Polly Juanna Safecracker?
Pentatonic b6 Combination Exercise
Ms. Polly Juanna Safecracker Been feeling locked out (or up!) lately?
This pretty little combination exercise, which unlocks the door and lets you get "up close and personal" with the Pentatonic b6 scale and its modes, is similar in construction to an exercise which I posted previously, based on the Pentatonic b2 scale.
While the Penta b2 could be considered as a derivative of the 8 note diminished scale system (as well as the lesser used Harmonic Major scale), the Penta b6 is derived from the Melodic Minor harmonic system (scale steps 5-6-7-9-b3), but also found as part of Harmonic Major (scale steps 1-2-3-5-b6).
As its name suggests, the Penta b6 is a 5 note pentatonic scale with the 6th (as being the interval measured from its root, not its scale step), flatted (eg. G Penta b6 = G-A-B-D-Eb, derived from C Melodic Minor or G Harmonic Major).
This pretty little combination exercise, which unlocks the door and lets you get "up close and personal" with the Pentatonic b6 scale and its modes, is similar in construction to an exercise which I posted previously, based on the Pentatonic b2 scale.
While the Penta b2 could be considered as a derivative of the 8 note diminished scale system (as well as the lesser used Harmonic Major scale), the Penta b6 is derived from the Melodic Minor harmonic system (scale steps 5-6-7-9-b3), but also found as part of Harmonic Major (scale steps 1-2-3-5-b6).
As its name suggests, the Penta b6 is a 5 note pentatonic scale with the 6th (as being the interval measured from its root, not its scale step), flatted (eg. G Penta b6 = G-A-B-D-Eb, derived from C Melodic Minor or G Harmonic Major).
The "combination" part of this exercise comes from the melding of one bar apiece of Bergonzi shape #5 (ascending), the interval make up being:
Skip up - Step up - Skip down - Step up - Skip up - Step up - Skip down
or shape #1 (descending):
Skip down - Step down - Skip up - Step down - Skip down - Step down - Skip up
with diatonic 3rds, moving in the opposite direction.
This creates a 2 bar phrase which is very "loopable" as the 3rds lead back nicely to the starting note. Each 2 bar phrase begins on a different scale step of the pentatonic, which will give you a great sense of flexible manuverability, once you get it down.
Since the Penta b6 contains a tritone between the 2nd and 5th scale degrees, make note of which dominant 7th chords it could express.
For example, C penta b6 (C-D-E-G-Ab, derived from F Melodic Minor, with the tritone "D - Ab", would indicate an E7 alt, or a Bb7#11, which would normally resolve to an "A" something or other.
You've got the combination, so get to crackin'!
Look Out!
Skip up - Step up - Skip down - Step up - Skip up - Step up - Skip down
or shape #1 (descending):
Skip down - Step down - Skip up - Step down - Skip down - Step down - Skip up
with diatonic 3rds, moving in the opposite direction.
This creates a 2 bar phrase which is very "loopable" as the 3rds lead back nicely to the starting note. Each 2 bar phrase begins on a different scale step of the pentatonic, which will give you a great sense of flexible manuverability, once you get it down.
Since the Penta b6 contains a tritone between the 2nd and 5th scale degrees, make note of which dominant 7th chords it could express.
For example, C penta b6 (C-D-E-G-Ab, derived from F Melodic Minor, with the tritone "D - Ab", would indicate an E7 alt, or a Bb7#11, which would normally resolve to an "A" something or other.
You've got the combination, so get to crackin'!
Look Out!
Download PDF (8 Pages)
Treble Clef Bass Clef
Treble Clef Bass Clef
B. Stern
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