For soloing?

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"I'll get up there and do my guitar solos in one of those space outfits." ~ Ace Frehley
My YouTube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/fenderflamestrat?

When playing an auto-harp? Otherwise, I think it works anytime, with any instrument, for anybody, under any weather conditions.

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---> "The amp should be SWITCHED OFF AND UNPLUGGED before you do this!" <---

Por favor, disculpe mi español, no se llega a la práctica con mucha frecuencia.

Wonderful.

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"I'll get up there and do my guitar solos in one of those space outfits." ~ Ace Frehley
My YouTube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/fenderflamestrat?

The pentatonic scale can be used as the basis of all 7 modes.

You just have to add the right "other" notes (and be in the right position, depending on whether the mode is major or minor).

There are some times when other scales are appropriate (when the basic pentatonic isn't), but those are few and far between in my experience.

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Member #26797
My other guitar is a Strat.

It'll always 'work' but I have to agree with Orvilleowner, sometimes it just doesn't give you the appropriate 'flavour' the music may be begging for like playing the harmonic minor scale to add a cool Eastern vibe, for example, and if you've got a lot of solos in the set then relying on the pentatonic all night 'can' sound a little samey - I guess it depends on how many licks you've got in your pentatonic trick bag!

WTF is a cowboy chord...

Please tell us that you play or not play a certain chord because it is either appropriate or not appropriate in that particular musical context...

Not because it isn't cool or fashionable or whatever the bias.

If the later than you are missing out on a lot of excellent music, you might want to reassess in a more objective mode as listener.
It's music, played by musicians, either it appeals to you or it doesn't, no need for stereotypical branding, we have enough of that everywhere else.

Don't be old and " Cramoisie " before your time...( hopefully never )

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"C'est parti mon Kiki "

Cowboy chords are the regular ol' major & minor first position open chords.

They're nicknamed that because they're all the "singing cowboys" like Roy Rogers and Gene Autry ever used. They didn't play fancy jazz chords with lots of extensions or barre chords or double stops or anything like that -- they just strummed open chords.

When Jimi was tuning on stage he'd often say "Sorry, only cowboys stay in tune". That was a reference to the way Roy and Gene could strap a guitar onto the back of their horses, ride all day, then pull them down by the campfire, start playing, and be perfectly in tune. (Sort of the way their six-shooters could fire dozens of bullets without being reloaded.)

It's pathetic that someone never uses an open major chord and only knows five notes...not much musicianship there...don't limit yourself so much....music is a lot more than power chords and a pentatonic scale....believe me,you will be as limited as you let yourself be.
I played live classic rock last night in a club and used the so called "cowboy chords", barre chords,and major and minor scales while soloing and we never played one country song.We played cover songs by everyone from the Eagles,Allman Brothers,Jimi Hendrix,Pearl Jam,Grateful Dead etc.,it was a great time....and I've heard guys try stuff like that using only pentatonic scales and power chords and it sucks at best.
You can spend your whole life learning so much more!

You can always use it, thus declaring any seeming mistakes made as your modulating through a diminished scale.

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You dig?

Yeah...in other words...fake it!

Right!!!

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You dig?

Hence one kept criticism of their playing to one's self lest.... ...

Thanks for the explanation, as a little kid in France I used to love that music, probably the reason I always watched Westerns....

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"C'est parti mon Kiki "

I do believe that the pentatonic scale is banned in jazz...

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'01 American Deluxe HSS Strat.
'87 Japan HSS Strat.
'11 Custom Shop FMT HSS Strat.

"Without music, time is just a bunch of boring production deadlines and dates by which bills must be paid."

Just make a serious, bluesy face with it

Cheers

David

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"Humans think they are smarter than dolphins because we build cars and buildings and start wars etc...and all that dolphins do is swim in the water, eat fish and play around. Dolphins believe that they are smarter for exactly the same reasons."

Cool story.

I play in the open position as much as permits. If I want power chords I just mute the 3rd. What a strange thing to have a vain discrimination concerning open chords. I'll bet most people with that attitude only play in drop D.

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My ability to spell is in direct proportion to the amount of coffee I've had.