TRADING LICKS Bolin Hits “Savannah’”’ BY DAVE WHITEHILL Tou BOUN WASN'T just your average rocker, and this se- lection from Teaser drives that point home. The eclectic Me. Bolin, like Carlos Santana, had a penchant for the dorian mode, and here, he uses itn conjunetion with the “blues” scale and the aeolian mode One must be careful when alternating modes because there's always the ‘chance thatanote within your favorite mode willbe “incor tect” at some point in a chord progression. The A dorian is: ABC DE Fé Gand sounds great against an A minor ‘chord, as in measures 33, 44-45, 61-62 and 65-66. Ititis sed when F7 occurs, something will und amiss; could tbe because there is no F natural in the mode? Wouldn't the A aeolian (A B C D EF G) sound much better, as it contains F natural? Naturally—itwillfit, andmeasure 591s {2 good one to study if you are even the leastbit Unfamiliar with modal usage. Actually I'd prefer to use another mode at this point in the piece. i you isolate this particular section and think of Fas being a temporary tonal center, then the F iydian is the mode Tommy actually employs. It hhas the same notes as the A aeolian, but the tonic is F Now, the F7 chord has an Eb in its structure, so opt for the iydian dominant in F(F GA8 CO Eb), as it contains the Jowered seventh. Stil, such matters are slightly more than Just academic concerns, and sometimes an “incorrect” Cchoice will suit you better. Eddie Van Halen doesn’t play the “correct” modes all the time, but love his playing and his inherent sense of adventure. Class dismissed! © 1975 Permostat Mute, Ie All rights resereedTRADING LICKS 0 Am 0 Set t at 144k 1044] = sone wwTRA G LICKS ts Gerran Wont Novennex 198