So How Do I... Use Pentatonic Scales Without Sounding Like Dickey Betts_ - William Flynn Music

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1 sur 6 09/10/2015 14:05

So How Do I… Use Pentatonic Scales Without Sounding Like Dickey Betts?

posted by William Flynn on October 20,2013in Scales

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I’ve always had a difficult time incorporating pentatonics into my playing. I understand the theoretical principles regarding their use injazz, but whenever I try to use them they always end up sounding so predictable and “pentatonic-y”. I try to sound like Woody Shaw andjust end up sounding like Dickey Betts. A friend of mine recently asked me to write about my thoughts on using the pentatonic scale injazz, so I treated his request as a good opportunity to revisit this problem-spot of mine.

What is a Pentatonic Scale?

As its name implies, a pentatonic scale is scale made-up of five notes. There are two basic forms of the pentatonic scale: the majorpentatonic scale and the minor pentatonic scale. The major pentatonic scale is essentially a major scale without the 4th or 7th degrees. Theminor pentatonic scale is essentially a natural minor scale without the 2nd or 6th degrees (this can also be seen as the fourth inversion ofthe major pentatonic scale). Thus, from a C major pentatonic scale would contain the notes C, D, E, G, & A; and a C minor pentatonicscale would contain the notes C, Eb, F, G, & Bb.


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That seems simple enough. So can I just substitute those scales for my major and minor scales?

Ah, herein lies the confusion. Pentatonic scales are one of the most commonly-used scales in music, and due to the fact that they lay well onthe guitar, they are extremely prevalent in guitar-based musics such as blues, rock, country, pop, and R&B. In these styles of music, thepentatonic scale is being used in a lyrical way to execute basic notes within the tonality. For example, a country guitarist such as DickeyBetts would use a G major pentatonic (or E minor pentatonic) scale over a G major chord, and a blues guitarist such as Albert Kingwould use an A minor pentatonic scale over an A blues. From jazz’s inception, pentatonic scales were also used in this manner. However,during the 1960s, jazz musicians such as Woody Shaw and Wayne Shorter began using pentatonic scales in different ways to create muchmore colorful and angular sounds. When jazz musicians refer to using pentatonics, it is in this manner that they are referring to. Beloware three tips to help you begin incorporating pentatonic scales into your jazz playing in less of a Betts-esque way, and more of aShaw-esque way.

1 Color

The first way you can start sounding more like Woody Shaw when playing pentatonic scales is to opt for more colorful pentatonic-chordrelationships. Using a G major pentatonic scale over a Gmaj7 chord is not a very colorful option, and can give your improvising a very“country-ish” sound. Instead, try using either a D major or A major pentatonic scale over a Gmaj7 chord. These two scales highlight morecolorful extensions (9th, #11, 13) and will produce more stylistically appropriate melodies. Over an A-7, rather than using A minorpentatonic, try using E minor pentatonic (which will give you the 9th & 11th) or B minor pentatonic (which will give you the 9th, 11th, &13th). A great pentatonic option over a dominant chord is the major pentatonic scale built off the tri-tone (#4/b5). This gives you all thealtered tones (b9, #9, b5, #5) and is a real colorful sound!

2 Skips/Jumps

The second way you can start sounding more like Woody Shaw when playing pentatonics is to incorporate skips and jumps into yourpentatonic lines. One of my favorite pentatonic sounds is the sound of all the 4ths contained within the scale. For example, the A minorpentatonic scale contains three quartal triads: A-D-G, D-G-C, E-A-D. Arpeggiate these three triads and listen to how interesting theysound. Those three quartal triads contain all the notes of the A minor pentatonic scale, and it sounds a lot cooler to present the notes inthat manner than it does to simply ascend/descend through the scale!

3 Side-Slipping

A third way you can start sounding more like Woody Shaw when playing pentatonics is to move between pentatonic scales that are ahalf-step away from each other. Moving between two parallel sounds that are a half-step apart is a technique often referred to as “side-


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slipping”. A great place to do this is in a ii-V-I progression. Let’s take a ii-V-I in C major, for example (D-7 | G7 | Cmaj7). Over the D-7 wecan play A minor pentatonic–a colorful choice which highlights the 9th and 11th extensions. The next chord is a G7, and if we move the Aminor pentatonic up a half-step to Bb minor, we arrive at a very colorful scale to play over the G7. A Bb minor pentatonic played over aG7 highlights all the G7’s altered extensions: #9, b5, #5, & b9. The last chord of the progression is Cmaj7, and if we move the Bb minorpentatonic up a half-step to B minor pentatonic, we arrive at a colorful option to use over the Cmaj7–one that highlights the 9th, #11th, &13th. Thus, over our D-7 | G7 | Cmaj7 progression we have travelled chromatically from Am pentatonic to Bbm pentatonic to Bmpentatonic, and have hit a ton of colorful notes along the way! Try it out–it’s a great sound!

Hopefully this gives you some ideas to work with in beginning to develop a pentatonic vocabulary within the jazz idiom. Post yourthoughts and comments below, and feel free to send me any questions you have!

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John Mccook ·Mobile (Alabama)

You should be so lucky.

Like · Reply · Jun 16, 2015 12:37pm

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So How Do I... Use Pentatonic Scales Without Sounding Like Dickey Betts_ - William Flynn Music

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