“Let Love Rule” by Lenny Kravitz has chords that don’t all fit together in one key, or rather, one parent major scale. This is because the music is composed using secondary dominants and, at one point, even modal interchange.
The initial chord progression is E-G-A-C. All the chords are treated as dominant sevenths, so think E7-G7-A7-C7, whether or not you actually have the b7ths in your chords. These chords are all rooted upon intervals found in the G major scale VI-I-II-IV (6-1-2-4), however each chord’s construction is actually drawn from a different scale.
Dominant Seventh Chords
Dominant seventh chords are made by combining a major triad with a minor 7th. The formula is 1-3-5-b7. This naturally occurs on the 5th degree of a major scale. For example, if you build a seventh chord on the 5th degree of the A major scale you get E-G#-B-D, which is an E7 chord. For this reason, you play the notes of A major over an E7 chord, but since the E note is the tonic, you think of this as E Mixolydian mode, or the E “dominant” scale.
Following the rest of the chords in the verse, you play…
G dominant scale (the fifth mode of the C major scale) over the G7 chord
A dominant scale (the fifth mode of the D major scale) over the A7 chord
C dominant scale (the fifth mode of the F major scale) over the C7 chord
The chorus progression is I-II-IV (1-2-4) and, once again, with all chords treated as dominant sevenths. You still follow each chord with its correspond dominant scale.
Toward the end of a song the progression takes a new turn and goes to Bb, a bIII chord borrowed from the parallel G minor scale. It’s also played as a dominant seventh.
At this point you begin to hear a descending chromatic voice leading line with the pitches D-C#-C-B. D is the 5th of the G chord, C# is the 3rd of the A chord, C is the root of the C chord, and B is the 3rd of the G chord. Cool stuff.
Aside from chasing the chords with different scales, you could try sticking with one pentatonic scale. Specifically, G major pentatonic works well over the whole chorus progression. So does G minor pentatonic. Try them both!
To learn more about music theory for guitar, including scales, chords, progressions, modes, and more, sign up for a free preview of my Fretboard Theory books and DVDs by using the form on this web page.
Play Until Yer Fingers Bleed!
Mr. Desi Serna