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Dirty-South Blues Harp forum: wail on! > Which scale/position should I use on a Maj7 chord?
Which scale/position should I use on a Maj7 chord?
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Martic
24 posts
Aug 16, 2013
6:07 PM
Well, this is my story:

I play blues in two different ensembles: one is a blues rock band and the other is an acoustic duo, formed by the band's guitarist and I.

And the third project I'm involved is a folk/pop/bossa band, as sideman of a singer/songwriter. This one is, of all three bands, the most challenging for me, because the songs differ a lot from any blues standard that we, as harmonica players, are used to play. For major songs (A7, C Major, etc.) I use second position, and for minor songs (Dm) I use third position on both chromatic and diatonic.

But my problem is with songs based on Maj7 chords. As second position has a minor seventh it doesn't fit perfectly with the major seventh of the chord. I'm thinking about using first position, but it doesn't convince me at all. What do you suggest?

Thanks in advanced!
Jim Rumbaugh
905 posts
Aug 16, 2013
7:19 PM
try 5 blow instead of 5 draw
tell me how it works for you.

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theharmonicaclub.com (of Huntington, WV)
Jim Rumbaugh
906 posts
Aug 16, 2013
9:15 PM
OK

I obsessed about this and threw this together.
From my laundry room, here's my take on what to do.


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theharmonicaclub.com (of Huntington, WV)
GamblersHand
449 posts
Aug 16, 2013
11:04 PM
Some people use 12th position, although intonation on the 3 draw first bend is important, as this is the 4th note of the scale

Another option is country tuning, which will give you the major seventh for cross harp.

Country tuning is great for fifth position minor scales too, really opens it up by changing the flat second to a natural second.

Last Edited by GamblersHand on Aug 17, 2013 2:38 PM
BigBlindRay
191 posts
Aug 17, 2013
5:50 AM
Hi Martic.

In regards to your question.

You normally use the Major Scale over the Major 7 chord but typically the strongest tones that will work over this chord are the 3rd and 7th.

Regardless of position, if you find it not possible at present to play the correct note, then simply omit it, there is much to be said about a player who knows when to leave space....

The other approach is to play the Major Pentatonic scale, this will also work without any problem as it forgoes the 4th and 7th and gives you in a sense "Automatic Melody" so ti really is hard to mess up playing a dud note if you use the major pentatonic scale over the Maj7 chord

Hope this information serves you well.

Ray

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Pistolcat
490 posts
Aug 17, 2013
12:23 PM
@gamblers hand- the Tonic for twelfth is on draw five. The position with tonic on first bend draw three or six OB would be eleventh.

Twelfth is nice for major pentatonics. I guess eleventh would work too if your good at that bending and overblowing the six hole. I've never tried playing eleventh, though.
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Pistolkatt - Pistolkatts youtube
GamblersHand
452 posts
Aug 17, 2013
2:39 PM
Thanks Pistolcat, youre totally right. I've edited my post in case it causes confusion
Martic
25 posts
Aug 17, 2013
10:26 PM
Thanks so much guys! For now I'm gonna try natural major scale on straight harp and major pentatonic on crossharp, because I've played them before and I feel them more comfortable.

Here I leave you a classic folk song we recorded on a live show. Written by Victor Jara (one of the greatest chilean songwriters, murdered by dictator Pinochet's soldiers), this one's called "El Derecho De Vivir En Paz" (The Right Of A Peaceful Living)



Thank you again, have a nice weekend!
joe
60 posts
Aug 21, 2013
4:52 AM
another way is to know your chords

for example Cmaj7 is C E G B
and you could base your improvisation on that



...

i like the audio clip

joe
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UTC+10

Last Edited by joe on Aug 21, 2013 5:03 AM
GMaj7
268 posts
Aug 21, 2013
5:25 AM
This is a great thread with some creative ideas.

One other option would be to throw a wind saver on 6 draw slot.
This would give you a pretty easy 1/2 step blow bend on 6 which would give you the major 7.

With a little work, you might actually be able to stick a single reed blow bend on 6 without a wind saver but you would risk popping the OB.

Once again great stuff!
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Greg Jones
16:23 Custom Harmonicas
greg@1623customharmonicas.com
1623customharmonicas.com
Martic
29 posts
Aug 22, 2013
2:38 PM
Well, yesterday we had a little rehearsal and I used a D harmonica on second position. It sounded pretty good after all. This is the progression of the song:

Amaj7 - C#m7 - Bm7

Amaj7: A - C# - E - G#
C#m7: C# - E - G# - B
Bm7: B - D - F# - A

I compared the chords with the major pentatonic scale in A:
A - B - C# - E - F#

I think I'll stay in second position, the only note I'm missing is G#, but when we played the song yesterday I noted F# (5 blow) sounds pretty good over the three chords. JimRumbaugh was right :D

Thank you all for your help, there's a lot of good information here. I'll keep all this good info.
conjob
144 posts
Aug 22, 2013
3:25 PM


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