Can somebody please identify this scale/mode
 

Alright guys basically I want to learn scales/modes and other theory. At the moment when I improvise over Zappa, Hendrix and Funkadelic songs, I always use the same scale/mode which I sort of figured out by ear. Can somebody please tell me whever its a scale or a mode and what it's called?

I play it anywhere on the neck depending on the song but let's say I start on the 3rd and 5th frets it looks like this:

e ------------------------------------------------------------5--7--8--10--12----
b ---------------------------------------5--7--8--10--12-------------------------
g -----------------------------4--5--7---------------------------------------------
d ------------------4--5--7--------------------------------------------------------
a -------3--5--7-------------------------------------------------------------------
e 3--5-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thanks in advance

Yes yes. I've done something wrong and you know theory and I don't and you're amazing and everybody loves you and I'm shit. Now can you please explain where I've ****ed up. Is this like, nothing in terms of scales? have I mixed random notes? please explain

Oh and I should say I use those notes. I dont just play it in that order I use various licks ive taught myself but thats like a list of all the notes i use to improvise with

That's the G major scale.

Don't worry about modes. 99% of the music you've ever heard is scalar, not modal. Depending on how you're defining modes, they're either mostly or entirely useless to the vast majority of guitarists.

Thanks a lot mate very helpful

thats pretty much the major scale your using(G major if youre using that exactly it on those frets)

Ah okay thanks a lot guys.

Basically I regularly improvise the solos for these songs and use the same scale I posted on the following frets

Frank Zappa - Willie The Pimp: across the frets I originally posted (so G major it seems)

Hendrix - Foxy Lady: pattern starts on the low e string 10th and 12th frets

Funkadelic - Maggot Brain: Same as above

Funkadelic - Super Stupid: same as above

Funkadelic - Red Hot Mama: Pattern starts low e string 8th and 10th frets

Zappa - Montana: Pattern starts low e string 12th and 14th frets and I do roughly the same pattern an octave lower

Okay I've done some googling and it seems that these are all in minor pentatonic scales and the key depends on where on the neck its played. For example maggot brain goes across the 12th to 15th frets on the high e and b strings with that pattern meaning it is in the e minor pentatonic, as is super stupid. Willie the Pimp covers the same area of the neck as a G barre chord. Therefore, the scale for that solo is the g minor pentatonic scale. Is that right?

also it seems that the minor pentatonic is the first scale that people learn hence that first reply?

So I can use any scale for any song so long as it is in the correct key. I think I've figured out how to play in the key of a-gm. Say a song is in the key of d or dm, i use any scale and play across the 7th-10th fret area.

Thanks for the help.

http://www.musictheory.net/

i suggets you read thorugh the lessons on here it should help you make sense of music a little better
go through each lesson and make sure you understand before oyu move on to the nect lesson

musictheory.net is your friend.

Learning theory will help you a lot more than just having us give you the answers.

And don't double post. There's an edit button for a reason.

I dont just play it in that order I use various licks ive taught myself but thats like a list of all the notes i use to improvise with[img]************************/a128.jpg[/img]

not a technique, a theory thingy

moved to mt

Positions and shapes don't matter TS. It's the notes.

No. You can play the notes in whatever position and you are still playing the same scale. G major and E minor share the same notes but the difference between them is the key center. It's about the chords, not what notes you are playing. And you could identify the scale by just naming the notes.

You can't change the key to E minor even if you played E note over every chord. You need to change the chords to make it sound like E minor or G major. For example, play the same notes over Em-Am-B-Em and G-C-D-G progressions. They will sound different, the first will sound like E minor and the second like G major no matter what notes you play over the chords.