These lessons focus on the three main scales of classic action music: octatonic, hexatonic, and Hungarian minor. Learn how to extract sophisticated action writing from them with easy-to-understand techniques. Lesson 4 builds a vocabulary of common chords from hexatonic and Hungarian minor scales. Lesson 5 then demonstrates how scales play an important part in the planing of chords. And Lesson 6 reveals common ways of mixing the action scales together, either one after the other or even at the same time!
Note: While the Octatonic course is not required to take this course, it is recommended as some aspects of the Hexatonic course build on the Octatonic course.
Hexatonic Course Breakdown
Lesson 4 – Hexatonic and Hungarian Minor Scales
- Hexatonic Scales
- Overview
- Tonal Chords, 3 notes (major and minor)
- Tonal Chords, 4 notes (mM7 and augM7)
- Atonal Chords, 5 and 6 notes
- Melodies and Flourishes
- Hungarian Minor Scales
- Overview + Tonal Chords (3 and 4 notes)
- Main Chord, 5 notes
- Tonal Chords, 5 notes (add2 chords)
- Atonal Chords, 5 to 7 notes
- Atonal Chords, 3 notes, (the (014) chord)
- Melodies and Flourishes
Lesson 5 – Planing and Pedal Point
- Planing as a Concept
- Overview
- Typical Planed Chords
- Planing a Chord through a Scale
- Minor Scales
- Modes
- Octatonic Melodies Harmonized by Planed Chords
- Minor Chords
- Major Chords
- With One Scale Note Changed
- Planing and Pedal Points
- Combined Melody-Bass “Chords”
- Increasing the Dissonance between Planed Chords and Pedals
Lesson 6 – Combining Scales Together
- Juxtaposing Action Scales
- Octatonic + Hungarian Minor
- Hexatonic + Hungarian Minor
- Octatonic + Hexatonic
- Mixing Action Scales with Non-Scale Notes
- Octatonic + 1 Note
- Octatonic Melody Harmonized by Chords of a Single Type
- Simultaneous Action Scales
- Octatonic as Gap Filler for Hexatonic
- Harmonies from One Scale Organized by Another
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