well if you don't want to clash with the rest of the band, it is a REALLY good idea to, at the very least ,play in the same key as the song. learning scales gives you some options for playing in those keys. allthough you don't necessarily have to play scales in the exact fashion as they are layed out. and that is the whole point of the game in a nutshell. to take those scales and to develop them in such a way as to be pleasing to the ear. you can cut them up any way you like. you can abbreviate them or extend them or use hammers and taps and vibratto to form them to your liking. these scales are also associated with some very simple chord thoery that can be of great use to you as well. you DON"T have to necessarily learn all the modes by name, but learning the theory behind them is a must in order to develop your skills as a lead player.

what ends up happening is that you learn more than you even realize. you learn positions that are comfortable to you and ending up learning theory anyways. allthough you may not be able to readily recognize it by names. but learning diatonic thoery really isn't as difficult as you may think. and even spending just a few hours going over some basic theory can open your eyes very wide to some possibilities you may not otherwise have considered. in many cases it is as easy as counting to 8(7). 7 notes in an interval. at the very least you should learn and be able to recognize and count thru the MAJOR scale.

in the key of C


C D E F G A B C
\ / \ / \ / \ / \ / \ / \ /
W W H W W W H

W= whole steps H=Half steps.

C=1(ROOT) D=2 E=3(OR MAJOR THIRD) F=4 G=5(OR MAJOR 5TH) A=6 B=7(7TH) C=8(BUT REALLY ONE AGAIN....OR THE MAJOR ROOT AGAIN)

all in all 7 notes in the scale...the 8th a repeat of the first(or root) note.....

from there you can see that a C MAJOR chord(or triad) is composed of the R(root C) a MAJOR 3rd(the E) and a MAJOR 5th(the G). so this chord was built from the C major scale.

so that is the relationship of chords to scales. you take the root,3rd and 5th(from the scale) and make the chord out of it.

that's basic theory . the rest of the chords are derivatives of that major scale by flatting or sharping either the 3rd's or 5th's you can create sus(sutain) chords, dimishied chords,augmented chords,etc. and when you add more notes to the major scale you create major 7th chords,dominant chords as well as 9th,11 and even 13th chords. pretty much every chord in the books. all of those chords are created out of and off of the major and minor triads(or major scale).

of course there is much more to the whole thing than just that,but learning the major scale and it's numbered sequence relationship will take you much further than you would expect.

all the different scales(modes) that you hear reference to are based and developed off of the major and minor chords.
lydian,dorian,aeolian,myxylodian,phyrgian,etc. are all based on and around chords. and none of them are too terribly hard to learn or work with. but it will be much more interesting to you to actually learn the theory behind them as opposed to just straight memorizing them which is what you are no doubt dreading. and by learning the theory behind them first will sort of eliminate some of that memorization process completely.

at the very least you should be able to easily recognize the pentatonic scales as much of the music you listen to contains just that. the pentatonic scale is kind of the standard for many players, a good chunk of all the mettalica and AC/DC solo's are in the pentatonic E minor scales. it's just a very recognizable scale to most ppl that tends to please the ear and feels comfortable. so learning the 5 positions of the E minor pentatonic scale would be a very good step for you to take if you haven't allready....

how much should i focus on modes and stuff. or does the solo only have to be in the key of the song. and what about accidentals. should i have them.

well learning modes will help you eliminate too many wrong notes for sure. but they also open your eyes to possibilities you haven't considered. bottom line is that a sour not IS a sour note. there's no real way to hide it,persay. modes help you understand patterns that stay on or around the key better. so in that respect, i would try to learn a few modes. especially the pentatonic ones as mentioned before. take some time to study the chart i put up there. try to find some understanding of it. that will allow you to see how the modes kind of work together with any particlular chord or chords. that's the whole battle in itself. for example....if you have a song that centers around the E minor chord, then you will go to the 12th to 15th fret "box: and play it up and down(pentatonic). that is where the E minor :box: is. but.......it is also the G MAJOR box as well(if you start on the low E 15th fret instead of the Low E 12th fret) ...u can use the same EXACT scale for both chords depending solely on which fret you start it at. so once you learn a scale it can be applied to MORE than one chord depending on how you manipulate it.

try this

strum an E minor chord(0,2,2,0,0,0).....

(((((((PENTATONIC SCALE))))))))

now play this scale from low string to high string 12>15(E string) 12>14(A string) 12>14(D string) 12>14(G string) 12>15(B string) and 12>15(high E string)


that is the 12th fret E minor pentatonic scale. it will match up perfectly with an E minor chord.


next play a G major chord.....then play the same exact scale as before only start at the 15th fret(instead of the 12th) on the Low E string...again it will match up against the G major chord.

it's about as simple a scale as you can find. but it should also give you an idea of how to match up a chord with a scale. once you have that scale figured out then you can perhaps try the same scale in different positions on the neck. then you can move on to some different modes(scales) like the ones mention earlier.

and that in a nutshell is the whole game........



follow the link and spend some time with the lesson on the page....it's very straightforward and easy to understand....


http://lessons.mikedodge.com/lessons/MusicTheory/Intervals/Int2.htm

Listen to these guys... Basically, your question reads, "I want to play lead guitar, but do I have to be concerned about learning stuff to do it?" You need to learn stuff for EVERYTHING you do!

You probably don't remember but someone had to teach you how to use the toilet, how to wipe and to wash your hands afterwards.

Guitar is no different. I know it all sounds like a drag, but it's not all that difficult if you put your mind to it. Before you know it, things will just start to come naturally. It's much faster to learn this stuff now, than to try to teach yourself what works and what doesn't by trial and error. There have already been more than enough people who have figured this out for you, (not just referencing the posters here, but all those who have written books, give lessons or work in the business,) so why reinvent the wheel?

Your best move here is to act on good advice and take it all step by step. Nothing's going to happen overnight.

alright. cool. but is it ok to have accidentals sometimes? and does a pentatonic scale solo go with any song my band writes?

You will find that you can use many different scales with what is written. Most will work fine. Some will not. It's not so much the scale, (while it's important to know them all, and how they interact,) it's actually more important to "sell" the notes you play. There really is no such thing as a "wrong" note, unless you're playing something that's already been written and you don't play it right. For lead, you're kind of "writing on the fly" so you need to be able to "sell" your song right then!

If you hit a note that doesn't sound quite right, repeat the phrase to let people know you did that on purpose. (Soft sell.)
Try holding that "wrong" note a little longer and many times you'll find it just fits. (This is a little harder sell.)

Just keep playing and practicing. Memorize all your scales. Practice switching from one scale to another mid-stream. It will eventually all come together for you.

Remember, there are no bad notes, only bad players.

cool. but if something does sound bad and i think its good what should i do?

get some other opinions from other ppl. if THEY think it sounds really bad, then chances are ,it is...it all really boils down to what pleases the ear. sour notes(or accidents) can sometimes CLASH big time with the keys being played underneath. you WILL know them when you hear them. especially if you see ppl cringe when THEY hear it. then you know you should try something else. but playing a solo in a completely different key will IMMEDIATLY stand out to everyone. there is no hiding that. and it's extremely easy to play and learn the pentatonic scale. i layed it out in the earlier post......give it a try....

how you figure out where to play your solo at is to first figure out the main chord being played underneath(either major or minor) and to identify the root note of THAT chord. from there you can travel up the neck and find the octave of the root note. from there you can play your scale right up the neck and it should be in the same relative key. in the case of E minor, the octave is at the 12th fret(your box is then the 12th to the 15th fret)......if the chord is an E MAJOR....then you go the 9th fret and use the 9th to 12th box. you CAN also still use the 12th to 15th box and still be in the safe zone allthough that is a minor chord position for the E and will sound a bit off somewhat......but that's better then just playing random notes for sure.....

ok. does the solo have to have the first note of the solo be the key of the song? does every note of the solo have to be in that scale?