keys and chords

im having a key and chord problem im not great on theory anyway ,i get the common chord thing and there keys but what about unusual chords and keys, now i know what scale to play over a progression fmaj ,gm,am its a f major scale. but what about chords with f,g,a as the root note but strange intervals completing the chords.It seems like a lifelong job to figure out what scales to play over what chords

check out some of the tools on the site like scale to chord, or chords to scale, etc. chord to scale will let you plug in diffrent chords and find what key or keys they could be in and the scale that goes with it.

They really help out with the age old question "What Key is this in?"

thanks i will check it out. But that still wont tell me why you have to play that scale over that chord. Im looking for understanding why a certain interval of a chord alters the scale you play.for example a C major chord consists of the 1st 3rd and 5th but what if i add a minor 6th to the chord can i still play a c major scale over the chord?.

to be most basic about it you start with a scale for example C major. we know all the notes; a b c d e f g. Now when we add chords to our song we "have to" use only those notes. so we can use G major, C Major, A Minor because they are all build from notes that wall within the C Major scale.

in your example, a Minor 6th on a C Major cord (It's an Caug) your breaking this rule, if you going to keep laying in the C Major scale (thouse 7 notes). Depending on your other chords you can choose any number of other scales to play with this chord. I'm not saying that that is wrong, that is where the inner artist comes in. but if your following theory your braking rules.

you seem to know your stuff tele, how long u been playin? it seems a really deep study to be great at theory and be comfortable in understanding how and when to switch between scales it just seem so much to learn and i need a good learning strategy.

well really to start out just learn one scale, I learned it wrong for a long time then it all came together.

if your playing a chord progression of C G Am(minor) and the key is C Major you just play the C major scale. the trick is learning the different modes of the scale. ever seen a guitar player who plays all over the fretboard? thats because he has learned all the modes in that key.

HOW NOT TO PLAY. this is how i learned, DO NOT DO THIS!!!. if figured that if i was playing the same progression C G Am. i would play the C Major scale when the C chord was playing, then switch to the G Major when the G chord was playing then the A Minor scale when the Am chord was playing. this made it real hard and i bet your doig the same thing....

ive got a question about this. why cant you just stick with the c major scale throughout the chord progression and just hit the right notes over the chord changes?

that's the point i was trying to get across.

that last section is how not to play and i think some self taught new people think it's suposted to go together.

Tili: you can as long as the progression is in C major.

so minor penatonic scales are only played over minor keys right? what is the difference between minor and major scales besides the fact you play different notes? thanks :0)

Damn! I thought Doz came back for a second there!

The difference is the sound, minor is usually a sad sound, while major is usually a happier sound. Play them one after the other and you should notice the difference. :)

this website is pretty cool. i like to write songs and it's pretty easy until you have to compose lead guitar or riffs. i wish i could understand what scales to use for different chord progressions?

Man, that topic is Huge. I don't know how far you are with theory, but first learn your chords and how they are built, then learn the pentatonic scale/blues scale, then the major scale and with this you are already pretty much armed for a bit of the way. Then you can start things like minor scales, modes..etc. But take a step at a time. The most important thing is to know when and HOW to use the scales you have learned. If you know the position of the g major scale but dont know when and how to use it there would be no point in leraning it ^^

PS: you can play minor pentatonic scales over minor and major keys. it depends on the chord you are playing it over.