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Hungarian Minor Pt.2 & the Kumoi
by Toshi Iseda
This month, I'd like to tackle part 2 of the Hungarian Minor scale. Hope you tuned in last month for part 1; if you recall, this scale is often mistakenly identified as the Harmonic Minor scale, but with a “passing tone.”
Hi, Hotliners, what's going on? Thanks for tuning in to another installment of “Intense Guitar!” Once again I'm on the road. This time it's a bit of a vacation though; I'm on the road with my bros in the band, Black Stone Cherry, who are out with my others bros in Black Label Society. Right off the bat, I really want to thank John Fred Young, Chris Robertson, Ben Wells and Jon Lawhon of Black Stone Cherry for giving me a bunk on their bus for a week and a half. Thanks guys, you are THE BEST! I had an awesome time! I highly recommend everyone to pick up their self-titled CD on Roadrunner Records. You won't be disappointed!
This month, I'd like to tackle part 2 of the Hungarian Minor scale. Hope you tuned in last month for part 1; if you recall, this scale is often mistakenly identified as the Harmonic Minor scale, but with a “passing tone.” That is incorrect. Again, our formula for this scale is 1, 2, b3, #4, 5, b6, 7, (8va). The formula simply indicates that if you take a Major scale (i.e., the Ionian Mode) then flatten and sharpen the selected notes, you'd have the Hungarian Minor scale.
The fingerings for the most part are selfexplanatory, with the exception of a couple. If you look at fingers #8 and #9 you will find, in parenthesis, optional fingerings to check out. I suggest checking out both variations and see which one you feel most comfortable with. That being said, I also suggest “practicing” both, as to not have any physical limitations in your playing. Remember, we don't want limitations that may prevent us from accomplishing any musical ideas we may have. The circled notes in the fingerings are all the root notes (and octaves) in the patterns.
The Kumoi scale is another Japanese scale that I sometimes use, like the Hirojoshi scale we covered last month. Again, it is a Pentatonic-based scale in that it has 5 notes to the octave. To really get the tonality of the scale, try playing it against a drone note. The formula for this scale is 1, 2, b3, 5, 6, (8va). Again, I've circled the root notes in all the fingerings. With the flat 3 being in both scales, try soloing over a minor chord or a power chord of the same tonality.
Injecting these scales into some of your soloing will give it some new color and zing! You may even want to experiment with writing tunes utilizing these scales. Again, I refer to my bud Marty Friedman as a reference source for this kind of tonality. He uses these scales on all of his solo albums, Cacophony, and even when he was playing in Megadeth! That's what made him stand out from other guitarists on the scene. He made it an integral part of his sound, which gave him his own style and sound. Bravo, Marty!
Okay that's all the time we have for this month. Keep in mind, if you'd like me to go over any specific or particular topics, feel free to drop me a line at Toshi@TOSHIISEDA.com or intseguitr@aol.com. For those of you on MySpace, I can be contacted at www.myspace.com/toshiiseda. Hope everyone is doing well out there and as always, “Who Dares Wins!” See you next month.
www.TOSHIISEDA.com
(c) 2007 Toshi Iseda!
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