Q: i'm confused about songs that have that little half-step passing chord thingy (i know, i know, use your ears.. but this thing always confuses me and I hear it a lot, and I'm sure it's a really simple concept)... like that bruno mars finesse song with the C# to C7 to Fmin (i think), would that be in Fmin and the C# is a sharp 5? if somebody put those chords in front of you and told you to take a solo, what might you play over that C# chord?
A: that would be Dbmaj7, Caug7, Fmin9(11). honestly in that situation, over the Dbmaj7, Fmin pentatonic will be all you need. during the Caug7, honestly Bb will be your strongest note. still firmly think of F min but i guess don't really hang on the F note, technically you'd want the E note instead but don't hang on that either. and during the Fmin9(11) you'll probably have strong emphasis on those G and Bb notes and also Fmin. basically the whole time just consider Fmin pent stuff to be your home and the Bb note is gonna be really strong everywhere except the Dbmaj7 in which Ab and C (and F) will be stronger. this is all stuff you can find by just playing in F min and listening to which notes sound stronger when