Major Scale
– Major Scales in EDM are avoided because of that “Tritone” deriving from the 4th (F) and 7th Note (B) in the Scale that give the Quality a very Classical “Cheesy” Sound
– those 2 Notes are just a Half-Step away from the most important Notes in the Music, the Tonic (Root Note) and the 3rd which is B below C and E below F (the Notes determine Quality in Terms of Major / Minor)
Method 1 to get around the Classical Tritone / Tonality
– by removing those 2 Notes completely (leaves you with a Pentatonic Blues Scale), you take away the Need to Resolve outwards the Notes from F to E and Parallel B to C (that cheesy “Mozartian” Style)
Method 2 to get around the Classical Tritone / Tonality
– by alter one of the Notes which is basically the Creation of so called “Modes”
– for Example make B to a Bb (Lower the B a Half-Step)
– or raise the F a Half-Step to a F#
Natural Minor Scale
– also called the Aeolian Mode
– Minor Scales (Natural) are simply built from the 6th Degree of a Major Scale and uses a Lowered 6th & 7th
– this Minor Scale Mode is simply called “Natural Minor” because the same Notes occur in the Major Scale)
– and it´s a “Relative” Scale because it shares the same Key Signature (same Flats/Sharps)
– it consists of the so called “12 Bar Blues Chords” with a Tonic Cm (C, Eb, G), a Dominant Gm Chord (G, Bb, D) and a Subdominant Fm Chord (F, Ab, C)
Method 1 to “transpose” to a Parallel Minor Scale
– simply Shift the Emphasis to the 6th Degree of a Major Scale and Start building from there
Method 2 to “transpose” to a Parallel Minor Scale
– lower 3rd, 6th, 7th from a Major Scale and you have the Parallel Minor
Harmonic Minor Scale
– Harmonic Minor Scale just has a raised 7th (B instead of Bb)
– the only Reason why the Harmonic Minor exists was to avoid that G with a Bb resulted in a G Minor, cause the “Classical” People felt that Gm to Cm sounds wrong and wanted to keep the Dominant in Major as in the Major Scale
– note that this Method brings back that Tritone (F to B) and to resolve a “Harmonic Minor” Chord Progression you might End again with a too Classical Sound
– so to Resolve a Harmonic Minor Progression (D, F, G, B to C, Eb, G, C) still sounds very classical
– compared to a Cadence in Harmonic Minor (D, F, G, Bb to C, Eb, G, C) a more deep Sound
Melodic Minor Scale
– comes in 2 different Forms where Form 1 uses Natural Minor in a Descending Mode and Form 2 uses the “new” Melodic Minor in a Ascending Mode
Form 1
– is basically “the Descending Form” where we play the Scale Notes of the Natural Minor (Aeolian) but only in “Downward” Fashion for the Melodic Minor
– the Idea behind the “Descending” Mode when going Down the Keyboard, the Tonal Gravity heading to the Dominant Note sounded to Composers much more natural with a lowered 6th & 7th (opposite of Form2)
Form 2
– “Ascending” Mode for the Melodic Minor you simply raise the 6th & 7th Note (keep the Top Half of that Scale Major sounding)
– the Idea behind the “Ascending” Mode when going Up the Keyboard, the Tonal Gravity towards the Tonic sounded much more natural to Composers with a raised 6th & 7th (opposite of Form1)
Modes
Most commonly used in EDM & “Darker” Oriented Scales
D A E
Dorian just lower the 3rd and the 7th (all Consecutive (aufeinanderfolgend, fortlaufend) White Notes Starting from D)
Aeolian (also Pure Minor Scale or Natural Minor) just lower the 3rd, 6th and the 7th (all Consecutive (aufeinanderfolgend, fortlaufend) White Notes Starting from A)
Phrygian just lower the 2nd, 3rd, 6th and the 7th (all Consecutive (aufeinanderfolgend, fortlaufend) White Notes Starting from E)
– very Special with that Lowered 2nd plus Lower all other “Key Notes” to get a very Dark Sound
Alternative Modes
F G B
Lydian just Raise the 4th (all Consecutive (aufeinanderfolgend, fortlaufend) White Notes Starting from F)
– Lydian is the only Mode where you Raise something (2nd Approach to get away with the Tritone because of the raised 4th so it´s F# (Gb) to B
– useful to Introduce for “Distraction” in other Melodic Areas (for Example Phrygian Mode on Beat 1 and 2 then have an answer in Lydian Mode)
Mixolydian just Lower the 7th (all Consecutive = aufeinanderfolgend, fortlaufend) White Notes Starting from G)
– also useful to Introduce for “Distraction” in other Melodic Areas (for Example Phrygian Mode on Beat 1 and 2 then have an answer in Mixolydian Mode to create Complex Textures)
Locrian Lower the 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 6th, 7th (all Consecutive (aufeinanderfolgend, fortlaufend) White Notes Starting from B)
– very “Unstable” Scale with a Lowered 5th cause you take away the Dominant of the Tonic and change the Harmonic Relation quite a bit towards “Dissonance” in itself (Charlie Parker or Dizzy Gillespie loved it…)
Melody from Modes
– whenever you have a Lowered 7th you will get away from the “Classical” Tritone Feel
– for Bass-lines try use Harmonic Minor cause it keeps the V to I Chord. (starts from A-b-c-d-e-f-g#) just lower the 3rd, 6th
– also suspended chords are used in Progressive Dance
– from a sus4 you often go to the minor or to the sus2 and then to minor
– also check out to go 1 whole-step chord below (Asus4 – Asus2 – Aminor- Gsus4)
– try to stick notes that are just semitones away to the top
– add a minor 6th to the chords you play (in C it´s C-Eb-G-A) where A is the 6th of Natural Minor Scale
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