I'm one of those people who likes playing the guitar but has no musical training whatsoever - not even lessons as a kid etc. I've been trying to pick up some music skills via strategic googling and youtubing but I'm a bit confused around the theory behind guitar soloing. There are essentially two groups of lessons that it's possible to find on the net - those that teach you minor pentatonic scales and those that teach you major 7th jazz scales. But what do you use when soloing over a major key song that isn't a 7th-heavy jazz song? Do you just use the standard major scale? I can't work out why every guitar solo lesson on youtube is based around minor scales when surely songs in a major key are more common.
Hi Moosey, I trained in blues saxophone before picking up the guitar, so I find blues scales easiest. Basically, that's the minor pentatonic. Answer 1: Although technically a 'minor' scale, e.g. 'A' blues is: A,C,D,E,G,A (plus grace notes c sharp, d sharp, g sharp - include them in runs, but don't dwell on them) In a rock song, even with major chords, guitarists will often use the blues scale. Example, play a standard rock chord pattern: A major, G major, D major, A major. Even though all the chords are major, you can play the blues scale (minor pentatonic) over the top. Answer 2: If you want a sweeter more melodious sound, the easiest solution is to take the blues scale from 3 frets lower (or towards the neck of the guitar). Example: play a nice major chord structure: C major, F major, A minor, G major. Although we are playing in C, look three frets down and that is A, so you can play the notes fro the A Blues scale (above) but here they will sound more melodious. Of course you will want to land on the C and G in the scale more often and maybe fall on an F, but t's a fairly easy rule to jam along at short notice and learn fewer scales to start. And guitarists are influenced by the tuning of a guitar, so usually plump for the same chords a lot. Hope that helps.