Playing notes outside the scale?

I'm learning Hideaway (the Freddy King version), and I know it's in E Major. At times he plays notes that aren't in the scale . The time I'm thinking of is around the one minute mark when he starts playing the low string riffing in at the top of the neck in the first and third positions. Is this called anything when someone does this or is it just called "playing whatever the heck you want"?

Do you mean outside of the E major scale? Blues playing is almost never based on a straight major scale. Like most blues players, he plays a mixture of major and minor pentatonic scales.

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Originally Posted by Doc W

Do you mean outside of the E major scale? Blues playing is almost never based on a straight major scale. Like most blues players, he plays a mixture of major and minor pentatonic scales.

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The entire first minute of the song seems to be in E major. But at one point during this part he plays 2 - 2# - 3 (or 2 - 3b - 3). Then it jumps to the A string and the riff repeats.

Right, the intro melody "head" is in the major scale, but it jumps around. Aolian/Pentatonics are based around minor scales, and the blues is based around tension between major and minor. Knowing how to move between them is important for good blues playing.

I'm a hack, myself.

Remember, if you need to, you can always bend slowly and deliberately to the other scale if you need to. Like you mean it. That's called "style and attitude." :laughing:

I would see the #2/3b as a #9. But it's just a passing note anyway, so yeah, he kind of is "playing whatever the heck" he wants, lol

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Originally Posted by Kap'n

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Remember, if you need to, you can always bend slowly and deliberately to the other scale if you need to. Like you mean it. That's called "style and attitude." :laughing:

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Preferably with a really good blues face! :biglaugh:

Another good trick for blues\jazz is what I call slurring the notes sliding into from above or below the target note..

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Originally Posted by tugboat

Preferably with a really good blues face! :biglaugh:

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Don't forget the hat and black leather vest.

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Originally Posted by Offshore Angler

Don't forget the hat and black leather vest.

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:up

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Originally Posted by tugboat

The entire first minute of the song seems to be in E major. But at one point during this part he plays 2 - 2# - 3 (or 2 - 3b - 3). Then it jumps to the A string and the riff repeats.

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The whole song is in E major. However, he is not using the major scale. He is using a combination of major and minor pentatonic scales. The reason that it sounds so major is the emphasis on the major 3rd in the signature melody. But listen closely, and you will hear hammer-on 3rd's and flattened 7's, especially toward the end of the first minute. The accompaniment is also filled with flattened 7's right from the start.

If it had a true E major feel to it, you would hear the 7th degree of the major scale a lot more prominently, especially at the V-I cadence. The fact that it is not there in any distinct way puts the melody a lot more toward the major pentatonic.

But this is way too much analysis for a simple blues like this which was played largely intuitively and not derived consciously from any theory of harmony.

Even that last paragraph saying we are being too analytic is too analytic. :laughing: