In this rock guitar lesson by Jody Worrell we'll look at ways to solo over a chord progression containing Am7 and D7 chords. We could use the Am Pentatonic and the Am Blues Scales to solo over this progression. However, those scales don't really outline the harmony of both chords. The A Dorian Scale or A Dorian mode contains all the chordal tones for both chords
Watch the lesson: Quicktime or Youtube
We'll start off by taking a look at the A Dorian Mode.
In the images below we highlight which notes in the A Dorian Mode are also featured in the Am7 or D7 chords. By playing one of these notes on the downbeat of the chord change you can really hear the song in the solo itself.
In this solo I started off slow and then got progressively busier while always tending to the changing chords. I also like to divide my ideas into phrases which tend to be more coherent to the listener than an endless stream of notes. Try playing along to this Santana inspired jam track mp3 and exploring these theories further. You can listen to some ideas I've come up with in a mp3 of a solo over the track. For more thoughts on construction of solos check out the rest of the site or the Guitarist's Lick course by Peter Vogl.
Dorian Mode by Peter Vogl is a downloadable video lesson on how and when to use the Dorian mode. The Dorian mode is primarily used when playing over a minor chord or a minor chord progression. Because the Dorian mode is not the only choice for soloing over a minor chord progression we will teach you how to decide if a progression dictates that you should use the Dorian mode. We've also included jam tracks of three different chord progressions so you can better understand this theory. $4.99
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