I'm not sure if this is the right place, but move it where ever it fits! Could someone run through like the song Diminished to B and kind of explain what they were thinking when they wrote it, like what scales, and intervals and stuff, i know its a big task. But it would greatly be appreciated, or even just explaining a small part of it. Thanks!

Drake

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harmonic minaor for solos, combine major sweeps followed by diminished to give that classical feel, thats all u need to know bout their solos i think

owyeah, play fast :P but u probaly got that already

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theres 2 main chords in the progression. the first powerchord he considers minor and uses sweeps that are in that key. then when the chord goes half a step down he uses a lot of diminished for that spot. because if you take the minor mode and then go half a step down instead of completely changing keys you kind of adjust it by taking the first minor key and making it harmonic minor, which does have a diminished pattern inside of it.

you could argue that he uses all pure minor but since hes switching between that and diminished in saying hes using harmonic minor.

Nevermore - Engines of Hate < has the same pattern. check that song out to see how loomis approaches the same situation, its very similar.

Okay, awesome thanks a ton! so is it a good idea to instead of just writing in a key, make your solo be in the key of whatever that chord being played is? so lets say youre playing a Dm youd solo over it with a Dm scale, and then you progress to an Em chord, would you just play Em scale over that? or should you stay in one scale most of the time?

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90% of guitarists find the key of the progression then solo using only that key. but if you want to really become a kickass player try following each chord as best you can. it will make your solos really unique and interesting.

for the progression Dm, Em. normally one would say its in C because you have a ii and iii. but if you played in them seperatly youll be using the actual chords to your advantage by playing a different bunch of notes over each chord. switching back and forth gives infinite ideas and things to do when soloing.

watch out for 7th chords and if you have a modal song you need to stick to that instead of doing whatever.

I have this marty friedman 'melodic control' intstructional video. He says to do just that. Follow the chord. That's where arpeggios will really help you enter, expand, or exit a phrase. Good stuff!

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in my experience, wondering what someone was thinking while writing something never helped. You should just learn the instrument first and then itll come to you naturally.

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I disagree. People dont simply 'learn' an instrument all the sudden and figure out whats going on. One of the best ways to learn is to figure out what other people were thinking while writing.