International Musician And Recording World, July 1984

On Keyboards
By T Lavitz

Pentatonics: Alternate Routes Ahead

Are you tired of hearing the same pentatonic scales in the same places every time you run your hands up and down the keyboard? I know I am, or was, until I did something about it.

It wasn't until I became bored with my own sound that I made a significant amount of progress. By questioning scale tones, my ears were opened to some other methods of approaching improvisation over chords and their changes.

Let's look at the pentatonic scale, in particular the minor (see Exercise 1). Let's say we're using the notes C, Eb, F, G and Bb. If C is the root of the chord, these notes simply outline the C-minor pentatonic scale. By moving up the scale tones for new roots, we discover new harmonic structures; i.e., the same notes that used to outline C minor can now accurately represent an Eb major 6th chord. This works especially well in country & western music, with the oom-pah beat and all. To analyze further, we see a 7th chord with an "add 9" sound if F is the root.

G would sound like the C minor but would employ a flatted 6th and now outline an aeolean mode. Last but not least, Bb to Bb with these notes creates a nice suspended sound. So, as you can see, just by scratching the surface, you have many other avenues for the same arrangement of notes and maybe even fresher-sounding treatments of chords.

As you may already know, it doesn't stop here. Without getting too technical, a quick rationalization will allow you to use a myriad scales over just as many chords. This is where the knowledge of destination comes in. By rationalizing the chord tones and knowing where you are headed, you can justify a lot. For example, you might use the same C-minor pentatonic over an A-7th chord. Simply play the 7th, the flat 9, the sharp 9, the sharp 11, and the flatted 13th off A, and that's the same array of notes (G, Bb, C, Eb, F), just started elsewhere.

Being that we're on the topic of scales containing five notes, let's spend a moment on the major-based pentatonic scale (see Exercise 2). In the key of E you'll find that scale tones one, two, three and six (E, F#, G#, B, C#) comprise a pleasant sound. However, move the bass down to C#, and a minor 7th is formed using the same notes. You can apply this mode of thinking to the other participating notes as well. For example, in this setting, the 5th of the E as the root outlines a suspension (B) if it's used as a root, as opposed to the 7th (B#) of the C-minor. By the way, another commonly used major pentatonic (see Exercise 3) contains the root, the major 3rd, the 4th, the 5th and the flatted 7th, outlining a dominant chord.

Now let's get weird for a moment. This next bit of info comes under the category of "side-stepping" a change, or going "outside" harmonically (see Exercise 4). Mind you, this approach to a chord cannot be taken indiscriminately. Playing this next example in the wrong context will only sound bad, yet played at the proper time, it will perk up everyone's ears:

We're on a C-7th chord, so there's some room to move harmonically. The descending line of C, Bb, G and F constitutes the bulk of a pentatonic based on the root. Making those first four pitches even 16ths, beat one is finished. Now comes the fun: By superimposing most of an E-major pentatonic descending from the 5th (B, G#, F#, E), a tremendous amount of tension is created. Start beat three on a Bb and continue descending with a more tonal arrangement for pitches for your release. Not only is tension heightened by the seemingly unrelated flurry on beat two, but the downbeats of one, two and three are: root, major 7th and dominant 7th, indicating movement.

Being that music is truly a form of communication, showing off your technical abilities in theory is not the object. However, getting the idea across is.