Pentatonic scales over which major scales?

[Mark Gunter]

It's a good point. There's no need to know all this this music theory stuff in order to play well or to have fun playing. Just play the notes that sound good. Or, "you don't have to know English grammar, spelling, syntax, etc. to speak English."

In fact, it is easy to conceive of an individual who is totally illiterate and, simultaneously, a wonderful orator. Likewise, to conceive of an English professor who can properly parse and conjugate but stammers and turns beet red before a crowd - or has nary an original thought in his head to utter.

[stringalong]

I think a gerund is a "verbal noun." I'll look it up. Such as "tabling." Well, it looks like I'm right, but there are two opposite interpretatios in the wheb. Merriam webster agrees with me (or I agree with it): : an English noun formed from a verb by adding -ing

In the sentence “Learning can be fun,” “learning” is a gerund.


But this source, which is probably unreliable, says It's not a noun used as a verb, it's a verb used as a noun.

http://www.gingersoftware.com/conten...nouns/gerunds/

Gerunds are words that are formed with verbs but act as nouns. They’re very easy to spot, since every gerund is a verb with ing tacked to its tail. ... To find gerunds in sentences, just look for a verb + ing that is used as a noun.

[Mark Gunter]

Yes, gerunds are verbs, not nouns, but by adding -ing those verbs can be used grammatically as nouns. The actual doing of a thing becomes a thing of its own.

(This has become a hilarious but interesting diversion, )

[Mark Gunter]

What's wrong with the melody as the framework? Then deviate from that making each break a part of the song you are playinginstead of scales that will work with anything and sound like all the other breaks.

Nothing's wrong with the melody as the framework, in fact the melody is the framework. Then again, the melody is made up of notes from the appropriate scale(s).

[Stevo75]

The melody of any tune/song is almost always made up from the notes in the pentatonic scale. So if you know the pentatonic scales, they will help you find the melody more easily. Folks always bring up the point that you shouldn't be reliant upon pentatonic scales, and that's true, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't learn them.

[Mandoplumb]

Nothing's wrong with the melody as the framework, in fact the melody is the framework. Then again, the melody is made up of notes from the appropriate scale(s).

Yes that's true, but in working up a solo or "break" I think you should be thinking melody, not scales. It's the order of the notes in the scale that make the melody. If you think scales you'll be playing notes in the melody, but not the melody. I'm not saying that you play melody note for note but if you are thinking what scale can I play over this chord chances are it's going to sound like you are playing a scale over this chord. I should be able to hear the melody and recognize the song.

[T.D.Nydn]

A jazz piano teacher once told me that melody isn't scaler,melody is interval...

[Mark Gunter]

Too much "theory-talk" gets boring and almost meaningless. T.D., someone should tell your jazz piano teacher that "scales" are all about the intervals ... so that distinction about melodies doesn't make sense to me. There'd be nothing but 12 (or more ) notes playing all at once if not for intervals and timings.

[T.D.Nydn]

Because a scale is a group of notes played in an order,low to high..or high to low,,a melody,made of interval jumps ,does not

[Mark Gunter]

No argument here, T. D., just stating a fact here, that a musical scale is defined by the intervals between the notes. For example, the intervals that define a major scale (half-step between 3rd & 4th degrees, and between 7th & 8th degrees, with all other degrees one whole step apart) are the only thing that separates it from all other scales.

Melodies are built from the notes of relevant scale(s) to the piece of music, and melody notes vary in intervals and timing. At any rate, I don't understand the saying of your jazz piano teacher. Could be just because I'm not bright enough to follow whatever that reasoning is.

[JeffD]

there were 1/2 steps marching along in an Old Time fiddle tune. This is 100% unacceptable in Old Time tunes, unless, of course, one is doing jazz interpretation, I guess, which we don't do.

I am not sure I understand. I think I do but I am not sure.

You mean Old Time doesn't use a lot of accidentals, notes outside the scale of the key the major scale it is in. I think. But that leaves out a lot of the great modal old time tunes.

Or if you mean half steps, well half steps are used even in major tunes. Half step between E and F or B and C.

I am not trying to be snarky, just trying to see what you mean.

[Phil Goodson]

I still don't know what a gerund is, but I use them every day.
...
f-d

Yeah, but do you precede them with a possessive pronoun?

[David L]

I am not sure I understand. I think I do but I am not sure.

You mean Old Time doesn't use a lot of accidentals, notes outside the scale of the key the major scale it is in. I think. But that leaves out a lot of the great modal old time tunes.

Or if you mean half steps, well half steps are used even in major tunes. Half step between E and F or B and C.

I am not trying to be snarky, just trying to see what you mean.

He means that the half-steps were happening simultaneously, by two players at once. Not a good thing.

[David L]

Because a scale is a group of notes played in an order,low to high..or high to low,,a melody,made of interval jumps ,does not

In the case of this discussion, "scale" means a set of notes, not necessarily in order. If you are "playing the X scale over the Y chord", you are using any of the X set of notes in any order and with leaps, not just going up and down the scale.

[JeffD]

He means that the half-steps were happening simultaneously, by two players at once. Not a good thing.

Ohhhh. Ok. Understand.

[Perry]

cut and pasted from an old thread...it's a guitar book but can easily be applied to mandolin...focus is on minor pentatonic:


I recently picked up jazz guitar player Steve Khan's book "Pentatonic Khancepts"

http://www.stevekhan.com/books.htm

I found his approach on the subject to be very clear and rewarding. He uses the MINOR pentatonic scale over all the chord families; major, minor, Dom7 etc. He also uses something he calls the Dominant 7th pentatonic scale. The book is divided into very digestible "units" and contains tables and grids that really put the material into focus. Lot's of explanatory text in this book too.

The accompanying CD contains demonstrations of the concepts then a backing track is supplied to practice these concepts at moderate tempos.