Some Whole Tone Scale Applications

In the past couple of posts we've looked at fingerings for the Whole Tone scale and a few examples
of patterns we can use to play around with it, but perhaps you're not convinced yet. After all, plenty
of guitarists know how to play this scale but not many use it because it has a pretty weird, unsettling
sound.
There are two basic applications of this scale. The simplest one is to play it over a dominant seventh
chord. Play A Whole Tone over A dominant 7 so you can hear how it sounds.
That's pretty dissonant on its own, so it's best to resolve it to another scale or harmony. Often, as
you know, dominant 7 chords often resolve down a fifth to a major seventh chord, or just a major
triad. Here's the same application again, then, but resolving at the end from A7 to D major:

As you probably know, the same principle tells us that a major triad can be approached by the
dominant seventh a fifth above it. For example, instead of just playing a long A chord we can play
E7 first, then resolve it to A. Now, we can use that idea in a solo even if the accompaniment is just
A:

Instead of just playing an E7 arpeggio, I can play any scale that works over E7; in this case, of
course, I'm going to play E whole tone. We've just heard that it works well over a dominant chord,
and resolves nicely:
The really neat thing about this is that Ab Whole Tone is also E Whole Tone, so you can use this
scale to switch easily between the E dominant 7 substitution and the Ab augmented one. If you're
playing over a slightly longer chord that can be useful because it gives you a bit of variety. Here I'm
playing the E7 arpeggio, E Whole tone, the Ab Augmented triad and finally resolving to A, all while
the accompaniment plays nothing but a static A major seventh chord:
The next idea just follows naturally from all this, and can be used to build even longer lines over
static harmonies. I played Ab augmented in the last example, but I could just as well have gone to
Bb augmented, the other triad in the scale. And although that can resolve down to A, it can also
resolve to other places.
We'll use the Bb augmented triad to get to Eb, the tritone substitution on A. We'll then use a quick
cycle of fifths idea to go from Eb dominant 7 to Ab dominant 7, we'll use Ab whole tone over that
harmony and then we'll resolve that up to A again.
So over a static A harmony we'll play:
The A triad
Ab whole tone
Bb augmented
Eb dominant 7
Ab dominant 7
Ab whole tone

and finally resolve back to A

Here's an example line constructed in this way -- play it over a static A major chord backing for the
full effect:

Notice how the Whole Tone scale helps us to link all these ideas together in a way that sounds
logical.
I mentioned that there were two applications of the Whole Tone scale, and we've really only looked
at one, its use over a dominant chord. We can also use it, sort of, over a minor chord, but when we
do we have to play it a semitone lower. For instance, over A minor we'll play Ab whole tone; this
gives a similar sound to the bebop idea of playing A Harmonic Minor over A minor 7, which works
despite the clashing sevenths. I think the reason for the similarity is that both scales contain an
augmented triad, but whatever it is the Whole Tone scale a semitone built below the root of the
minor seventh chord certainly sounds good in this context
Just as with the dominant seventh application, we can use the augmented arpeggios contained in the
scale to set up triad superimpositions. Here's an example. I'll play A minor, Ab whole tone, then
pick out the Bb augmented triad from the Whole Tone scale. I'll use that triad to set up a B major
triad, then again use a quick cycle of fifths idea to drop back down to A minor by way of E7 to
resolve it. Again, the idea is that this gives a more logical build-up to the solo line than just
switching to the B triad straight away. It also enables you to extend the line:
There's a minor problem with this, though. The thing is that Ab Whole Tone doesn't include the note
A, so it has no root. That can make it awkward to work with, because you often want to use the root
when improvising to provide moments of resolution, especially when you're working with a
dissonant scale like this one. We'll look at the most obvious solution to this problem -- the
Neapolitan scale -- in a later lesson.
Harmonic Minor Modes: The Dorian #4
A lot of guitarists know the Harmonic Minor scale and one of its modes,the Phrygian Major. Yet this
scale, like the major scale, has seven modes in its group and the others are less frequently talkedabout. We'll run a post on each of them over the next few weeks, starting with the Dorian #4.
For easy reference here are the CAGED fingerings exactly as they appear in the Encyclopoedia
(white circles are triad arpeggio notes, and in particular white circles with black dots are roots):
The Dorian #4 is -- wait for it -- just a dorian scale with the 4 sharpened. It's a very useful
alternative to the straight Dorian scale, which is very commonly heard over minor chords. The
sharpened fourth adds a 'blue note' that just gives the scale a bit of a twist. Try this simple E Dorian
#4 lick (using the D-shape CAGED fingering) over an Em7 accompaniment:
T---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|--------------8------------------------------------------------------------------------------A-----------7-----9--7--6---------------------------------------------------------------------|-----8--9-----------------9--8---------------------------------------------------------------B--7-----------------------------10--9--7-----------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Like the Dorian itself, you can also play this scale over dominant chords, which sounds particularly
good in a bluesy setting. Try the lick above over E7 to hear the effect. Both these sounds work great
whether your style is jazz, rock or even metal. Metalheads may enjoy adding some tapping to the
lick like this (+ means the note is tapped):
T---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------A--------------------+12--7--+12--9--7--------------------------------------------------------|---------+14--8--9---------------------+11--9--8---------------------------------------------B--+13-7-------------------------------------------+10--9-------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------+10-/12----------------------------It's always interesting to see what arpeggios a scale contains besides the one at the root. When
playing the Dorian #4, I particularly like emphasising the dominant arpeggio built on the 2:
T-------------------------6--/7---------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------7---------8------------------------------------------------------------A----------------6--9---------------9--/11--9-------------------------------------------------|-------------8--------------------------------11---------------------------------------------B--7--10--\9---------------------------------------13--9--\7----------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------In fact, one way to play E Dorian #4 is simply to mix up the Em7 and F#7 arpeggios; between the
two you already have every note in the scale, with only the root note duplicated.
You can also play an augmented arpeggio, also at the 2, and you're still within the scale:
T---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------7-----8-----------------------------------------------------------------A---------------7--------7-----9--7-----------------------------------------------------------|------------8-----8-----------------8--------------------------------------------------------B--7--10--9-----------------------------9------7----------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------10-------------------------------------------------There are plenty of other possibilities. Here, for example, I'm also using the fact that you can build a
fully diminished chord rooted on the #4 note to break up the solo line:
T--------------6-----------------------------6--9--7------------------------------------------|-----------------8-----------------------8-----------8--7------------------------------------A--------6--7--------9--7--6--------6--9--------------------9---------------------------------|--9--8-----------------------9--8------------------------------------------------------------B---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------This kind of arpeggio superimposition is useful because it helps you to learn the scale (assuming
you know your arpeggios already!) and to get the sound of it in your head without merely running
up and down it scalewise, which can sound good but can also get very boring. The Encyclopoedia,
of course, contains all of the possibilities for every single scale displayed in a very compact,
efficient form.

Harmonic Minor Modes: The Lydian #2

We've started working on the Harmonic Minor modes, and today we'll take a look at the Lydian #2.
The main application for this scale is over a major seventh type of chord. Assuming you know your
Major scale modes then you already have two ways to play over this type of harmony: the Major
itself and the Lydian. Neither of these, though, is all that exciting.
For easy reference here are the CAGED fingerings exactly as they appear in the Encyclopoedia
(white circles are triad arpeggio notes, and in particular white circles with black dots are roots):
The Harmonic Minor group provides a nice variation on the Lydian, which is exactly the same
except for that raised second note. Here's a very simple run in A, which you should ideally play
over an Amaj7 chord to get the whole sound:
T-------------------------------------------------8--9--11--9--8--9---------------------------|---------------------------------------7--9--10---------------------10-----------------------A------------------------------6--8--9--------------------------------------------------------|--------------------6--7--10-----------------------------------------------------------------B-----------6--7--9---------------------------------------------------------------------------|--5--8--9------------------------------------------------------------------------------------The real interest comes from the #2, which you can also think of as a flat 3 and which contrasts
nicely with the major third in the chord. I'm emphasising that at the end of the run above, but for to
clarify the sound try this run in the same position:
T---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------5---------------------------------------------------------A--------------------5--6-----6--8-----6--5--6------------------------------------------------|-----------------6--------7--------------------7---------------------------------------------B-----------6--7------------------------------------------------------------------------------|--8--9--5------------------------------------------------------------------------------------This little lick also does something I always enjoy, which is singling out some of the notes separated
by semitones -- in this case the #2 and 3 and the #4 and 5. With the root added to them they make a
pentatonic scale that's a subset of the Lydian #2. This approach can help you to break out of that
straight-up-and-down playing that plagues many beginning soloists.
As with the Dorian #4, the arpeggio I like best in this scale is probably the dominant seventh, which
this time is built on the major seventh of the underlying chord. Here it is in the A-shape pattern up
at the 12th fret (you really must hear this over the Amaj7 chord for it to make any sense):
T---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|--------------------------13--14-------------------------------------------------------------A------------------11--13----------14---------------------------------------------------------|--------------13-----------------------------------------------------------------------------B------11--15---------------------------------------------------------------------------------|--14-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------and of course, since this is a mode of the Dorian #4, it shouldn't be surprising that the dominant

arpeggio can also be played as an augmented triad:

T---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------13------13--14---------------------------------------------------------A------------------13------13----------14-----------------------------------------------------|--------------14-----------------------------------------------------------------------------B------11--15---------------------------------------------------------------------------------|--12-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------As a little added extra, if we sharpen the 6 of the Lydian #2 we get a scale I call Rasikapriya, after
the Carnatic melakata of the same name. All you're doing visually is taking the E-shaped pattern we
played at the fifth fret at the very beginning and moving two notes. In the diagram below, the red
notes are what we play if we're playing Lydian #2 and the green notes are what they become when
the scale becomes Rasikapriya:
Now the Rasikapriya scale is a whole new heptatonic with seven modes in its group, so there are
plenty more resources here for us to play with. We might do that in a future lesson but, for now, if
you're getting familiar with the Lydian #2 try throwing in a few Rasikapriya phrases along with it.
T--8--h9--p8--5-------------------------------------------------------------------------------|----------------9--8--5----------------------------------------------------------------------A-------------------------8--6--5-------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------7-----------5--6--7----------------------------------------B-------------------------------------7--6--4-------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Even with only one note altered, Rasikapriya sounds very different from the Lydian #2, and much
more "exotic". As well as over major 7 chord it fits nicely over dominant 7s. Try it and see what you
can come up with.

Harmonic Minor Modes: The Augmented Scale

We've been examining the modes of the Harmonic Minor scale over the past few days, and we've
come to the Augmented scale, which is just the same as the Major scale but with a sharpened fifth.
It doesn't sound too exciting at first, but we'll look at some of the arpeggios it contains that can yield
some interesting results.
For easy reference here are the CAGED fingerings exactly as they appear in the Encyclopoedia
(white circles are triad arpeggio notes, and in particular white circles with black dots are roots):
Since the Major scale works most obviously over a major seventh harmony, that's also the most
obvious application for the Augmented scale. Here's a simple pattern for the scale in the key of A at
the fifth fret that ends by descending on a major 7 #5 arpeggio:
T-----------------------------------------5------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------6--7--9-----9--6------------------------------------------A--------------------------6--7--------------------6--7------------------------------------|-----------------7--6--9--------------------------------9-----7----------------------------

B-----------8--9--------------------------------------------8------------------------------|--5--7--9------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Of course, this scale also works well over augmented triads, but watch out for the function of the
chord. If it's playing a dominant type of function, you might be better off with the Whole Tone
scale. That's quite common in older tunes, like standards. If the augmented chord is a point of
resolution, or a static harmony, as we sometimes find in modern jazz compositions, then the
Augmented scale works will because of its major seventh:
T---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|--------6--9--7------------------------------------------------------------------------------A-----6-----------6--7------------------------------------------------------------------------|--7--------------------9--7--6---------------------------------------------------------------B--------------------------------8------------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------9--5------------------------------------------------------We've been looking at arpeggios that the scales in this group contains; in this case it won't be much
surprise to learn that the augmented triad falls on the root, and so isn't very interesting. The
dominant arpeggio, though, falls on the major third this time, giving a very Coltraney
superimposition that sounds great
T---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|--6------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------A-----6-----------------------------6--7--6---------------------------------------------------|--------9--6-----------------6--9-----------9--6---------------------------------------------B--------------8-----------8------------------------------------------------------------------|-----------------9--7--9---------------------------------------------------------------------We can pick out some more arpeggios from the scale analysis in the Encyclopoedia to expand these
ideas a bit further. There we can see that the scale contains a minor triad rooted on the 2 and a fully
diminished chord rooted on the #5; these share some notes in common, so we can have some fun
with them while still staying within the scale:
T--7--------------------------------------4--7--/10--9--7-------------------------------------|-----7-----------------------------3--6----------------------7--9-----7----------------------A--------7--4-----------------2--4-------------------------7----------------------------------|--------------6--3--------4----------------------------------------9-------------------------B--------------------5--2---------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Even this unpromising scale, then, has some nice features that you might want to explore.
Remember that playing the scale up and down is just the first step in learning it, and a lot of scale
sound best when you mix the notes up in this sort of way. They can even just act as inspiraiton for a
simpler idea, such as some of the arpeggio superimpositions we've seen in this lesson. You might
just want to start using one or two of those without worry about "the Augmented scale" at all,
although if you know its CAGED fingerings they will help you find the arpeggios more quickly and
naturally.
The Harmonic Minor as a Pair of Augmented and Diminished Arpeggios
In the Encyclopoedia I advocate experimenting with the arpeggios that common scales contain as a
way of both understanding the scale better and making your playing more interesting. Here we look
at the two symmetrical arpeggios that are embedded in the common Harmonic Minor scale.

The Harmonic Minor contains an augmented triad built and a diminished seventh arpeggio, both
built on the 7. Here's how they sound played one after the other:
T---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|--------------5--9--6----------------------------------9--13--\12--9-------------------------A-----------5-----------7----------------------------9-----------------10---------------------|--------6-----------------9--6------------------10------------------------12--9--------------B-----7--------------------------8-----------11-----------------------------------11----------|--8--------------------------------10--/12---------------------------------------------------These two arpeggios cover the entire scale except for the root, which is usually being stated by the
music you're playing over anyway. Hence they sketch out the whole Harmonic Minor sound; you
can, of course, add in the root at any time you like.
Here's an E-shaped CAGED fingering for the Harmonic Minor, with augmented triad notes in black
and diminished notes in red. The small white notes are the roots:

Here's a lick that works very like the first one but changes between the arpeggios more quickly and
stays entirely within the fingering just given. It ends by resolving to the root:
T--------------------------8--7--4------------------------------------------------------------|-----------------6--5--9-----------6---------------------------------------------------------A-----------4--7-----------------------7--5---------------------------------------------------|--------6-----------------------------------6------------------------------------------------B-----7-----------------------------------------7--5------------------------------------------|--8--------------------------------------------------7--4--5---------------------------------Finally, here's a simple tapping pattern using the two arpeggios from A Harmonic Minor -- I'll play
it through slowly but with practice you could get this up to a pretty high speed:
T--t12--4--8--t12-/13--7--10--t13-------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------A---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------B---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------If you did want to work with this kind of approach it would be well worth practicing the same idea
on all six strings and in different keys so that you can use it improvisationally.
Harmonic Minor Modes: The Locrian Natural 6
In previous posts we've looked at three of the less well-known modes of the harmonic Minor scale.
We'll now move on to more dissonant material than we've seem previously with the Locrian Natural
6. It's a rarely-heard sound, although unlike the other scales in this group it's actually more
consonant than its relative in the major scale group.
Here's the Locrian scale, followed by the Locrian Natural 6:
T-------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------

|-------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------A-------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------|----------------------8--10--11--10--|----------------------8--10--11--10--------------------B------------8--9--11-----------------|------------8--9--12-----------------------------------|--8--9--11---------------------------|--8--9--11---------------------------------------------You probably already know that the Locrian scale can be used over dominant, minor 7 or halfdiminished sounds; the same is true of the Locrian Natural 6. As with the Locrian, the flat fifth and
second create tension over a minor seventh chord and the flat three adds further tension over a
dominant. You can really use this anywhere that you'd use the Locrian scale. If there's a natural fifth
in the underlying harmony (as ifs usual) the Locrian Natural 6 will be a little more consonant
because the fifth will have more "space" to fit into the minor third between the b5 and 6.
It's even possible to add the natural 5 back in to the Locrian Natural 6, making it less disssonant
again over a minor or major triad-based harmony. The result is the octatonic scale that the
Encyclopoedia calls the 1min + b2aug + b3min scale. The name gives us a way to visualize it: play
the minor triad arpeggios at the root and flat third mixed with the augmented arpeggio built on the
flat second. This pattern, like the others in this lesson, is played in D minor at the fifth fret (and so
you should be visualising the A-shape arpeggio throughout as a way to "anchor" what you're
playing against the underlying harmony):
T--------5--\4--------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-----6---------6------------8----------------------------------------------------------------A--7---------------5--\4--8-----8--4----------------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------5--7---------------------------------------------------B---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------You can, of course, take a more scalar approach if you prefer:
T---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------4--6--4--\3-----------------------------------------------------A--------------------4--5--7------------------------------------------------------------------|-----------5--6--7---------------------------------------------------------------------------B--5--6--8------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Returning to the Locrian Natural 6 itself, the minor triads built on the b3 and b7 are particularly
useful colours, with the b3 triad isolating just the b5 dissonance and the b7 triad isolating just the b2
dissonance (if that's not too much of a mouthful):
T--4--8--4--------------8---------------------------------------------------------------------|-----------6--------8-----8------------------------------------------------------------------A--------------5-/8-----------8--\7-----------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------B---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------As a final idea, instead of extracting triad or seventh arpeggios from the scale we can extract a
pentatonic scale instead. Like all heptatonics, the Locrian natural 6 contains fifteen pentatonic
scales, including a number that would have very large intervals and that we probably wouldn't
consider useful.

One that looks useful is what the Encyclopoedia calls the Common Minor Pentatonic b5 scale,
spelled 1 b3 4 b5 b7, although we might feel this is a bit close to the Common Pentatonic; another is
the 1dim + 4maj scale, which is the same but with the natural 6 instead of the b7. Here are both of
these scales played one after the other:
T---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------A--------------5--7--4------------------------------------------------------------------------|--------5--6-----------6--5------------------------------------------------------------------B--5--8-----------------------8--5-----5------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------7---------------------------------------------------------If you're trying to find your way around the Harmonic Minor modes, try experimenting with all of
these ideas and see if you enjoy any of the sounds they give you access to. There are many other
possibilities that we haven't looked at, and that you can go hunting for yoursel
Harmonic Minor Modes: The Super Locrian bb7
In this final instalment of our series on the modes of the Harmonic Minor scale, we consider the
scale known as the Super Locrian bb7. This is a very distinctive and dissonant scale, and is difficult
to use in standard jazz and rock contexts; it makes us work hard if we're going to get something
usable out of it.
The scale is spelled 1 b2 b3 b4 b5 b6 bb7. The most natural harmonisation of this scale gives us a
fully diminished seventh chord at the root (1 b3 b5 bb7), but the scale doesn't even work in a
straightforward way over that harmony because of the b4 it contains, which creates a very strong
dissonance.
The scale contains a minor triad built on the b2, which contains most of the notes not contained in
the underlying harmony. When combined with the underlying diminished seventh the two arpeggios
cover the whole scale. Note that the b2 minor is not a minor seventh. Here I'll play the two
arpeggios up and down, then play a line that switches between them every couple of notes -- all of
the examples in this post except the last one are in the key of A around fifth position:
T--------------------------5--8--6------------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------7-----------6---------------------------------------------------------A-----------------5--8-----------------6------------------------------------------------------|-----------4--7--------------------------8---------------------------------------------------B--------6-----------------------------------8------------------------------------------------|--5--8-----------------------------------------9--6-------------------------------------------

T--8--5-----------------------------------------------------6--9--5---------------------------|--------7--------------------------------------------7--6------------------------------------A-----------8--5--6-----------------------------5--8------------------------------------------|--------------------8-----------------------7------------------------------------------------B-----------------------8--6--------------8---------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------8--5--6--9------------------------------------------------------The augmented arpeggio is found at the root in this case, which gives us another way to break up

the scale. Here I'll descend the scale in the normal way but then come back up via the augmented
triad:
T--8--6--5-----------------------------5--9--8------------------------------------------------|-----------7--6--------------------6---------------------------------------------------------A-----------------8--6--5--------6------------------------------------------------------------|--------------------------8--7---------------------------------------------------------------B---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------The trouble with this is that it doesn't really suggest the Super Locrian bb7; that's a problem but also
an invitation, since playing this mode can lead you into a bitonal way of playing. Over an extended,
static harmony you can use this scale to strongly suggest other key centres -- in the case of the lick
above that might be C or, by resolving up or down from other notes of the augmented arpeggio, Bb
or F#. With ingenuity, in fact, you can reach any tonality you like from an augmented triad more or
less immediately.
A major factor in the dissonance of this scale is the b4; one option is simply to remove it, giving us
the hexatonic scale spelled 1 b2 b3 b5 b6 bb7, which in the Encyclopoedia is listed as Mode V of
the 100101100110 scale set.
T--------------------------------------8--6--5------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------6--7---------------------------------------------------------A--------------------------5--8---------------------------------------------------------------|--------------------7--8---------------------------------------------------------------------B-----------6--8--9---------------------------------------------------------------------------|--5--6--8------------------------------------------------------------------------------------You'll probably find this scale significantly easier to use than the heptatonic thanks to the absence of
that very sour b4. Just for fun, here's a short lick combining this scale with its coscale, meaning the
hexatonic that contains all the notes that this scale doesn't contain:
T---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------A--------------------------------6--7-----8---------------------------------------------------|--------------------------6--9--------8-----7------------------------------------------------B-----------8--6--7--9------------------------------------------------------------------------|--5--6--8--------------7---------------------------------------------------------------------No doubt we'll have more on complementary scales in posts: for now just notice that here we're
playing the whole chromatic scale but in a highly organised way. The sound is much more
satisfying than either the boring up-and-down chromatics we often hear or random attempts to play
atonally without any internal logic.
Finally, let's return to the Super Locrian bb7 in all its ornery, heptatonic dissonance. Here's a sort of
etude that uses only the notes from this scale (this time in the key of E) and tries to demonstrate the
sounds it contains.
T--6-----6---------------4-----4--------------3-----3-----------------------------------------|-----8-----8---------------6-----6--------------5-----5--------------------------------------A--------------6--10--9--------------5--9--6--------------3--6--5--3--------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------6--5--3------------------

B---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

T--13------13------------------12------12-----------------10-----10---------------------------------|------11------11------------------10------10-----------------8------8------------------------------A------------------10--14--12------------------9--12--10----------------6--10--9--6--5--6--5--6--5--3
|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------B---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

T---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|--------------------------5------------------------------------------------------------------A-----------------3-----5-----6--3------------------------------------------------------------|--------3-----5-----6--------------5--2--3--2--5--3--2--3--5--6--5--3--5--6--8--6--5--6--8---B-----4-----7---------------------------------------------------------------------------------|--6-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

T---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------A----------------------6------6--10--9--------------------------------------------------------|--6--10--8--6--8--10-----10------------------------------------------------------------------B---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

T--6-----6---------------4-----4--------------3-----3-----------------------------------------|-----8-----8---------------6-----6--------------5-----5--------------------------------------A--------------6--10--9--------------5--9--6--------------3--6--5--3--------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------6--5--3-----------------B------------------------------------------------------------------------------7--------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Here's how the whole thing sounds, mostly in straight eighth notes at a medium tempo -- you could,
of course, vary the rhythm and create your own variations on these ideas:
That completes our tour of the less well-known Harmonic Minor modes. The ones I haven't covered
are the Harmonic Minor itself and the Phrygian Major, since both are widely used and familiar. It's
nice to know that such a strange beast as the Super Locrian bb7 lurks within the modal group of
even such a familiar scale as this one: you don't have to look too far to find challenging new sounds.
Exploring New Material with Motifs and Patterns
This post is about one way to develop ideas for licks out of simple material almost by a kind of
"free association": you play something, find a bit you like, play around with it and so on.

It often uses an approach I'm going to call "Harmolodic" or "Slonimsky-like" because it involves
taking a short phrase and repeating it at different transpositions; it has things in common with the
ideas in Nicolas Slonimsky's Thesaurus of Scales and Melodic Patterns and with some of Ornette
Coleman's techniques, although it's not really the same as either. I'm going to concentrate only on
note-selection here: rhythm, phrasing and of course harmony create lots more possibilities.
Let's start with some basic material. Here's a phrase that plays each note in the A Natural Minor
scale once and then each note in the Eb Minor Pentatonic once. The phrase covers all of the twelve
notes in the octave exactly once each -- the phrase even stays within the compass of a single octave.
It's therefore what the Schoenbergians among you will know as a "tone row":
T--8--5--7--------------------------9--6------------------------------------------------------|-----------8--6-----5--7--------9------------------------------------------------------------A-----------------7--------6--8---------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------B---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------There's nothing very interesting about a major scale and a minor pentatonic: we'd like to break them
up a bit and find different ways to play them. One way to start doing this is to use octave
displacements. This creates a more angular effect, but depending on how you do it it'll also bring
out different qualities of the melodic line:
T--8--------------------------11--------------------------------------------------------------|-----------8---------------------9-----------------------------------------------------------A-----------------7--------6------------------------------------------------------------------|-----7--9---------------------------8-------------------------------------------------------B--------------8-----7--9---------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Notice how different notes seem to "stick together" now and create a sort of multi-layered melody.
What I hear here are two melodies, one in the high notes and the other in the low notes. We can
separate these out and play them one after the other:
T--8-----------11-----|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|-----8------------9--|--------------------------------------------------------------------------A--------7--6---------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------|--7--9-----------8--------------------------------------------------------B---------------------|--------8--7--9-----------------------------------------------------------|---------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------Let's pick out the second (lower-pitched) melody and use that "harmolodic" technique. All I'll do
here is play the phrase repeatedly, moving it up a fourth each time but otherwise keeping it exactly
the same. We're actually covering the whole chromatic scale with this pattern:
T--------------------------------------------------------------------------4--6-----------5---|--------------------------------------------------------4--6-----------5--------5--4--6------A--------------------------------------3--5-----------4--------4--3--5------------------------|--------------------3--5-----------4--------4--3--5------------------------------------------B--3--5-----------4--------4--3--5------------------------------------------------------------|--------4--3--5-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

An obvious thing to experiment with is using different intervals when we move the pattern. Here's
almost the same idea, this time moving in minor thirds instead of perfect fourths (I switched the first
two notes around to enable me to use that slide to move between positions):
T-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------5--\3-----------4
|------------------------------------------------------------------7--\5-----------6---------4--3--5--A-----------------------------------------------8--\6-----------7---------5--4--6---------------------|--------------------------10--\8------------9---------7--6--8----------------------------------------B--12--10--------------11----------9--8--10-----------------------------------------------------------|----------11--10--12---------------------------------------------------------------------------------Another variation on this yielded up a little ladder run -- all I did was take the little phrase and
reverse it, playing it backwards and then forwards as I moved up and down two strings. My rule is
to slide down a tone with your ring finger but only a semitone with your middle finger. You can
figure out how to continue it all the way down or, as with all these examples, play it backwards to
create a run in the opposite direction:
T--11--------------10--12--\10--8------------9--\8-----------7--9--\7--5-----------6----------|------12--10--11------------------9--8--10---------9--7--8---------------6--5--7-------------A---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------B---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Now let's have a look at the first, higher-pitched melody, which we might re-write like this:
T---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-----8-----------9---------------------------------------------------------------------------A--5-----7--6--8------------------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------B---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------We could, of course, do a similar harmolodic-like idea with this -- here I'm moving it up in whole
tones:
T---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-----5-----------6-----7-----------8-----9-----------10-----11-------------12----------------A--2-----4--3--5-----4-----6--5--7-----6-----8--7--9------8------10--9--11--------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------B---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------which is oddly pleasing to play but not all that exciting to listen to. To make it more interesting, let's
play alternating copies of the phrase in reverse:
T---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-----5-----------6--/8-----------7---------9-----------10--/12-------------11----------------A--2-----4--3--5---------7--5--6-----4--/6-----8--7--9-----------11--9--10------8-------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------B---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

So far we've been creating runs that will go "out of key" if played against a conventional harmony
or backing track, so let's end with something diatonic. In fact each three-note group in the riff above
sounds to me as if it implies a major seventh harmony. Here's the same pattern but only using the
first three pitches. Try it over an F major 7 chord:
T---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-----5-----------5--5-----------5------------------------------------------------------------A--2-----4--2--4--------4--2--4-----2---------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------B---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Now let's imagine you like this picking pattern and want to take it further. Here's a very simple
application of it to the A minor pentatonic scale:
T---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------A-----5-----------5--5-----------5---------7-----------7--7-----------7---------9-------------|--2-----5--2--5--------5--2--5-----2--/5-----7--5--7--------7--5--7-----5--/7-----10--7--10--B---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

T---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------A--9--9-------------9----------12--------------12--12--------------12-------------------------|--------10--7--10-----7--/10------12--10--12----------12--10--12------10---------------------B---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------For me this has a country and western feel to it -- a very long way from the atonal material we
started out with.
I hope this post inspires you to explore some material of your own. Pick anything -- someone else's
lick or riff, even -- and chop it up, reverse it and refry it until it's your own. You may be surprised
where the process leads you.
Adventures in Side-Slipping, Part 1
I first heard about a technique called "side-slipping" in David Liebman's inspirational book A
Chromatic Approach to Jazz Harmony and Melody. My recent interest in the coscale relationship
led me back to it, since both involve, at least initially, working with "scales" that have no root notes.
The basic idea of side-slipping is extremely simple. Imagine you're playing over an Am chord using
the A Natural Minor scale. Now "slip" the whole fingering up or down a semitone; you'll find you're
playing the Ab or Bb Natural Minor scale over the same underlying Am harmony. Conceptually,
that's all side-slipping is.
In either of these cases, however, we have a problem of analysis because the pattern you're playing
doesn't contain a root note. As a result we can't talk about it using the language of modes, the most
natural way to do that kind of thing. After all, if you slipped your fingers down two frets instead of

one you'd simply be playing A Locrian, and we all know (I hope) how to make sense of what's
going on what we play A Locrian over an Am harmony. This is the kind of thing the Encyclopoedia
does very thoroughly.
Let's look at what happens when we move the A Natural Minor fingering up the fretboard, one fret
at a time, without changing the underlying Am harmony:
Original fret A Natural Minor
1, 2, b3, 4, 5, b6, b7
Up 1 fret
Semitone Side-Slip #1 #2 3 #4 #5 6 7
Up 2 frets
A Mixolydian 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, b7
Up 3 frets
Minor Third Side-Slip
#1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, 7
Up 4 frets
A Lydian
1, 2, 3, #4, 5, 6, 7
Up 5 frets
A Phrygian 1, b2, b3, 4, 5, b6, b7
Up 6 frets
Tritone Side-Slip
#1, 2, 3, #4, #5, 6, 7
Up 7 frets
A Dorian
1, 2, b3, 4, 5, 6, b7
Up 8 frets
Augmented Side-Slip #1, #2, 3, #4, #5, #6, 7
Up 9 frets
A Major (Ionian)
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7
Up 10 frets A Locrian
1, b2, b3, 4, b5, b6, b7
Up 11 frets Major Seventh Side-Slip
#1, 2, 3, #4, 5, 6, 7
Up 12 frets A Natural Minor
1, 2, b3, 4, 5, b6, b7
This isn't surprising to most of you, I'm sure; any non-symmetrical n-note scale will contain n
modes and 12-n of these things that have no root note, which most people ignore. Let's do the
opposite and remove the modes from the list, since we already know how to deal with them. What's
left are what I'll call the side-slips:
Up 1 fret
Semitone Side-Slip #1 #2 3 #4 #5 6 7
Up 3 frets
Minor Third Side-Slip
#1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, 7
Up 6 frets
Tritone Side-Slip
#1, 2, 3, #4, #5, 6, 7
Up 8 frets
Augmented Side-Slip #1, #2, 3, #4, #5, #6, 7
Up 11 frets Major Seventh Side-Slip
#1, 2, 3, #4, 5, 6, 7
These resources are worth exploring in a number of ways. One is simply to examine their tensions
against the underlying chord and treat them as "extra modes"; I think this can work well with scales
with fewer notes, as I suggest in the Encyclopoedia when I treat all twelve "modes" of the 3- and 4note arpeggios. I'm a bit more sceptical about this way of approaching scales with seven or more
notes, since the level of dissonance is quite a challenge to work with, but it may very well be worth
further investigation.
I mentioned that I got into this by way of coscales, since I'm currently interested in ways to use all
twelve tones of the chromatic scale in a structured way by "sharing" them between one or more
scales. Let's imagine we're going to play the Natural Minor and one of these side-slips, in fairly
quick alternation. What notes would be be playing?
Natural Minor + Semitone Side-Slip Total chromatic
Natural Minor + Minor Third Side-Slip
1, #1, 2, #2, #3, #4, 5, #5, #6, 7
Natural Minor + Tritone Side-Slip Total chromatic
Natural Minor + Augmented Side-Slip
1, #1, 2, #2, 3, 4, #4, 5, #5, #6, b7, 7
Natural Minor + Major Seventh Side-Slip Total Chromatic
So, we have three side-slips that give the total chromatic when combined with the original scale.
The other two side-slips create very nearly chromatic scales of ten and eleven notes. Remember that
all this is specific to the scale in question -- the Natural Minor or Aeolian scale -- and other scales
will behave differently.

The approach I'm taking with these right now is the same one I take with coscale relationships (note
that these are not coscales, since there is some overlap in the two scales!). I'm constructing lines that
alternate quickly and freely between the two scales, playing a few notes from one and then a few
from the other, and so on. This has a tendency to cover all twelve notes in a short time, giving a fair
approximation of a serial texture. Of course, many things that make serial music work are missing
from this approach, but what you get in return is a fairly flexible framework for improvisation. Into
this framework it may be possible to reintroduce Schoenbergian ideas as a way to further structure
the music without giving up on our ability to improvise with it: such is the hope, anyway.
Here's a recording of me jamming with the Major Seventh Side-Slip of the A Natural Minor Scale.
It's a bit sloppy -- you have to think fast when doing this, and my fingers aren't quite keeping up
yet! -- but I hope it helps you hear some of the sounds that are possible and decide whether this is
worth your investigation:
Pentatonic Hypermodes
I've been experimenting with hypermodes for a while now and thought I'd share both the theory and
a practical application here.
As you probably know, one way to find the modes of a scale is to write out its notes and then, one
line at a time, write them down again, raising them by one semitone for each row until you end up
back where you started. You then pick all the rows that have a root (1) in them and those are the
modes of the scale. Here's an example done with the common major pentatonic scale:
1
2
3
5
6
*
b2
b3
4
b6
b7
2
3
b5
6
7
b3
4
5
b7
1
*
3
b5
b6
7
b2
4
5
6
1
2
*
b5
b6
b7
b2
b3
5
6
7
2
3
b6
b7
1
b3
4
*
6
7
b2
3
b5
b7
1
2
4
5
*
7
b2
b3
b5
b6
The rows marked with an asterisk are the modes, and these five scales are the ones you would
normally study whem looking at this scale modally. The other rows seem to be a "by-product" and
are usually thrown away. Since they have no root notes, they aren't "really scales" and they look as
if they'll be hard to think about and use.
Treating these other rows as valid possibilities takes us from a modal approach to what I call a
"hypermodal" one. Assuming you already know the basic modes (or can look them up in the Scale
and Arpeggio Resources), let's look at the hypermodes alone. I've written next to each one the
commonest heptatonic scale of which the hypermode is a subset -- this will give an indication of
how it might sound:
b2
2
3
b5
5
6

b3
3
b5
b6
6
7

4
b5
b6
b7
7
b2

b6
6
7
b2
2
3

b7
7
b2
b3
3
b5

Locrian
Lydian
Marva Augmented
Locrian
Ionian (Major)
Marva

7
b2
b3
b5
b6
Locrian Nat 7
One thing is immediately clear -- four of these are going to give us basic sounds from the Major
Scale modes, although they might be interesting ways to play them, and the other three are going to
give us sounds from three different, rare heptatonic scales.
To me, these three seem as if they'll be more interesting for two reasons. One, of course, is that
hopefully we already know how to play the Major Scale modes and we're very familiar with their
sounds. The other is that by adding the root to the other three hypermodes we will have six out of
the seven notes required to play three exotic heptatonic scales, which would make them much easier
to learn.
So that brings us down to three hypermodes that seem worth investigating further:
3
b5
b6
7
b2
Marva Augmented
6
7
b2
3
b5
Marva
7
b2
b3
b5
b6
Locrian Nat 7
The hypermodal approach works best, to my ears, with scales that have large intervals and/or few
notes. In Scale and Arpeggio Resources I treat all three- and four-note scales hypermodally, but
scales with five or more notes get the modal treatment only; this is partly because of space
limitations and partly because of the diminishing returns offered by the hypermodes of larger scales.
Yet, as you can see, this does apply quite well to pentatonics: that might even end up being the
subject of a supplement to the Scale and Arpeggio Resources in the future.
Simple Arpeggio Superimpositions
This is a quick note on two superimposition strategies that are quite common in jazz, and that
enable you to use your triad and seventh arpeggios to create more sophisticated sounds without
having to memorize anything new.
Building on the 3
These are often called "3 to 7" or "3 to 9" superimpositions; the idea is to build a triad or seventh on
the third of the chord you're playing over. For example, if the chord is C major, the third is E so
you'll play an E-rooted arpeggio of some kind; if the chord is C minor, the third is Eb (a flat third)
so we'd build on that.
The trouble is, what kind of arp should we choose? Here's a quick crib:
Major 7
Dominant 7
Minor 7
Half diminished
Diminished
Augmented
Notes from 3: b3 3 b6 7
2 3 b6 7
2 3 5 7 2 3 5 b7
b2 3 5 b7
1 3 #5
Notes from b3:
2 b3 5 b7
b2 b3 5 b7
b2 b3 b5 b7 b2 b3 b5 6
1 b3 b5 6
b3 5
7
Matt Warnock, who knows the jazz vocabulary very well, gives the following recommendations:
On a Minor 7, use the Major 7 built on the b3 (2 b3 5 b7)
On a Dominant 7, use the Half diminished built on the 3 (2 3 5 b7)
On a Major 7, use the Minor 7 built on the 3 (2 3 5 7)
These are very "vanilla" options, since they just outline all the notes of the unaltered ninth chord
minus the root. This is very useful. We could also add:
On a Half Diminished, use the Minor 7 built on the b3 (b2 b3 b5 b7)
which, although it contains the b9, is a pretty plain and simple sound. So our table looks like this,

with these very safe but still useful sounds coloured green:
Major 7
Dominant 7
Minor 7
Half diminished
Diminished
Augmented
Notes from 3: b3 3 b6 7
2 3 b6 7
2 3 5 7 2 3 5 b7
b2 3 5 b7
1 3 #5
Notes from b3:
2 b3 5 b7
b2 b3 5 b7
b2 b3 b5 b7 b2 b3 b5 6
1 b3 b5 6
b3 5
7
The others are all worth experimenting with to see what you can find. I would highlight just a few
others:
Major 7
Dominant 7
Minor 7
Half diminished
Diminished
Augmented
Notes from 3: b3 3 b6 7
2 3 b6 7
2 3 5 7 2 3 5 b7
b2 3 5 b7
1 3 #5
Notes from b3:
2 b3 5 b7
b2 b3 5 b7
b2 b3 b5 b7 b2 b3 b5 6
1 b3 b5 6
b3 5
7
Dominant 7 built on the 3 gives you a cheap way to get that Harmonic Major sound of a b6 against
a Major 7, which is quite popular among some modern players. On the b3 it gives a Phrygian sound,
while Diminished built on the 3 implies Phrygian Dominant, a common sound on a dominant 7 that
acts as the V to a minor chord (e.g. E7 -> Am). These ideas alone give you more than enough to
play on almost any jazz tune.
Building on the 7
Another typical scheme is to build an arpeggio on the 7th of the chord, which is often known as
playing its "upper structure" since you almost always end up with some combination of 7, 9, 11 and
13. Because they're symmetrical it makes a bit less sense to do this with diminished and augmented
arpeggios so we'll just look at the four main seventh chord qualities here:
Major 7
Dominant 7
Minor 7
Half diminished
Notes from 7: 7 #9 #11 #13 7 #9 #11 13 7 9 #11 13
7 9 11 13
Notes from b7:
b7 9 11 13
b7 9 11 b13 b7 b9 11 b13 3 b7 b9 b13
The most "vanilla" sounds here are:
On a Minor 7 and Dominant 7, use the Major 7 built on the b7 (b7 9 11 13)
On a Major 7, use the Half Diminished 7 built on the 7 (7 9 11 13) or the Minor 7 for a Lydian
sound
On a Half Diminished, use the Minor 7 built on the b7 (b7 b9 11 b13)
Here they are shaded:
Major 7
Dominant 7
Minor 7
Half diminished
Notes from 7: 7 #9 #11 #13 7 #9 #11 13 7 9 #11 13
7 9 11 13
Notes from b7:
b7 9 11 13
b7 9 11 b13 b7 b9 11 b13 3 b7 b9 b13
Of the others, the ones built on the 7 give usable altered sounds over a Major 7 chord, especially in
a non-functioning context (where the chord isn't clearly a tonic or subdominant), and the ones built
on the b7 can work over an altered dominant chord (again, one that's acting as V7 to a minor chord).
Harmonic Major Applications
I just watched a Tom Quayle video on this topic that contains some good information but needed
some translation before it made sense to me. I thought I'd provide the translation for anyone else
who found it useful.
Here's the video:

Tom's fundamental point here is that in a given key there are three different diminished chords and
each has a different function, and there's a Harmonic Major application for each one.
The first function he calls "tonic" diminished chords: in C that would be C dim, Eb dim, Gb dim
and A dim. For this situation he recommends G Harmonic Major.
The second function he calls "flat nine" diminished chords: in C that would be Db dim, E dim, G
dim and Bb dim. Here Tom wants us to play F Harmonic Major.
The third function he calls "nine" diminished chords: in C that would be D dim, F dim, G# dim and
B dim. To most of us this looks like a tritone sub: D dim standing in for Db7, which is standing in
for G7. The scale here is C Harmonic Major.
All this is tremendously confusing for those of us who like thinking in terms of scales rather than
relative modes. So let's unpick it:
On "tonic" diminished chords, play Lydian Minor
On "flat nine" diminished chords, play Kosalam #5
On "nine" diminished chords, play Dorian b5
That may or may not seem simpler to you, but it seems simpler to me.
A question remains about whether this analysis makes any sense. The function of a diminished
chord is usually defined by how it resolves, not by its relation to the key (which, if there's a
diminished chord about, is probably about to change). The scales don't really match the diminished
chord's tones very closely, so there's probably a simpler interpretation of what's going on and why
these sounds "work". But that's for another day.
The Common Minor Pentatonic b6 & Scale Spectra
This interesting but little-known scale cropped up in the context of some exotic scale work this
week. It's easy to learn, has an unusual but very usable sound and can help with learning several
larger scale structures.
Learning the Shapes
The scale is just a Common Major Pentatonic (1 2 3 5 6) with the 6 flattened to give 1 2 3 5 b6.
Hence its fingerings are all identical to those of the Common Major with just with sixth moved
down one fret, although technical considerations might make you want to move that note to a
neighbouring string in some cases.
Thinking of it another way it's just a major triad arpeggio with the 2 (=9) and the b6 (=#5) added. I
mention that the b6 is the same as the #5 because it might help to think of it as the "union" of the
major and augmented triads overlaid on top of each other. This seems to work quite well for me;
then the only task is to add the 2.
As with any scale, once you have a general idea how to play it it's worth working with it for a while,
finding the technical challenges and getting the sound into your ear.
Heptatonics
Something you probably learned early on is that the Major Scale modes can be related to Common
Pentatonic modes with two added notes; this may even have been the way you first learned them (as
it was for me). This is a trick we can use with more advanced material as well. All the scales in this
section are given full fingering diagrams in Scale and Arpeggio Resources.

The following are all the "obvious" heptatonic scales that consist of this pentatonic plus the 4 and 7,
however altered:
1 2 3 4 5 b6 7 Harmonic Major
1 2 3 4 5 b6 b7
Mixolydian b6 (mode of Melodic Minor)
1 2 3 4 5 b6 bb7
Mararanjani
1 2 3 #4 5 b6 7
Latangi
1 2 3 #4 5 b6 b7
Rishabhapriya (mode of Neapolitan)
1 2 3 #4 5 b6 bb7
Kantamani (mode of Enigmatic)
Most of these are very rare in Western music. Things get even more exotic if we add the two notes
after the b6:
1 2 3 5 b6 b7 7
Semidominant Augmented (mode of Jyoti Swarupini)
1 2 3 5 b6 6 7 Augmented ##11 (mode of Varunapriya)
1 2 3 5 b6 6 b7
Mixolydian ##4 #5 (mode of Rupavati)
or add either the b2 or #2 plus another note:
1 b2 2 3 4 5 b6
1maj + b2maj + 2
1 b2 2 3 #4 5 b6
Super Locrian bb3 bb6 bbb7 (mode of Jalarnavam)
1 b2 2 3 5 b6 bb7
Kanakangi b4 (mode of Chalnata)
1 b2 2 3 5 b6 b7
Ratnangi b4 (mode of Suvarnangi)
1 b2 2 3 5 b6 7
Super Locrian bb3 nat5 nat7 (mode of Divyamani)
1 2 #2 3 4 5 b6
Eurean Mode II
1 2 #2 3 #4 5 b6
1maj + b2maj + 6dim
1 2 #2 3 5 b6 bb7
Jhankaradhvani b4 scale (mode of Kanakangi)
1 2 #2 3 5 b6 b7
Aeolian b4 (mode of Ionian b2)
1 2 #2 3 5 b6 7
Harmonic Minor b4 (mode of Dhatuvardani)
There are more possibilities if we allow more consecutive semitones, but this seems like quite
enough to be going along with. All of these scales can be learned by adding just two notes to the
"skeleton" of the Common Pentatonic b6. It would be an interesting theoretical project to do a
similar calculation for every pentatonic, thus seeing every heptatonic as having a "spectral
decomposition" into several overlapping pentatonics and grouping together heptatonics that share
the same pentatonic kernel.
I'll have more to reveal about this "spectrum" idea soon as I'm working up a book-length set of
spectra and I'll be using this one as a handy test case
How Many Heptatonics Contain the Common Pentatonic?
Perhaps you've already learned the good old-fashioned "Pentatonic scale" (major or minor versions,
it doesn't matter). Perhaps you know you can learn some of "the modes" (of the Major Scale) by
adding two extra notes to one of the modes of this scale. If so, you know how quick and easy that is.
Which other seven-note scales can we learn by adding two notes to the Common Pentatonic?
I'll assume you know how to find the modes of a scale, so that we don't care about answers that are
different only because they're modes of each other. We'd like to know which genuinely different
seven-note scales we can get in this way. The answer is related the the subject of my forthcoming
book, Spectral Analysis of Scales, which will of course appear on this blog when it's ready.
The analysis in that book suggests that the answer is the "7-spectrum" of the Common Pentatonic,
which consists of the following ten scale groups:

Major Scale
Melodic Minor Scale
Ionian b5
Ionian #6 (Naganandini)
Melodic Minor b4
Harmonic Minor #6 (Varunapriya)
Varunapriya #5
Vanaspati b4
Kamavardani
Chalanata
I've tidied this up a bit compared with the version in the book, which is generated by an algorithm
that doesn't always "interpret" things in the way I'd like (unfortunately there's no way to fix this that
I can see without a lot of error-prone manual messing-about). In particular, I've selected what I
think is the easiest scale in the group to recognise, not the one the algorithm gives me or necessarily
the one that contains the Common Major Pentatonic in root position.
This is quite the collection of scales. Only two are in common use in the West. The scales in the rest
of these groups include a large number of Carnatic melakatas plus a lot of very rare and exotic
scales indeed. Each one can be approached by adding just two notes to the Common Pentatonic
fingerings you already know; they cannot be mastered that way, but this is a good way to start
experimenting with exotic scale sounds to see what catches your ear.
Spellings, analysis and CAGED fingerings of all these scales can, of course, be found in Scale and
Arpeggio Resources
The Scales in More Detail
Two of these -- the Major and Melodic Minor -- are well-known and need no further introduction.
A further two are what I call the "double blues scales". If we think of the 3, b5 and 7 as the three
"blues notes" that are commonly added to the Minor Pentatonic, these shapes involve adding two of
these notes together:
Adding the 3 and 7 to the Minor Pentatonic shapes gives the Chalanata shapes
Adding the b5 and 7 to the Minor Pentatonic shapes gives the Kamavardani shapes
These might seem unpromising on paper, since they just contain very common blues sounds. Yet
many of their modes offer extraordinary combinations of notes and they are, after all, very easy to
learn.
Let's look at the remaining ones, re-ordered to bring out some similarities. Here we're looking at
adding notes to the Common Minor Pentatonic fingerings, following the same idea as the double
blues scales:
Ionian b5: b2 and b5
Vanaspati b4: b2 and 3
Varunapriya #5: b5 and 6
Ionian #6 (Naganandini): 3 and 6
Melodic Minor b4: b6 and 7
Harmonic Minor #6 (Varunapriya): 2 and 7
Considering the b2 to be a fourth "blues note" -- which I suppose it isn't really, but it's certainly an
easy note to find and sounds good, used with care, in a blues context -- makes Ionian b5 and
Vanaspati b4 very easy to learn.

Learning the location of the 6 then makes the next two (Varunapriya #5 and Ionian #6)
straightforward, since the other note is just a familiar blues note in each case. The last two may
require a bit more thought, but I would again treat them as a pair, sharing the 7, and I imagine this
would make learning them no harder than the others.
These are not all the possibilities: I have excluded scales that contain a long run of three or more
consecutive semitones, since they tend to be less interesting to work with. But even given that, we
have 70 distinct scales that can probably be learned in a couple of months.
A Special "Altered Pentatonic" Scale
I "discovered" a scale about a month ago when playing with the Ionian b2 (which is now, by the
way, part of my regular improvising vocabulary). At the time I thought it was just a curiosity but I
liked the sound and since then I've seen it pop up in a few other places.
I was surprised when I saw Adrian Galysh describe it as "the scale that'll change your life":

and even more surprised when I heard something very similar from Jack Zucker, saying he took it
from Joe Pass (he actually plays one extra note in here, but it's a closely related sound):

Finally, here's an explanation of the scale on piano:

The scale is spelled 1 #2 3 #5 b7, which might not look like much. In Arpeggio and Scale Resources
it's listed as the "Phrygian Pentatonic b4", which doesn't suggest anything very exciting. I
discovered it because its fingerings look just like those of the Major Pentatonic with a flattened 6, or
the Minor Pentatonic with a flattened root (which sounds a bit weirder but is very easy to find).

One thing to notice is that it's a subset of the Altered Scale that jazz guitarists like so much: 1 b2 b3
(=#2) b4 (=3) b5 b6 (=#5) b7, with the b2 and b5 taken out. So a first use of it is just as a sub for
that scale. Personally I always found the Altered Scale too cluttered with different kinds of
dissonance for my taste, and this one suits my style much better. I can always add the b2 or b5 or
both when I feel like hearing them.
Next we can look at its modes. The Major Pentatonic b6 is, in fact, a lovely sound over major 7
chords; it's a subset of the Harmonic Major, which is a scale that everyone ought to know, and this
is a good step towards learning it. It's also a subset of Latangi, an Ionian b2 mode that has a similar
kind of sound but is a little more angular thanks to its #4.
The other three modes all sound great too. Dorian b5 Pentatonic is bluesy but also works well over
minor or half-diminished chords. Myxolydian Pentatonic b2 suggests a major 7 sound to my ears,
bringing to mind the Ionian b2 itself. Altered Pentatonic III also works well over major 7s and has a
sound that's reminiscent -- for good reasons -- of Coltrane Changes.
Check out this interesting and easy-to-learn scale and see what you think.

[UPDATE: Spectral Analysis of Scales is now out, and completely free to download. The 7spectrum of this pentatonic contains Melodic Minor and Neapolitan as well as Harmonic Major and
a bunch of very exotic scales, so (as always) there's a lot more to explore here.]
Building maj7b5 Vocabulary from Scratch
Say you've written (or a bandmate as written) a tune that features a sustained Maj7b5 chord. What
do you play over it? Probably you don't have standard vocabulary for this type of chord, and since
it's unusual it's not likely you'll find many ideas by transcribing. So how could you quickly build
coherent vocabulary?
Start with what's easy
Clearly you need to know the chord tones, so let's start there. The Maj7b5 arpeggio contains, of
course, the notes 1, 3, b5 and 7; here are the CAGED fingerings (all diagrams come from by free
ebook Arpeggio and Scale Resources):
This covers 4 out of the possible 12 notes available to us. To start with, we should internalise the
sound of these and try to develop some musical ideas out of them. Four notes is a bit limiting
melodically, and since they're all chord tones there's not much scope for building tension and
release, but still you can apply techniques like enclosures, approach notes and side-slipping to make
things more interesting.
What is vocabulary?
If we're going to extend this it would be good to have an idea of what our goal is. What does it
mean to "build vocabulary" for this chord? For me "vocabulary" isn't about pre-learned phrases or
"licks", at least in the traditional sense; I think these are hard to use when improvising and often
come off as stilted. And what do you play in between these canned phrases? Other canned phrases?
The danger is that you'll sound like someone playing through a book of licks one by one rather than
making a coherent musical statement, which is what improvisation ought to be about.
However, just learning scales and running them up and down doesn't create good results either. We
can learn a lot about how to deal with this from the raga system of North Indian music. A raga isn't
just a scale, though it does include a pitch collection. It isn't a melody either, though it has certain
melodic gestures encoded in it. For me a piece of "vocabulary" is like this: a set of notes, yes, but
also characteristic ways those notes move together and "talk to each other".
You can pick this up by transcribing, of course, because there you're tapping into a tradition of
players using fixed sets of notes in particular ways. But even when trying to develop something
from scratch it helps to think about this aspect of it as well as just collections of notes.
Consonant vs Dissonant
Let's try an exercise with our Maj7b5 arpeggio. We want to add some notes to it that will have a
consonant ("inside") sound against the chord. These will be notes we can move to to create mild
tension that we can resolve by returning to the chord tones. The notes we don't pick will be
dissonant ("outside") and will create a lot of tension. This doesn't mean we can't play them, but it
starts to give us some structure to the non-chord-tones.
The notes that aren't in the arpeggio are b2, 2, #2, 4, 5, b6, 6 and b7; this set of notes is sometimes
called the "complement" of the arpeggio. Our task is to break them up into two sets, one reasonably
consonant and the other reasonably dissonant. In this case it seems to me it's easier to start with the

dissonant notes.
Based on our knowledge of how things work in other harmonic situations we can expect that any
note that creates a 3-note cluster, where the notes are separated by semitones, will be pretty crunchy.
So the following will be dissonant sounds:
b2 (creates a 3-note cluster with the 1 and 7)
4 (creates a 3-note cluster with the 3 and b3)
b7 (creates a 3-note cluster with the 1 and 7)
As I said, you can do this on paper but of course you should check with the instrument to make sure
there are no surprises. I would also avoid the 5 on any chord with a b5, as it will tend to make the
b5 sound like a #4, which isn't what's intended.
So that gives us 4 notes we've chosen to define as "dissonant". The remaining notes are 2, #2, b6
and 6 -- let's call these the "inside" sounds and see what we can do with them. So the idea is to play
these four notes for mild tension and resolve to chord tones when we want to. Here are the CAGED
fingerings for this set of notes, with the "root" note (circled) being the 2:
(Notice that this is a symmetrical note-group with a nice "staircase" pattern that's very easy to
learn).
It's now time to start trying to combine each of these two ideas with the chord tones and see if we
can find things that work. Notice that this is much more than just choosing an 8-note scale; we have
four note-groups that relate to each other in musical ways. For example, the #2 in the "inside"
collection can clearly resolve to the 3 in the chord; but what about playing the sequence #2-7-3-1,
which has a kind of symmetry to it? Ideas like this start to add some musical content to the abstract
skeleton we started with. They arise naturally when you spend some time improvising with these
patterns.
Of course, you can choose to play the "outside" notes, too. These are b2, 4, 5, b7, which make a
m7b5 ("half-diminished") arpeggio built on the 5 of the underlying chord. Clearly we already know
these notes are going to be more dissonant, but hopefully you already know your m7b5 arpeggios so
experimenting with them should be a breeze.
What we now have is the 12 notes of the total chromatic divided into three equal parts: four chord
tones, four inside extensions and four outside extensions. Since each set is only four notes, it's easy
to work with. Spending time on each set individually, and then moving between them, will build
individual vocabulary for the Maj7b5 chord.
Of course, it may not produce results you like all that much. On the other hand, you may want more
options. So it's time to take this strategy and see what else we can do with it.
Working with the Results
A strategy like this doesn't necessarily produce anything instantly usable; it's designed to provide a
framework for exploration, which usually means putting some time in with the instrument, where
we discover things that would be hard to figure out merely on paper.
For example, we discover that each individual note from the "inside" set does indeed sound fairly
consonant against the Maj7b5 harmony, but as a group they're highly dissonant. This isn't too
surprising as they've just a pair of semitones separated by a tritone. So what can we do with them?
We can split them into two pairs that we treat separately: for example, 2 and 6 versus #2 and b6.

Or we can look for suggestive patterns: for example, the 2 and b6 together with the 7 and 3 (which
are in the chord) make a dom7 arpeggio built at the major third (III7); this is a very nice "inside"
sound on this harmony. The #2 and 6, on the other hand, can be combined with the 1 and b5 (again,
in the original harmony) to give a fully-diminished seventh chord built on the root. So these two
arpeggios cover all the "inside" sounds in a very practical way.
The III7 choice, incidentally, might lead you to think about playing its Mixolydian scale, which
would be spelled like this:
Relative to the III dom7:
1 2 3 4 5 6 b7
Relative to the I Ma7b5:
3 b5 b6 6 7 b2 2
which is a hypermode. It's not completely successful, to my ears, partly because of that b2, but it's
interesting and the b2 can of course be avoided.
As for our "dissonant" note-set, Vm7b5, one thing to notice is that if we slip it down a semitone to
bVm7b5 we get a very consonant set of notes against the IMaj7b5. This is a nice way to introduce
the sound, by slipping up from that more inside version and playing a parallel phrase in the
dissonant note-set, then either slipping back down again or simply resolving to a chord tone.
These are the kinds of strategies that really, for me, constitute "building vocablary" -- everything
else is preliminary tinkering about on paper.
Generalising the strategy
First, we noticed that when playing on a chord we have two choices: play chord-tones or non-chordtones. Chord tones are always safe but rarely exciting, so our difficulty is in organising the rest in a
useful way. Of course if there are n chord-tones there are 12-n others; in our case 4 chord tones and
8 others. So we're interested in giving those 8 notes some structure, and one way is to split them
into two sets as we did above. Since there are 8 notes, and each can go in either of two sets, there
are 28=256 possibilities.
Not all these are equally interesting. Our list includes putting all 8 notes in one set and none in the
other, which is hardly helpful. The split we went for was an equal one: 4 notes in each set. There are
8C4/2=35 possible ways to do this. The one we came up with above was just one of these and any
of the others might be musically interesting. This is a huge amount of raw material with which to
start building vocabulary.
In this exercise we faced an uncommon chord that more or less forced us to build vocabulary from
scratch. The same approach, though, can be used on any chord. Any four-note chord will leave us
with 35 ways to divide the remaining notes into two sets, which seems to me to be a huge wealth of
material to work with.
All the possibilities
Here are the 35 ways we can divide the complement of the Maj7b5 arpeggio into two equal sets.
The one we discussed above is in bold. Which others might be interesting?
b2, 2, b3, 4
b2, 2, b3, 5
b2, 2, 4, 5
b2, b3, 4, 5
b2, 2, b3, b6
b2, 2, 4, b6

5, b6, 6, b7
4, b6, 6, b7
b3, b6, 6, b7
2, b6, 6, b7
4, 5, 6, b7
b3, 5, 6, b7

b2, b3, 4, b6
b2, 2, 5, b6
b2, b3, 5, b6
b2, 4, 5, b6
b2, 2, b3, 6
b2, 2, 4, 6
b2, b3, 4, 6
b2, 2, 5, 6
b2, b3, 5, 6
b2, 4, 5, 6
b2, 2, b6, 6
b2, b3, b6, 6
b2, 4, b6, 6
b2, 5, b6, 6
b2, 2, b3, b7
b2, 2, 4, b7
b2, b3, 4, b7
b2, 2, 5, b7
b2, b3, 5, b7
b2, 4, 5, b7
b2, 2, b6, b7
b2, b3, b6, b7
b2, 4, b6, b7
b2, 5, b6, b7
b2, 2, 6, b7
b2, b3, 6, b7
b2, 4, 6, b7
b2, 5, 6, b7
b2, b6, 6, b7

2, 5, 6, b7
b3, 4, 6, b7
2, 4, 6, b7
2, b3, 6, b7
4, 5, b6, b7
b3, 5, b6, b7
2, 5, b6, b7
b3, 4, b6, b7
2, 4, b6, b7
2, b3, b6, b7
b3, 4, 5, b7
2, 4, 5, b7
2, b3, 5, b7
2, b3, 4, b7
4, 5, b6, 6
b3, 5, b6, 6
2, 5, b6, 6
b3, 4, b6, 6
2, 4, b6, 6
2, b3, b6, 6
b3, 4, 5, 6
2, 4, 5, 6
2, b3, 5, 6
2, b3, 4, 6
b3, 4, 5, b6
2, 4, 5, b6
2, b3, 5, b6
2, b3, 4, b6
2, b3, 4, 5

New Sounds from "Roomy" Pentatonics

This bit of analysis was prompted by an interesting question asked on the Music Theory forum on
Reddit. It ended up as a question about which scales you can transpose and get a completely
different set of notes from the set you started with, with no overlap.
As an example, the major triad C E G can be transposed up a semitone to C# F G#, which is a
completely different set of notes. On the other hand this can't be done with a major scale because it
has 7 notes, and there are only 12 in the chromatic scale, so any pair of major scales must overlap
by at least two notes.
Initially I took a stab-in-the-dark guess at how this would pan out across all scales. Not long
afterwards I'd proved this guess completely wrong. I'm delighted about this because the picture is
far weirder and more lumpy than I would have guessed. I ought to have learned by now: in scale
theory, never bet against things being weird and lumpy.
Anyway, in this post I don't want to post a full set of findings, because I don't have that yet, but
instead just point to a possible application of this idea for improvisors. It bears a close relationship
to what I call coscales, though I won't use that idea here.
Roomy Pentatonic Pairs
Let's call a scale "roomy" if it "leaves enough room" for another copy of itself to coexist alongside
it in the chromatic scale with no overlap. I'm going to focus only on pentatonics today, for reasons

I'll get to. The musical idea here is that if we can learn a roomy pentatonic, we can transpose it to
give a total of 10 out of the 12 possible pitches -- almost, but not quite, the total chromatic.
Improvising in a way that moves between these two sets of notes like two different palettes of
colour is likely, it seems to me, to produce musically interesting results while being a practical thing
to do "on the fly".
My analysis turned up 23 roomy pentatonics. Some of them contain runs of semitones; I discarded
these as I don't think they're very interesting. I kept hold of the following examples, first the ones
containing no semitones at all:
Binary representation Interval map Spelling
Comments
100010101010
MT, t, t, t, t 1, 3, #4, #5, #6
Whole-Tone Scale minus a note
100100101010
mT, mT, t, t, t 1, b3, b5, b6, b7
m7b5b13 arpeggio
100101001010
mT, t, mT, t, t 1, b3, 4, #5, b7
Common pentatonic (mode)
...then the ones containing one or more non-consecutive semitones:
Binary representation Interval map Spelling
Comment
100001010110
Fo, t, t, s, t
1, 4, 5, 6, b7 Mixolydian subset
100001011010
Fo, t, s, t, t
1, 4, 5, b6, b7 Aeolian subset
100010001101
MT, MT, s, t, s
1, 3, #5, 6, 7
100010010101
MT, mT, t, t, s 1, 3, 5, 6, b7 Mixolydian subset, 7 add 13
100010011001
MT, mT, s, mT, s
1, 3, 5, b6, 7 Harmonic Major subset
100011001001
MT, s, mT, mT, s
1, 3, 4, #5, 7
100011001100
MT, s, mT, s, mT
1, 3, 4, #5, 6
100011010100
MT, s, t, t, mT 1, 3, 4, 5, 6 Major scale subset
If you want to find diagrams for these in my free scales ebook, the best way is to search the PDF for
the interval map; they're all in there, of course.
Application 1
A general observation is that roomy scales tend to have more bunched-up notes than average, which
tends to make them less musically interesting. Hence the first set of pentatonics with no semitones
is especially interesting. Of them the most promising seems to me to be this one:
Binary representation Interval map Spelling
Comments
100100101010
mT, mT, t, t, t 1, b3, b5, b6, b7
m7b5b13 arpeggio
Here it is in C, along with the transposition up a semitone that shares none of the same pitch classes;
on the far right are the two pitch classes not included in either of them:
To me the obvious thing to look at here is situations where I want to avoid those two notes, D and F;
and the obvious time I want to do that is on Bbm7b5, where they're the major third and perfect fifth
respectively. Both of these are tough notes to sell in this context. Here's how the chord tones for
Bbm7b5 map out onto this pair of pentatonics:
What's nice about this is that neither really contains the whole chord; both contain good chord tones
and interesting tension tones. So this really does seem like it would be a setup that gives two
different approaches to the chord, with no overlap, that together cover all ten notes you might want
to play on it. This strikes me as an extremely promising way to approach building new vocabulary
for this kind of chord.
Application 2

Let's now look at a couple of those more exotic examples from the second table:
Binary representation Interval map Spelling
Comment
100011001001
MT, s, mT, mT, s
1, 3, 4, #5, 7 +Maj7 add 11
I picked this just because it's one of the less familiar-looking ones. Here's the pitch classes you get if
you start on C:
The missing pitches this time are separated by a tritone. Let's say again we want to avoid the 3, this
time perhaps when playing over a minor chord. Then we can achieve this in two ways:
On Cm, play Db+Maj7 add 11 and Eb+Maj7 add 11
On Cm, play G+Maj7 add 11 and A+Maj7 add 11
Either option will give us exactly the same notes but organised differently; this is a kind of
symmetry I haven't seen before. So this suggests that I can combine the two approaches to give me
the following resource: on Cm, play any of those four pentatonics at will.
We'd better learn our +Maj7 add 11 arpeggios:
As its name implies, it turns out that this scale is covered by a major and a minor triad arpeggio a
semitone apart, so these shapes shouldn't be hard to learn. The fact that they give us access to this
very interesting material over a minor chord is pretty good inducement to do so.
Making Exotic Scales with Familiar Arpeggios
Struck by a bout of insomnia, I decided to figure out all the 7-note scales that can be made by
combining a pair of common triad or seventh arpeggios, one at the root and one somewhere else.
Here are the results.
The idea is that when playing over a harmony we can superimpose another familiar sound to create
"tension" notes; in jazz it goes back to Charlie Parker, but you can hear nineteenth century
composers doing something similar too.
The approach is useful in practice for two reasons. First, we often find ourselves playing over these
conventional harmonies, and when we do it's nice to have the notes of the chord available in the
scale. Second, we know (or ought to know) our basic arpeggios very well, so these are easy to think
of, find and play when improvising. Yet when combined they can produce some very exotic sounds,
as this post demonstrates. This approach can also suggest ideas for chord substitutions, if you're into
that.
The arpeggios I used were:
Abbreviation Spelling
Example with root "A"
Maj 1, 3, 5 A C# E
Min 1, b3, 5
ACE
Dim 1, b3, b5
A C Eb
Aug 1, 3, #5
A C# F
Maj7 1, 3, 5, 7
A C# E G#
7
1, 3, 5, b7
A C# E G
mMaj71, b3, 5, 7
A C E, G#
m7
1, b3, 5, b7 A C E, G
m7b5 1, b3, b5, b7 A C Eb, G

dim7 1, b3, b5, bb7 A C Eb, Gb

As an example, "7 + IIm7" means play the dominant seventh chord at the root and the minor
seventh built on the second. In the key of C this would mean C7 and Dm7. In terms of notes this
would give you C, E, G, Bb (the C7 arpeggio) plus D, F, A, C (the Dm7). Putting these in order
gives C, D, E, F, G, A, Bb, which is C Mixolydian, a mode of the Major Scale.
With one exception I've listed the possibilities by modal group -- that is, under "Major Scale" are all
the modes of the Major Scale. The spelling of the specific mode is given as well. All the modes can
be found in the free ebook Arpeggio and Scale Resources along with analysis, guitar diagrams etc.
It would certainly be interesting to repeat this analysis for scales with different numbers of notes,
and for other pitch structures. The below, though, is probably enough to be going on with. Those
who want to explore these ideas further might find my free ebook Spectral Analysis of Scales
helpful.
Fair warning: this is a long post with a lot of "data" in it. I've mostly put it together for my own
reference, and I don't expect many people to find it exciting in itself. To use it, pick one idea and try
to apply it musically.
Common Scales
There are lots of ways to make the commonest scales out of common arpeggios; this isn't really
surprising, given that the two are closely related to one another.
Major Scale
7 + IIm7: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, b7,
7 + bVIIMaj7: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, b7,
7 + IIMin: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, b7,
m7 + bVII7: 1, 2, b3, 4, 5, b6, b7,
m7 + IIm7: 1, 2, b3, 4, 5, 6, b7,
m7 + bVIIm7: 1, b2, b3, 4, 5, b6, b7,
m7 + IIDim: 1, 2, b3, 4, 5, b6, b7,
m7 + bIIMaj7: 1, b2, b3, 4, 5, b6, b7,
m7 + bVIIMaj7: 1, 2, b3, 4, 5, 6, b7,
m7 + bIIMaj: 1, b2, b3, 4, 5, b6, b7,
m7 + IIMin: 1, 2, b3, 4, 5, 6, b7,
m7 + IIm7b5: 1, 2, b3, 4, 5, b6, b7,
Dim + bVIIm7: 1, b2, b3, 4, b5, b6, b7,
Maj7 + II7: 1, 2, 3, b5, 5, 6, 7,
Maj7 + IIm7: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7,
Maj7 + VIIm7: 1, 2, 3, b5, 5, 6, 7,
Maj7 + IIMaj: 1, 2, 3, b5, 5, 6, 7,
Maj7 + IIMin: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7,
Maj7 + VIIm7b5: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7,
Maj + VIIm7: 1, 2, 3, b5, 5, 6, 7,
Maj + bVIIMaj7: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, b7,
Maj + VIIm7b5: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7,
Min + bVII7: 1, 2, b3, 4, 5, b6, b7,
Min + bVIIm7: 1, b2, b3, 4, 5, b6, b7,
Min + bVIIMaj7: 1, 2, b3, 4, 5, 6, b7,
m7b5 + bVIIm7: 1, b2, b3, 4, b5, b6, b7,
m7b5 + bIIMaj7: 1, b2, b3, 4, b5, b6, b7,
m7b5 + bIIMaj: 1, b2, b3, 4, b5, b6, b7,

Harmonic Minor
mMaj7 + IIdim7: 1, 2, b3, 4, 5, b6, 7,
mMaj7 + IVdim7: 1, 2, b3, 4, 5, b6, 7,
mMaj7 + bVIdim7: 1, 2, b3, 4, 5, b6, 7,
mMaj7 + VIIdim7: 1, 2, b3, 4, 5, b6, 7,
mMaj7 + IIDim: 1, 2, b3, 4, 5, b6, 7,
mMaj7 + IIm7b5: 1, 2, b3, 4, 5, b6, 7,
mMaj7 + bVm7b5: 1, b3, 3, b5, 5, 6, 7,
dim7 + bIImMaj7: 1, b2, b3, 3, b5, b6, 6,
dim7 + IIImMaj7: 1, b3, 3, b5, 5, 6, 7,
dim7 + VmMaj7: 1, 2, b3, b5, 5, 6, b7,
dim7 + bVIImMaj7: 1, b2, b3, 4, b5, 6, b7,
dim7 + bIIIMaj7: 1, 2, b3, b5, 5, 6, b7,
dim7 + bVMaj7: 1, b2, b3, 4, b5, 6, b7,
dim7 + VIMaj7: 1, b2, b3, 3, b5, b6, 6,
dim7 + bIIMin: 1, b2, b3, 3, b5, b6, 6,
dim7 + IIIMin: 1, b3, 3, b5, 5, 6, 7,
dim7 + VMin: 1, 2, b3, b5, 5, 6, b7,
dim7 + bVIIMin: 1, b2, b3, 4, b5, 6, b7,
7 + bVIIm7: 1, b2, 3, 4, 5, b6, b7,
7 + bIIMaj7: 1, b2, 3, 4, 5, b6, b7,
7 + bIIMaj: 1, b2, 3, 4, 5, b6, b7,
m7 + II7: 1, 2, b3, b5, 5, 6, b7,
m7 + IIMaj: 1, 2, b3, b5, 5, 6, b7,
Dim + bVIImMaj7: 1, b2, b3, 4, b5, 6, b7,
Dim + VIMaj7: 1, b2, b3, 3, b5, b6, 6,
Maj7 + bIIIdim7: 1, b3, 3, b5, 5, 6, 7,
Maj7 + bVdim7: 1, b3, 3, b5, 5, 6, 7,
Maj7 + VIdim7: 1, b3, 3, b5, 5, 6, 7,
Maj7 + VII7: 1, b3, 3, b5, 5, 6, 7,
Maj7 + bIIIDim: 1, b3, 3, b5, 5, 6, 7,
Maj + VII7: 1, b3, 3, b5, 5, 6, 7,
Maj + bVIIm7: 1, b2, 3, 4, 5, b6, b7,
Aug + bIIIm7b5: 1, b2, b3, 3, b5, b6, 6,
Aug + Vm7b5: 1, b2, 3, 4, 5, b6, b7,
Aug + VIIm7b5: 1, 2, 3, 4, b6, 6, 7,
Min + IIdim7: 1, 2, b3, 4, 5, b6, 7,
Min + IVdim7: 1, 2, b3, 4, 5, b6, 7,
Min + bVIdim7: 1, 2, b3, 4, 5, b6, 7,
Min + VIIdim7: 1, 2, b3, 4, 5, b6, 7,
m7b5 + bVmMaj7: 1, b2, b3, 4, b5, 6, b7,
m7b5 + bVIImMaj7: 1, b2, b3, 4, b5, 6, b7,
m7b5 + bIIAug: 1, b2, b3, 4, b5, 6, b7,
m7b5 + IVAug: 1, b2, b3, 4, b5, 6, b7,
m7b5 + VIAug: 1, b2, b3, 4, b5, 6, b7,
Melodic Minor
mMaj7 + IIm7: 1, 2, b3, 4, 5, 6, 7,
mMaj7 + IIMin: 1, 2, b3, 4, 5, 6, 7,
mMaj7 + VIIm7b5: 1, 2, b3, 4, 5, 6, 7,
7 + II7: 1, 2, 3, b5, 5, 6, b7,
7 + bVII7: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, b6, b7,
7 + IIDim: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, b6, b7,

7 + IIMaj: 1, 2, 3, b5, 5, 6, b7,

7 + IIm7b5: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, b6, b7,
m7 + bVIImMaj7: 1, b2, b3, 4, 5, 6, b7,
m7 + bIIAug: 1, b2, b3, 4, 5, 6, b7,
m7 + IVAug: 1, b2, b3, 4, 5, 6, b7,
m7 + VIAug: 1, b2, b3, 4, 5, 6, b7,
Dim + bVII7: 1, 2, b3, 4, b5, b6, b7,
Dim + bVIIm7b5: 1, b2, b3, 3, b5, b6, b7,
Maj + bVII7: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, b6, b7,
Aug + bIIIm7: 1, b2, b3, 3, b5, b6, b7,
Aug + Vm7: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, b6, b7,
Aug + VIIm7: 1, 2, 3, b5, b6, 6, 7,
Min + bVIImMaj7: 1, b2, b3, 4, 5, 6, b7,
Min + VIIm7b5: 1, 2, b3, 4, 5, 6, 7,
m7b5 + bIImMaj7: 1, b2, b3, 3, b5, b6, b7,
m7b5 + bVII7: 1, 2, b3, 4, b5, b6, b7,
m7b5 + IIDim: 1, 2, b3, 4, b5, b6, b7,
m7b5 + bIIMin: 1, b2, b3, 3, b5, b6, b7,
m7b5 + IIm7b5: 1, 2, b3, 4, b5, b6, b7,
m7b5 + bVIIm7b5: 1, b2, b3, 3, b5, b6, b7,
Moderately Exotic Scales
This section contains four modal groups that, while uncommon, are far from unheard-of. Harmonic
Major is often referred to as the "missing" fourth member of the common scale family; this can be
overstated, but look how similar this table is to the three above, and how much longer it is than any
of the others.
Harmonic Major
mMaj7 + II7: 1, 2, b3, b5, 5, 6, 7,
mMaj7 + VIIm7: 1, 2, b3, b5, 5, 6, 7,
mMaj7 + IIMaj: 1, 2, b3, b5, 5, 6, 7,
dim7 + bIIMaj7: 1, b2, b3, 4, b5, b6, 6,
dim7 + IIIMaj7: 1, b3, 3, b5, b6, 6, 7,
dim7 + VMaj7: 1, 2, b3, b5, 5, 6, 7,
dim7 + bVIIMaj7: 1, 2, b3, 4, b5, 6, b7,
dim7 + bIIMaj: 1, b2, b3, 4, b5, b6, 6,
dim7 + IIIMaj: 1, b3, 3, b5, b6, 6, 7,
dim7 + VMaj: 1, 2, b3, b5, 5, 6, 7,
dim7 + bVIIMaj: 1, 2, b3, 4, b5, 6, b7,
7 + bVIImMaj7: 1, b2, 3, 4, 5, 6, b7,
7 + bIIAug: 1, b2, 3, 4, 5, 6, b7,
7 + IVAug: 1, b2, 3, 4, 5, 6, b7,
7 + VIAug: 1, b2, 3, 4, 5, 6, b7,
m7 + bIImMaj7: 1, b2, b3, 3, 5, b6, b7,
m7 + bIIMin: 1, b2, b3, 3, 5, b6, b7,
m7 + bVIIm7b5: 1, b2, b3, 3, 5, b6, b7,
Dim + bVIIMaj7: 1, 2, b3, 4, b5, 6, b7,
Maj7 + IIdim7: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, b6, 7,
Maj7 + IVdim7: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, b6, 7,
Maj7 + bVIdim7: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, b6, 7,
Maj7 + VIIdim7: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, b6, 7,
Maj7 + IIDim: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, b6, 7,
Maj7 + IIm7b5: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, b6, 7,

Maj + bVIImMaj7: 1, b2, 3, 4, 5, 6, b7,

Maj + IIdim7: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, b6, 7,
Maj + IVdim7: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, b6, 7,
Maj + bVIdim7: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, b6, 7,
Maj + VIIdim7: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, b6, 7,
Aug + bIII7: 1, b2, b3, 3, 5, b6, b7,
Aug + V7: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, b6, 7,
Aug + VII7: 1, b3, 3, b5, b6, 6, 7,
Min + VIIm7: 1, 2, b3, b5, 5, 6, 7,
Min + bVIIm7b5: 1, b2, b3, 3, 5, b6, b7,
m7b5 + IIm7: 1, 2, b3, 4, b5, 6, b7,
m7b5 + bVIIMaj7: 1, 2, b3, 4, b5, 6, b7,
m7b5 + IIMin: 1, 2, b3, 4, b5, 6, b7,
Neapolitan
mMaj7 + bIIAug: 1, b2, b3, 4, 5, 6, 7,
mMaj7 + IVAug: 1, b2, b3, 4, 5, 6, 7,
mMaj7 + VIAug: 1, b2, b3, 4, 5, 6, 7,
Aug + bIIImMaj7: 1, 2, b3, 3, b5, b6, b7,
Aug + VmMaj7: 1, 2, 3, b5, 5, b6, b7,
Aug + VIImMaj7: 1, 2, 3, b5, b6, b7, 7,
Double Harmonic
mMaj7 + bVIm7b5: 1, 2, b3, b5, 5, b6, 7,
7 + VIIMaj7: 1, b3, 3, b5, 5, b7, 7,
7 + VIIMaj: 1, b3, 3, b5, 5, b7, 7,
Maj7 + bII7: 1, b2, 3, 4, 5, b6, 7,
Maj7 + bIIMaj7: 1, b2, 3, 4, 5, b6, 7,
Maj7 + VIIMaj7: 1, b3, 3, b5, 5, b7, 7,
Maj7 + bIIMaj: 1, b2, 3, 4, 5, b6, 7,
Maj7 + bIIIMin: 1, b3, 3, b5, 5, b7, 7,
Maj + bII7: 1, b2, 3, 4, 5, b6, 7,
Maj + VIIMaj7: 1, b3, 3, b5, 5, b7, 7,
Min + VIMaj7: 1, b2, b3, 3, 5, b6, 6,
Min + bVIm7b5: 1, 2, b3, b5, 5, b6, 7,
m7b5 + IIImMaj7: 1, b3, 3, b5, 5, b7, 7,
m7b5 + IIIMin: 1, b3, 3, b5, 5, b7, 7,
Nasikabhushani (sometimes called Hungarian Major)
dim7 + IIIDim: 1, b3, 3, b5, 5, 6, b7,
7 + bIIIdim7: 1, b3, 3, b5, 5, 6, b7,
7 + bVdim7: 1, b3, 3, b5, 5, 6, b7,
7 + VIdim7: 1, b3, 3, b5, 5, 6, b7,
7 + bIIIDim: 1, b3, 3, b5, 5, 6, b7,
m7 + bVm7b5: 1, b3, 3, b5, 5, 6, b7,
m7b5 + VIm7: 1, b3, 3, b5, 5, 6, b7,
Very Exotic Scales
The last list in this section contains a mixture of scales that contain more than two consecutive
semitones and so aren't in my book. There may, of course, still be usable sounds to be had from
them.
The first two are remarkable for being very rarely-heard scales that offer quite a lot of possibilities
for arpeggio superimposition, which suggests on paper that they would be worth further attention.
Neetimati

mMaj7 + bIIImMaj7: 1, 2, b3, b5, 5, b7, 7,

mMaj7 + VmMaj7: 1, 2, b3, b5, 5, b7, 7,
mMaj7 + VIImMaj7: 1, 2, b3, b5, 5, b7, 7,
mMaj7 + IIAug: 1, 2, b3, b5, 5, b7, 7,
mMaj7 + bVAug: 1, 2, b3, b5, 5, b7, 7,
mMaj7 + bVIIAug: 1, 2, b3, b5, 5, b7, 7,
m7 + VIImMaj7: 1, 2, b3, b5, 5, b7, 7,
m7 + VMaj7: 1, 2, b3, b5, 5, b7, 7,
m7 + VIIMin: 1, 2, b3, b5, 5, b7, 7,
Min + VIImMaj7: 1, 2, b3, b5, 5, b7, 7,
m7b5 + VMaj7: 1, 2, b3, b5, 5, b7, 7,
m7b5 + VMaj: 1, 2, b3, b5, 5, b7, 7,
Chitrambari
7 + VIImMaj7: 1, 2, 3, b5, 5, b7, 7,
7 + VMaj7: 1, 2, 3, b5, 5, b7, 7,
7 + VIIMin: 1, 2, 3, b5, 5, b7, 7,
Maj7 + VmMaj7: 1, 2, 3, b5, 5, b7, 7,
Maj7 + VIImMaj7: 1, 2, 3, b5, 5, b7, 7,
Maj7 + IIAug: 1, 2, 3, b5, 5, b7, 7,
Maj7 + bVAug: 1, 2, 3, b5, 5, b7, 7,
Maj7 + bVIIAug: 1, 2, 3, b5, 5, b7, 7,
Maj + VIImMaj7: 1, 2, 3, b5, 5, b7, 7,
b 7maj + natural 7maj
m7b5 + VIIDim: 1, 2, b3, 4, b5, b7, 7,
Vishwambari
Maj7 + bV7: 1, b2, 3, b5, 5, b7, 7,
Maj7 + bVMaj: 1, b2, 3, b5, 5, b7, 7,
Mixolydian #2 ##4 #5
m7 + VImMaj7: 1, b3, 3, 5, b6, 6, b7,
Double Sharp #2
m7 + VII7: 1, b3, b5, 5, 6, b7, 7,
Locrian bb6 bb7
Min + bVmMaj7: 1, b2, b3, 4, b5, 5, 6,
Susdim Dominant
m7 + bVIm7: 1, b3, b5, 5, b6, b7, 7,
m7b5 + bVImMaj7: 1, b3, b5, 5, b6, b7, 7,
Neetimati #5
m7b5 + bVIDim: 1, 2, b3, b5, b6, b7, 7,
m7b5 + bVIm7b5: 1, 2, b3, b5, b6, b7, 7,
Locrian Blues
m7 + bVMaj7: 1, b2, b3, 4, b5, 5, b7,
Dim + Vm7b5: 1, b2, b3, 4, b5, 5, b7,
Min + bVMaj7: 1, b2, b3, 4, b5, 5, b7,
m7b5 + Vm7b5: 1, b2, b3, 4, b5, 5, b7,
1maj + 7maj + b2
Dim + bIIm7b5: 1, b2, b3, 3, b5, 5, 7,
Phrygian b5
Aug + bVMaj7: 1, b2, 3, 4, b5, b6, b7,
Phrygian Major b5 bb6
7 + bVMaj7: 1, b2, 3, 4, b5, 5, b7,
Maj + bVMaj7: 1, b2, 3, 4, b5, 5, b7,
Dorian b5 bb6

Dim + Vm7: 1, 2, b3, 4, b5, 5, b7,

m7b5 + Vm7: 1, 2, b3, 4, b5, 5, b7,
Super Locrian natural 6
dim7 + bV7: 1, b2, b3, 3, b5, 6, b7,
dim7 + bVIIDim: 1, b2, b3, 3, b5, 6, b7,
m7b5 + bVm7: 1, b2, b3, 3, b5, 6, b7,
m7b5 + VIMaj: 1, b2, b3, 3, b5, 6, b7,
Gayakapriya
7 + bVImMaj7: 1, b3, 3, 5, b6, b7, 7,
7 + IIIMaj7: 1, b3, 3, 5, b6, b7, 7,
7 + bVIMin: 1, b3, 3, 5, b6, b7, 7,
m7 + IIIMaj7: 1, b3, 3, 5, b6, b7, 7,
m7 + IIIMaj: 1, b3, 3, 5, b6, b7, 7,
b 2min + 2min
Aug + IImMaj7: 1, b2, 2, 3, 4, b6, 6,
Super Locrian natural 7
Dim + bIIm7: 1, b2, b3, 3, b5, b6, 7,
Suvarnangi
mMaj7 + bVMin: 1, b2, b3, b5, 5, 6, 7,
mMaj7 + bIIIm7b5: 1, b2, b3, b5, 5, 6, 7,
Semidominant Augmented
7 + III7: 1, 2, 3, 5, b6, b7, 7,
7 + bVIDim: 1, 2, 3, 5, b6, b7, 7,
Locrian Double-Flat Major
Maj + IIMaj7: 1, b2, 2, 3, b5, 5, 6,
Harmonic Minor b5
Dim + IIdim7: 1, 2, b3, 4, b5, b6, 7,
Dim + IVdim7: 1, 2, b3, 4, b5, b6, 7,
Dim + bVIdim7: 1, 2, b3, 4, b5, b6, 7,
Dim + VIIdim7: 1, 2, b3, 4, b5, b6, 7,
Natakapriya b4
m7 + VI7: 1, b2, b3, 3, 5, 6, b7,
m7 + VIMaj: 1, b2, b3, 3, 5, 6, b7,
Mixolydian #2 b5
m7b5 + IVMaj7: 1, b3, 3, 4, b5, 6, b7,
Chakravakam #5
Aug + bVIImMaj7: 1, b2, 3, 4, b6, 6, b7,
Gamanashrama
Maj7 + bVm7: 1, b2, 3, b5, 5, 6, 7,
Maj7 + bVMin: 1, b2, 3, b5, 5, 6, 7,
Superaugmented ##4
m7 + IVDim: 1, b3, 4, 5, b6, b7, 7,
m7 + IVm7b5: 1, b3, 4, 5, b6, b7, 7,
Rupavati
mMaj7 + bVIIMin: 1, b2, b3, 4, 5, b7, 7,
mMaj7 + Vm7b5: 1, b2, b3, 4, 5, b7, 7,
Superaugmented natural3
Aug + VIIMaj7: 1, b3, 3, b5, b6, b7, 7,
m7b5 + IIIMaj7: 1, b3, 3, b5, b6, b7, 7,
m7b5 + IIIMaj: 1, b3, 3, b5, b6, b7, 7,
Superdiminished Major
Aug + IIMaj7: 1, b2, 2, 3, b5, b6, 6,

5maj + b 6maj
m7 + bVIDim: 1, 2, b3, 5, b6, b7, 7,
Superaugmented ##2 ##4
7 + IVDim: 1, 3, 4, 5, b6, b7, 7,
1maj + 7maj
Dim + IIIm7: 1, 2, b3, 3, b5, 5, 7,
Aeolian b 4
Aug + bIIIMaj7: 1, 2, b3, 3, 5, b6, b7,
Latangi
Maj7 + bVIm7b5: 1, 2, 3, b5, 5, b6, 7,
Maj + bVIm7b5: 1, 2, 3, b5, 5, b6, 7,
Aug + VMaj7: 1, 2, 3, b5, 5, b6, 7,
Susdim Major
dim7 + IVDim: 1, b3, 4, b5, b6, 6, 7,
dim7 + IVm7b5: 1, b3, 4, b5, b6, 6, 7,
Dhenuka
mMaj7 + bII7: 1, b2, b3, 4, 5, b6, 7,
mMaj7 + bIIMaj7: 1, b2, b3, 4, 5, b6, 7,
mMaj7 + bIIMaj: 1, b2, b3, 4, 5, b6, 7,
Min + bII7: 1, b2, b3, 4, 5, b6, 7,
Superaugmented
m7b5 + IVDim: 1, b3, 4, b5, b6, b7, 7,
m7b5 + IVm7b5: 1, b3, 4, b5, b6, b7, 7,
Locrian natural 7
Dim + bII7: 1, b2, b3, 4, b5, b6, 7,
Jyoti Swarupini
7 + bVI7: 1, b3, 3, b5, 5, b6, b7,
Hatakambari
Maj7 + bVIIMin: 1, b2, 3, 4, 5, b7, 7,
Maj7 + Vm7b5: 1, b2, 3, 4, 5, b7, 7,
Ionian b2 (Suryakantam)
Maj7 + bIIAug: 1, b2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7,
Maj7 + IVAug: 1, b2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7,
Maj7 + VIAug: 1, b2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7,
Varunapriya b4
mMaj7 + IIIm7b5: 1, 2, b3, 3, 5, b7, 7,
m7 + IIIm7: 1, 2, b3, 3, 5, b7, 7,
Maj7 + bIIIMaj7: 1, 2, b3, 3, 5, b7, 7,
Ionian #6 (Naganandini)
7 + V7: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, b7, 7,
7 + VIIDim: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, b7, 7,
Maj7 + Vm7: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, b7, 7,
Maj7 + bVIIMaj: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, b7, 7,
Divyamani
mMaj7 + bIIIm7: 1, b2, b3, b5, 5, b7, 7,
mMaj7 + bVMaj: 1, b2, b3, b5, 5, b7, 7,
Gayakapriya b5
Aug + bVmMaj7: 1, b2, 3, 4, b5, b6, 6,
Phrygian Double-Flat
Maj + IImMaj7: 1, b2, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6,
Ultra Locrian bb7
dim7 + VI7: 1, b2, b3, 3, b5, 5, 6,

dim7 + bIIDim: 1, b2, b3, 3, b5, 5, 6,

Dim + VI7: 1, b2, b3, 3, b5, 5, 6,
Maj + bIIIm7b5: 1, b2, b3, 3, b5, 5, 6,
Min + bVm7: 1, b2, b3, 3, b5, 5, 6,
Jhankaradhvani b5
dim7 + IIDim: 1, 2, b3, 4, b5, b6, 6,
dim7 + IIm7b5: 1, 2, b3, 4, b5, b6, 6,
Dhatuvardani
Maj7 + bVI7: 1, b3, 3, b5, 5, b6, 7,
Maj7 + bVIm7: 1, b3, 3, b5, 5, b6, 7,
Maj + bVIm7: 1, b3, 3, b5, 5, b6, 7,
Melodic Minor b4
mMaj7 + VI7: 1, b2, b3, 3, 5, 6, 7,
mMaj7 + VIMaj: 1, b2, b3, 3, 5, 6, 7,
Melodic Minor b5
dim7 + VIIDim: 1, 2, b3, 4, b5, 6, 7,
dim7 + VIIm7b5: 1, 2, b3, 4, b5, 6, 7,
Dim + VIIm7b5: 1, 2, b3, 4, b5, 6, 7,
Augmented #2 ##4
mMaj7 + VImMaj7: 1, b3, 3, 5, b6, 6, 7,
Ragavardhini
7 + IVm7: 1, b3, 3, 4, 5, b6, b7,
m7 + IVmMaj7: 1, b3, 3, 4, 5, b6, b7,
Augmented b2 ##4 #6
7 + bIIm7: 1, b2, 3, 5, b6, b7, 7,
Maj7 + bVIIm7b5: 1, b2, 3, 5, b6, b7, 7,
Phrygian bb3 bb4 natural6
m7b5 + IIMaj7: 1, b2, 2, b3, b5, 6, b7,
Ramapriya
7 + bVm7: 1, b2, 3, b5, 5, 6, b7,
7 + bVMin: 1, b2, 3, b5, 5, 6, b7,
Dhenuka b4
mMaj7 + bIImMaj7: 1, b2, b3, 3, 5, b6, 7,
mMaj7 + bIIm7: 1, b2, b3, 3, 5, b6, 7,
mMaj7 + bIIMin: 1, b2, b3, 3, 5, b6, 7,
Min + bIIm7: 1, b2, b3, 3, 5, b6, 7,
Shadvidamargini
dim7 + bIII7: 1, b2, b3, b5, 5, 6, b7,
dim7 + VDim: 1, b2, b3, b5, 5, 6, b7,
m7 + bVMin: 1, b2, b3, b5, 5, 6, b7,
m7 + bIIIm7b5: 1, b2, b3, b5, 5, 6, b7,
Semidiminished
Dim + III7: 1, 2, b3, 3, b5, b6, 7,
Double Flat b5
Min + IIMaj7: 1, b2, 2, b3, b5, 5, 6,
Lydian Dominant #2#5
m7b5 + VImMaj7: 1, b3, 3, b5, b6, 6, b7,
Mixolydian #5
Aug + bVIIMaj7: 1, 2, 3, 4, b6, 6, b7,
Phrygian Semiaugmented
Maj7 + VIMaj7: 1, b2, 3, 5, b6, 6, 7,
Ionian #2 (Sulini)

mMaj7 + IVMaj7: 1, b3, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7,

Maj7 + IV7: 1, b3, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7,
Harmonic Minor #6 (Varunapriya)
mMaj7 + Vm7: 1, 2, b3, 4, 5, b7, 7,
mMaj7 + bVIIMaj: 1, 2, b3, 4, 5, b7, 7,
m7 + V7: 1, 2, b3, 4, 5, b7, 7,
m7 + VIIDim: 1, 2, b3, 4, 5, b7, 7,
Vagadheeswari
7 + IV7: 1, b3, 3, 4, 5, 6, b7,
m7 + IVMaj7: 1, b3, 3, 4, 5, 6, b7,
Gangeyabhushani
mMaj7 + IVmMaj7: 1, b3, 3, 4, 5, b6, 7,
Maj7 + IVm7: 1, b3, 3, 4, 5, b6, 7,
Maj7 + IVm7b5: 1, b3, 3, 4, 5, b6, 7,
Maj + IVm7b5: 1, b3, 3, 4, 5, b6, 7,
Harmonic Minor b5 bb6
Dim + V7: 1, 2, b3, 4, b5, 5, 7,
Mixolydian #2 b5 b6
m7b5 + IVmMaj7: 1, b3, 3, 4, b5, b6, b7,
Locrian natural3 bb6 bb7
Maj + bVmMaj7: 1, b2, 3, 4, b5, 5, 6,
Harmonic Minor b 4
mMaj7 + III7: 1, 2, b3, 3, 5, b6, 7,
Min + III7: 1, 2, b3, 3, 5, b6, 7,
Ultra Locrian
Min + IImMaj7: 1, b2, 2, b3, 4, 5, 6,
Lydian b5
dim7 + bVIDim: 1, 2, b3, b5, b6, 6, 7,
dim7 + bVIm7b5: 1, 2, b3, b5, b6, 6, 7,
Super Locrian bb6
7 + bIIIm7: 1, b2, b3, 3, b5, 5, b7,
m7 + bV7: 1, b2, b3, 3, b5, 5, b7,
Dim + bIIdim7: 1, b2, b3, 3, b5, 5, b7,
Dim + IIIdim7: 1, b2, b3, 3, b5, 5, b7,
Dim + Vdim7: 1, b2, b3, 3, b5, 5, b7,
Dim + bVIIdim7: 1, b2, b3, 3, b5, 5, b7,
Maj + bIIIm7: 1, b2, b3, 3, b5, 5, b7,
Min + bV7: 1, b2, b3, 3, b5, 5, b7,
m7b5 + bIIdim7: 1, b2, b3, 3, b5, 5, b7,
m7b5 + IIIdim7: 1, b2, b3, 3, b5, 5, b7,
m7b5 + Vdim7: 1, b2, b3, 3, b5, 5, b7,
m7b5 + bVIIdim7: 1, b2, b3, 3, b5, 5, b7,
m7b5 + bIIDim: 1, b2, b3, 3, b5, 5, b7,
Super Locrian natural2 bb6
7 + bIIImMaj7: 1, 2, b3, 3, b5, 5, b7,
Dim + IIIm7b5: 1, 2, b3, 3, b5, 5, b7,
Maj + bIIImMaj7: 1, 2, b3, 3, b5, 5, b7,
m7b5 + IIIm7b5: 1, 2, b3, 3, b5, 5, b7,
Those Belonging to the Emperor
mMaj7 + bIIdim7: 1, b2, b3, 3, 5, b7, 7,
mMaj7 + IIIdim7: 1, b2, b3, 3, 5, b7, 7,
mMaj7 + Vdim7: 1, b2, b3, 3, 5, b7, 7,

mMaj7 + bVIIdim7: 1, b2, b3, 3, 5, b7, 7,

mMaj7 + bVIIDim: 1, b2, b3, 3, 5, b7, 7,
dim7 + IImMaj7: 1, b2, 2, b3, 4, b5, 6,
dim7 + IVmMaj7: 1, b3, 3, 4, b5, b6, 6,
dim7 + bVImMaj7: 1, b3, b5, 5, b6, 6, 7,
dim7 + VIImMaj7: 1, 2, b3, b5, 6, b7, 7,
7 + VIMaj7: 1, b2, 3, 5, b6, 6, b7,
m7 + bIIm7b5: 1, b2, b3, 3, 5, b7, 7,
Dim + IImMaj7: 1, b2, 2, b3, 4, b5, 6,
Maj7 + bIII7: 1, b2, b3, 3, 5, b7, 7,
m7b5 + VIIm7: 1, 2, b3, b5, 6, b7, 7,
Octatonics
As a bonus, and because it's still to early to get up, I ran the same analysis for eight-note scales. Of
course to get eight notes we must have a pair of seventh arpeggios that share no common notes. I
expected to find hardly any of these and was pleasantly surprised by the results. I hardly ever use
octatonics (except our old friends the Half-Whole and Whole-Half) so there's some stuff here to
look into.
Many of the names of these scales in my book are already based on arpeggios they contain, but in
some cases this analysis has pointed to simpler versions than I'd noticed by just looking at them
really hard.
Double Chromatic IV
Maj7 + bVMaj7: 1, b2, 3, 4, b5, 5, b7, 7,
Half-Whole
dim7 + bIIdim7: 1, b2, b3, 3, b5, 5, 6, b7,
dim7 + IIIdim7: 1, b2, b3, 3, b5, 5, 6, b7,
dim7 + Vdim7: 1, b2, b3, 3, b5, 5, 6, b7,
dim7 + bVIIdim7: 1, b2, b3, 3, b5, 5, 6, b7,
7 + bIIIm7b5: 1, b2, b3, 3, b5, 5, 6, b7,
m7 + bVm7: 1, b2, b3, 3, b5, 5, 6, b7,
m7b5 + VI7: 1, b2, b3, 3, b5, 5, 6, b7,
Minor Pentatonic + 3maj
7 + IVm7b5: 1, b3, 3, 4, 5, b6, b7, 7,
4m7b5 + b5min
dim7 + bII7: 1, b2, b3, 4, b5, b6, 6, 7,
1dim + 3dom
dim7 + III7: 1, 2, b3, 3, b5, b6, 6, 7,
Sarasangi Add b2
mMaj7 + bV7: 1, b2, b3, 3, b5, 5, b7, 7,
7 + bVmMaj7: 1, b2, 3, 4, b5, 5, 6, b7,
m7 + VIMaj7: 1, b2, b3, 3, 5, b6, 6, b7,
Maj7 + bIIIm7: 1, b2, b3, 3, b5, 5, b7, 7,
m7b5 + bIIm7b5: 1, b2, b3, 3, b5, 5, b7, 7,
m7b5 + VIIm7b5: 1, 2, b3, 4, b5, 6, b7, 7,
1m7b5 + 3dom
m7b5 + III7: 1, 2, b3, 3, b5, b6, b7, 7,
1dom + #5maj + 7maj
7 + bVIm7: 1, b3, 3, b5, 5, b6, b7, 7,
1maj + 2aug + 7maj
Maj7 + bIIImMaj7: 1, 2, b3, 3, b5, 5, b7, 7,
m7b5 + IIIm7: 1, 2, b3, 3, b5, 5, b7, 7,

1min + b 7maj + 7maj

m7b5 + V7: 1, 2, b3, 4, b5, 5, b7, 7,
Harmonic Minor Add #4
7 + bII7: 1, b2, 3, 4, 5, b6, b7, 7,
7 + VII7: 1, b3, 3, b5, 5, 6, b7, 7,
m7 + IIMaj7: 1, b2, 2, b3, b5, 5, 6, b7,
Maj7 + bVIIm7: 1, b2, 3, 4, 5, b6, b7, 7,
Lydian Add #2
dim7 + IIIm7: 1, 2, b3, 3, b5, 5, 6, 7,
Ionian b5 Add b7
mMaj7 + bVMaj7: 1, b2, b3, 4, b5, 5, b7, 7,
Maj7 + bVmMaj7: 1, b2, 3, 4, b5, 5, 6, 7,
Major Add b7
7 + VIIm7b5: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, b7, 7,
Maj7 + IIMaj7: 1, b2, 2, 3, b5, 5, 6, 7,
Maj7 + bVIIMaj7: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, b7, 7,
m7b5 + bII7: 1, b2, b3, 4, b5, b6, b7, 7,
Locrian Add natural 6
dim7 + bVIIm7: 1, b2, b3, 4, b5, b6, 6, b7,
1maj + 2maj + b3min
dim7 + IIIm7b5: 1, 2, b3, 3, b5, 5, 6, b7,
1dim + b 7maj + 7dim
m7b5 + IIdim7: 1, 2, b3, 4, b5, b6, b7, 7,
m7b5 + IVdim7: 1, 2, b3, 4, b5, b6, b7, 7,
m7b5 + bVIdim7: 1, 2, b3, 4, b5, b6, b7, 7,
m7b5 + VIIdim7: 1, 2, b3, 4, b5, b6, b7, 7,
1m7 + 7m6
m7 + bVIm7b5: 1, 2, b3, b5, 5, b6, b7, 7,
Major Add #2
mMaj7 + bVIIm7: 1, b2, b3, 4, 5, b6, b7, 7,
7 + VIIm7: 1, 2, 3, b5, 5, 6, b7, 7,
m7 + IImMaj7: 1, b2, 2, b3, 4, 5, 6, b7,
m7 + bII7: 1, b2, b3, 4, 5, b6, b7, 7,
1min + b 2aug + b 3min
dim7 + Vm7b5: 1, b2, b3, 4, b5, 5, 6, b7,
m7 + bVmMaj7: 1, b2, b3, 4, b5, 5, 6, b7,
3m7b5 + 4dim
7 + IIdim7: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, b6, b7, 7,
7 + IVdim7: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, b6, b7, 7,
7 + bVIdim7: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, b6, b7, 7,
7 + VIIdim7: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, b6, b7, 7,
Maj7 + bVII7: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, b6, b7, 7,
Dorian Add #4
dim7 + Vm7: 1, 2, b3, 4, b5, 5, 6, b7,
Common Minor Pentatonic + 7dom
dim7 + V7: 1, 2, b3, 4, b5, 5, 6, 7,
1min + b 2aug + 7maj
mMaj7 + bVmMaj7: 1, b2, b3, 4, b5, 5, 6, 7,
Sarasangi Add #2
mMaj7 + bVIIm7b5: 1, b2, b3, 3, 5, b6, b7, 7,
m7 + bIIm7: 1, b2, b3, 3, 5, b6, b7, 7,
m7 + VIIm7: 1, 2, b3, b5, 5, 6, b7, 7,

m7b5 + IImMaj7: 1, b2, 2, b3, 4, b5, 6, b7,

1dim + b 7^m7b5
dim7 + bVIIm7b5: 1, b2, b3, 3, b5, b6, 6, b7,
m7b5 + VIMaj7: 1, b2, b3, 3, b5, b6, 6, b7,
Aeolian Add natural 7
mMaj7 + bVII7: 1, 2, b3, 4, 5, b6, b7, 7,
m7 + IIdim7: 1, 2, b3, 4, 5, b6, b7, 7,
m7 + IVdim7: 1, 2, b3, 4, 5, b6, b7, 7,
m7 + bVIdim7: 1, 2, b3, 4, 5, b6, b7, 7,
m7 + VIIdim7: 1, 2, b3, 4, 5, b6, b7, 7,
b 3dim + b 7dom
dim7 + bVII7: 1, 2, b3, 4, b5, b6, 6, b7,
Whole-Half
dim7 + IIdim7: 1, 2, b3, 4, b5, b6, 6, 7,
dim7 + IVdim7: 1, 2, b3, 4, b5, b6, 6, 7,
dim7 + bVIdim7: 1, 2, b3, 4, b5, b6, 6, 7,
dim7 + VIIdim7: 1, 2, b3, 4, b5, b6, 6, 7,
1maj + b6maj + 6maj
mMaj7 + VIMaj7: 1, b2, b3, 3, 5, b6, 6, 7,
# 4m7 + 5min
7 + IIMaj7: 1, b2, 2, 3, b5, 5, 6, b7,
1maj + 6maj + 7maj
mMaj7 + bVm7: 1, b2, b3, 3, b5, 5, 6, 7,
dim7 + bIIm7b5: 1, b2, b3, 3, b5, 5, 6, 7,
Maj7 + bIIIm7b5: 1, b2, b3, 3, b5, 5, 6, 7,
Major Add b2
mMaj7 + bVIIMaj7: 1, 2, b3, 4, 5, 6, b7, 7,
m7 + VIIm7b5: 1, 2, b3, 4, 5, 6, b7, 7,
Maj7 + IImMaj7: 1, b2, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7,
m7b5 + bIIm7: 1, b2, b3, 3, b5, b6, b7, 7,
b 2m7 + b 5^{\circ}
dim7 + bIIm7: 1, b2, b3, 3, b5, b6, 6, 7,
Mixolydian Add b2
7 + IImMaj7: 1, b2, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, b7,
1maj + 5min + b 6min
m7 + III7: 1, 2, b3, 3, 5, b6, b7, 7,
1dom + 7^{m6}
7 + bVIm7b5: 1, 2, 3, b5, 5, b6, b7, 7,
Those Belonging to the Emperor
mMaj7 + IImMaj7: 1, b2, 2, b3, 4, 5, 6, 7,
mMaj7 + bVIImMaj7: 1, b2, b3, 4, 5, 6, b7, 7,
mMaj7 + IIMaj7: 1, b2, 2, b3, b5, 5, 6, 7,
Maj7 + bVIImMaj7: 1, b2, 3, 4, 5, 6, b7, 7,
One Last One...
As a parting gift, here's an extraordinary hexatonic example -- the only symmetrical one that's not
composed of augmented triads in a crushingly obvious way. We already know that this scale is
remarkable, but here's just a little bit more insight into it:
Augmented I
mMaj7 + IIIMaj7: 1, b3, 3, 5, b6, 7,
mMaj7 + IIIMaj: 1, b3, 3, 5, b6, 7,
mMaj7 + IIIAug: 1, b3, 3, 5, b6, 7,

mMaj7 + bVIAug: 1, b3, 3, 5, b6, 7,

Maj7 + bVImMaj7: 1, b3, 3, 5, b6, 7,
Maj7 + IIIMaj7: 1, b3, 3, 5, b6, 7,
Maj7 + bVIMaj7: 1, b3, 3, 5, b6, 7,
Maj7 + bVIMaj: 1, b3, 3, 5, b6, 7,
Maj7 + bVIMin: 1, b3, 3, 5, b6, 7,
Maj + bVImMaj7: 1, b3, 3, 5, b6, 7,
Maj + IIIMaj7: 1, b3, 3, 5, b6, 7,
Maj + bVIMin: 1, b3, 3, 5, b6, 7,
Aug + IIImMaj7: 1, b3, 3, 5, b6, 7,
Aug + bVImMaj7: 1, b3, 3, 5, b6, 7,
Aug + bIIIAug: 1, b3, 3, 5, b6, 7,
Aug + VAug: 1, b3, 3, 5, b6, 7,
Aug + VIIAug: 1, b3, 3, 5, b6, 7,
Min + IIIMaj7: 1, b3, 3, 5, b6, 7,
Min + IIIMaj: 1, b3, 3, 5, b6, 7,
Root notes are for wimps: An invitation to hypermodes
There are seven major scale modes, which you can think of as major scales built on 7 different
tonics suspended over a single root note. So over a C root we can play the notes from C Major
(Ionian), Bb Major (Dorian), Ab Major (Phrygian), G Major (Lydian), F Major (Mixolydian), Eb
Major (Aeolian) or Db Major (Locrian). But there are 12 notes in music; what happened to the other
five? Step inside...
What I'm saying is that over a harmony with a C root note we can, at least on paper, construct
melodies and lines out of the notes of any of the twelve possible major scales. Yet we only have
special names for seven of those possibilities; we guitarists tend to learn those seven pretty early on,
but we almost never even think of playing the other five.
First I should stress that there are perfectly good historical and theoretical reasons why this is. I'm
going to disregard almost all this information and just ask what would happen if we did play those
major scales, as a matter of intellectual curiosity. Nevertheless, I want to stress for now that
hypermodes are not just theoretical fictions -- they're seen in the wild, albeit not (as far as I know)
these ones, and not usually in a very sensible theoretical frame of reference.
What Are the Hypermodes of the Major Scale?
Let's start by making a list of the beasts and see if we can figure anything out just by looking at
them:
D Major ScaleD E F# G A B C#
E Major Scale E F# G# A B C# D#
F# Major Scale
F# G# A# B C# D# E#
A Major Scale A B C# D E F# G#
B Major Scale B C# D# E F# G# A#
You may very well notice that just as the modes in C mostly go round the flat keys (the exception is
G), these are all clustered around the sharp keys. Visualising this makes it a bit clearer:
Note that this diagram assumes that the root note is C, but when we pick a different root note we
can just rotate the shaded segment around to the appropriate position and we're good to go.
There's nothing very mysterious going on here: in all the non-modal major scales one very
important thing has happened: the note "C" has been sharpened, meaning there is no root note. The

note C, which the harmony or bass or whatever is telling us is the root, is not present in the scale.
This is what makes the difference between a mode (where the root is present) and what I'm calling a
hypermode (where it ain't).
An aside: since the hypermodes don't contain root notes, on my usual definition of a "scale" they
aren't scales. I'm OK with that, and I have something to say about it shortly.
Possible Applications
Time to figure out how we might try using these things. Here's a table of the spelling of each
hypermode relative to the underlying root, plus a made-up name for each one and a suggested chord
application:
II Major Scale #1 2 3 #4 5 6 7
Hyperlydian Maj 7
VI Major Scale
#1 2 3 #4 #5 6 7
Hyperlydian Augmented
Maj 7
III Major Scale
#1 #2 3 #4 #5 6 7
Hyperlydian Augmented #9 Maj 7
bV Major Scale
#1 #2 #3 #4 #5 #6 7 Hyperlocrian Min 7
VII Major Scale
#1 #2 3 #4 #5 #6 7 Hyperlocrian Altered Dom 7
We therefore have three hypermodes that are most naturally partnered with Maj7 sounds plus one
each for dom7 and min7. I'd suggest trying out one of these at a time over a suitable chord vamp /
backing track. If you use a backing track, make sure it only has a single chord, not a progression,
since that will make sure you get the hypermode sound all the way through. It takes a bit of time to
get the sound into your ear to the point where it doesn't just sound like you're playing in the wrong
key, but then you managed to do that with the ordinary modes, didn't you?
One thing I like about the lines you get this way is that they have a floating, unresolved quality
because of the absence of a root. To "sell" these ideas convincingly, however, you'll probably find
you sometimes have to resolve all that dissonance and land on the root. That's OK; just play the
root, or indeed other chord tones, when you want to relieve the tension.
Theoretical Musings
Adding the root back in might give us an idea for how to treat these things in terms of scale theory.
The root is always there "really" in the harmony and you may well fell it's implied in your lines
even if you're not playing it. So we could just consider these 7-note hypermodes to be the 8-note
scales you get simply by adding the root note back in. In other words, these are elements of what I
call the 8-spectrum of the Major Scale.
Let's call the 8-note scale we get by adding the root back into a hypermode its "hypermodal
completion". So we have 5 hypermodal completions of the major scale:
1 b2 2 3 #4 5 6 7
1 b2 2 3 #4 #5 6 7
1 b2 #2 3 #4 #5 6 7
1 b2 #2 #3 #4 #5 #6 7
1 b2 #2 3 #4 #5 #6 7
A bit of analysis throws up the following, possibly interesting information about these hypermode
completions:
The completions of the Major Scale hypermodes built on the 2 and b5 are modes of each other. The
others aren't.
The completions of the Major Scale hypermodes built on the 6 and 7 are also completions of
Melodic Minor hypermodes.
The completion of the Major Scale hypermode built on the 3 is also the completion of a Harmonic

Minor hypermode.
There are three other completions of Melodic Minor hypermodes and four of Harmonic Minor ones,
none of which is a mode of another, but one of the completions is shared: that is, it's the completion
of hypermodes of Melodic and Harmonic Minor.
Because of overlaps, altogether this only accounts for ten of the octatonic modal groups. There are
33 others and I wonder whether ideas from the spectral theory might suggest other classificatory
approaches to them.
[EDIT: You can now download by free ebook on hypermodes here.]
The Maj7b5 Arpeggio
The Major 7 arpeggio (1 3 5 7) has many uses; it can be superimposed over harmonies in all kinds
of ways and I use it a lot. If you flatten the fifth (1 3 b5 7) you get a new sound with different
applications. Here I'll talk about some of the possibilities.
First, here are CAGED diagrams for the Maj7b5 arpeggio, taken from Arpeggio and Scale
Resources:
If you play through them you'll probably find they present some quite awkward technical
challenges; I've therefore produced some tabbed-out fingerings with suggested fretting-hand finger
choices (the small numbers) and picking directions (for the first position only).
OK, that's the preliminaries dealt with: how do we start using this thing to make music in the
context of triad-based harmonies? Clearly we can play it over a Major 7 chord with a flattened fifth,
but that doesn't come up very often, so we're looking for ways to superimpose this arpeggio over
some other chord that will sound good.
As with anything else, over a harmony with a given root note there are twelve possible Maj7b5
arpeggios we can play: the one built off the root, the one built off the b2, the one built off the 2 and
so on. We can look at these in a table but that's not usually very enlightening. So how do we get
started?
Major-Scale-Modal Applications
One way is to notice that the Maj7b5 arpeggio (1 3 b5 7) can be respelled (1 3 #4 7), which are all
notes from the Lydian scale. In fact, looked at this way it's kind of the distilled essence of the
Lydian sound -- a major 7 arpeggio (minus the not-usually-interesting fifth) plus that #11 that makes
Lydian what it is.
So a good start on those twelve applications is to use the Maj7b5 at the root as a substitute for the
Lydian scale. Over CMaj7 play CMaj7b5 and you're off. Not wonderfully exciting, but this is one
out of the twelve possibilities covered off, and you may enjoy the different lines you tend to create.
You can mix in other Lydian scale notes, too.
This gives us an idea: if it works for Lydian, it should work for the other six Major Scale modes as
well. For example, it turns out that if over a Cm7 chord I play DbMaj7b5, I get the notes Db, F, G
and C; these are four of the seven notes in the Phrygian scale. If I want a Phrygian sound but I don't
just want to run the scale, I can use this arpeggio instead to give me some more tasty intervallic
choices without introducing any new notes.
Here's a quick table of which Maj7b5 to play over a chord to get notes from the given mode:

Major Scale mode

Arpeggio to use
Most obvious chordal application
Ionian IV Maj7b5
Maj7
Dorian bIII Maj7b5 m7
Phrygian
bII Maj7b5 m7
Lydian I Maj7b5
Maj7
Mixolydian bVII Maj7b5 dom7
Aeolian
bVI Maj7b5 m7
Locrian
bV Maj7b5 m7b5
These are actually not so hard to remember: in many cases the note you use to build the Maj7b5 arp
is one of the characteristic notes in the scale. Learning these applications is a good way to
internalise the arpeggio shapes and their sounds without stretching your ears too much at the
beginning. Relating a new resource to something familiar is always a nice way to start.
Melodic and Harmonic Minor Modes
I tried to find common scales (or modes of them) that relate to these applications the way the Major
Scale modes related to the ones in the previous section, but these are quite hard to spot by eye (try
it!). Here the technique I call "spectral analysis" is useful, because it takes the guesswork out of the
process. Here, for example, is the 7-spectrum of the Maj7b5 arpeggio, take from my book Spectral
Analysis of Scales
All these 7-note scales contain, somewhere within them, the Maj7b5 arpeggio. And since that
accounts for four of their notes, to learn each scale we need only learn how to add another 3 notes to
it. Most of these are very exotic indeed, but in the list we can see both Harmonic and Melodic
Minor scales. How does the arp fit these modes? A bit of calculation gives us this table:
Root note of arpeggio
Harmonic Minor mode
Melodic Minor mode
Major
Scale mode
I
Lydian #2
Lydian Augmented Lydian
bII
Phrygian Dominant Dorian b2
Phrygian
II
bIII Dorian #4
Melodic Minor
Dorian
III
Super Locrian
IV
Ionian #5
Major
bV
Locrian Natural 6
Half-Diminished
Locrian
V
bVI Harmonic Minor
Mixolydian b6
Aeolian
VI
Super Locrian bb7
bVII
Lydian Dominant
Mixolydian
VII
This gives us a way to start expanding our Maj7b5 vocabulary beyond the sounds of the Major
Scale modes. There's already a lot to work with here, and even if you know your Harmonic and
Melodic Minor modes fairly well I'm willing to bet you'll find something new here.
Notice, too, that the table now has at least one entry for all but three of the rows; in other words, we
can "make sense of" all but three of the Maj7b5 superimpositions by thinking of them in terms of
one or more fairly common 7-note scales.
More Exotic Heptatonic Scales
This is all very well, but what about all those other scales in the list? The next ones that jump out
for me are probably Neapolitan, Double Harmonic and Senavati, all scales I use fairly often but
could always have a better knowledge of. It doesn't take long to find the modes of these scales that

contain Maj7b5 arpeggios. This can be a good way to learn one of these scales, especially if the
sound of the mode isn't familiar to you. This is a particular problem with the Neapolitan which,
because it's "almost symmetrical", has modes that can sound very similar to each other.
Here's the table for the twelve superimpositions as they relate to modes of these three scales (you'll
probably need to refer to Arpeggio and Scale Resources for spellings and diagrams):
Root note of arpeggio
Double Harmonic mode
I
Rasikapriya Lydian Aug #6
Latangi
Superaugmented nat 3
bII
Double Harmonic
Neapolitan
Senavati
Ionian b2
II
Kanakangi b5 Super Locrian bb3 Locrian bb3
bIII
III
Super Locrian b2
Superaugmented nat 3
IV
Augmented #9

Neapolitan mode

Senavati mode

Aeolian b4
Ionian b2

bV
Chakravakam b5
Charukesi b5 Mixolydian b5
Locrian bb3
V
bVI Simhendramadhyamam
Rishabhapriya Latangi
Aeolian b4
VI
Senavati b4
Senavati
bVII

Lydian Dominant #5 Mixolydian b5

VII
Well, there's a lot here to work on as well. Some of the superimpositions are shared by a pair of
Senavati modes, which is interesting if (like me) you enjoy this scale, and notice that now we have
all but two of the superimpositions covered by one or other of our scale options. The V and VII are
still eluding us -- to cover these off we'd have to go to even more exotic scales, but this is quite
enough material to make me feel dizzy already.
Practicalities
OK, so how can we approach this stuff? It seems to me there are two main ways: horizontally or
vertically. In both cases you want to pick a single superimposition of the Maj7b5 and learn to "hear"
it in relation to a larger scale that contains it.
Say we pick the one at the bII for argument's sake. We know this is contained in Phrygian, so we
can noodle around with notes from the Phrygian, scale to fill out the sound, maybe over a nice
minor 7 vamp backing track to help us hear how it goes. So over a Cm7 backing we'll play
DbMaj7b5, and switch in notes from C Phrygian when we feel like it.
The vertical approach is the one I take if I want to learn as many different superimpositions of the
Maj7b5 as I can. I pick a column -- probably starting with familiar ones like the major scale modes
-- and work my way down it. So over my C-rooted backing I'll play CMaj7b5 interspersed with
Lydian, DbMaj7b5 interspersed with Phrygian and so on. This will give a good handle on how the
arp sounds in different positions relative to the root note, and is a good place to start if your goal is
to internalise the sound of this little group of intervals.

The horizontal approach is more about working with different scales in the context of a single
superimposition. So over that C root we can stick with DbMaj7b5 but intersperse it with Phrygian,
then Phrygian Dominant, then Dorian b2, then Double Harmonic and so on if you want to get more
exotic. This should give you an idea of the many sonic possibilities offered by just one single
superimposition.
I'd advise most people to take a sort of compromise approach, looking maybe at a specific chord
quality (like minor 7) and working with all the vertical options that make sense on that chord and all
the horizontal ones you already know. Later you can, if you with, add more horizontal ones you
don't yet know as a way to learn them.
And all that should give you enough to work on for the next twelve months if that's what you want.
More likely you'll take something from playing around with all this and make it your own; that's
fine too, of course.