what r the best heavy metal scales?

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slash Jammer Joined: 27 Aug 2005 Posts: 65 Location: indiana what r the best heavy metal scales?     what kinda heavy metal scales do you think are good? iv been using the pentamonic minor scale mostly E or A and the major scale but i seem to get too much of a classic rock thing, which is great i love classic rock, but im looking for some thing a little heavier and wondered if there was a better scale to use or if i should just change my style of playing? _________________ ... Thu Dec 08, 2005 8:34 pm

Andrew Producer Joined: 05 Jun 2005 Posts: 336 Location: Texas For heavy metal your two top bets are: Natural Minor or Phrygian Minor. Natural Minor is the classic scale for heavy metal, I would say, then when you want to get even a little darker, try Phrygian, this can sound Flamenco-ish, but when used from a metal attitude can be quite nice and nasty. Natural Minor in A is: A, B, C, D, E, F, G Phrygian Minor in A is: A, B flat, B, C, E, F, G Thu Dec 08, 2005 8:39 pm

slash Jammer Joined: 27 Aug 2005 Posts: 65 Location: indiana ok thx my friend showed me a scale, not sure which one and i didnt realy like it , but i was just wondering what every one else thought was good for heavy metal. _________________ ... Thu Dec 08, 2005 10:39 pm

Aaron First Time Poster Joined: 27 Mar 2006 Posts: 1 How about Locrian? _________________ -Aaron Fri Mar 31, 2006 8:49 pm

Peter Cortinas Junior Roadie Joined: 03 Apr 2007 Posts: 8 Location: Brooklyn, NY Harmonic Minor can work well for metal too. Dorian in combination with Pentatonics are very cool as well. _________________ Peter Cortinas Tue Apr 03, 2007 9:33 pm

Oscar Ortega Member Joined: 27 Mar 2007 Posts: 22 Location: Boise, ID if you think about it...all the scales are sweet for heavy metal...but the type of sound you will get by the combination of notes will be up to you... just thought i should throw that in here... _________________ Lean your body forward slightly to support the guitar against your chest, for the poetry of the music should resound in your heart. Tue Apr 24, 2007 2:16 pm

Lee Carlson Jammer Joined: 23 Mar 2007 Posts: 41 Location: Alberta Canada I tend to use Aeolian or Phrygian, not intentionally, but that is what my writing gravitates towards. _________________ www.leecarlsonmusic.com Wed May 02, 2007 1:04 am

Tim Giddens Member Joined: 01 Apr 2007 Posts: 20 I like lydian & phryigian Fri Jun 15, 2007 11:30 pm

Andrew Producer Joined: 05 Jun 2005 Posts: 336 Location: Texas Up until recently, I hadn't explored Locrain and Lydian that much, but now I have a much better understanding and appreciation for them. Locrian is probably the darkest scale, so certainly that is a good choice for metal, although you might have some harmonic challenges using the flatted fifth that makes Locrain different from Natural Minor. I don't know how metal Lydian is, but it's a great alternative to the sometimes cloying sweetness of Major. It's raised 4th interval provides some harmonic challenge. If you aren't familiar with Lydian, listen the the Simpsons and Jetsons theme songs. Mon Jun 18, 2007 3:25 pm

BrockCallahan Junior Roadie Joined: 22 Jul 2007 Posts: 5 are you wanting to build chord progressions or construct solos? remember that the type chord progression you solo over is very important. i would recommend practicing building chord progressions from the natural minor or harmonic minor scales to start out. Sun Jul 29, 2007 5:21 pm

mikeyBoab Jam Master Joined: 12 Oct 2007 Posts: 163 Location: Glasgow, Scotland I like pentatonic scales too, very bluesy, but somewhat limiting. Fri Oct 12, 2007 1:49 pm

Justin Armstrong Roadie Joined: 20 Nov 2007 Posts: 11 Location: Victoria BC Harmonic minor is king! Natural Minor (Aeolian) is cool too. _________________ "The greatest tragedy of the average man is that he goes to the grave with his music still inside him." -Longfellow Tue Nov 20, 2007 7:38 pm

Halvor Hosar New Member Joined: 21 Nov 2007 Posts: 4 It depends on what you mean by [heavy metal]. That is a very open term, that can be anything from Deep Purple to Gorgoroth, depending on who you are asking. I'm going to make a general overview though: The minor pentatonic, as you mentioned, is a must to know. Before mentioning anything else, consider this: We learn that the pentatonic minor with tritone added is the blues scale. Therefore, many tend to use the pentatonic minor only for a bluesy sound. However, it is capable of creating more of a heavy metal, and even a pseudo-classical feeling if you use it properly. In the Michael Schenker song Into the Arena, the main riff is in natural minor I believe, but the solo is mostly the pentatonic minor. However, in place of the bluesy feeling usually related to the scale, Michael uses it in a way that gives it an entirely different sound. Check out the clip here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrRBHO28iLY Of the modes, all the ones that contain a minor third can be used. In fact, the three most used, the aeolian (natural minor), dorian and phrygian all contain all of the notes that the pentatonic minor do, so you merely have to add a few notes to the patterns you already know, and you are ready to go with those. To learn how these different patterns sound, you can do the following: 1. Learn the basic patterns 2. Make a simple backing track. Since you were interested mainly in heavy metal, here are some you can use in the key of A: Natural Minor: A5, C5, F5, E5 Dorian: A5, F#5, E5, C5 Phrygian: A5, Bb5, A5, E5 Here's one where you can mix aeolian and dorian: A5, B5, C5, B5 (yes, very simple, but it worked in Ozzy Osbourne's I Don't Know) All of them are simple and easy, but they all of them include the notes that make the mode in question different, the flattened 2nd in the phrygian and the raised 6th in the dorian. Feel free to transpose them to different keys, try to make little riffs out of them, add new chords, and play around. Getting the feel of them in is the important part here. For the more major feel of party metal anthem stuff, the mixolydian is nice. this is simply the major (ionian) mode with a flattened 7th. These four, along with the pentatonics, make up quite a large percentage of the metal songs out there. I could give you another progression to use here, but rather, I say try to make it up yourself. When you know the notes included in the scale, it is very useful to be able to do this. My last point, which is also the most important, is this: Learn all of these modes. In fact, learn as much as you like/can. But it you truly want to excel, at one point you have to let go of the patterns, and instead try to make up leads using your ear, rather than a memorized set of notes. This is why learning the sounds of these are so important. If you do this properly, you have a tremendous tool when it comes to writing lead, both in an improvising and a composiong setting. Wed Nov 21, 2007 4:39 pm

Sime Jammer Joined: 29 Feb 2008 Posts: 73 Location: Somerset, UK Speaking of heavy metal, I love the way Metallica use the A minor scale in The Unforgiven. Floating the b natural over the a minor chord is so haunting. Basically one guitar plays the A minor chord (minus 3rd) while the other plays: b a e b a e b a e b a e c a e. Awesome. I've transposed this piece into classical piano and loads of other classical musicians have done the same, like cello players for example. Metallica was very enspiring to the classical world. _________________ Sax In My Pocket . Com Sax In My Pocket is an Eclectic & Intellectual General Discussion Forum designed for quality conversation. Tue Aug 18, 2009 11:25 pm

Jackson C Junior Roadie Joined: 17 Aug 2009 Posts: 5 Heavy metal solo guitarist use all kinds of scales....from major scales to minors all the way to Pentatonic....not just harmonic minors. However, I find that most guitarist use major scales. _________________ Left Handed Guitars Thu Aug 20, 2009 5:23 am

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