Romeo's Favorite Scales

[MorphineChild205]

Does anyone know which scales MJR prefers to use?

I know he uses harmonic minor a lot, but there's another weird one - a five-note scale that sounds badass and haunting...

D-F-Ab-B-D

Does anyone know the name of this scale? What other scales does he tend to solo in?

 

[1by4by9]

Sounds like a diminished scale.

D||--------------------------||
A||--------------------------||
F||--------------------------||
C||--------------------0--2--||
G||-----------1--2--4--------||
D||--0--2--3-----------------||

Some of his riffs follow this scale.

 

[ABQShredHead]

The "five-note scale" you refer to is a diminished arpeggio. It's a symmetrical deal that repeats every three frets (minor 3rd) and used by all classical composers. The minor 3rd intervals are haunting, indeed.

Phrygian Dominant, the fifth mode of the Harmonic Minor scale, is a favorite for sure. Again, it also contains a minor 3rd interval between the b2 and 3 tones (1, b2, 3, 4, 5, b6, b7 - the b7 tends toward Dominant and the b2 relates to Phrygian).

And for all you Malmsteen bashers, yes, these are the same scales Yngwie uses as well. Much of the "cool-sounding" classical composers use them as well.

 

[!Aviso!]

Phrygian Dominant, otherwise known as Byzantine Mode, Hijaz Mode, double-harmonic and a whole bunch of other names... hahaha.

I'll go on record as saying I don't think Michael Romeo really has any "favorite scales," per se. I think he takes a more formal approach, i.e. building melodies out of cadences, etc.

 

[MorphineChild205]

Thanks for the responses! I write a lot of my riffs and solos around that five note diminished minor 3rd scale...it sounds so wicked! The thing I absolutely love about Romeo's solos is that their tonality is very bizarre when compared to modern music. 99% of lead guitarists out there just play boring blues solos in boxes and get hailed as "innovative" and "technically brilliant." I simply don't understand it.

Anyway, here's another cool scale I found:

D||------------------------------------------5--||
A||--------------------------------4--6--8------||
F||--------------------------5--7---------------||
C||-------------------4--6----------------------||
G||---------4--6--8-----------------------------||
D||--5--7---------------------------------------||

 

[!Aviso!]

That one's not really a scale, but it looks like it's mostly based on the whole-tone scale.

 

[ABQShredHead]

Not at all a "scale", merely a pattern on the neck. Analysis:

1 2 3 #4 #5 b6 b7 b3 4 b5 b6 b7 1

No real relevance to a tonal center but some interesting tones. Close to the whole tone in the beginning (1 2 3 #4 #5), but then it goes elsewhere. Might as well fill in all the tones in the first octave as played in the second octave and call it a chromatic scale....

 

[PRauhala]

Hmm. I think hes using Pentatonic (like many others) and just minor. Wholetone probably. Im not sure of the diminished. Allan Holdsworth uses half-diminished, whole-diminished a lot, but i dont remember now any solos where romeo uses it.

 

[Liquid Shadow]

Don't get caught in the trap of using diminished arps or anything else "weird" like that if you don't know how to treat them properly. They are excellent if you use them the right way, but will make you sound rediculous if throw them in "just because."

 

[!Aviso!]

Don't get caught in the trap of using diminished arps or anything else "weird" like that if you don't know how to treat them properly. They are excellent if you use them the right way, but will make you sound rediculous if throw them in "just because."

It'll sound ridiculous by virtue of being enharmonically incorrect, but music doesn't have to adhere to the rules if the player doesn't want to adhere to them. Of course, if someone's objective is to actually have complex, well-composed music, then throwing in diminished phrases for no good reason isn't the way to do it. Comes down to objective.

Besides, screwing around with diminished scales in a variety of musical settings is a good way to develop your ear and learn how to do things the right way in the future.

"With deviation from the norm, progress is not possible." (Frank Zappa)

 

[Bsmith]

He uses mostly diminished and harmonic minor stuff from what I can tell. Most of it sounds new and fresh because of phrasing and the string skipping taps. Whole tone scales work best over b5 chords and progressions that move in full steps (like the verse of The Accolade). There are only 2 whole tone patterns and because of it's symmetrical nature any note can be the root (as with diminished).

 

[Mullet Power]

"With deviation from the norm, progress is not possible." (Frank Zappa)

Shouldn't that be withOUT Progress.... " ???