Inside Improvisation Series Vol. 7: Hexatonics
English | 2006 | ISBN-10: N/A | ASIN: B000FSS82E | 288 pages | PDF&MP3 160-320 kbps | 260 MB
Hexatonics, is the seventh volume of Jerry Bergonzi's series, Inside Improvisation. Hexatonic scales are six note scales. This book presents a practical method for the construction of hexatonic scales that are useful for both the improviser and composer.
Many modern piano players use hexatonic voicings by stacking the triads to create a particular harmony. We improvise "in" the sound of the voicing and using hexatonic voicings and lines can lend a very contemporary sound. As with the other books in this series, there is a play along CD of 24 tracks (including 5 demo tracks featuring Jerry) to try out all of these different sounds. Band includes Renato Chicco - piano; Dave Santoro - bass; and Andrea Michelutti - drums
Hexatonics are also known as triad pairs (i.e. a pair of 3-note triads gives 6 notes, or a "hexatonic"). Depending on the intervallic relationship of the two triads, and on whether those triads are major, minor, augmented or diminished, you end up with sets of 6 notes that describe different sounds that can be used. For example, what JB calls "D/C" is a D major triad (D F# A) and a C major triad (C E G) together. And if you assume that C is the root, then you end up with a very Lydian-sounding group of 6 notes. Other examples are D-/C-, which gives a Dorian sound (D F A + C Eb G).
The main beauty of using pairs of triads, instead of just spelling out the 6 notes (or even just saying "use a Lydian scale") is that triads are a very familiar entity to musicians, and are therefore immediately accessible and applicable. It's way easier for my brain to overlay 2 major triad shapes a whole step apart (especially on the guitar) than it is to think "R - 2 - 3 - #4 - 5 - 6." And by playing the individual triads in succession, instead of playing just a scale, you end up with a much more interesting, "interleaved" set of notes.
The book provides several dozen melodic patterns for each of 16 different triad pairs, some of which lead to some really wild sounds. The patterns start pretty easy and move to more complex (some start to get into unusual rhythmic devices, such as 3 against 4, 5 against 4, etc.), & each serves to highlight a slightly different way of approaching the triads from a mental perspective. For instance, I always tended to practice triads in a strictly ascending or descending fashion before, but this book forces me to start playing them from the 3rd with some of the patterns.