Ok I think i've got this figured out, I talked to my guitar teacher again and he explained when and where to use certain modes along with the pentatonic. like say on the one chord I can use a pentatonic, on the two I would use dorian and so forth. Am I right?

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--- John

Kinda, When you say the pentatonic I'm not sure what you are saying. The pentatonic is the same as Aeolean when minor and Ionian when playing major, you're just using 5 of the 7 notes. You can use the pentatonic form of any of the modes.

It's hard to read and understand without a tangible example. So, play Em pentatonic all five patterns up the neck starting on the third fret. Then play G Major all 7 patterns (yes I learned it old school) from the third fret. That will be G major, A Dorian, ect... Then find the E minor pentatonic patterns in the G Major patterns you just played. This is where he pentatonic scale comes from.

Yes, if the two chord was playing in a major key you could play Dorian. One of the biggest misconceptions about the modes, for example, is that people will play A Dorian over G Major and say they are playing in Dorian, that is not true, they are playing in G Major. If they were playing in Dorian it would be G Dorian not A Dorian. They are just using a pattern that they associate with Dorian. They would need to be playing over Am to be in Dorian. What I'm getting at is you can't have a mode without a key or note to play over. Don't confuse patterns with modes.

If I am confusing he heck out of you, just ignore me and listen to your teacher.

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

Well kinda like say a 1 4 5 in a rock/blues progression. On the one chord instead of ionian I could use a basic minor pentatonic on the 4 I could use lydian (sp?) and back to a minor pentatonic shape for the 5 chord. Or should you use the mixolidian. My question to him was If I play in the same root note of any particular chord would it work? Like say a 1 4 5 in A, You would have Am pentatonic, D lydian and Em pentatonic, or would you use E Mixolidian?
And Dexuxe Matt you sound alot like my teacher! He beat that into my head about changing with the chord early on. LOL

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--- John

Most of your favorite blues rock songs feature lead parts that use both major pentatonic and minor pentatonic scales, (Red House, Stormy Monday). Modes are usually used to set the mood for a song and not changed with every chord, (Riders On the Storm, Dorian, Freeway Jam, Mixolydian). Adding chord tones as you change from the I to IV to V will help to break up the scale being used.

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OK, I'm getting tired so I might screw up...

Blues is different than regular major or minor diatonic progressions in that a 1-4-5 progression is all Dom7 chords. This means that a 12 bar blues is actually three different keys. The most common scale to use is a minor pentatonic with a b5 (The Blues Scale). Keeping in mind that the 3rd in the minor pentatonic is flat. You can also use A,D,and E Mixolydian over their respective chords and be in key with each chord. Also, A,D,E Major pentatonic over their respective chords. Keep in mind that blues is about expression so the use of non-diatonic notes is used as well. For example b3rd over a Dom7 chord, you don't want to hang out there but you can use it as a tension filled passing tone.

Now Rock, A5-D5-E5
You can use what you want from the root note of the chord. E Mix. or Em pentatonic.
Really, A anything - D anything - E anything except maybe a diminished or Augmented type scale (b5)(#5), but hey it's ROCK you can do it anyway.

It's Major and minor that sounds like what is messing with you. Build a Major diatonic chord scale and the modes will fit over them the way you're thinking about them. 1=Major,2=Dorian,ect... But with minor diatonic progressions your are starting with the natural minor(Aeolian). This would be (1-4-5) Am, Dm,and Em. So you can use A minor pentatonic over all or their corresponding chord (Dm Em pentatonic), or D Dorian over D and E Phyrygain over E. So if you learn to build minor diatonic chord scales you can see how the corresponding modes fit over the chords.

OK I'm brain dead.

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