- This topic has 15 replies, 5 voices, and was last updated 5 years, 7 months ago by .
-
Topic
-
In addition to playing out of pentatonic scales a b3 apart from each other (b3 below the minor for the major), for anyone who wants to look at the major/minor a different way, you can combine all the notes in a single position.
A lot of times what that means in practice for me is I use minor pentatonic scale positions and add the major 3 and the 6 when ascending where I use the b7 and the b3 when descending (as Brian often suggests, I “locate” the scales within chords [use the chord shapes to anchor the positions in my mind]).
In the key of A, combine the minor pentatonic scale of A (A, C, D, E, G [tonic, b3, 4, 5, b7]) with the B, C# and F# (9, natural 3 and 6) from the major scale. Also, just because it always sounds okay, add the Eb (the b5).
So that’s A, B, C, C#, D, Eb, E, F#, G; tonic, 9 (the 2 but we call it a 9 if there’s a third in the chord/scale), b3, natural 3, 4, b5, natural 5 (or perfect 5), 6, b7.
Although I don’t really think about it this way, it’s a whole step A to B, half step B to C, half step C to C#, half step C# to D, half step D to Eb, half step Eb to E, whole step E to F#, half step F# to G, and a whole step from G to the A.
Something I’ve noticed is that some notes/note combos work better ascending and others work better descending. The natural 3, C#, generally works best in ascending lines and the b3, C, works best in descending lines. The 6 also usually works best when ascending.
The b5, Eb, is another one that’s easier to use in combination with a natural 5, E, when ascending and with the 4, D, when descending.
If this makes it easier for you, great! If not, just disregard it—it can’t hurt to try it.
I’d like to know what you think about using notes/scales in the ascending/descending patterns, especially if you use ones that I don’t in ways that I don’t.
Don D.
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.