Examples mixing major and minor tonalities

cd track 34

Example 1 Straight off, this Michael Schenker-influenced line (based around CAGED shape #1 from Diagram 1) features four occasions in which the C# note (major 3rd of A) is introduced. First, the entire line starts off on a C#, firmly planting it in Mixolydian territory. But then, at the start of beat 2, we see the introduction of a C note (minor 3rd), which is immediately resolved back to C#. There then follows a straightforward A minor Blues scale descent to another C# on the third string in beat 3. Finally, towards the end of the bar we scroll incrementally through the 5, the and 4 of A minor Blues scale before eventually resolving on the major-sounding C# note. So, in the course of this one line, the tonality has shifted seven times: major, minor, major, minor, major, minor, major.

Example 2 The Ted Nugent-style start to this line, also from CAGED shape #1, features two shifts from minor to major within the first 11 notes. The second

m7b5 half of bar 5 features a sequenced fusion-style C# arpeggio, which implies A9. Apart from the initial B note, the passage in bar 6 is an unadulterated two-octave A dominant 7th arpeggio.