FUQ (eff -yu - cue) - FAQ's with an EDGE

I have been playing for 10 years, and I still don't have much of clue about theory. please correct me if I am wrong. Let's say a song is in E. I could solo in say E Major or E Minor. Now because the guitar is structured the way it is, I can actualy use the SAME EXACT patter in E Maj or E Min, just 2 steps higher for E Minor. The pattern is the same, but the starting point (on the scale) will be different reletive to the pattern. Now I am under the impression that to solo in a mode the same exact principal applies. Same pattern, just starting higher or lower, and stressing differnt notes. Is this correct? Question 2 - this is related to the first part. If a a song is in E major, will it sound ok to solo in E minor? If a song is in E minor, would it sound ok to solo in E major? Do the other modes care about major vs minor? Question 3 - In E major, I can play the entire major scale and it sounds good, but in E minor I seem to only use a pentitonic scale (5 notes rather than 7). So can I play the 4 and the 7 in a minor scale, or not? How do I decide weather to use the 4 or 7 in any given situation? Trey seems to use them a lot, but I can only seem to pull it off in a major scale....

Answer:

Now because the guitar is structured the way it is, I can actualy use the SAME EXACT patter in E Maj or E Min, just 2 steps higher for E Minor. Not quite right. The same notes do NOT appear in E major and E minor. The relative minor for any given major scale is the minor scale that begins on the 6th degree of the major scale in question. For E major that would be C sharp minor. The pattern is the same, but the starting point (on the scale) will be different reletive to the pattern. Now I am under the impression that to solo in a mode the same exact principal applies. Same pattern, just starting higher or lower, and stressing differnt notes. Is this correct? No. The NOTES in each mode of any given major scale are the same as the major scale. The patterns are DIFFERENT, because the intervals between the notes are different. Staying with the E major example. These are the notes in an E major scale: E Fsharp Gsharp A B Csharp Eflat E The relative minor scale would contain the same notes, but starting with Csharp and playing back around to it: Csharp Eflat E Fsharp Gsharp A B Csharp Question 2 - this is related to the first part. If a a song is in E major, will it sound ok to solo in E minor? The answer is pretty much no. However, C sharp minor contains all the same notes, so if you choose them carefully based on what the other instruments are playing, you could play in C sharp minor. If a song is in E minor, would it sound ok to solo in E major? again, probably not. Do the other modes care about major vs minor? All modes of the major scale (or any other scale) have set intervals between the notes; that's how a scale is defined. Major vs. minor refers to the distance of the third scale degree from the first (root note). In a major scale, it's two full steps (four frets). In a minor scale, it's a step and a half (three frets). Major, Lydian, and Mixolydian modes have major thirds. Dorian, Phrygian, Minor, and Locrian modes have minor thirds. The major or minor third is a key part of the flavor of a chord or scale. Major and minor thirds are not interchangeable unless you're trying for a weird and dissonant effect. Question 3 - In E major, I can play the entire major scale and it sounds good, but in E minor I seem to only use a pentitonic scale (5 notes rather than 7). Mostly, an E pentatonic minor scale will not sound good over an E major scale or Emaj chord. However, you can play a Csharp minor pentatonic scale over an Emajor tonality. Remember C sharp minor is the relative minor for E major. A quick trick to remember: You can find the root note of the relative minor scale for any given major scale three frets lower in pitch than the root note of the major scale. E major = C sharp minor. C major = A minor. Etc. If you want to play a minor sounding scale over a major tonality, a good first one to try is the Dorian scale. That's the second mode of the major scale. Begins a full step (two frets) higher than the root note of the major scale. So, for E major you can play in F# Dorian.