When to use different scales or modes over chord progressions?

Question

I know my major/pentatonic/blues scales pretty well, and I can apply it pretty fluently when playing over 1-4-5-min6 chord progressions, but I find that when I try to improvise over more "non-standard" progressions (for example, a 1-flat7-4 progression like EMaj-DMaj-AMaj), I'm pretty much lost. I know about the different modes of the major scale and how to find them, but I'm not sure how to choose a certain mode to go well with a certain chord progression. What's a good way to quickly identify the mode(s) I should think about when given a chord progression? If you can talk about the E-D-A example above, that'd be great.

Answer 1

Follow your heart! There's never going to be a way to "correctly" solo -- what you've been training throughout your music education isn't your ability to seek a correct answer, it's to trust in your opinion. You're already doing it -- "I find that when I try to improvise over more "non-standard" progressions (for example, a 1-flat7-4 progression like EMaj-DMaj-AMaj), I'm pretty much lost." You NOTE that you are lost. You see it! Ask this question of the jazz greats and they'll give you the same nebulous answer. Vibe and trust.

To quote coltrane: "I don’t know, it seems like it gets harder and harder to find something different on it. I’ve got several landmarks there that I know I’m going to get to so I try to play something in between there that’s different and keep hoping I hear something different on it. But it usually goes almost the same way every night, every time."

Basically, he tries over and over again until something fits, then tries playing the thing that fits over and over again until it can't fit any better.

Trust yourself!

Answer 2

You are making the most common mistake guitarists make. Many rock and folk songs allow the soloist to pick a single Pentatonic scale or mode for soloing.

Grow up! Get over it! It never was a good idea, but you have to start somewhere.

Solos are ALWAYS more interesting when they lead the listener through a musical journey, through a harmonic sequence. Play the chords, not the scale.

Musicians practice scales ONLY to familiarize themselves with common pitch collections and to gain a degree of dexterity in playing arpeggios and to connect chord tones.

All 7-tone diatonic scales have 7 triads and 7th chords. Once you can play these ascending and descending, you are ready to start addressing these harmonic elements. Chord progressions are built from these.