Chords,Modes and Scales

B D F# is Bm for it to be Bm7 you'd need an A.
A C# E is A maj
A C# E F# is A6 or F#m7 depending on context
G B D E is G6 or Em7 depending on context
A D E can be a few things .. A5 with a sus 4, D add9 with no 3rd, E7 sus 4 with no 5th
A C# E is A maj again

As for what scales and modes to play, it really depends on what style and sound you're going for. The list is a lot longer than you probably imagine.

What kingpatzer said.

And, if the first note you list for each of these chords is the bass note, then it's a fairly safe bet it's the root, so for instance the second chord would safely be named A6 instead of F#m7 - especially if the bassist is also emphasizing an A note for that chord.

Scale/Mode: A mixolydian.

If you compile all the notes used in those chords they are:

A B C# D E F# G

That spells put an A mixolydian scale and this is one way to figure out what scale/mode to use.

Which means that you're playing in the key of D Major - so use the D Major scale and the D Major Pentatonic scale as your starting point.

Best to stick with calling the A6 an F#m7 and calling the G6 an Em7, and the "A5 with a sus 4" is simply an Asus4 and you would normally follow it with an A Major before resolving to D Major.

Best,

A :-)

and the "A5 with a sus 4" is simply an Asus4

Except that there is no such thing.

A suspention isn't a chord. It could be an Aadd4 with no 3rd, or a partial A11, but an Asus4 doesn't exist from a theory point of view.

Guitarists like to think in terms of shapes, and so the idea of a suspention got translated into a fingering shape, and that somehow ended up on a chord chart. But from a theory perspective, a suspention is a non-harmonic tone carried over from a previous structure.

Ask a classical trained musician to play an Asus4 by itself and they'll look at you like you're bonkers.

Here's a thread on the subject

A suspention isn't a chord.

Correctomundo, it's a deliberately built dissonance and it needs resolving. The 4th resolves to the 3rd ("Hold Your Head Up" by Argent, or "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" by Queen being the most immediate examples I can think of).

I'd like to think that if I asked a classically trained musician to play a suspended 4th they'd come up with something by Luis Milan or John Dowland, but they might not have heard of composers we (classical) guitarists play all the time so I'd accept any renaissance composer.

Best,

A :-)

Thanks for the info guys. I had a look at some of the lessons re chord building so I think I know how to name them etc.
Is it correct that if I know all of the notes which make up the chords then I can use the scale which holds all of these notes to build a solo over it?

Yes. But you're not limited to those scales.

Alot of great solos are created by using scales that contain some different notes than the chord being played.

For a simple example, if you're playing a major chord, you can have fun playing it's relative harmonic or melodic minor scale. This gives a little disonance to the solo that can make it more interesting.

Don't be too worried about non-diatonic tones. Let your ear guide you.