Superimposing With Minor Pentatonics, Very important approach! |
GMC Forum > Discussion Boards > VINTAGE GMC > Community Activities and Tutorials > Ask an Instructor > More instructors > Pedja Simovic > Theory and Harmony (Pedja)
|
|
|
|
Jan 22 2010, 06:15 PM
|
|
Hi guys,
Today I have decided to teach you about Superimposing approach in playing/improvising/composing. There are various approaches how this could be applied but we will try to cover all of them in this thread. Make sure you print out everything and practice every day. Major scale harmony To read full post on major scale harmony and cadences, you should check this link HERE Once you read that article you should know by now that in any major scale we have Minor chords on scale degrees II, III and VI, major chords on scale degrees I, IV and V and diminished chord on scale degree VII. These rules apply to 3 part harmony or triads. In 4 part harmony (4 notes within a single chord) rules are a bit different. Major 7th chords are on scale degrees I and IV, Minor 7th chords are on scale degrees II, III and VI, Dominant 7th chord is on V scale degree and Minor 7b5 is on VII scale degree. These two very important rules apply to any major scale harmony, from any root! Ok, now that we have covered this basic foundation, lets talk about what Superimposing is. Superimposing in a most basic way of explaining is playing something rather then obvious over something. To give you an example, Superimposing would be playing E min pentatonic over A min chord or A min7. Obvious thing to do there is to play A min pentatonic over A min type harmony, but what we do with Superimposing is find many other ways and possibilities to enrich our harmony/melody/improvising/composing/accompaniment etc. Lets talk about Minor pentatonic now and where it appears in major scale, we will take C major scale as example. Pentatonic scale by itself means 5 note scale. We have most common pentatonic scales like Major and Minor pentatonic scale that are most frequently applied in all styles of music. We will discuss minor pentatonic in this thread since I prefer to solo with minor type sounds  Minor pentatonic scale interval formula : Root, Minor 3rd, Perfect 4th, Perfect 5th, Minor 7th , (Octave). Minor pentatonic scale numbering formula : 1 , b3, 4, 5, b7, (1 or 8). Ok, now what we will do is try to find where Minor pentatonic occurs in major scale. C major scale harmony I = C maj 4 part C maj7 II = D min 4 part D min7 III = E min 4 part E min7 IV = F maj 4 part F maj7 V = G maj 4 part G7 VI = A min 4 part A min7 VII = B dim 4 part B min7b5 Here is a very cool trick to find Minor pentatonic in major scale faster! Since minor pentatonic starts with interval of minor 3rd, we automatically don't consider major type chords in major scale harmony. Why? Simply because major chords (3 part and 4 part harmony - doesn't matter) start with interval of MAJOR 3rd. Minor pentatonic starts with MINOR 3rd so we automatically look for Minor and type chords in the major scale to figure out pentatonic scales in it. In C major scale, minor chords appear on scale degrees II, III and VI. Those chords are D min, E min and A min. We will try by applying minor pentatonic formula from those roots (D, E and A) to figure out if there is minor pentatonic from each one of them. D minor pentatonic = D (root), F (minor3rd) , G (perfect 4th), A (perfect 5th), C (minor 7th), D (root or octave) = PERFECT! All the notes from D minor pentatonic belong to C major scale ( C D E F G A B C). This means that in any major scale we have both minor chord and minor pentatonic happening on II scale degree. Lets now look for E and A as roots. E minor pentatonic = E (root), G (minor3rd) , A (perfect 4th), B (perfect 5th), D (minor 7th), E (root or octave) = PERFECT! All the notes from E minor pentatonic belong to C major scale ( C D E F G A B C). This means that in any major scale we have both minor chord and minor pentatonic happening on III scale degree. A minor pentatonic = A (root), C (minor3rd) , D (perfect 4th), E (perfect 5th), G (minor 7th), A (root or octave) = PERFECT! All the notes from A minor pentatonic belong to C major scale ( C D E F G A B C). This means that in any major scale we have both minor chord and minor pentatonic happening on VI scale degree. Conclusion : In any major scale, we have Minor pentatonic scale on scale degree II, III and VI just like we have minor chords on those same scale degrees! Now lets talk about Superimposing with minor pentatonic! Lets say I have A minor chord. There are 3 ways how I can think of A minor now! It could be that A minor is II, or A minor is III or even A minor is VI ! Here is the layout of A min being II, III and VI : A min as II = G major scale (go down a whole step from A min or major 2nd) = A Dorian mode A min as III = F major scale (go down two whole steps from A min or major 3rd) = A Phrygian mode A min as VI = C major scale (go up a whole step and a half step from A min or minor 3rd) = A Aeolian. As you see A minor chord can come from 3 different major scale harmonies ! It can come from G major, F major and C major. Each one of these scales has minor chords and minor pentatonic on scale degrees II, III and VI. Here is the layout of those major scales : G major = G A B C D E F# G II = A III = B VI = E F major = F G A Bb C D E F II = G III = A VI = D C major = C D E F G A B C II = D III = E VI = A Now comes the best part ! To get A minor sound that sounds like Dorian mode, we would use minor pentatonic scales from A, B and E note. Why? Because A minor as II comes from G major scale, and G major scale has A B and E notes on scale degrees II, III and VI! Obvious choice to play over A minor chord is A minor pentatonic but Superimposing starts to happen when we use B and E minor pentatonic! To get A minor sound that sounds like Phrygian mode, we would use minor pentatonic scales from G, A and D note. Why? Because A minor as III comes from F major scale, and F major scale has G A and D notes on scale degrees II, III and VI! Obvious choice to play over A minor chord is A minor pentatonic but Superimposing starts to happen when we use G and D minor pentatonic! To get A minor sound that sounds like Aeolian mode, we would use minor pentatonic scales from D, E and A note. Why? Because A minor as VI comes from C major scale, and C major scale has D, E and A notes on scale degrees II, III and VI! Obvious choice to play over A minor chord is A minor pentatonic but Superimposing starts to happen when we use D and E minor pentatonic! You just learned in this written lesson a lot about major scale harmony, minor pentatonic scale and its implication. Superimposing should be now within your reach. Start applying these things in your soloing and you will see your melodic vocabulary boosting tremendously! Final note for you guys! We can use Minor pentatonic to Superimpose over MAJOR chord as well. All you need to do is find original major scale where major chord comes from and from then on work out your II, III and VI in that major scale and you are all set ! For example : C major chord could be I, IV or V. If C major is I , we are in key of C major where we would use D, E and A minor pentatonic (II, III and VI in key of C). If C major is IV, we are in key of G, and we would use A, B and E minor pentatonic (II,III and VI in key of G). And finally, if C major is V, we are in F major where we would use G, A and D minor pentatonic (II, III, VI in key of F). Hope this lesson was very useful for all of you guys. Start applying this in your playing and I look forward to your future results with this material. Pedja |
 |
 
|
|
|
|
|
|
Jan 22 2010, 06:35 PM
|
|
Very well written lesson, Pedja. Made for a great read!
Oh, and also... what about super-imposing over altered or dominant chords? |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Feb 1 2010, 03:00 AM
|
|
Superimposing is great. When I first heard about it, I used to jam 3 pentatonic patterns over single minor chord, and after quite some time I still was amazed how much fun there is in that (only) one chord!
-------------------- - Ivan's Video Chat Lesson Notes HERE
- Check out my GMC Profile and Lessons - (Please subscribe to my) YouTube Official Channel - Let's be connected through ! Facebook! :) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Jun 7 2010, 12:01 PM
|
|
I LOVE your theory explanations man .. If I can understand it, anyone can !!
-------------------- "If the need is deep, you WILL find a way , if it isn't, you'll find some excuse"
Check out my Student Instructor Lesson on Metal Riffing HERE Visit My Youtube Channel |
|
|
|
|
 
|
1 User(s) are reading this topic (1 Guests and 0 Anonymous Users)
0 Members:
