Originally Posted by: SRVFan2000Chords and keys are not always a science- more of a guide like GPS in a car. You have to judge feel, tonal centers and other things.[/quote]

Yes, there are many possible options. And any given major or minor chord has 3 possible chord tones to pick from when you are soloing.

One of the interesting things in this option is something that happens often in music: an entire scale is not outlined, but just suggested. So there are even more options available.

Originally Posted by: SRVFan2000Some of the best sounding tunes and solo's are technically incorrect- but sound oh so right![/quote]

I think I get what you mean here. But I want to clarify that you can play any note at any time. This is music, so the sound is primary. If you like the sound of that note in that place, then it is the right note for you to play.

I'm not sure what you mean by technically incorrect. A note might be out of key, but there is a reason that any given note sounds the way it does. The reason is the interval relationship the note has to the key signature & the chord you are playing it over. It's important to learn that stuff so you can play the notes you desire in order to create the sounds you desire.

[quote=SRVFan2000]You say they are the same notes, but doesn't the major scale contain 2 extra notes?

Yes, but it depends on which one you decide is the root note, because then you have a different system of scale degrees.

The reason there is possible confusion here is precisely because there is not a complete diatonic scale specified by the chords. All the notes in all those chords only spell out 6 notes. A complete diatonic major or minor scale has 7 notes. So, it could be either of these:

A minor

a (1) b (2) c (3) d (4) e (5) g (7) (which is missing the F as the 6th scale degree)

C major

c (1) d (2) e (3) g (5) a (6) b (7) (which is missing the F as the 4th scale degree)

G major

g (1) a (2) b (3) c (4) d (5) e (6) (which is missing the F# as the 7th scale degree)

[quote=SRVFan2000]Like you said, the F and the F#, he is best to avoid.

No, I didn't say it was best to avoid them. I said you can avoid them if you prefer or you use either & see which you prefer. In fact if you try both you might find that you prefer one or the other & that will show you which key you want to play in.

Hope that helps!