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The Secret Saxophone Scale J.Brent©2003 I originally picked this scale up from listening to Junior Walker recordings. I realized that he was playing it as a set scale over damn near everything. Subsequently I noticed that many other Sax players seem to use this as one of their preferred scales over Blues and Rock changes. * Play the Em Blues scale without the "B" ( D E G A Bb ) over the entire G Blues progression, you'll find pleasant and useful surprises. I visualize this scale as "The E half-diminished pentatonic", but (depending on the starting note, and what country you're in) it's also known as:
* * * * * * * This scale also sounds GREAT over iim
- V7 - I (Am - D7 - G) progressions: * * * * * * * Sometimes the Sax player will add in the 4th above the G root, but not overly often as it doesn't seem to have very much personality in this context. The b7 is also a possible tone here, but the major 6th seems to be favored over it. Adding the 4th and b7 to this pentatonic turns it into the Dorian. But a great deal of the charm of this scale lies in avoiding those two notes. * * * * * * * Analysis over different chords: When analyzed over the I chord, you can also think of this scale as the "minor 69" pentatonic (1 2 b3 5 6). Analyzed over the IV chord it yields 9 3 5 6 b7. Like a rootless 13th (no 11). Analyzed over the V yields 1 2 4 5 #5. The #5 over a V chord sounds great in Blues and minor changes. Analyzed over the ii chord yields 4 5 b7 1 b2. * * * * * * * The following examples are notated in
Piano Tab
5Et - Gi - Am - Bbr - 5A - G - 4Et - E 5D#t - Et - Gi - Am - G - Bbr - G - A - E - 5(Ai)Bbm6Ep - (A)Bb6E - 5Am - Gi - A - G -Et 5(D#i)EiGr -Dt - 4Bbr - Et - Am - G - E - 4{Bbi}Bi5Ep
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