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registerFusion Frollicks-Outside Dominants Part 2
Happy New Year! Here is something to tickle your 2008 ‘lick bone’ with!
In the second instalment of this outside dominant extravaganza, we will look at the other 2 pentatonics you can throw over an, ‘adult entertainment domestic appliance malfunction movie plot excuse’ type groove!
We know we can play 4 blues pentatonics based on the Rt, 2nd, 5th and 7th of the dom7th chord and that the blues scales based on the Rt and 2nd have a Mixolydian b5 and Lydian b7 (or Lydian Dominant or Jazz Lydian) sound to them respectively.
If we look at the blues scale based on the 5th of our chosen G root then we will get a D blues scale. The last blues scale to be subjected to a dominant workout is the blues scale built on the 7th of the mixolydian. In G mixolydian that would be the F blues scale.
Finally, You’ll remember that I mentioned 2 types of dominant chord? The static and Functional dominant? Remember the difference?
The scale examples in part two are better suited to play over an altered dominant chord like a G7b9 or a G7#9 (generally known as the Hendrix chord).
They also work well when a dominant is moving to its 4th chord (as in the 4th bar of a standard blues e.g. G7 to C7).
Watch the ‘sucking a Lemon’ change in the faces of the members of your covers band as you put an F blues ‘Dark Side’ lick into bar 4 of the Mustang Sally sequence!!!
In fact that gives me an idea!
Example 1
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All of the notes of the D blues scale can be found in the G mixoLidian scale except the G# (or Ab) which is the b2 of G (you could call it a sharpened root, but that would be considered theoretically/morally wrong, causing the sky to go black, all the whiskey in Scotland to go cloudy and create an unnecessary amount of paperwork. Trust me it's not worth it!).
If you put a b2 into a G mixolydian scale you'll get (technically) a G mixolydian b2 scale. This is very close to the sound we get from the 7th mode of the melodic minor scale which is basically a mixolydian scale with a b2 and a b6 which, has the best mode name of them all theeeeeeeee.....SUPER LOCRIAN!!!! Tan Ta tata tan tata tan tata!
Well it's one note off! Treat it like a watered down Superlocrian type color.
Example 2
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Now, this can sound a wee bit nasty in the wrong hands so a good idea is to start off in the scale of G mixolydian, quickly dive into the F blues then back to the G mixolydian again.
Analyse the wee F blues phrase see how it starts like Anakin Skywalker performing a simple but elegant sonic soliloquy then turning towards the dark side in a calculating F blues, 'Force controlled' moment of intergalactic evil before capitulating with a token "inside" couple of notes. Nasty, but pleasurable!We're now firmly in musical "marmite" territory!
The out notes of the Dark Side are Ab (b2 again), Bb (b3rd) and Eb, which is the b6 of G. With our usual adding wrong notes to a Mixolydian scale would get a mixolydian b2, b3, b6. However the general sound is closer to the Superlocrian again and is more commonly used as a superlocrian style pentatonic superimosition. If it's good enough for Chick Corea then it's good enough for everyone!
Example 3
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You can of course play an Ab melodic minor over the top as that's where the G superlocrian finds it's home.
See if you can figure out which gurning Jazz/Fusion noodlers use this harmonic colour a lot?
