Rock songs with awesome solos in a major key

rocktron

Not exactly what you are looking for, but inspiring nonetheless:-

Ed Sheeran song using G-Em-C-D

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OCYXDBOZPp8 

Stand By Me song using G-Em-C-D    

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LcFcGoQ0c_g

EricTheWeary

fastonebaz said:

Why was it called 2468 motorway,  what does that even mean? @mudslide73 ;

2468 gay is as good as straight
3579 lesbians are mighty fine.

sev112

reading the responses in totality, it would repeat the key is just as much about “feel” as what sharps or flats are on the key signature,

there are various etudes i play, for example one called “Prelude in Am”.  Starts off on Am and then works through a number of arpeggios in the typical chords.  Halfway though it moves into a series of Arpeggios which start off on C, and then after 8 bars ends on C. Then starts off again on the Am and through the arpeggios and finishes off on Am.
The first and 3rd bits “feel” moody/unhappy, and the middle bit “feels” a bit “happier/brighter”.

But (for obvious reasons), no change in key signature.  
So does the piece go from a key of Am to a key of C to a key of Am?
Or, as I tend to think (but may be wrong) it doesn’t matter?

Teetonetal

Cirrus said:

sev112 said:

The person who can actually tell me a definitive reason by which any tune is minor or major wins today’s Gold Star.  
C major or A minor?
not interested in “feel”, “mood”, “unhappy” etc which are not definitive.

is it as simple as what chord you start and finish most phrases with?  If it is Am then it is minor, and if it is C then it’s major?  What if it’s half and half?

The key is either what you put at the start of notation so that the musicians can read and understand the music written down for them, or it's a shared understanding between the musician and the listener of how each note sits in relation to the other notes in the piece - where the tensions and releases are, what notes pull in what directions, what it means to linger on a particular part of the scale or eschew it altogether, how the melody progresses on an emotional journey...

The former is just a technical exercise in making the notation legible. You could pick any key, it's just a question of how many sharps, flats and accidentals you want to have to show.

The later is intrinsically based in feel, mood, emotional impact. To try to deny them in an answer is to fundamentally misunderstand what a song's key actually means in practice.

As a demonstration of this; scales aren't a definitive, objectively scientific that can be codified. We just get used to whatever scales are around us when we grow up, and there is variance in how scales are constructed and perceived that are cultural.

Sweet Home Alabama is a demonstration of this - it always comes up in these kind of threads. The issue is that in rock/blues music, the dominant 5th is often very heavily stressed, to the point that it feels more like a "home away from home", whereas the tonic becomes like your home town that you've not visited for so long it barely feels like home any more. The song's in G, but depending on how you hear it, I can totally understand why you'd feel like returning to D makes more sense at the end. And if someone feels that way, and the song has resonance and meaning to them when understood like that... who's anyone else to tell them they're wrong? If you believe with conviction that G is the home note, then the song becomes 500 perfect cadences in a row. If D and G both feel like they could be home, then it becomes a journey, rolling between both. I know which interpretation makes most sense to me.



Edit; Fuck, I've just realised that this is a perfect example of prosody! The song rolls between these two dominant chords, you could interpret G as figuratively being "sweet home Alabama" and D being wherever the protagonist of the song lives now.

Sweet home is surely 500 plagal cadences in a row? As the cadence is C to G or IV to I

Perfect would be the D to G or V to I

To be honest, I'm never convinced that over analysis of rock is worth the time... Fairly sure a lot of the songs are conceived by trial and error based on inspiration.

Modellista

All Right Now is a good one, iconic but not too challenging. 

Brad

sev112 said:

reading the responses in totality, it would repeat the key is just as much about “feel” as what sharps or flats are on the key signature,

there are various etudes i play, for example one called “Prelude in Am”.  Starts off on Am and then works through a number of arpeggios in the typical chords.  Halfway though it moves into a series of Arpeggios which start off on C, and then after 8 bars ends on C. Then starts off again on the Am and through the arpeggios and finishes off on Am.
The first and 3rd bits “feel” moody/unhappy, and the middle bit “feels” a bit “happier/brighter”.

But (for obvious reasons), no change in key signature.  
So does the piece go from a key of Am to a key of C to a key of Am?
Or, as I tend to think (but may be wrong) it doesn’t matter?

Quite right, the key sig is for guidance, to explain the ‘sound’ of a piece of music and what to expect throughout. That way, anything that deviates from said key signature is clear to the reader. Although it isn’t always that straight forwards... 

Regarding your etude, I’d need to analyse it but the chances are is that is probably the case as it’s a common move - going minor to relative major or vice versa. I’d argue it does matter to be aware of this because they sound and feel very different. But if it doesn’t bother you, that’s no biggie, just enjoy playing the music. 

stimpsonslostson

The Darkness- I believe in a thing called love 
Emajor I believe. 

https://youtu.be/tKjZuykKY1I

rsvmark

Get the funk out- Extreme
Very face melty in E major I think?

Bennyboy-UK

Firehouse - don’t treat me bad.

I’ve always liked that one since it came out and I was 11

Rosanna is a great shout, the lead break and outro are fantastic, and I spent a good couple of months learning them both last year!

JMP220478

jump  cmaj

fastonebaz

Ooh quite like Firehouse

MagicPigDetective

How do you Sleep - Stone Roses

Bennyboy-UK

fastonebaz said:

Ooh quite like Firehouse

Ha!

now EVERYONE can learn to like them!

https://youtu.be/3Eaz9zMk2yM 

hassleham

One of my favourite solos is Dancing on the ceiling. Not exactly rock but easy to do a rock version just by adding some gain

Keefy

Larry Carlton’s solo on Kid Charlemagne by Steely Dan.

fastonebaz

Keefy said:

Larry Carlton’s solo on Kid Charlemagne by Steely Dan.

That sounds very nice.   Quite tricky though to play a a band. 

xscaramanga

When I think major key rock, I think 80s rock and hair metal. Some goodies:

Steve Clark's outro solo on Pour Some Sugar on Me

In These Arms by Bon Jovi

Andy Timmons on Crazy Nites by Danger Danger (second half is extremely shreddy, first half is comparatively easy and has some nice ideas).

I think Right Now by Van Halen? Most of the song is in F major, can't remember if it modulates at any point. Also the second solo in Dreams.

Don't Treat Me Bad by Firehouse.

Numerous Bryan Adams tracks, including Can't Stop This Thing We Started.

fastonebaz

Yes yes yes 80s hair metal rock with awesome major key shred solos that make the heart bleed.

ewal

If alternative rock qualifies - Tilted by Sugar

Vibetronic

fastonebaz said:

Cols said:

Tons of Queen stuff - Brian May used the major scale a lot.  

Play With Me by Extreme if you’re up for a spot of finger mangling.

https://youtu.be/nDE667iYgBw

Not sure I could quite play that

I'm pretty sure you could That, and Get the Funk Out, have loads of good bits to nick. Especially that ascending tapping bit in GTFO.