This month’s question comes from Mike Ridner of Miami, Florida. Mike asks, “My guitar teacher said that Randy Rhoads’ solo in ‘Mr. Crowley’ uses a harmonic minor scale with passing tones. I could have sworn I read an article that said Rhoads used a different scale than this. Is my teacher correct? If not, could you please tell me what scale he used and provide a few fingerings?”
Your guitar teacher is mistaken. For the solo in “Mr. Crowley,” Rhoads used a scale called the Hungarian minor. Yes, it’s a real scale and it doesn’t need to be served with goulash. The Hungarian and harmonic minor are, however, very similar in formula and sound. The formula for the harmonic minor scale is 1, 2, b3, 4, 5, b6, 7, 8va, while the formula for the Hungarian minor scale is 1, 2, b3, #4, 5, b6, 7 and 8va. With just the difference of a sharp fourth or a natural fourth, it’s easy to see how people could get this mixed up.
This scale was largely popularized by Ritchie Blackmore of Deep Purple fame, which is most likely where Randy picked it up. Yngwie Malmsteen also occasionally uses this scale, showing his Blackmoreinfluenced lines as well.
I’ve provided ten usable fingerings for you to learn. The first four fingerings all start on each finger of your fretting hand – first, second, third and fourth. As most of you who have been tuning in for a while know, I believe a guitarist should have multiple ways to get to the sound they are looking for – don’t rely upon only one or two fingerings to get your desired sound. I’ve stated this before: all twelve notes of the Western music vocabulary are underneath your fingers within any five frets. By extending either your index finger or your pinkie finger by one fret, after the one finger per fret rule, you can play in any and all keys anywhere on the fretboard – pretty friggin’ cool when you think about it! It’s just a matter of knowing the pattern that’s underneath your fingers for whatever key you may be in.
Examples 7 and 10 are horizontal fingerings that allow you to cover more ground but are slightly trickier to blaze through due to the position changes.
Speaking of getting these fingerings up to speed, I highly recommend practicing them with a metronome. Start slowly and make sure you are practicing all of them at the same tempo, eventually building your speed. Some fingerings may feel more comfortable than others. You’ll want to increase your metronome speed for these, but resist the temptation. Use alternate picking and be sure to approach all the fingerings starting with a downstroke as well as with an upstroke. This way you’ll eventually feel comfortable approaching a line or phrase either way. Lastly, practice them in a cycle of fourths or fifths.
That about wraps it for this month. If you are interested in having me answer any questions you may have, contact me at
toshi@toshiiseda.com or
intseguitr@aol.com. For those of you on MySpace, go to
myspace.com/toshiiseda. Thanks for reading this month, and remember, “Who dares wins!”
Toshi Iseda
Toshi Iseda is an Alumnus of the prestigeous Berklee College of Music and the American Conservatory of Music. He has been featured in Guitar Player, Guitar World and Guitar/ Guitar One magazines, and is a former instructor at the National Guitar Workshop and former instructor at the American Institute of Guitar. He is considered the #1 instructor in Central Tennessee.
toshi@toshiiseda.com
intseguitr@aol.com
www.TOSHIISEDA.com
myspace.com/toshiiseda