Lets have some more simplistic sample progression(s)

[ttosh]

There are some examples to work with already thrown out by others, however most are complex and can be above some of our heads, this is great but sometimes offering up some difficult scenarios will not help those not at that level and honestly just discourages them.

I want to propose a more simplistic chord structure and find what modes one would use to solo to this structure. I find that the less notes in chords the more room you have to work with as a rule of thumb, so these chords are very simple rock chords and there a few keys to work with when looking at these, and some modes that mix well in those keys, so have at it and let me know your thoughts.

Simply put you have a D Power chord which is D,A then you have an A# Power chord which is A# and F, this then proceeds to a G Power Chord which is G and C, and finally you end with a C Power Chord which is C, and G. The rhythm could be anything from hard rock to speed metal, etc...

I will go ahead and state my findings and see if I get any disagreement with them, as well I want to hear alternate approaches you think would work well.

I find the natural key to me is A Minor or F Major and the modes of A aeolian and E Locrian of F Major to work really well. Also D Phrygian works really well for me from the key of A# Major.

I may be wrong in some of my assessments above and want to hear if so, but also want to hear what other unique approaches some of you would take, or some questions if anybody does not understand since this is quite a bit more simplistic than some of those complex chords thrown out there so far. I know the concept is the same, but still smaller building blocks are easier to start with for those of us who are not experts yet IMHO.

 

[War Admiral]

I would play in D minor\F major...using the strong chord tones as the chords change but staying in the same scale...Bb(A#) I would call it since I'm playing in D minor\F major, which would be a Lydian flavour...then G which would be a Dorian flavour...then C which would be a Mixolydian feel, all the same scale as you see but the chord tones change giving it a different name(mode), that is all. (you can go the Ed D route and substitute his favourite scales here on the V chord as he explained in his thread, this would be the only time that you would change scales since as you see I'm purely using a simple modal approach here)
I would mix it up everytime the progression would cycle...EX. start off with a little Aeolian melody for the D chord and then use an example from my Rutbusters thread (a 2 note per string Major 7 arpeggio on the B flat) BbMaj7...then slide into a floating descending legato Dorian run over the G...then maybe rip a page out of Ed D's book and go into a C# Melodic Minor run emphasizing the ''out notes'' over the C chord but always using the 3rd or the b7th as an anchor so you don't get lost (more advanced) or you could just stay in the same scale and have the Mixolydian sound if you don't feel too adventerous. Then maybe a nice ripping D minor Pentatonic\Blues Schenker type run to start of the next cycle of chords to leave the ''simple modal approach idea'' then you can go back to the modal approach if you want or use other concepts like ttosh suggests like borrowing modes from other related scales or playing on the chord or superimposing other chords over the progression or....the ideas only stop with you. The more chops and ideas you have in your vocabulary the more fun you can have. These are just a couple of ideas you can use...there are much more.

 

[hank]

I find the natural key to me is A Minor or F Major and the modes of A aeolian and E Locrian of F Major to work really well.

I can JUST decipher some of this stuff, but what is that reference to A aeolian of F Major about?

 

[War Admiral]

I find the natural key to me is A Minor or F Major and the modes of A aeolian and E Locrian of F Major to work really well.

I can JUST decipher some of this stuff, but what is that reference to A aeolian of F Major about?

I think he meant to say D aeolian...D minor\F Major. I hope. The E Locrian would be here. Then it would make more sense.
That or it could be a G minor\Bb Major deal to...the D phrygian would be here, Bb Ionian, G aeolian and C Dorian.
There is no A aeolian here with the Bb present in modal playing...

 

[hank]

I think he meant to say D aeolian...D minor\F Major.

Yes, I think you're right. Just wanted to make sure I wasn't missing something.

 

[ttosh]

I find the natural key to me is A Minor or F Major and the modes of A aeolian and E Locrian of F Major to work really well.

I can JUST decipher some of this stuff, but what is that reference to A aeolian of F Major about?

I think he meant to say D aeolian...D minor\F Major. I hope. The E Locrian would be here. Then it would make more sense.
That or it could be a G minor\Bb Major deal to...the D phrygian would be here, Bb Ionian, G aeolian and C Dorian.
There is no A aeolian here with the Bb present in modal playing...

yes D aeolian, my typo here sorry. F Major or A Minor is the main key I would play in, but D is the natural minor to F and the mode is aeolian. I think Chris has got a great grasp on this stuff as his answer is exactly what I would expect and he added some things I would not off the top of my head even think of, which is what I wanted, to post out a more simplistic chord example and get ideas, thanks Chris for adding to and giving me some food for thought as well.

Hope others got something from this as well, as again some of the threads are a bit overly complicated unless you are more advanced than I am. Which is cool as well, we just need both IMHO.

 

[degenaro]

Just so I get this we're talking power chords going D-Bb-G-C right?
Always would depend on context but for my needs it'd be Bb major key center all the way through with the chords treated as Dm-Bb-Gm-Cm.

For obvious pentatonic usages...
D, G and C minor pentatonic.
For cool shit over the C chord treated as a dominant leading to tonic...or in this case to the substitute for the tonic...
I actually would use G Melodic minor over the C. In that case the progression be Dm-Bb-Gm-C7

 

[War Admiral]

Just so I get this we're talking power chords going D-Bb-G-C right?
Always would depend on context but for my needs it'd be Bb major key center all the way through with the chords treated as Dm-Bb-Gm-Cm.

For obvious pentatonic usages...
D, G and C minor pentatonic.
For cool shit over the C chord treated as a dominant leading to tonic...or in this case to the substitute for the tonic...
I actually would use G Melodic minor over the C. In that case the progression be Dm-Bb-Gm-C7

Good example using the second approach Ed with the G minor\Bb major deal. You see guys, theres nothing complicated here. He's just borrowing another mode from a related scale to play over the C chord...he started off playing in Bb major but by substituting the C minor for a C7, he is then switching to F major since C7 is the V chord of that key by playing G Melodic Minor over that. Its the G Melodic Minor scale that defines this with the notes now being for the C...major 3rd, b7th which makes it a C7 with a #4th which gives its ''altered flavour'' (Ed's cool shit). I hope you understand...when you take it further with chords like this...root 5 chords that have no 3rds or extensions...they are not defined. You are the one that defines them with what scales (or intervals) you play over them...and this is a perfect example. I hope I explained it well.

 

[Jack Napalm]

I just want to thank everyone for this and the other threads. I have some beginner theory skills having taken a few classes so the basics make sense and I can follow along but all the extra information and explanations turn on other light bulbs. I don't always get it as fast but if I think about I see all the correlations. Great stuff.

Getting jam tracks in various keys and based on different modes helps me as well. It forces you to play stuff you wouldn't normally play and gets you into different positions on the fretboard.

 

[ttosh]

Just so I get this we're talking power chords going D-Bb-G-C right?
Always would depend on context but for my needs it'd be Bb major key center all the way through with the chords treated as Dm-Bb-Gm-Cm.

For obvious pentatonic usages...
D, G and C minor pentatonic.
For cool shit over the C chord treated as a dominant leading to tonic...or in this case to the substitute for the tonic...
I actually would use G Melodic minor over the C. In that case the progression be Dm-Bb-Gm-C7

Thanks for that, totally different than my F major key center working with D minor as my starting point. I think i still have a long ways to go to totally understand the moods each mode creates, and I need to get a better overall understanding to get used to borrowing modes from other keys. I understand the concept totally, it is the implementation on the fly that is hard for me. I can look it up and for writing it is not as much of a problem, just more memorization needed for on the fly improvising and stuff.