Scaling The Flats

I have a neckache from the Fete De La Musique 2005. Pictures will come!

Anyway, here’s a musical theory puzzler for you theoretically-inclined. I came up with a scale while looking at the guitar one day, and it goes something like this:

A# B# C## D# E# F# G#

Or, intervally, A# whole B# whole C## half D# whole E# half F# whole G# whole.

Yeah yeah C## is technically D but writing it this way might read easier for some theory people.

It could be expressed as an A# mixolydian with a flattened 6th, or an A# major with flat 6ths and 7ths. I love how the A# B# C## D# E# part is major, but the B# C## D# E# F# G# is whole-half scale, a very neat scale indeed.

I’ve transposed it down from A# to the key of E to make a simple ditty. It might be easier to spot if you play the scale from E#. How did I come up with this scale? As usual, the winner will get linked in the next blog post, and you know how many hits that will get you. Oh and people who already know are disqualified. 😛

12 thoughts on “Scaling The Flats

  1. Shakir Post author

    Haha.. Amil looks serious off stage.. suddenly on the stage je, become clown of the night.. hehe.

    Thanks about the guitar, it was quite an investment.

    Anyways… guess I’ma go with a different approach to this riddle…

    Reply
  2. Shakir Post author

    Hehe… well before I head off to bed

    if i were to find the scale from looking at the guitar.. I would probably do so by playing notes A#

    Reply
  3. Albert Ng Post author

    Yes, it is the 5th mode of the melodic minor (I never thought of it that way though) but there is something directly related to it starting at A# and seeing the guitar. 🙂

    P.S. I love your Variax maaan. Awesome shiznit you guys got. Though I couldn’t stop laughing when Amil came up… only because it was Amil.

    Reply
  4. Az Samad Post author

    i kinda like to see it in Bb rather than A# just because there’s a lot of sharps there, including a double sharp with the C there. Enharmonically, it could be viewed as Bb, C, D, Eb, F, Gb, Ab, Bb – Mixolydian (b13). Commonly, in jazz thingys, it would be played over a Bb7 chord that could resolve into a Ebmin7 chord.

    Still, this is one of many ways to look at it. Hihi.

    Reply
  5. eu gene Post author

    *tries hard to wrap puny mind around these concepts, gives up, whimpers “holy shit…” n pisses in his pants..*

    Reply

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