What are your favorite/coolest sounding scales?

[Jazzin']

Mine is the Hungarian Minor. I was messing around on the piano once, and I found a cool scale that I liked. It kind of sounded middle easternish, but I wasn't sure. So I went on the internet to figure out what it's called. And now it's my all-time favorite scale. It's called the Hungarian Minor and contains:
R, +2, -3, x4, P5, -6, +7 (+ for major, - for minor)

What are your favorite scales?

[ryco]

OK, I dunno what this scale is called. I call it the Kipper major 'cause it works well with the latin fusion songs/jams my good buddy Kip comes up with. Has a nice Spanish flavor: R b2 M3 P4 P5 b6 b7.

Also much prefer playing Dorian scale ascending - Phrygian descending over playing the natch minor. Just more fun.

[PunkerTrav]

I dig the Phrygian Maj. Sounds quite exotic but not completely foreign.

[Daniel Baskin]

The spanish scale you are thinking of is one you already named. (bull fight or western shoot-out are my nick names for it) It is the phrygian scale (maj scale mode based on the maj 3rd).

Scale wise, I dunno, I like the half diminished 7th chord, so I guess I'd still like it with an added 2nd, 4th, and minor 6th (because the maj 6th sounds YUCKY by the dom 7th in this chord.) Dorian here for me too. and the middle eastern scale as I call it. Root, -2, 3, 4, 5, -6, -7, root.

Oh, and I played your Hungarian scale, sounds evil. I gotta figure out if a mode of that scale if a mode of one of the maj modes.

[slybass3000]

The minor pentatonic.
I've been working this past year on the Bergonzi book on that.
Awesome and so useful stuff,but hard. Take a lot of work and patience.
SB

[fountain boy]

Question for ryco (and i really don't know how to articulate this question, so all feel free to interpret and chime in)

I don't quite understand when you say that you play the Dorian scale ascending and the phrygian scale descending. (in the key of D Major for instance) are you playing E F# G A B C# D E then coming down F# E D C# B A G F# keeping the scale in the same key, or are you ascending in one key and descending in another? I'm playing this scale in my mind (as i'm away from my bass at the moment) but in so doing it sounds sorta random. (No disrespect, as i'm trying to learn and grow with my talkbass family here and forego wasting hundreds of more dollars on therotical books explaining scale usage, like the Bunny Brunnel series i see begging for me to buy in the Borders Bookstore)

How are else are you'll implementing to use these scales?

[Red Wonder]

Nothing is more appealing to me than the octatonic scale...the alternating whole and half steps are very intriguing and can be very interesting when deciding how best to manipulate and utilize this scale.

[DemoEtc]

The Jewish, Mohammedan, or Major Phrygian, and the Whole Tone scales are my favorites.

On guitar though, not so much for bass.

[Tash]

Originally Posted by Jazzin'

Mine is the Hungarian Minor. I was messing around on the piano once, and I found a cool scale that I liked. It kind of sounded middle easternish, but I wasn't sure. So I went on the internet to figure out what it's called. And now it's my all-time favorite scale. It's called the Hungarian Minor and contains:
R, +2, -3, x4, P5, -6, +7 (+ for major, - for minor)

What are your favorite scales?

I like this one too. I'm working on a song right now that uses this scale quite extensively over a couple different progressions. Cool stuff.

[Ty_Boogie]

what notes are these? and how do you decode it?

R b2 M3 P4 P5 b6 b7.

-2, 3, 4, 5, -6, -7,

R, +2, -3, x4, P5, -6, +7

[geoffkhan]

Originally Posted by Ty_Boogie

what notes are these? and how do you decode it?

R b2 M3 P4 P5 b6 b7.

-2, 3, 4, 5, -6, -7,

R, +2, -3, x4, P5, -6, +7

The first one (R b2 M3 P4 P5 b6 b7) is the 5th mode of harmonic minor. So for example, when you see "R", that means "root." If you're in C, the root, of course, is C.

"b2" means the second degree is flatted -- again, if you're in C, that would be a Db.

"M3" means "major 3rd", so the 3rd degree is major: an "E", if you're in the key of C.

"P4" means "perfect fourth", so the fourth degree in the scale is natural, an F if you're in C.

"b6" means the sixth degree of the scale is flatted, so that'd be an Ab if you're in C.

"b7" means the seventh is flatted, a Bb if you're in C.

Does that answer your question, or am I misunderstanding you?

[Ty_Boogie]

yes the answers make things clear, thanx

so no matter what key you're in you translate the 3rd or flat of that key to get the note.

doing it that way is like a neutral key

[DaftCat]

geoffkhan:

Thanks for explaining that. I was lost also.

What exactly is this system(of explaining scales) called? I'd like to find a URL that references it in detail for further study.

[quallabone]

Originally Posted by Red Wonder

Nothing is more appealing to me than the octatonic scale...the alternating whole and half steps are very intriguing and can be very interesting when deciding how best to manipulate and utilize this scale.

There are 2 of them.
Sym Dim and Sym Dom.

My vote goes for diminished wholetone. Or maybe Spanish Phrygian.

[paintandsk8]

I am a fan of the blues scale. It just sounds so...bluesy. I also like the that hungarian minor that jazzin' was talkin about. I discovered it in the scale training on some music theory program. I haven't found it to be very usable though.

[Vorago]

Originally Posted by Red Wonder

Nothing is more appealing to me than the octatonic scale...the alternating whole and half steps are very intriguing and can be very interesting when deciding how best to manipulate and utilize this scale.

I always have troubles to play that scale, I always get lost somewhere along the way, very frustrating

[Red Wonder]

Me too...I've been practicing this scale exclusively on 1, then 2, then eventually all 4 strings. Once the registers are intertwined it is the most extraordinary scale to manipulate. Its also very versatile...!

[quallabone]

Originally Posted by Vorago

I always have troubles to play that scale, I always get lost somewhere along the way, very frustrating

You get lost because there are only 3 octatonic scales and you forget which one you're involved in.

[dlloyd]

Originally Posted by Jazzin'

Mine is the Hungarian Minor. I was messing around on the piano once, and I found a cool scale that I liked. It kind of sounded middle easternish, but I wasn't sure. So I went on the internet to figure out what it's called. And now it's my all-time favorite scale. It's called the Hungarian Minor and contains:
R, +2, -3, x4, P5, -6, +7 (+ for major, - for minor)

What are your favorite scales?

Hungarian Minor is one of my all time favourites too.

Play around with progressions containing Cm, Bm, Ab and G chords... noodle about over the top with C Hungarian minor and it's instant Klezmer!

The modes of the Harmonic Minor are fun too.

[George Looney]

Originally Posted by paintandsk8

I am a fan of the blues scale.

Me too ! I have loved the blues scale long before I even knew what a scale was. When learning to play I "discovered" that nearly all of my favourite riffs fitted into the blues scale.