I was taught that the ii chord should be minor.

So in the key of C, the D should be Dm

But I have played a number of songs where the II chord was major (in the key of C, that would be D).

They didn't sound bad, and I never analyzed them, but in the context of the song it sounded right. If I substituted a ii chord, it wouldn't have sounded right for that song.

Especially for pop/country/rock music, where many of the songwriters aren't classically schooled, they do things “wrong” that just sound right to them and the people who like those songs.

Other times, the rules are broken intentionally.

I guess the rules for songwriting and improv soloing are pretty much the same. The listener should be able to predict where you are going most of the time. However, if he/she can predict the next note or chord, all the time, it might get boring. So the solution to that is to let them predict most of the time, and every once in a while, throw in a surprise.

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Bob "Notes" Norton smile Norton Music
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