Need help with this progression

[klapaucjusz1]

Hello,

I'm having trouble figuring out which scales would fit over this progression (an original tune):

Bm | G#mb5 | Gmaj | F#maj A#dim |

Any help understanding what's going on there harmonically would be very much appreciated. I am trying to learn a bit harmonic analysis, but I'm not very advanced (as you can probably tell).

[Marc Grossman]

I assume these chords are all triads and not seventh chords? I find it easier to harmonize if 7th chords are used, that is
Bm7| G#m7b5 | Gmaj7 | F# DOM 7 , A# dim 7

For the scales, I would use

Bm7 - I would use D major scale , the relative major of the chord. An A major scale would also fit, and is the scale for the next chord.
G#m7b5 - I would shift from D major to A major scale since the chord contains a G# and an F# (and no G which is in the D major scale). Note that going from D major to A major is only changing one note in the previous scale, G to G#
Gmaj7 - I would shift from the A major scale back to D major scale since the Gmaj 7 chord has a G note instead of the G#. Again this changes one note in the previous scale.
F#dom7 A# dim 7 - I would use the D major scale from above, but I would flat the 6th to change the B note that is in the previous 3 chords to a Bb. I'm not sure if the major scale with a b6 has another name or is a mode of another scale like melodic minor or harmonic minor. Again this changes one note in the previuos scale. Note that I changed your F#major chord to a dominant 7th, not a major 7th. Not sure if that is what you want but the major 7th chord has a F note which doesnt go with any of the previous chords.

Alternately, for the first 3 bars, you could use a G major scale, however, the G note in the G major scale would be altered to a G# in the second bar.

[rpjazzguitar]

Hello,

I'm having trouble figuring out which scales would fit over this progression (an original tune):

Bm | G#mb5 | Gmaj | F#maj A#dim |

Any help understanding what's going on there harmonically would be very much appreciated. I am trying to learn a bit harmonic analysis, but I'm not very advanced (as you can probably tell).

Bm is B D F#. G#mb5 is G# B D. Gmaj is G B D. F#maj is F# A# C#. A#dim is A# C# E. Or did you want those chords to have sevenths?

So, the first three chords share a B and D. The third note goes from F# to G# to F#.

The next two share A# and C. The third note is an E moving to an F#.

That much gives a hint about how to voice lead in a solo or comping.

The next question, what is the tonal center? Is this whole thing heading to Bm? Or?

The first three chords look like they're varying a Bm. They could be rewritten as Bm, Bm6 and Bm/G. If you actually have 7ths in the chords, it's Bm7 with the A moving to Ab and then G. Then it seems to drop a half step and I can't tell how the A#dim works. You'd have to post a clip for that.

There are several Bm scales. Natural, Harmonic, Melodic basically vary the 6 and 7. The nomenclature is confusing. But, what is happening is that all three will have B C# D E F#. Then, you have a choice among G, G#, A and A#. I would strongly suggest learning those sounds by ear.

Suppose you were to decide on harmonic minor. Same first five notes. Then G and A#. Fine. But what's to stop you from adding one of the others? Or two? Or four? Every combination can work if you make a strong melodic line.

[Marc Grossman]

Actually, in my post above, instead of flatting the 6th of the D scale, its better to raise the 5th a step to A# and keep the sixth as B. This scale is then equivalent to B harmonic minor, which I think has all the notes in your chord sequence with the exception of the G# in the second bar. You could just change the G note in the B Harm Min Scale to G# for this bar.

The basic progression of Bm G#minb5 Gmaj F#maj is similar to the common sequence Bm A G F#, which is found in the verse of Please Don't Let Me Be Understood, but with the 2nd chord changed from A to G#minb5 in your progression. The scale for the Bm A G F# progression is clearly B Harmonic Minor. Basically, the A# note in the F# maj (and A# dim), is moving the scale to a harmonic minor scale.

[ragman1]

This is only three Bm's in a row followed by F#7 twice. The A#o is F#7b9 so it's all in Bm.

To put it another way, Bm is Bm, Gm7b5 is Bm6, and GM7 is also Bm. Then there's F#7, which is the V7 of Bm, and the A#o. But the A#o is just another way of playing F#7b9. So you're just playing

Bm - % - % - F#7

Don't let theory confuse you, it's not difficult. Use a Bm pentatonic or B harmonic minor. Arpeggiate the chords, play round the shapes, find some notes, you'll get there.

The problem is we haven't got a melody or the style (jazz, blues, bossa, rock, funk?) or the tempo, etc, so who knows what's going on?

Anyway, here is that progression x3. It may not be the sort of thing you want to hear. Not my fault :-)

[klapaucjusz1]

Thanks for all the replies! It's very helpful and informative to see your perspectives. I appreciate the time you took to look into this.

To answer some of the questions:
- it's a part of a piece that my bandmate wrote, I'm supposed to solo over this section. I got the music score, no chords were written out, only music notation for bass, guitar and sax, so the chords are my interpretation of what's going on, but the parts are pretty straightforward
- the 7ths are nowhere to be seen in the score, but I do intend to play them in my comping where I will see fit
- the tempo is 140
- the style is whatever we make it to be, but I hope it'll end up sounding fusion-esque
- the progression is a loop which repeats 4 times before moving on to a different section (in a different key). To my ear the harmonic center of this progression is Bm (harmonic, or perhaps natural with borrowed V and VII# from harmonic minor).

I'll work with what you all wrote and see what happens! Thanks again!