[sarraqum]

Lets say you're playing Morning Dew,(a song that as far as I know is played in two keys) and you decide to do a bit of soloing. Would you just stick to one scale or would you have to change from scale to scale when the key changes. I tried it both ways and sticking to just one scale seems to make more sense, but whats the general rule here?

[strumminsix]

I'm more of a noodler than a soloist but as I understand it what you've described are the two basic schools of soloing:
#1 - playing the changes (as keys and chords change you change focus to them)
#2 - playing over the changes (you are sticking to your scale on not budging)

Either way works fine but you need to ask yourself what you want it to sound like? #1 sounds very nice and melodic and the soloist sound well inter-twined with the the rest of the band. #2 is a very pronounced solo with the soloist really standing up in front.

In my playing if the changes are well spaced apart I'll do #1 but if the changes are quick, #2.

[fatcat]

well, i know that jerry was very good at picking scales and playing with the rest of the band, but i read an interview of him and he says that he often plays in different time as the rest of the band, theoretically, you could do this with scales too. what you can do is find a scale that is in a different key as both of them but compliments them at the same time. in that case you can stick to that scale the entire song. so say the changes are A - E you can find a melodic scale in B and stick to that. this works if you can find the perfect scale but often sounds cluttered if you pick a scale or key that doesnt work well together. so this is only used sometimes but can work well.

this was actually something that ive heard of recently and only tried it a couple of times so let me know how it works for you guys.

[strumminsix]

... i read an interview of him and he says that he often plays in different time as the rest of the band,

Phil said something similar whereby he's say play in 8, Jerry in 6 and they'd meet at 24.

[fatcat]

yea it was really very interesting, i was reading, an article in my friends "guitar player" magazine i think, not quite sure if thats the right one, but he said he would play in a different time and see where they would meat and how it added a certain complexity to their music. really very interesting the way they do that.

[tigerstrat]

that sounds like the '78 GP interview.