. (Going by tabs/chords people have posted online it seems a lot of people think the same.)
I know you can play minor key notes (such as a minor 3rd or a flattened 7th) over a major key rock or blues. However, what you can’t normally do is to play major 3rds or major 7ths over a minor key rock or blues. This song kind of feels it breaks that ‘rule’. Despite the minor 3rd in the riff there is enough ambiguity to get away with some major 3rds and 7ths - probably more so on the IV and V chords.
I guess, a bit like EC’s ‘Tommy’ version of Eyesight to the Blind, this blurs the major/minor thing slightly more than some.
(And that’s before getting onto that flattened 5th in the riff!)
Supportact said: [my style is] probably more an accumulation of limitations and bad habits than a 'style'.