The Blues Scale
March 24, 20156 Sick Steve Vai Licks
March 26, 2015Classic Rock Groove | A Dorian Backing Track
This is an upbeat A Dorian Backing Track by masanoriutsumi. It’s played at a pretty fast tempo if your trying to hit notes from the G Major chord as it goes by. I prefer to skip it for the most part and focus on the A Minor chord and the D Major chord which make up the bulk of the progression instead.
For creating slow licks you can play the A Minor Pentatonic over the entire progression and it will sound great. Or you can kick it up a notch by switching to the D Major Pentatonic every time that the D chord comes around. If you want to get really crazy try switching to the D Dominant Pentatonic with its b7. And for creating faster licks I’d suggest sticking to the A Dorian Mode for the entire progression.
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Scales You Can Use
Here are some scale suggestions for use with this backing track.
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A Minor Pentatonic
▲ 5th Fret
This scale will sound great over the entire progression but you may run out of licks after a while.
D Major Pentatonic
▲5th Fret
Switching to the D Major Pentatonic during the D chord will allow you to create more complex licks that follow the progression.
D Dom Pentatonic
▲5th Fret
Switching to the D Dominant Pentatonic during the D chord will bring out the “Dorianess” of the progression solidifying it in the key of G Major (A Dorian).
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A Dorian Mode
▲6th Fret
You can play this scale over the entire progression and it will sound great while the three note per string pattern will allow for faster licks.
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