THEM CHANGES
Andy G Jones shows how to improvise on the James Bond Em/maj9 chord, which requires a grasp of unique Minor scales, such as Harmonic and Melodic Minor Pentatonics.
Andy G Jones shows which scales to use to solo over the tricky ‘James Bond chord’.
This month in Them Changes we are going to look at options for improvising over the ‘James Bond chord’ - E Minor with a Major 7 and a 9th added. Looking at the notes in the chord, E Minor Pentatonic is clearly not going to work as it has a D Natural where this chord has a Major 7th (D#) which does not appear in the scale.
The obvious choices for a seven-note scale would be E Melodic Minor or E Harmonic Minor - the difference between the two being the 6th, which is a b6 in Harmonic Minor.
However, as we’ve been dealing with Pentatonic scales so far, let’s see if we can exploit some five-note note options.
The Minor 6 Pentatonic (R- b3- 4-5-6) substitutes the b7 of the Minor Pentatonic for a Major 6th. Robben Ford is known for exploiting the Major 6th over Minor or blues harmony. This scale doesn’t include the Major 7th (D#) so it’s not as detailed a harmonic statement.
Next we’ll use a B Dominant 7th Pentatonic (B-D#-E-F#-A) for a Jeff Beck inflection. The notation shows the degrees created when we superimpose this over the Emmaj9. Out of interest, if you use this over a B7 chord, it starts to sound like Indian music - this is more of a Jeff Beck sound than in our example here.
Our final choice is a personal favourite of mine - B Major b6 Pentatonic (B-D#-E-F#-G) which is like B Major Pentatonic but with a b6th. This is a very powerful Pentatonic - partly because of the wide interval between the G and B notes - a whole Major 3rd. Because of this wide interval, I chose to show a simple scale pattern applied to this scale.
It’s worth really experimenting with the various Pentatonic scales by trying to apply the kind of patterns one would use with a
“Simply playing ascending 3rds or triads results in much more varied patterns when we are addressing Pentatonics”
seven-note scale to these five-note options. Simply playing ascending 3rds or triads results in much more varied patterns when we are addressing Pentatonic scales, an approach favoured by more thoughtful players. Robben Ford plays some really interesting Pentatonic lines that defy the usual Saturday afternoon music store patterns. Check out his Mystic Mile album for inspiration - it’s full of great, less obvious Pentatonic ideas.
In our audio examples, you’ll hear a reference James Bond chord played on guitar before examples 2-7 over the count-in.
NEXT MONTH Andy presents another pentatonic article in his Them Changes series