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Hi AM’ers
I learned EP571, both parts 1 & 2 and I did some adlibing on it as well when I discovered that I could play simply the E7 major scale over the entire piece and was wondering why it sounded so darn good melodically whatever I played and seemed to fit every chord and this is what I discovered.
EP571 IN THE KEY OF “A” A, D, E7 & F#m
I CAN PLAY THE E7 MAJOR SCALE OVER THE ENTIRE SONG AND IT SOUNDS GREAT
QUESTION: WHY DOES THE E7 SCALE SEEM TO FIT OVER THE ENTIRE SONG
ANSWER:
1. E7 SCALE = E F# G# A B C# D E
2. THERE ARE 4 NOTES THAT APPEAR IN ALL 4 OF THESE CHORDS, THEY ARE A, B, E7, AND F#,
3. THE EXTRA 2 NOTES THAT ARE NOT IN ALL 4 OF THESE CORDS ARE just G# AND C# but they are in 2
of the 4 chordsTHE REASON THOSE TWO,(G# & C#) WORK IS BECAUSE:
4. G# IS IN TWO OF THE 4 CHORDS Amaj7 and E7
5. AND C# IS IN TWO OF THE 4 CHORDS F#m and E7
ALSO IT HELPS TO NOTE: the F#m Pentatonic has the exact same notes as the A maj pentatonicALL IT TAKES TO WRITE A SONG IS........3 CHORDS AND THE TRUTH!
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Hello Charjo,
Thank you for pointing that out to me. I didn’t realize it at the time but your right, thats the E mixolydian scale and should be called that instead of calling it an E7 major scale so thank you for the correction.Also, yes with some of the phrases that may have the G# or the C# in them may conflict and have to be resolved to A. do I have that part right?
Thanks again charjo,
PaddyALL IT TAKES TO WRITE A SONG IS........3 CHORDS AND THE TRUTH!
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Hi Paddy,
What I was thinking is that the key really is A major and all the chords belong to that key. If you notice Brian’s tab for EP571, the song starts and ends on an A note. If you’re thinking E mixolydian you would have a tendency to rest on an E note. I think Brian often ends his phrases on a chord tone of the chord of the moment but the final resting point is the A note over the tonic A chord.
John -
Hi,
John is right. The song is in A (major), so the appropriate scale is A B C# D E F# G# (A). The harmonic context of this song is strongly tonal. What this means concretely is that all the notes of the scale, and all the chords in the chord family, have a tendency to gravitate towards (and resolve to) the A note and the A major chord. This is particularly true for the E7 chord.
Technically, E Mixolydian (E F# G# A B C# D) contains the exact same notes as A major, BUT the tonal center is E, not A, which means that everything gravitates towards the E note.
So yes, the notes are the same so they will “work”, but you must be resolving to A somehow for your improvisation to work.
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