learning non-major-scale harmony

[George Biner]

The highest and best use of a pedal steel guitar is playing a melody note along with a harmonizing note. Now, mostly what I see we folks talk about is major key harmony, and on E9 there's about 4 or so standard fingerings that will get you harmonizing on a major scale in the four or so main positions. Problem solved. LINK
But hang on there Reverend Beauford, what if a major key is not what's going on?


I would like to see all the harmonization fingerings laid out as they are for the major scale.
for:

** minor key
** blues key with minor 7ths (may be the same as minor)

I hope either this exists or it can be created.

[Fred Treece]

The harmonic minor scale lays out pretty well on E9. If you can play Am, Dm, and E7 chords, you should be able to find your 3rd’s and 6th’s scales in A harmonic minor.

[Bob Hoffnar]

Its the same for minor keys only starting in a different place as a major key for starters. So that covers all your basic modes.

On a basic level there are 12 notes total. The E9 tuning is capable of playing all of them. Also It is capable of playing all the intervals. If you know your intervals and where the notes are you can harmonize in whatever way you want too. The only limitation is imagination and ability.

[Fred Treece]

As long as there is a 1, a b3, and a 5 in it, it’s a minor scale.

There are 4 minor modes in the major (Ionian) scale, where the intervals pre-exist and you just play the same notes as are in the major scale from a different starting point - from the 2, 3, 6, or 7. (The scale that starts at the 7 has a b5, so the scale is called “half-diminished” rather than normal “minor”. Do not sweat this.)

The third notes in each of those starting points is a b3. The most common minor modes found in pop music start from the 2 (Dorian) and the 6 (Aeolian).

Santana made a living off the Dorian mode.

Harmonizing those scales is pretty straightforward. As Bob said in his post, just use the same harmonic intervals as in the major scale, but from the appropriate starting point.

The most common minor scales outside the minor modes of the major scale are the Harmonic Minor and the Melodic Minor. You just take the Aeolian and Dorian modes and raise the 7th notes a half-step, so it’s a major 7th instead of a flat 7.

Dorian with a maj7 = Melodic Minor
Aeolian with a maj7 = Harmonic Minor

This isn’t “weedy” music theory. It’s pretty basic Mel Bay beginner guitar book stuff. When you re-harmonize with those two scales, some very beautiful and interesting sounds emerge from your instrument, and you will find practical uses for those sounds in pop/country/jazz ballads.

[Jeff Keyton]

edit

[Tim Toberer]

I am not sure exactly what you mean by non major scale harmony? I took up steel guitar to try to learn some theory especially harmonizing melodies for chord soloing. This is how I think about it. Harmonize in 3rds, stacking them up is the most common and useful method because it builds the major, minor and diminished chords that make up 99% of music. Changing the order of the intervals gives you all the inversions Drop 2 3 etc. You can harmonize any 7 or 8 note scale this way. My favorite are the Barry Harris scales because they alternate between 6th and diminished chords in a magical way. Harmonizing the melodic and harmonic minor scales this way gives some very cool chord movements. Enough to keep you busy for a VERY long time. This stuff goes very deep and be all consuming. Best if taken in small bites.

Harmonize in 6ths which is an inverted 3rd so the relationship is similar. Harmonize in 4ths stack them up (quartal voicing) and you get a very modal hip sound used in modern jazz alot. Mccoy Tyner was the master. Works well on Blues scales and Dorian mode especially. Harmonize in tenths gives you a very open pianistic sound. Blackbird is the classic example. This stuff gets advanced and confusing and not that useful for most pop country and blues type playing.