The "Dickey Betts" Scale.

[SkyDogs]

This has been bugging me for a while.

Check out this video of Blue Sky

http://youtube.com/watch?v=G1jpQu6qR1E

Now, in Dickey's solo, he often throws in a note that sounds oh so good, but I can't seem to figure out what exactly he is playing. Listen at around 4:40-4:50 and around 4:18-4:30.

You should be able to tell what note I'm talking about.

Is it just all in his phrasing? Or is he using a certain note that sounds so unique?

[Serious Poo]

Sounds like a little chromatic movement between major & minor penta scales to me. His tone is really good on this video.

[SkyDogs]

Sounds like a little chromatic movement between major & minor penta scales to me. His tone is really good on this video.

It's amazing tone! That video is my favorite on YouTube. By far. Warren Haynes RIPS on slide as well. And Allen Woody is Mr. Thunder fingers in the back.

[Dickie Fredericks]

Sounds like a little chromatic movement between major & minor penta scales to me. His tone is really good on this video.


I agree. A little chormatic movement goes a long way too. Great clip and excellent playing. I think I should buy Warrens slide video.

[getbent]

melodic minor

[HiddenCharms]

My computer is too slow to watch the video (should spend less on guitars and more on computers), but Dickey Betts typically uses a major pentatonic with a 4th added. The 4th gives it a nice melodic sound.

[ButchP]

My computer is too slow to watch the video (should spend less on guitars and more on computers), but Dickey Betts typically uses a major pentatonic with a 4th added. The 4th gives it a nice melodic sound.

Actually for Blue Sky he uses mostly a E Major hexatonic..I call it Happy Hexatonic..It’s more than just a major Pentatonic with an added 4th though because it’s really two triads. One based on the root( E major ) The other on the II chord (F# minor).

This works great since the solo progression is I- IV ( E Major - A Major).The F# minor triad is a sub for A Major. So all the notes have a very melodic sound because they'
re strong chord tones.

The harmonies(as are most of the ABB harmonies) are all based off of these two triads derived from the hexatonic. The unique harmony sound comes from the switching between 3rds and 4ths instead of strict diatonic 3rds.

If you have your triads together try it out any two notes from the E and F# minor work play all 3 and you sound like a genius.!!!

BP

[hacker]

In the original version they would throw the suspended fourth in on the E chord in the rhythm, and dickey would hit that note at the same time in his solo. Very cool song, very cool band. The version of this on "an evening with" is one of my favorite guitar songs ever.

[9fingers]

Actually for Blue Sky he uses mostly a E Major hexatonic..I call it Happy Hexatonic..It’s more than just a major Pentatonic with an added 4th though because it’s really two triads. One based on the root( E major ) The other on the II chord (F# minor).

This works great since the solo progression is I- IV ( E Major - A Major).The F# minor triad is a sub for A Major. So all the notes have a very melodic sound because they'
re strong chord tones.

The harmonies(as are most of the ABB harmonies) are all based off of these two triads derived from the hexatonic. The unique harmony sound comes from the switching between 3rds and 4ths instead of strict diatonic 3rds.

If you have your triads together try it out any two notes from the E and F# minor work play all 3 and you sound like a genius.!!!

BP
So Butch, what are the actual notes in the E major hexatonic? Thanks!

[SkyDogs]

So Butch, what are the actual notes in the E major hexatonic? Thanks!

I would love to know as well!

And yeah, Blue Sky is absolutely my favorite song ever. Too bad its not one of their more common live songs...

[decay-o-caster]

So Butch, what are the actual notes in the E major hexatonic? Thanks!

If I'm reading his post properly, the notes are the triad on the E major - E, G#, B - and the triad on F#m - F#, A, C.

Making the scale:
E - F# - G# - A - B - C

ButchP - please correct me if I'm wrong about what you meant. Even if I am, it sounds like a neat approach to soloing in a major key.

[chopsley]

If I'm reading his post properly, the notes are the triad on the E major - E, G#, B - and the triad on F#m - F#, A, C.

Making the scale:
E - F# - G# - A - B - C



If it's based on an E major triad and an F# minor triad, then you should have a C# in your scale, not a C natural.

[57tele]

another way to think about the major hexatonic is that it's just the major scale without the 7th.

that said, I have my doubts as to whether dicky knows or cares about this :-)
it's just good old country blues.

[SkyDogs]

Yeah I've been trying to use the E Major scale minus the 7th. I just can't get it to sounds like Dickey. He must have very different phrasing.

[Swain]

If I'm reading his post properly, the notes are the triad on the E major - E, G#, B - and the triad on F#m - F#, A, C.

Making the scale:
E - F# - G# - A - B - C

ButchP - please correct me if I'm wrong about what you meant. Even if I am, it sounds like a neat approach to soloing in a major key.


For F#m, I think it would be a C#, not a C.

Here's another cool idea:
Use the same idea as the sliding rhythm guitar part from ABB's "Stormy Monday".

If you look at the part they play over the G7 chord, it's a Dm inversion, slid up to an Em inversion.

So, Dm yields (in relation to G7) the 5th., b7th., 9th.
Em yields the 6th.(13th.), Root, 3rd.

The overall sound of a G13.

So, I often play 2 minor triads, a whole step apart. Off of the 5th., and the 6th. of a Dominant chord. Thinking of it as 2 triads, gives me a different mindset/approach to my lines.

[OldSchool]

Pure Magic. Just doesn't get any better IMO. And Dickeys voice is something that band is seriously lack nowadays. And with Derek on slide you don't get to hear any of Warrens tasty slide playing. http://www.thegearpage.net/board/images/icons/icon9.gif

[decay-o-caster]

If it's based on an E major triad and an F# minor triad, then you should have a C# in your scale, not a C natural.

dohhh!!! yes, right... :jo

[el_cid]

Pure Magic. Just doesn't get any better IMO. And Dickeys voice is something that band is seriously lack nowadays. And with Derek on slide you don't get to hear any of Warrens tasty slide playing. http://www.thegearpage.net/board/images/icons/icon9.gif


I've been against Derek being in that band for years now.

[hacker]

Wow, I am sure Dickey would be laughing if he read this thread. All he is playing is the major pentatonic scale with one added note. On the original recording, he is playing E major pentatonic with an added A note, which is also the root, for of the A7 chord. In the shows with Warren, they play the song in G, so he uses the G major pentatonic. The key to sounding like Dickey is in the rhythmic phrasing of the lines, his perfect intonation when bending notes, and he often resolves his lines to the root note, which sounds very melodic and musical.

[hacker]

Pure Magic. Just doesn't get any better IMO. And Dickeys voice is something that band is seriously lack nowadays. And with Derek on slide you don't get to hear any of Warrens tasty slide playing. http://www.thegearpage.net/board/images/icons/icon9.gif

Have you been to an Allmans Bros concert lately? Last one I saw, Warren opened on slide in Statesboro Blues, and both traded slide and conventional solos all evening. Derek is not just a great slide player, he plays great without it as well.

They just wont play Blue Sky or any other of Dickeys songs, which sucks, but they are still the best live band around, IMO.

[Goldstrat]

Warren and Derek can both play the Duane or Dickie parts. If you go see them when they play a few shows in a row you will see them alternate who plays Duane. It sounds great either way.

[kimock]

On the original recording, he is playing E major pentatonic with the added 4th, which is also the 7th of the A7 chord. In the shows with Warren, they play the song in G, so he uses the E major pentatonic.

Or something like that. . . :rolleyes:

[ButchP]

If I'm reading his post properly, the notes are the triad on the E major - E, G#, B - and the triad on F#m - F#, A, C.
Making the scale:
E - F# - G# - A - B - C

ButchP - please correct me if I'm wrong about what you meant. Even if I am, it sounds like a neat approach to soloing in a major key.

Yes that’s it except the C is a C# !!.I just think of it as two chords though. The relative minor is C# minor so the two chords E and F#mi work cool for a C# -A also. which is in many rock songs (think All Along the watchtower ,Stairway…blah blah wolf wolf…).Ther a a lot of ways to hear hexatonics.

Wow, I am sure Dickey would be laughing if he read this thread. .

I may be a bit fuzzy on when and where but from what I remember Dickey was the one that crystallized it for me. It ain’t rocket surgery and makes perfect sense. He really sounds very tuned into the melodic development of each chord kind of like a country player instead of one scale fits all chord licks rock and some blues


All he is playing is the major pentatonic scale with one added note. On the original recording, he is playing E major pentatonic with the added 4th, which is also the 7th of the A7 chord. In the shows with Warren, they play the song in G, so he uses the E major pentatonic. The key to sounding like Dickey is in the rhythmic phrasing of the lines, his perfect intonation when bending notes, and he often resolves his lines to the root note, which sounds very melodic and musical.

Not to sound like a “note it all” however The 4th of an E Major pentatonic(if there was one) is A not G which is the the 7th of an A7th chord (not A).

and on that note...if you are in G Major playing E major pent is going to sound like a train wreck.E minor pent is probably what you meant.:)

I do agree a players “musicality “ isn’t based on his choice of scales they are just tools ...it’s how they use them but it does create a “sound” foundation.

IMO melodic motifs flow out of chords as opposed to scales. Great jazz improvisers have been doing this for years.

Plus the Hexatonics underliying harmony concept is a perfect fit. It’s pretty easy to play both parts to ABB harmony simply by knowing the chord formula.

Eric Johnson uses the hexatonics a lot also and almost always in a harmonic context to create melodies as opposed to a scale licks.



BP

[hacker]

Or something like that. . . :rolleyes:
Corrections made to my post above. Dickeys solo in Blue Sky is definitely scale-based instead of chord tone based, IMO.

Jessica has more chord tone-based licks though.

[SuperElastic]

I'm transcribing this sucker (Dickie's solo), and I'm coming up with E minor pentatonic with some shifts to E phrygian / G mixolydian (plus some nice chromatic runs). Can someone with better ears than I fact-check me?

Russ

[texasdave]

Wow, I am sure Dickey would be laughing if he read this thread. All he is playing is the major pentatonic scale with one added note. On the original recording, he is playing E major pentatonic with an added A note, which is also the root, for of the A7 chord. In the shows with Warren, they play the song in G, so he uses the G major pentatonic. The key to sounding like Dickey is in the rhythmic phrasing of the lines, his perfect intonation when bending notes, and he often resolves his lines to the root note, which sounds very melodic and musical.

What you have actually done is simultaneously argue (in your implied tone with "all he is playing") and confirm (in your scale) what ButchP was saying...

Major Pentatonic: E - F# - G# - B - C# - E
add the 4 = A
E - F# - G# - A -B - C# - E

What Butch did was explain why the scale functions so nicely over the 2 chord vamp... and provide an interesting approach to creating other "hybrid" scales as well... As for me, I enjoy seeing the end result reached from both directions, as I spent years totally dependent on pentatonic, and now in the last few years have been learning "the method behind the madness (or magic if you prefer)" that ties the theory to what I was accidentally playing anyway...

So, thanks to all!

[Mixotonic]

Wow!

Just like the time I saw him solo at the University at Albany circa 1985. Blew me away that day as well.......:dude

[Franklin]

I have to add that if it wasn't for this tune, I don't know if I would be playing today. It was magic!

[Soundhound]

I'm not sure I followed all the previous analysis correctly, but what I hear Dickey playing in those two spots you gave the times for in the clip, is just throwing the E 'blues scale' into the middle of an E major scale. When I was a kid we played Blue Sky (and every other Allmans tune we could muster) for hours on end, and learned all the solos etc. If memory serves, Dickie's Blue Sky solos were straight major, and major pentatonic, and then he'll throw in the b7, etc. One of his favorite licks combines the blues and major scales, like so: 1, b3, 3, 4, #4, 5 --that's what I'm hearing in the two clips you pointed out. He'll often play it backwards and forward, up and down, and weave it in with the straight major. It's one of his signature licks.

[SuperElastic]

At 4:02-4:03, there's a chromatic run, then between 4:04 and 4:05, he's playing something with an F that doesn't belong to either E minor or E major pentatonic.

Go Dickie go!!!

[stevieboy]

For F#m, I think it would be a C#, not a C.

Here's another cool idea:
Use the same idea as the sliding rhythm guitar part from ABB's "Stormy Monday".

If you look at the part they play over the G7 chord, it's a Dm inversion, slid up to an Em inversion.

So, Dm yields (in relation to G7) the 5th., b7th., 9th.
Em yields the 6th.(13th.), Root, 3rd.

The overall sound of a G13.


Aren't you just describing G6 and G9? I don't see how it's derived from Dm and Em, though they do have the notes in common. Typically voiced 7th, 9th, 5th low to high (or in the case of the 6th chord, root, 3rd, 6th) the "6 to 9" move is reallly common in blues and goes back to T Bone at least and I imagine further than that. The chord riff in SRV's "Empty Arms" is another example.

[rwe333]

If I remember correctly, in things like Ramblin' Man he'll play out of the relative minor pentatonic (tune's in G major, so E pent minor - E G A B D) and toss in the C note (the minor 6).

[stevieboy]

If I remember correctly, in things like Ramblin' Man he'll play out of the relative minor pentatonic (tune's in G major, so E pent minor - E G A B D) and toss in the C note (the minor 6).

Wouldn't that be just be the major pentatonic of G tossing in the 4th?

[PdL]

The original studio version, from EAP, is in the Key of E. For the ABB sound play pent major licks in E with the occasional maj 4th note thrown in. When Dickey was still in the ABB during the 1990's they moved the key up from E to G. I imagine this was because it was easier for Dickey to sing in G. In G, play the G maj pent scale which is the same as the E min pent. As in the above, thrown in the occasinal maj 4th in G and you'll be very close. For a real authentic Betts sound, make sure to play a few noticeable clams, and keep repeating them as if they were intentional. Think of a trainwreck!

[lhallam]

[quote=hacker;2459194]Wow, I am sure Dickey would be laughing if he read this thread. quote]

Don't be so sure. Dickey had a column in Gtr World for awhile and spoke quite a bit about the hexatonic scale in exactly those terms.

[SkyDogs]

[quote=hacker;2459194]Wow, I am sure Dickey would be laughing if he read this thread. quote]

Don't be so sure. Dickey had a column in Gtr World for awhile and spoke quite a bit about the hexatonic scale in exactly those terms.

you have a link for that?

[Chris_F]

Skydogs,

I don't know if you're question has been answered to your satisfaction yet, so I thought I would take a crack at muddying the musical waters further.

I think the chords are just G major to C major, which I would tend to think of as the I and IV in G major, but right at 4:18, he plays a neat little E-F-G-F-E-D-E-D etc., lick that has an F natural in it (this might imply a mode other than G major, like E phrygian or G mixolydian as someone mentioned earlier, but I don't really understand modes so I'll leave that up to someone else). For those couple of bars he's using notes from C major as opposed to G major, but it doesn't really sound like he's in C to me either.

He follows this with the 1, b3, 3, 4, b5 (or#4), 5 lick mentioned above, although I think he sneaks in a 2nd (which whould be an A since he seems to be outlining a G major chord at this point). So he's basically walkiing up a G major chord with some approach or neighboring tones. This is around 4:23.

My favorite lick is the one starting at 4:42 or so. It starts as just E-F-G a couple of times, and then he extends it to E-F-G-A-Bb-B. This is basically the relative minor version of the lick at 4:23, basically an E minor chord with approach or neighboring tones. Even the rhythm in which he plays the lick is very similar. So instead of 1, 2, b3,3,4.b5,(G major) and 5, we get 1,b2,b3,4,b5, and 5 (E minor).

The "ringer" note that really makes this lick stand out for me though is the F natural (b9 in an E minor chord, maybe). It's consistent with his avoidance of F# in general throughout his solo, but since the chords seem to just scream G major (which would have an F#, natch), it creates a very cool tension.

Sorry for the long post. Hope this helps, but if not, at least I got some typing practice out of it.

Thanks for the link. Really great performance. It's hard to imagine the Allman Brothers Band without Dickey Betts.

[bobbymack]

Skydogs,
Thanks for the link. Really great performance. It's hard to imagine the Allman Brothers Band without Dickey Betts.

Oh yeah. If that video doesn't make the hair on the back of your neck stand up, I dunno...

Dickey has always been a huge influence on me, and to see him just tearin 'it up like that brings back some fantastic memories. And I'm not anti Derek Trucks or anything, but that early 90s ABB lineup was very possibly the most exciting ever, and yes, I saw them with Duane back in the day as well (though I was just a lad)...

The VHS version of the Live at Great Woods show is very comparable. The DVD is unfortunately not the same, has Japan tv interviews etc.

Anyway, just had to revive this for some killer Dickey playin, keepin' it real for any naysayers out there! :dude