Some Quick MiP Combos

Here are a few more things to combine with Hungarian Minor Pentatonic, a.k.a. MiP (see also here and here) to make interesting sounds that are easy to find. Nothing new here compared with the earlier posts, just easier ways to find the same notes.

In all these examples I'm mixing the notes of MiP with some other very familiar structure to get seven distinct notes altogether. Since the other structure is easy to find and to hear, this idea can make "exotic" sounds a bit more approachable for both player and listener.

Why seven notes? It seems like a good number for a usable idea. Not too many (so it sounds more like a chromatic thing) and not too few (so the thing you're combining with isn't adding much value). We could do the same exercise for any other number (above 5 of course) but there's already enough here to keep me busy for a while.

You can build Semidominant Suspended (a mode of Kamavardani) by playing 1 MiP + 1 Minor Pentatonic, which is amazingly easy to find. This is the only heptatonic combination of these two scales.

Combining with the augmented triad gives two scales: 1 MiP + 2aug is Neetimati, while 1 MiP + 3aug is Dhatuvardani. Combining with the diminished seventh arpeggio doesn't yield any heptatonic scales.

The other common seventh arpeggios, though, turn out to offer a huge range of exotic sounds.

The Maj 7 arpeggio offers two heptatonic scales: Neetimati (adding b3 Maj 7) and Dhatuvardani (adding 3 Maj 7; it's a mode of Gayakarpiya).

Minor 7 arpeggios offer more possibilities:

• b3m7: 1 b2 b3 b5 5 b7 7 = Divyamani
• 3m7: 1 2 b3 3 b5 5 7 = 1maj + 7maj
• 4m7: 1 b3 4 b5 5 b6 7 = Lydian #2 #3 b6
• 6m7: 1 b3 3 b5 5 6 7 = Lydian #9 (mode of Harmonic Minor)

And there are five different heptatonic scales that are 1 MiP + a m7b5 built on another note. Hungarian Minor makes a reappearance here too:

• b2 m7b5: 1 b2 b3 3 b5 5 7 = 1maj + 7maj + b2
• b3 m7b5: 1 b2 b3 b5 5 6 7 = Suvarnangi
• 4 m7b5: 1 b3 4 b5 5 b6 7 = Lydian #2 #3 b6
• b5 m7b5: 1 b3 3 b5 5 6 7 = Apeliotean
• b6 m7b5: 1 2 b3 b5 5 b6 7 = Hungarian Minor

Twelve scales, all rare except for one, all built from the same simple pentatonic plus something you probably already know. That's a lot to get your ears round.