Originally Posted by Don Bellew
So.... I do an acoustic solo act. One of the songs I play is "Can't Buy Me Love" by The Beatles. Nice song. I like it.
Anyway, the song is in a major key yet the melody vocal follows a minor scale...same key...chords are major... melody is minor.
Playing guitar, sometimes taking a solo, I'll play in the minor of a song when the chords are in the major. It works well. My question is, Why does it work? Is there some layman's explanation as to why this works?
All opinions are welcome!
Thanks,
Don


Hi Don, I think it works because rock music is based on the blues. And minor notes bending up to the major is what gives the blues it's sound.

For example, if you hit a b flat note, over a g major chord, technically, the b flat would be part of the g minor chord, not the g major, but in blues this is done intentionally.

What won't work, is if you play sharp! Then you start playing a different style of music altogether!