Ethio Jazz Scales

[BernieMac]

Hi there, as the title of the thread implies, i am interested in looking into the ethio jazz scales in the style of Mulatu Astatke. Problem is my insights in music theory are still not very great, and i struggle when trying to move beyond the different major and minor scales consisting of seven notes. I've read that Mulatu fused traditional pentatonic ethiopian scales with twelve note western scales. What does this mean exactly?

He said the following in an interview: "MA: We play five against twelve. This is a pentatonic scale that has been fused with a 12-tone progression. My thing was to combine these two without losing our character. The five is floating on top. You see this in Asia, in Japan, in Algeria. We have four different modes, and three modes for church music. It's very beautiful. It's all in how you approach the scales and the notes."

If there is anyone that could decode this for a layman that this far havent gone beyond the very fundamental theory needed to make house music, i would be extremely greatful.

Cheers

 

[bandcoach]

a link to the specific interview would help immensely - at the moment I am scratching my head wondering what he is saying as it reads like double dutch

this one

Berklee Today | Berklee College of Music

sheds some light on the mode/scale Anche Hoye - 1-b2-4-b5-6-8 (renders as C-Db-F-Gb-A-C) (that is all it has really has to offer) - the scale is unlike any other that I have found still looking into the other three main modes and the 3 variants of two of these: tezeta, bati, ambassel, tezeta minor, bati major, bati minor.

will be back when my researches are completed

after wandering around the net and finding some fascinating stuff about other scales and modes, finally found some concrete statements on the structure of the scales used in Ethiopian music in general and Ethio-Jazz in particular

primary sources for the following are
Music Theory Ethiopian Music -By Timothy Johnson - FSU World Music Online
and
http://portal.svt.ntnu.no/sites/ices16/Proceedings/Volume 4/Ezra Abate - Ethiopian Kiñit.pdf, which the former is based on in large part

Most Common Name	Alternate Names	Ethiopian Name	Interval set notation	Degrees of the scale	TS pattern	Built on C
Major Pentatonic	Mongolian, pentatonic	tizita, tezeta	0 2 4 7 9 12	1 2 3 5 6 8	T T T1/2 T T1/2	C D E G A C
ritusen	4th mode of the major pentatonic	anchihoye 2, ambassell type 2	0 2 5 7 9 12	1 2 4 5 6 8	T T1/2 T T T1/2	C D F G A C
Suspended Pentatonic	2nd mode of the major pentatonic, Egyptian	yematebela Wofe, anchihoye 3	0 2 5 7 10 12	1 2 4 5 b7 8	T T1/2 T T1/2 T	C D F G Bb C
hirajoshi		tezeta minor	0 2 3 7 8 12	1 2 b3 5 b6 8	T S 2T S 2T	C D Eb G Ab C
ionian pentatonic		bati, bati major	0 4 5 7 11 12	1 3 4 5 7 8	2T S T 2T S	C E F G B C
kumoijoshi	Japanese	ambassel	0 1 5 7 8 12	1 b2 4 5 b6 8	S 2T T S 2T	C Db F G Ab C
anchey hoye	anchihoye		0 1 5 6 9 12	1 b2 4 b5 6 8	S 2T S T1/2 2T	C Db F Gb A C
hareris scale			0 1 3 5 10 12	1 b2 b3 4 b7 8	S T T T1/2 T T	C Db Eb F Bb C
Minor Pentatonic	vietnamese 2, 5th mode of the major pentatonic	bati minor	0 3 5 7 10 12	1 b3 4 5 b7 8	T1/2 T T T1/2 T	C Eb F G Bb C
malkos raga		shegaye, anchihoye 4, 3rd mode of the major pentatonic	0 3 5 8 10 12	1 b3 4 b6 b7 8	T1/2 T T1/2 T T	C Eb F Ab Bb C

the concept of 5 against 12 is still not clear and may just be a way of describing the possibility of playing chords underneath that referenced 12 tones whilst melodically they were sticking to a pentatonic framework....

 

[BernieMac]

Wow, thank you alot for that great post. That table is pure gold. Regarding that 5 against 12 thing, its still unclear to me. What is a 12 note scale anyway? In this article thequietus. com /articles/12299-mulatu-astatke-interview-field-day they mention this 12 note diminshed scale that is supposed to have been used by Charlie Parker etc. I dont get it, wouldnt a 12 tone scale include every tone available?

When you write "playing chords underneath that referenced 12 tones whilst melodically sticking to pentatonic" do you mean that they are using one scale for the harmony and a different one (an ethiopian one) for the melodic elements? Kind of like using both a harmonic and a melodic minor in an arrangement? If you could give me a practical example it would be great.

And thanks again for the ace post.

 

[bandcoach]

The Quietus | Features | Strange World Of... | Mulatu Astatke On The Strange World Of Mulatu Astatke

you might find these two articles of interest

bebop exercises[/url

[url='http://www.jazzand.com/Rick_Stone/Articles/JJG-2000%20Aug-Minor%206th%20Diminished%20Scale.pdf']diminished scale

in essence we are talking about the use of bebop scales over jazz harmony

the reference to 12 tones is a misnomer and may have been artistic licence on the part of the journalist or on the part of astatke: it references the use of all 12 notes within the equal tempered scale but at a harmonic level rather than a melodic level.

As for the use of different scales for melodic and harmonic material - only at the level of the number of notes in use. The two scales would share a common root and would most likely share the same tones; i.e. the pentatonic would be a subset of the other scale in use.

Harmony and its uses is well beyond the above information: jazz harmony and it's variants with the use of extended harmony whilst being based within a particular key makes use of substitutions both within the current scale/key structure and chromatically (i.e using tones from outside of the key).