I found that there are six notes that sound curious and inspiring to my ears, namely A, Bb, C#, D, E, F. But I am not aware of any named scales that have these six particular notes. So my question is:if there exists a named scale that contain these six notes, what is it?
Asked
Active
Viewed 1.1k times
3
-
You should know this, Eric Clapton! ;-) – Richard Apr 16 '17 at 18:22
-
1@Richard, haha I am not sure about that; don't forget he is majorly recognized as a tasteful pentatonic player :). – Yes Apr 16 '17 at 18:23
-
My full answer is below, but just as a bit of advice, whenever you see a flat immediately followed by a sharp, you should think of the harmonic minor scale. – Bradd Szonye Apr 16 '17 at 18:27
-
@BraddSzonye - trouble is, a beginner may well not spell the notes with the accepted letter names... – Tim Apr 16 '17 at 18:31
-
@Tim, thank you for raising a concern. No worries about me in this case. :) It is that I am not an English native speaker; so my use of music terms would seem fishy :). – Yes Apr 16 '17 at 18:33
-
1Not sure if it helps you: according to this page ("All named scales in txt format, but with nearly every…"), this is known as Raga Malahari in Indian music. You can find videos on Youtube with Raga Malahari, e.g. this (singing), or this (Carnatic guitar) or this (flute+) or this (violin) or this. – ShreevatsaR Apr 17 '17 at 00:08
5 Answers
10
That looks like a mode of the D harmonic minor scale. D natural minor is D, E, F, G, A, B-flat, C, D. The harmonic minor has a raised seventh degree, so D, E, F, G, A, B-flat, C-sharp, D. If you specifically want the fifth mode of D harmonic minor (starting on A), that is usually called the Phrygian dominant scale, spelled A, B-flat, C-sharp, D, E, F, G.
Bradd Szonye
- 6,708
- 9
- 39
- 76
4
Awkwardly, more than one scale starts with A-Bb-C#-D-E-F (let alone contains those notes in that order). A scale starting with these notes that I haven't seen here so far is the A double harmonic scale, which is A-Bb-C#-D-E-F-G#(-A).
Dekkadeci
- 14,111
- 2
- 28
- 58
2
There are so many ways of defining scales but IMHO this is the most logical but neither jazz nor classical musicians seem to totally use it for name calling. Divide any scale into 2 tetrachords (a tetrachord always has 2 notes a perfect 4th apart, with 2 other notes in-between them, and never with 3 semitones together — there are only 4 possibilities: Major, Minor, Upper-Minor and Harmonic).
We're using A as tonic here so there is already an A harmonic tetrachord on the bottom, i.e. tonic, semitone, minor 3rd, semitone. On the top we start from the octave and work down. There is a note missing. It can only be G or G#. (F# breaks the 3 semitone rule with no symmetric logic).
Adding G# creates a harmonic tetrachord in the upper half and thus a double harmonic scale. (ala Allan Holdsworth, and a mode of Gypsy minor). Double harmonic does break the 3 semitone rule but each half is a mirror of the other and can be used in a very logical way.
G works and doesn't break the 3 semitone rule. Upper minor tetra in the upper half, tonic, semitone, tone, tone. To me this scale should be called Upper-Minor/Harmonic. Harmonic minor scale is called that because it has a harmonic tetra in the top half and minor tetra in the lower half. Harmonic Major is called using the same logic. Calling the upper half 1st and lower half 2nd. To me that is so logical and memorable.
All who commented here have a deep understanding of harmony and insight into scales and modes. Well done guys. I see confusion amongst a lot of students and feel that scales could be more easily mastered using the 2 tetrachords approach to scale naming IMHO.
Elements In Space
- 13,682
- 4
- 29
- 78
Don
- 21
- 1
1
When a G note is in the sequence, it's the scale and key of D harmonic minor.
Tim
- 192,860
- 17
- 187
- 471
1
So my question is:if there exists a named scale that contain these six notes, what is it?
Here are the common scales that fit your notes. As you can see, both the Harmonic Minor and Double Harmonic fit.
- Phrygian Dominant:
A Bb C# D E F G - Aeolian Harmonic/Lydian sharp 2:
Bb C# D E F G A - Ultralocrian:
C# D E F G A Bb - Harmonic Minor:
D E F G A Bb C# - Locrian natural 6:
E F G A Bb C# D - Ionian Augmented:
F G A Bb C# D E
- Double Harmonic:
A Bb C# D E F G# - Lydian Sharp 2 Sharp 6:
Bb C# D E F G# A - Ultraphrygian:
C# D E F G# A Bb - Double Harmonic Minor:
D E F G# A Bb C# - Asian/Oriental:
E F G# A Bb C# D - Ionian Augmented Sharp 2:
F G# A Bb C# D E