Response to my first question about 7th chords in key of E

by Bill
(Anaheim, California)

Hi Lynne,

Boy, I don't know how to thank you enough, I just discovered your site and can't believe there is actually a decent person who will answer a music question without charging or making me sign up for something.... music is supposed to be fun and free flowing, but all I have encountered is mystery and deception... so thanks again.

Yes, the chord progression is E7, A7, B7 in a I, IV, V progression... there are 4 sharps in the beginning of the sheet music so I think that is the key of E, but I am not sure.

ANSWER

Hi again, Bill!

Thanks for the kind comments about my site! OK now to solve a bit more of the mystery--

Are you playing power chords or not? If NOT, then the answer to your original question is that you CAN'T use an "A" pentatonic minor scale with these chords. If it sounded good to you then I can only think of 2 possibilities. ONE: You somehow played notes from that scale which managed to avoid the note that was sharp in the particular chord being played at the time or TWO: Maybe your ear needs a little "fine-tuning". No offense meant there, but I tried playing that scale over the chords and it sounded absolutely AWFUL!

Here are the scales you could use: "E" pentatonic minor; "E" pentatonic major; "C#" pentatonic minor; "E" major.

You can also use modal scales, but the subject is too involved for the space here. I will be putting up a lesson on modal scales soon!

Best wishes, Lynne