How to Solo over Chord Progressions

Three Methods: Using the Key to Solo Basing Your Solo off Chords Soloing with Relative Minor Pentatonic Scales

If you've already mastered how to play guitar chords, you may be ready to learn how to play a solo that complements those
chords. In other words, you may be ready for playing a solo over a chord progression. But what notes should you choose
when playing your solo over chords? You can determine these notes based on the key of the song, off the chords themselves,
or by using relative minor pentatonic scale notes.

Method
Using the Key to Solo
1

1 Identify the key of your song. The most common way of checking the key signature of the song you are
in is by observing the notation in the clef at the beginning of your music. This will either have a number of
sharps (#), flats (♭), or nothing at all. This will help you identify the key.
When there are no flats or sharps in the starting clef of your song, your song is in C major. The relative
minor of C major is A.
Major keys: G (one sharp), D (two sharps), A (three), E (four), B (five), F# (six), C# (seven), C♭ (seven
flats), G♭ (six flats), D♭ (five), A♭ (four), E♭ (three), B♭ (two), F♭ (one).
Minor keys: E (one sharp), B (two sharps), F# (three), C# (four), G# (five), D# (six), E♭ (six flats), B♭ (five
flats), F (four), C (three), G (two), D (one).[1]

2 Locate key changes throughout the song. Some songs change key at various points throughout the
song. You'll need to account for these key changes while soloing by key.[2] Scan each line of your music
and look for:
A double bar line. This could be located toward the beginning, middle, or end of any line of music in your
song.
Natural signs (♮). These are like an eraser that deletes the sharps or flats in your key previously. Each
natural sign removes one sharp or flat.
New accidentals. "Accidental" is the term used to describe any key change (#, ♭, ♮).[3] These will indicate
your new key.[4]

3 Choose a complementary key. Playing your solo in the same key as your song is the simplest way of
ensuring you rock your solo in a complementary key. However, you could also play in keys that are
harmonic to the key of your song.[5]
Keys sharing the same number of sharps or flats, or keys different by only a single sharp or flat on the
Circle of Fifths, generally share many tones, creating harmony.

4 Play the notes of your solo in the complementary key. There are many different ways you can execute
this. You can play the key in scales, you can break up chords and solo those notes, or you could even
transition between the notes of harmonic keys, like the ones surrounding the key you're playing in on the Circle
of Fifths.[6]
If you hit a note that's dissonant, don't panic. Hold the note for a moment, and then scale up or down
with whole or half steps until the dissonance resolves. This way, your dissonant note will seem
intentional.

5 Practice soloing frequently. Soloing is a difficult skill that is often complicated by other factors, like
nerves. The more you practice, the easier it will be for you to fall into the motions you've practiced time and
again.[7] There are many places you might play with your band to gain experience, including:
Community talent shows
Local venues
 On the street, busking
School events and talent shows

Method
Basing Your Solo off Chords
2

1 Break your song into chords. You'll be able to come up with more interesting and varied notes for your
solo if you base your solo off chords. Chords change much more frequently throughout a song than keys,
meaning your chord based solo will likely have a greater variety of notes than a key based one.[8]
You may want to go through your song and write the chords for each bar of music if this information isn't
already there.

2 Solo by soloing according to the chord. Now that your chords are written out, you can play scales or
arpeggios in the key of those chords to create a complementary sounding solo. When the chord changes,
change the scale or arpeggio you are playing to match the key of the new chord.[9]
Keys with the same number accidentals or keys different by only a single accidental on the Circle of
Fifths are generally harmonious.[10]

3 Emphasize the root note of the chord in your solo. You can think of the root of a chord as its most
central tone. By playing the root of the chord throughout your solo, weaving it into scales, arpeggios, and
more, your solo will sound more tonally centered and harmonic.[11]
The letter name of each chord generally indicates its root. For example, a Gmaj7 chord has a root of G,
an F#min chord has the root of F#.[12]

4 Voice lead into the root of your next chord. Voice leading is a common soloing technique. It involves
playing a note (or notes) either a half or whole step away from the root of the next chord, before that next
chord is played.
The notes surrounding the root of your next chord will resolve to that root. When you play the next
chord, this technique creates a natural kind of transition between chords.[13]

Method
Soloing with Relative Minor Pentatonic Scales
3

1 Determine the chords of your song. Go through the music for your song and, bar by bar of music, write
out the chord progressions that will be used throughout the song. From these chords, you're going to find
the relative minor pentatonic of each one.
The relative minor pentatonic scale of each chord will only contain notes already in the chord. This
means its notes will sound pleasing in your solo.
You may want to leave some space between chords when you write them out. This way you can write
the relative minor pentatonic beside the root chord.
A pentatonic scale is a scale is limited to five notes, with each note of the scale usually being a strong
harmonic complement to the chord off which it's based.[14]

2 Find the relative minor of major chords, if necessary. The general rule when soloing with a pentatonic
scale is to use the relative minor pentatonic scale, which will nearly always sound good with the original
chord. The relative minor of any major scale is three half-tones below the root note.
On a guitar, three half-steps will be represented by three frets on the neck of your guitar, with each fret
standing for a half step.[15]
For example, if the root of a major chord is C, the relative minor would be A. For an F major chord, D
would be its relative minor.[16]
 3 Identify the notes of your pentatonic scale. Traditional western scales have eight notes, but your
pentatonic scale(s) will only have five. To transform your relative minor scale into a relative minor
pentatonic, you should remove the second and sixth tones from your relative minor scale.[17] For example:
The relative minor of C major is A. To form a pentatonic scale in A minor, remove the second and sixth
intervals from the root. This yields a pentatonic scale of: A, C, D, E, G.
The relative minor of F major is D. D minor's pentatonic scale, therefore, would be: D, F, G, A, C.
If you want to create a pentatonic from a major scale, you can do this by removing the fourth and
seventh tone from the scale.[18]

4 Solo with notes in your relative minor pentatonic scale(s). Using the notes you've identified for the
relative pentatonic minor scales of your chords, play your solo. Since the relative minor pentatonic scales
only use notes already part of the original chords, the solo notes you play will complement the chords.[19]

Tips

Be patient with yourself while practicing your soloing skills. It may take a while before you're comfortable playing a
solo in front of people.

Sources and Citations

1. http://www.music-theory-for-musicians.com/circle-of-fifths.html
2. https://www.guitarlessonworld.com/lessons/soloing-over-chord-progressions/
3. http://dictionary.onmusic.org/terms/57-accidental
4. http://www.pianotricks.com/lesson.php?input=185
5. http://www.music-theory-for-musicians.com/circle-of-fifths.html
6. http://www.music-theory-for-musicians.com/circle-of-fifths.html
7. https://www.ultimate-guitar.com/lessons/soloing/how_to_improve_your_rock_guitar_solos_and_improvisations.html
8. https://www.guitarlessonworld.com/lessons/soloing-over-chord-progressions/
9. http://www.fretjam.com/how-to-solo-over-chord-changes.html
10. http://www.harmonic-mixing.com/howto.aspx
11. https://www.guitarlessonworld.com/lessons/soloing-over-chord-progressions/
12. http://hubguitar.com/music-theory/identifying-the-root-note
13. https://www.guitarlessonworld.com/lessons/soloing-over-chord-progressions/
14. https://www.guitarlessonworld.com/lessons/soloing-over-chord-progressions/
15. http://guitarsecrets.com/guitar_secrets.htm
16. http://www.streetdirectory.com/travel_guide/154845/music/solo_over_chords_with_the_minor_pentatonic_scale.html
17. Benward, Bruce and Saker, Marilyn N. Music: In Theory and Practice, seventh edition, vol. I, p. 37. Boston: McGraw Hill,
2003. Print.
18. http://www.hearandplay.com/main/how-to-use-the-pentatonic-scale
19. https://www.guitarlessonworld.com/lessons/soloing-over-chord-progressions/