Phrygian Harmony

Q: What would you consider to be the "dominant" and the "subdominant" chords in the Phrygian mode? Is there a "leading tone" chord i.e. in Major, we have diminished chords; what is there in Phrygian?

A: Regarding the modes, I don't imagine it useful think in diatonic systems so to speak. This works great for the major and minor scales but not so well for the modes. Regarding the harmonized major scale, a I-IV-V or Tonic-Subdominant-Dominant progression (C-F-G or Cmaj7-Fmaj7-G7), harmonically has a lot of strength, it ends with a perfect cadence, meaning a major or dominant chord resolving to a major tonic chord. But if we were to use the same system (using C phrygian for example), making the iii chord (of Eb major), the tonic or i chord, we would get a Cmin-Fmin-Gdim progression (i-iv-vo), which is rather lame. Yikes! A diminished vo chord!

You sort of have to change your way of thinking when dealing with modes. Modes don't work well harmonized for long progressions. Usually one chord for a measure or a few measures leading to something completely unrelated is the norm. It is more important to think more about the quality of the chord and pay close attention to what the chord is with its "modal" extensions added on. In other words, a measure of a Csus(b9) chord is a way more effective use of modal harmony than a long chord progression of chords diatonic to C phrygian (Eb major). Sometimes shorter progressions work fine. As an example, a Cmin-Db or Cmin7-Dbmaj7 chord progression works fine for phrygian.

I suppose that a Cmin-Dbmaj-Bbmin progression would work. But in all reality the more chords you were to add in, the weaker the phrygian tonality would become. If you really wanted a phrygian type sound, it would seem best to use a sus(b9) chord. Let's say you have a C progression you are working in and you wanted to work in a phrygian sound, it would seem better for you to replace the I chord with a Csus(b9) chord to create a real phrygian texture. You may even extend it for a bar of two or create a vamp before falling back to your C major progression.

Regardless, you should experiment. If you wanted to harmonize the C phrygian scale, this is what you would get:

Cmin-Db-Eb-Fmin-Gdim-Ab-Bbmin

If you were to consider these chords as borrowed from phrygian and imported them to C major you would get this: i-bII-bIII-iv-Vo-bvi-bvii

You do sort of see this thing from time to time. You often get the bII and bIII in major keys and of course the minor iv chord (although the latter two usually considered borrowed from C minor).

Experiment and see what your ear likes.

-Chris

Links:

• The Phrygian Mode


• Modal Practice Routine

Scales or Arpeggios?

Hi Chris,
I argue with my friend everyday about the same thing.

Q: He says that when soloing you only need to play arpeggios over the changes, I say that that way of thinking is old and nowadays musicians use scales. What is the proper approach, scales or arpeggios?

A: Ha! Musicians always argue about this. But the truth is that there is not really a right and wrong, but there are distinct advantages and disadvantages to both approaches.

Arpeggios: the advantage here is that you don't have to worry very much about playing wrong notes, if the chord changes are Dmin7-G7-Cmaj7, you can play the arpeggios of the chords and you are pretty much safe. You can also superimpose other various arpeggios to create more interest, a standard one would be a B diminished triad over the G7 chord. Bdim = B-D-F-Ab, played over a G7 chord would supply the extensions 3-5-b7-b9 creating a G7b9 sound. This kind of approach was very common for for Jazz, all the way up until modal music became popular. It would have been treacherous to attempt plaing scales over fast changes, you would run the risk of missing chord tones and the changing keys every measure or so wouldn't leave you any time to consider the proper fingerings. It would seem a lot easier to simply connect the dots using arpeggios. And that is pretty much what took place all the way through Bebop with the chord changes flying by at breakneck speed. I suppose the disadvantages to this approach would be the difficulty in expressing ones self, after all, a G7 arpeggio played by you or me, is pretty much the same thing.

Scales: Jazz tempos became faster and faster until they just couldn't get any faster and that is when things began to change. Modal music was born. I suppose Miles Davis and some of his contemporaries decided that all this connecting the dots with arpeggios at lightning speed had gotten old and were frustrated with the lack of ability to express themselves musically. So they started to write music with bars and bars of the same chord. For example, the song "So What" from Miles' "Kind of Blue" CD was simply 16 bars of Dmin7 followed by 8 of Ebmin7 followed by another 8 of Dmin7. To Jazz musicians in those days, it must have been quite a challenge to play over such long sections of the same chord. I mean, up to this time they played arpeggios, they couldn't simply play a Dmin7 arpeggio for 16 bars. So musicians started experimenting with the modal scales and the chords harmonized from them. Scales gave musicians more options in improvisation. Because of this, harmony became more complex as well, min7 gave way to bigger minor chords such as min9, min11, min69, min11, etc. This this would lead to more interest in other modes, not only from the major scale but from the melodic minor scale as well. Eventually, like Bebop before, the chord changes started moving by faster as well, but this time the chords were more modal and the improvisers more modal in their choices.

Conclusion: Each player leans a little more one way than the other. While Joe Pass played mostly arpeggios, John Scofield chooses scales (although both of these fine players cross over as well), they both sound great. In all reality, both approaches are important and both should be utilized to their full extent. Think about the Blues, if you were to play a minor or major pentatonic for your whole solo, it would sound pretty lame. It would get boring after a little while. You have to outline the changes in your solo, and this can prove quite an undertaking using only scales. Outlining the changes with arpeggios paves the way to a better solo. And of course blowing through a scale from time to time adds some excitement to your solos as well. Become an expert at both.

Links:
Arpeggios
Modes
Modes of the Melodic Minor Scale

-CJ

Major Scale Patterns

Dear Chris,

Thanks a million for your informative site which over the past few months has built my knowledge of theory substantially. However, there is till one thing I don't understand with the 5 positions of the major scale.

Q: I have worked out that one is the 'stock standard' major scale or first position (pattern 4, I think?) and that some of the other shapes turned out to Phrygian, natural minor and Dorian, but its still not clicking with me as to where each position is used. I am aware that ie the dorian for the key of c major is just d to d over a dmin, phrygian e to e over e min etc, but there are a couple positions of the major scale (patterns 3 and 5) that im not sure where to use. I hope this question makes sense.....thanks in advance for your time,

warm regards,

Marty

A: We as guitarists tend to think in fingerboard patterns rather than notes which sometimes can be problematic. Remember, a major scale is a major scale no matter what the fingerboard pattern looks like. Anywhere you can use one of them, you can use the other four as well (and should).

As an example, let's say you have to play over a Dmin7-G7 chord progression. Obviously, the scale needed here is the D dorian mode, which is simply a C major scale. Any five fingerboard patterns of the C major scale will do here. I imagine you are looking at pattern 4 of the C major scale and thinking to yourself that there is a D on top so this scale is the dorian mode because you can start on it. But the truth is it doesn't matter what note you start on as long as the chord over which you are playing is a Dmin7 chord. I mean think about it, when improvising, would you always start on the root? The root would actually be a somewhat boring note to start on so as long as it is the proper major scale, start on any note that suits your ears.

More information on modes:

• The Dorian Mode


• Developing a Modal Practice Routine

The Circle of 5ths

Q: Hi Chris,

What is Circle Of Fifths? please tell me about Circle Of Fifths and why it is so important.

Thank you,
Varad

A: The circle of fifths is simply a geometric diagram that makes it easy to see the relationship between all the keys in music. If you look at the diagram, you will find the key of C up on top. The key of C is at the top because it has no sharps or flats. The next one to the right is the key of G and it has one sharp (an F sharp by the way). G is a perfect 5th from C, count the notes and you will see: C-D-E-F-G. A perfect 5th from G is D, and the key of D has two sharps so D is the next key after G.

If you go the other way from C (counter clockwise), the diagram becomes the circle of 4ths. C to F is a perfect 4th: C-D-E-F and by moving in this direction, each key will gain a flat.

If you tape the chart on your wall and look at it before you go to sleep, it will start to make sense to you. It simply makes it easy to remember the keys and their corresponding sharps and flats.

I'm going to get into the diatonic system in a second so if you think you aren't going to get it, go here and learn about the major scale and the diatonic system.

Sometimes the circle gets used to make progressions. A good example would be ii-V-Is taken around the circle. So the first one would be a ii-V-I in C: Dmin7-G7-Cmaj7. the next ii-V-I would be taken from the next key down, the key of G: Amin7-D7-Gmaj7, etc.. You could also take the same ii-V-Is the other way aroung the circle of 4ths. Ex: Dmin7-G7-Cmaj7, Gmin7-C7-Fmaj7, Cmin7-F7-Bbmaj7, etc..

Tone

Q: Chris, I stumbled onto your site looking up 8 bar blues progression. Thanks for the info. I do have a question for you about tone. How do you balance the lush 9th chords with the distortion in the leads. I either have a killer clean sound for 9 chords and the lead that sounds too clean or a muddy sounding 9 chords and perfect lead. Can You help? Thanks, Rick

A: There are a few different things you can do. One thing is use one of those two or three channel amps and just switch between them. I personally don't do this unless I'm playing in some sort of fusion or pop situation where I have to have chrystal clear chords and super saturated solos.

But for my own general brand of music, which if you heard, is mostly Blues and Rock, I use one amp channel and that is it. What you may of heard on the mp3s on my site is pretty much a Marshall amp or something pretty similar. First I dial up my basic tone from which I will subtract to for rhythm and add to for solos. I don't think about the signal chain, meaning effects until I get the amp tone happening first.

You want middle of the line overdrive here, so with a Marshall, I put the gain on about 4 or 5(depending on the model, room and guitar I am using). And maybe the volume on about 4 or 5 again depending on the venue or studio. Bass up around 8, mid up around 7 or 8, treble at about 4 or 5 and presence on maybe 1 or off if I'm using a Tele. I should be able to roll off a little volume on my guitar and get a pretty clean sound, thus the somewhat clean tone for chords. I could roll back the volume to about 5 on the guitar and get a almost completely clean tone. If I roll back the tone as well on the guitar a bit, and use my neck pickup, I can almost get a hollowbody type sound.

For my solos, I use a tube screamer, or something similar. What you heard on the recordings was probably a HAO Sole Pressure. But I like tube screamers as well. Lately I have been using a Xotic BB preamp which is an overdrive/booster type of thing. How you set your boost, is with the distortion at about 1 or 2 and the volume at 10. This way when you step on it, it boosts your volume and sustain a little but doesn't really change your tone too much. I am using the Xotic box now and quite honestly, it is the best thing on the market today.

The main point is the sound you get from your guitar and amp first and then giving it a little boost from the box. Some of the tones I get are a little different from tune to tune so take a listen to the mp3s for free here, and if you have any questions about the individual sounds, e-mail me and ask and I'll be happy to tell you how I did it. You will be happy to know that it is not rocket science and you won't need a million dollars to get the same tone. Check out tunes like "Big Bad Sun," I like the tone I got there. Link: "Big Bad Sun"

Modes of Harmonic Minor

Q: Could you please shed some light on the modes of the harmonic minor scale. I notice that you do not elaborate on this material in your book - The Infinite Guitar, yet several of these, most notably the phrygian dominant and double harmonic, are popular among the more adventurous in order to expand their colour horizons.

A: I'm not an expert on using the modes of the harmonic minor scale. I dabbled in it a bit when I was a kid and when I found the melodic minor scale and its modes, I lost interest in its cousin the harmonic minor scale. Its modes are not very common, so there seems to be no standard name given to all the modes. Regardless, that shouldn't stop us from taking a closer look at each of them.

Let's write out each mode using the A harmonic minor scale as our base:

A-B-C-D-E-F-G# - This is the harmonic minor scale from its root. If we harmonize a chord, we will get a Amin(maj7) chord. The scale played over an Amin triad or min(maj7) chord sounds sort of Spanish or Middle Eastern like a snake charmer or something. I've done session work where the producer specifically asks for a Spanish or Middle Eastern cliche sound and have used this scale in those situations.

B-C-D-E-F-G#-A - The harmonized chord is a min7b5 chord. The scale looks like a locrian scale with a major 6th. Possible name: locrian #6. This mode is often played over the minor iio-V (Bmin7b5-E7b9).

C-D-E-F-G#-A-B - The harmonized chord is a maj7#5 chord. The scale looks like a major scale with a augmented 5th. Maybe a lydian augmented scale would be a better choice as the lydian augmented scale contains a #11 rather than the natural 11th found in this scale. Possible name: augmented major.

D-E-F-G#-A-B-C - The harmonized chord is a Dmin7 chord. The scale looks like a dorian scale with a augmented 4th. Possible name: dorian #4

E-F-G#-A-B-C-D - The harmonized chord is a E7 chord, harmonized to a 9th chord it becomes a E7b9 chord. This mode is probably the most common of the harmonic minor modes. Sometimes called: phrygian dominant. This mode is pretty common for rock over the major or dominant V chord.

F-G#-A-B-C-D-E - The harmonized chord is a Fmaj7 chord. It looks like a lydian scale with a #9th! Wow! I've heard this scale referred to as a split major third scale.

G#-A-B-C-D-E-F - The harmonized chord is a G#dim7 chord. Possible name: diminished b2.

Just because I'm not well versed in these modes doesn't mean that they are not of use. You may find that they work great for you. Tell me how they work out.

• Got a question? I'll answer it if it's a good one!

Soloing over Slash Chords

Q: Love your lesson on slash chords. By the way do you have a lesson on how to solo on these chords?

A: Thanks! No lesson on soloing over them but I'll tell you what I know.

Soloing over slash chords can be challenging because you really have to read between the lines when dealing with them. Most of them simply imply a bigger chord. Don't confuse these with triads in inversion though, these inverted triads are easy to deal with. Ex: C/E or C/G. Both are C chords, the first with the 3rd in the bass and the latter, with the 5th. No big deal here.

The difficult ones are the ones that are creating complex harmony. That is the beauty of these slash chords, they are simple and complex at the same time. Simple in the fact that they are just triads over bass notes, and every guitarist with a week of experience knows triads. Complex because they can be used to make chords that you would have a hard time figuring out to play on your own, like a like a Cmaj13#11 chord for instance could be played as a D/C chord. But the one thing that makes them easy to understand and analyze is the fact that they are usually in root position, meaning the bass note is the root. So a G/C slash chord is some kind of C chord.

Now on to figuring out what to play over them. This is what I'll do, I'll take a triad and move it up chromatically over the static bass note (C) and talk about what you should possibly play over it.

C/C - Simply a C triad and not really a slash chord.
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Db/C - This one is tricky. Let's see, C-Db-F-Ab = 1-b2-4-b6. Looks phrygian to me. Like a b9sus chord (which is the phrygian chord) but with a b6 which can also be found in the phrygian scale. Just think phrygian here. Then again, it could also be a maj7 chord in 3rd inversion as in Dbmaj7 with the 7th in the bass. Either way, the same major scale: C phrygian = Db lydian = Ab major.

Concept: triad min2 above the root = b9sus = phrygian, or a maj7 3rd inversion.
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D/C - C-D-F#-A = 1-2-#4-6 = lydian assuming the bass note is the root. No 3rd or 7th here so a lot of reading between the lines. Looks like a Cmaj13#11 chord but since there is no 7th, could also be C13#11. It could also be an inverted D7 chord with the 7th in the bass. Both the D7 in 3rd inversion and the Cmaj13#11 can be approached the same way however because D mixolydian and C lydian are both a G major scale. My experience tells me that chord is generally not the dominant chord with the #11 but it is still a possibilty. You sometimes see this in a C-D/C progression which is so lydian it makes me want to barf.

Concept: triad maj2 above the root = maj13#11 or dominant 7th in 3rd inversion (same scale, lydian or mixolydian from the same major key) but there is a slim chance could be a 13#11 (lydian dominant) chord as well.
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Eb/C - C-Eb-G-Bb = 1-b3-5-b7 = min7 as in Cmin7. Easy enough. There is another exeption where this could possibly be a trick from the h/w diminished scale making it a C7#9 chord. I'll get to this later...

Concept: triad min3 above the root = min7 (dorian, aolian, etc.. but could be a 7#9 chord if part of a h/w diminished harmony.
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E/C - C-E-G#-B = 1-3-#5-7 = maj7#5 as in Cmaj7#5. Lydian Augmented.

Concept: triad maj3 above the root = maj#5 = lydian augmented.
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F/C - C-F-A-C = 5-1-3-5 = ain't nothin' fancy here, just a triad in 2nd inversion, in this case a F triad with the 5th in the bass.

Concept: zippo
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F#/C - C-F#-A#-C# - 1-#4-b7-b2 = a h/w diminished thing going on here. Looks like a 7(b9,#11) chord. More on this later...

Concept: triad a tritone from the root = 7(b7,#11) = h/w diminished.
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G/C - C-G-B-D = 1-5-7-9 = No 3rd but safe to assume it is a maj9 chord.

Concept: triad a 5th above the root = maj9 = lydian or ionian.
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Ab/C - C-Ab-C-Eb = 3-1-3-5 = triad in 1st inversion, a plain old Ab chord with a C in the bass.

Concept: nada
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A/C - C-A-C#-E - 1-6-b2-3 = h/w diminished here as well, a C13b9 chord.

Concept: triad a 6th above the root = 13b9 = h/w diminished.
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Bb/C - C-Bb-D-F - 1-b7-9-4 = usually a 9sus chord mixolydian in nature But... sometimes this chord can be a min11 chord. You have to check the context clues to know but sometimes it pops up after a min7 chord of the same name like this: Cmin7-Bb/C.

Concept: triad a 2nd down from the root = 9sus = mixolydian. But may be min11 as well and probably aolian or dorian.
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B/C - C-B-D#-F# - 1-7-b3-b5 = strange chord but you get it as a i chord sometimes in minor keys. Looks like a min/maj7(b5).

Concept: triad a min2 down from the root = min/maj7(b5) = diminished scale.
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Slash chords and the h/w diminished scale: Sometimes you get four triads played over the root a min3rd apart as a h/w diminished harmonic magic trick: C-Eb/C-F#/C-A/C. See the above examples to make sense of what I just said.

Remember, you can always just play the triad arpeggio and a lot of times a major pentatonic scale that matches the triad in the slash chord.

Links:

• Slash Chords
• Half/Whole Diminished Scale
• Got a question? I'll answer it if it's a good one!