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=
Medium Bluesy Swing
E7 9 Am

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VIII XII III X
IV
IV
IT WAS AN ACCIDENT, I
swear. One day while improvising
over an E7#9-Am progression, I
stumbled across the scale in Ex. 1a.
It sounded great against the E7#9,
and you can see why: The chord
lies right in the middle of the scale
(Ex. 1b). Consisting of Ab (G#), C,
D, E, and G (which against E7
yields 3, b13, b7, 1, and #9), this
scale generates cool altered-dom-
inant sounds.
The pattern resembles an Ami-
nor pentatonic with flatted As, so
its easy to visualize. E7#9 often re-
solves to Am, in which case you
can switch back to regular minor
pentatonic scales and go for it. So
fire up your 4-track or boom box
and lay down some rhythm (two
bars each of E7#9 and Am).
Take other blues box shapes
and alter them the same way (Ex.
2). Remember, simply flat the As on
an A minor pentatonic pattern.
(You can also think of it as a C ma-
jor pentatonic with a lowered 6.)
Examples 3 and 4 will get you
started using this scale over E7#9.
The scale also works over Bb7, the
flat-five substitution for E7. Against
Bb7, the scale again creates a
souped-up dominant sound: b7, 9,
3, #11, and 13. Try the licks in Ex-
amples 5 and 6. Also check them
out over E7#9, G7b9sus, and C7#5.
Hint: Think Robben Ford.
It may take time for your ears
and fingers to adjust to this scale,
but with a little perseverance
youll have lots of new goodies to
play with. g
B Y A D A M L E V Y
S
E
S
S
I
O
N
S
Ex. 1
Ex. 2
Ex. 3
Ex. 4
Ex. 5
Ex. 6
(a) (b)