2/5/2014 Beyond Blues: Hexatonic Scales

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Home Beyond Blues: Hexatonic Scales

more... Intermediate Lessons Sound Samples July 2011 Lead Scales

Beyond Blues: Hexatonic Scales

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2/5/2014 Beyond Blues: Hexatonic Scales

Bruce Saunders
June 14, 2011
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In this lesson, Im going to focus on some of the interesting sounds you
can get from hexatonic scales. A hexatonic scalewhich can also be
thought of as a combination of two triadsis a six-note scale. To keep
things simple, we are going to investigate how to combine major triads a
whole-step apart, but there are a number of other commonly used triad
pairs. If you are interested in learning more about triad pairs, I can
recommend Hexatonics by Jerry Bergonzi (Advance Music Press).

Fig. 1 shows an example of a hexatonic scale constructed from C and D

major triads. There are a few ways you can conceptualize these scales. The first is to view it from the lower
triad. For instance, in Fig. 1 you can see this as a C Lydian scale without the 7th scale degree. The other way
of looking at it would be from the upper triada D Mixolydian scale without the 6th. I hear this scale as
somewhere between a scalar sound and an arpeggio, although it doesnt have as much of an arpeggio sound
as a pentatonic scale. Its an angular, edgy sound I associate with musicians such as trumpeter Woody Shaw
and pianist McCoy Tyner. If you check out Kurt Rosenwinkels intro to How Deep is the Ocean on his
wonderful recording Intuit, you can hear how he uses this idea over an altered-dominant chord.

Download or Listen:

Next, were going to look at the application of this scale over both a minor and major jazz-blues progression.

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Fig. 2 is an tude I wrote based on a blues in the key of C minor. Over each chord, we focus on the notes
from major triads built on two neighboring scale tones, depending on what type of sound we want. For
example, over Cm7, well use the Eb and F major triads, and for Fm7, well use Ab and Bb major triads. On
the altered-dominant chords in measure 4, 10, and 12, we use triads built off the b5 and the b6 scale
degrees. The same concept works over minor 7b5 chords, as you can see in measure 9.

Download or Listen:

The minor blues in the jazz repertoire has a long history. John Coltrane (Equinox), Grant Green (Duke
Pearsons Minor League), Joe Henderson (Granted), Jim Hall (Big Blues), Dizzy Gillespie (Birks
Works), and many other jazz giants have all written and improvised on a minor blues.

In Fig. 3 you can see how this works over a major (or dominant) blues. Over the dominant chords, well use
triads built on the root and b7 of each chord. As you can see, we outline an Eb major triad with the first three
notes in the first measure and then move to a first-inversion F major triad. Hear how this creates a big, bright
sound?

Download or Listen:

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If you like the sound of these scales, pianist McCoy Tyner would be a good choice for transcribing,
especially his great recording The Real McCoy.

Bruce Saunders
Bruce Saunders is an award-winning guitarist, composer, author, and educator. He has
recorded, performed, and toured with some of the worlds best jazz musicians,
including Jack DeJohnette, Dave Holland, Bill Stewart, and Peter Erskine. Saunders
has been a faculty member at the Berklee College of Music since 1992 and has also
taught at New York University and The New School, and conducted clinics and
concerts in many countries. Visit brucesaunders.com for more information.

Recent Articles by Bruce Saunders

Beyond Blues: Major Chords, Minor Blues

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http://www.premierguitar.com/articles/Beyond_Blues_Hexatonic_Scales 5/9
2/5/2014 Beyond Blues: Hexatonic Scales

Beyond Blues: Moving Past the Pentatonic Scale

Beyond Blues: Altered-Scale Secrets
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Sean
July 4, 2011
Hip lines from what looks like a vanilla scale....
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Deddy nias
June 17, 2011
mantapp
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JK
June 15, 2011
That's hot
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