Guitar Soloing Cheat Sheet When you’re getting ready to solo over any song, it’s critical to know what scales to play. In this playing guide, we’ll look at when you should play major, minor and other scales over a variety of styles. We’ll show you what scales work best for each playing situation, and give you easy-to- understand examples from the “real world,” so you can build your soloing chops and gain the confidence to jam with any group of musicians. First, let’s take a look at Steve Stine’s Real World Soloing Chart. As you can see, the chart is broken down into three columns based on tonality. We’ll start with middle column “Crossover” (The Theory of Rock and Roll) and then work our way through “Minor Scale Elements” and “Major Scale Elements.” The first big step under “Crossover” (The Theory of Rock and Roll) is Minor Blues. 2 GuitarZoom © 20162015 Minor blues songs are fairly easy to solo over using the Minor Pentatonic scale. Let’s take a look at B.B. King’s “The Thrill Is Gone” (B minor) to see it in action. If you want to add more flavor to your Minor Blues solos, the Aeolian mode (also known as the natural or relative minor scale) is awesome. It adds 2 extra notes to the minor pentatonic scales and gives you more options. Let’s take another look at B.B. King’s “The Thrill Is Gone” and try soloing using the Aeolian mode. GuitarZoom © 20162015 3 Our second big step under “Crossover” (The Theory of Rock and Roll) is Major Blues. Let’s take a look at Eric Clapton’s “Before You Accuse Me” (E Major) to get a feel for this scale. Now, there are many different scales that you can use to solo over Major Blues songs. Using our example,“Before You Accuse Me,” try soloing using the E Major Pentatonic, E Minor Pentatonic, E Dorian and E Mixolydian modes. See the fretboard diagrams below to get your fingers in the right places. And listen carefully to the different colors each scale provides your solo. 4 GuitarZoom © 2016 Our third big step under “Crossover” (The Theory of Rock and Roll) is Rock and Roll. Much like blues, Rock and Roll songs are some of the easiest songs to solo over. While most guitarists would choose the minor pentatonic scale, the major blues scale gives you more options for creating a powerful solo. GuitarZoom © 2016 5 Lets take a look at Chuck errys “ohnny . oode” (Bb aor) and try a solo using the major blues scale. Our final big step under “Crossover” (The Theory of Rock and Roll) is Punk. As it does for Rock and Roll, the major blues scale works surprisingly well for Punk songs. et’s take a look at the ex istols “oliday in the Sun” (A aor) and try another solo using the major blues scale. 6 GuitarZoom © 2016 Now that you’re comfortable using a mixture of scales for different styles. Let’s focus on the column on the left-hand side of the chart, “Minor Scale Elements” (Sad/Dark). GuitarZoom © 2016 7 If the song you’re playing is in a minor key, there are specific scales you can use to create an inspiring solo. For example, over Blue Oyster Cult’s “Don’t Fear the Reaper” (A minor), you can use the minor pentatonic to solo. The next big step under “Minor Scale Elements” (Sad/Dark) is Metal. 8 GuitarZoom © 2016 Let’s take a look at Megadeth’s “Tornado of Souls” (B Minor) and try soloing with the B minor pentatonic. If you want to add extra modal flavor over the E chord, you can also use B Dorian. GuitarZoom © 2016 9 And for an exotic element, give the Hirajoshi scale a try. Moving on to the far right side of the Real World Soloing Chart, you have “Major Scale Elements” (Happy). 10 GuitarZoom © 2016 “Wish You Were Here” by Pink Floyd (G Major) is a great example. You can use the G major or the Aeolian mode (E minor) to play an effective solo. The next big step under “Major Scale Elements” (Happy) is Folk. GuitarZoom © 2016 11 In James Taylor’s “Fire and Rain” (C Major), you can hear the major tonality in action. Our final step under “Major Scale Elements” (Happy) is Country. 12 GuitarZoom © 2016 Hank Williams “Hey Good Lookin’” (C Major) is a great example. GuitarZoom © 2016 13.