Hello
I was concerned about what scales go with chords and if you have to play every chord you see in a tune.
Thanks
Donald

Hey Donald,
That’s a good question.
Sometimes a few scales can go with a chord.  All the modes- ionion, dorian, phrygian, lydian, mixolydian, aeolian, and locrian work a little bit differently.  Some are more useful than others, for instance you almost never use locrian.

Ionian is the same as the ‘major’ scale and can be played over major chords, mixolydian scales can be played over dominant seventh chords, a few of them are minor.

You absolutely do not have to play every chord you see.  If there’s a ii V I progression, those chords are in the same key, so you could just think of one key for all three of those chords.

Being able to hear the changes in what you play for a solo is cool and shows you know the song, but playing too many notes shows you don’t understand how to use space.

-Neal

Failing on Saxophone!