How to Write an Octatonic Riff • Music Theory from Ministry "Goddamn White Trash"

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How to Write an Octatonic Riff • Music Theory from Ministry "Goddamn White Trash"

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How to Write an Octatonic Riff. Using the Half-Whole Diminished Scale Free PDF Tutorialincludes multitrack MIDI file If the link above does not work, paste this into your browser:https://hackmusictheory.com/album/2568001/octatonic-riff Intro. Almost all popular music (in every genre and subgenre) is made using the major scale or the natural minor scale. That’s a vast ocean of music from only two scales! And yes, some of the more creative producers will use the modes. That’s great. But, the modes are also 7-note scales (just like the major and natural minor scales). And, like those two scales, they also contain a major 3rd or a minor 3rd. In other words, each one of the five rarer modes sound either like a variation of the major scale, or a variation of the natural minor scale. So yes, the Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian, Mixolydian and Locian modes open a lot more doors, however, they all lead into the same 7-note house. For the record, Mozart had no problems writing genius-level music using only the major and minor scales, so there’s obviously nothing wrong with using those scales. But, as a counter argument, there was significantly less music when Mozart was alive. Nowadays, it can easily feel like all the possibilities that those two scales offer have been thoroughly explored already. I don’t believe that’s true, though it’s undeniable that it is significantly harder to create something new with those scales. So, if you’re looking to explore some new musical territory, one of the best ways to get there is with 8-note scales. These are called octatonic scales. They were relatively common in the “modern” classical music of the early 20th century, but you hardly ever hear them in popular music. One of our favourite examples of an octatonic scale in popular music is in the song “I Am That Thirst” by Meshuggah. And another song we recently heard that features an octatonic scale is “Goddamn White Trash” by Ministry. They use it in a heavy breakdown riff (starts at 2:03). So, if you’re ready to try the exciting world of 8-note scales, then in this tutorial you’re gonna learn our 5-step method for writing octatonic riffs. But first… Tea! Step 1. The Scale When it comes to unorthodox scales, there isn’t a tradition of hundreds of years of theory and practice. Most of these outside-the-box scales only came into use just over a hundred years ago. So, compared to the major and minor scales, they’re still infants. As a result, there isn’t a consensus around their theory and terminology. Here at Hack Music Theory, we’re all about the creative and practical application of theory, so we don’t care too much about what terms are used to explain it. The scale we’re using in this tutorial has been called the half-whole diminished scale, the half-whole step scale, the dominant diminished scale, or sometimes it’s simply referred to as the octatonic scale. As you can see, it’s got many names. So, you could even call it the Uncle Bob Scale if you prefer. The name is not important, the notes are! And in terms of its spelling, that’s also a mess. We believe the spelling below is the one that makes the most sense (for numerous reasons, but they aren’t relevant here), so in this PDF we’ll be referring to the notes in this way: Half-Whole Diminished Scale1♭2♯23♯456♭7CD♭D♯EF♯GAB♭ Repeating the pattern of a semitone followed by a tone, produces the half-whole diminished scale You’ll notice that the scale spelling above has two 2s: the ♭2 and the ♯2. The ♯2 is the enharmonic* equivalent of the ♭3. But, if we spelled the ♯2 as ♭3, then the scale would have both the minor 3rd (♭3) and the major 3rd (3). That’s confusing! Despite this being an 8-note scale, it’s still good theory to only have one 3rd note. This is helpful in categorising the scale, and it’s also helpful with building chords. As you can see in the MIDI screenshot above, this scale is created by repeating the pattern of a semitone followed by a tone. So, you may now be wondering: What if we reverse that pattern and start with a tone instead, then follow with a semitone? Great question! And the answer is: you get the Aunt Betty Scale. Well, once again you can pretty much call it whatever you want, because everyone else seems to. But, one of the most “official” names it goes by, is the whole-half diminished scale. However, it’s also sometimes called the diminished scale. Or simply the octatonic scale, though that’s rather offensive to the Uncle Bob Scale, who’s also octatonic. Or, it’s also sometimes referred to as the whole-half step scale, or apparently even the auxiliary diminished scale, though I’ve never heard it being called that. And regarding the spelling. Same thing. There’s many different ways that people spell this scale, but here’s the version we believe makes the most sense: Whole-Half Diminished Scale12♭34...