Erik Satie Scale - analysis and uses in Jazz improvisation

In this video I introduce a scale that I call the 'Satie Scale' that Erik Satie used in his piano composition Gnossienne no 3. It is a 6 note minor scale with an exotic sound containing the sharpened 4 and natural 6 degrees.
Later in the video I demonstrate the sound of this scale over a
minor chord vamp when improvising.
Thesaurus of Minor Triad pairs:
jazzduets.com/...
00:15 Life and Biog
1:45 Satie Scale
3:10 demonstration of sound over vamp.
Éric Alfred Leslie Satie 17 May 1866 - 1 July 1925)was a French composer and pianist. Satie was a colourful figure in the early 20th-century Parisian avant-garde.

[@LewisCannonMusic]

This is the best music education channel I've ever seen. The videos are absolutely fantastically crafted.

[@TheMrlovegoodtimes]

fuck u!

[@heckensteiner4713]

Amazing! 70s French and Canadian Jazz Rock is some of my favorite music, so I've been curious how they get their sound. It sounds somber, exotic, folksy, nostalgic, dramatic, and powerful all at the same time. Your improv hit checked all those boxes. This is exactly what I was looking for! Thanks!

[@MoonWalkerTexsRanger]

That sounds cool, what are the bands you’re thinking of?

[@vladimirkalichuk9593]

Thank you, great video. I think it makes sense to look at this scale as Dorian #4, the fourth mode of the Harmonic minor. In this particular Gnossienne, Satie chose not to play the 7th degree of the scale, but if you introduce it it will not change the overall sound, as it is not an essential note that gives the scale its particular color. Gnossienne 1 and Gnossienne 4 are based on the same Dorian #4 mode where Satie uses the whole scale, 7th degree included, so I believe it would be fair to say that this mode is what he based his ideas on.

[@keithruddell1800]

a hexatonic take on the 4th mode of E harmonic minor. excellent vid.

[@robertoruiz5759]

I loved the favor of the sacale for me is very expressive

[@g103l301]

You're a so talented teacher and musician! You're videos are fondamental to escape from the theory by itself, to help FEELING every single interval that you play! You're tone and you're arpeggios are divine!

[@willwalker8486]

Your channel deserves way more subs

[@JazzDuets]

cheers!

[@joycesanders4898]

..that's how you know its quality. We live in a time of mindlessness and memes...but for those of us who are willing to dive a little deeper. 🎶🎼💗🎓🖤🎩😎

[@joycesanders4898]

@@JazzDuets 🍻

[@alexdante]

Completely fantastic! Thank you so much!

[@lazardavidovic378]

One of the favorite channel clear, precise and right to the point ! Thank you :)

[@onelovetao6732]

in my opponent, the best music tutorial is one with lots of music playing instead of talking. yours is a great example. likes the sax playing at the end

[@tonyl4264]

Thanks so much. Very inspiring, been playing with this scale lately because of this video

[@stephanvanderwoerd4405]

this is like 12 tone but even more indepth and also alot about improv. love it! its very useful

[@edgarmatias]

It’s melodic minor with the tritone moved to the tonic (2 alterations)… sounds lovely.

[@Hacks4FPS]

I'm not a musician, and I pretty much don't understand any of the theory, but I took an immediate liking to your improv, incredible! You earned my sub!

[@philippeallemand524]

Many thanks for the way you are teaching music in particular Erik Satie very colorful music Merci beaucoup

[@jasonandrews9058]

Wow I never heard a minor application like that. Beautiful and dark, mysterious and well put together i am both happy and sad lol

[@afrosymphony8207]

woah!! absolute best satie video i've watched nd i've pretty much watched all of them, none of them talks about the satie scale! this is fucking brilliant, thanks!

[@zecalimazeca]

WHAT A GREAT JOB YOU DO , JAZZ DUETS. TKS FROM BRAZIL

[@AllHailThe9]

Thank you for this amazing and simple explanation!

[@Cur0m]

This was an amazing breakdown of my favorite composer

[@LivingGuy484]

This video was everything I needed, thank you for this.

[@thelonious-dx9vi]

I love Satie.

[@brandoncarter360]

I love this, glad to have stumbled here

[@matthieujoly424]

I love Satie, and his music is so next to jazz... In my opinion. immediate subscription.

[@leandroquintella6349]

Excellent teacher and musician

[@alejandrocorona1766]

What a gem!!!!!

[@ricardopellene6097]

Tremendo video hermano!!! Amazing video bro! Regards from Santiago del Estero, Argentina! Keep drinking matee!!!!

[@recepcakmak1053]

Helpful and informative. Thanks 👍

[@darkphoton7990]

Fantastic channel

[@PabloVestory]

Very nice and tasteful work!

[@saxfish]

< Deliciously Wonderful and most educative ! Thank You Nick! >

[@magicsoundstudio5781]

Really helpful ! great work .

[@StrideLatinProgRick]

Great! Congratulations on this very instructive and useful video!

[@jmbelkadi]

Great Lesson

[@ldmixer4228]

fantastic lesson,keep going!

[@JazzDuets]

cheers ! will do!

[@Maddolis]

For what it's worth, I'd add in that G and call it Ukrainian Dorian, the 4th mode of the harmonic minor scale. Not quite as popular as the fifth mode, Phrygian-Dominant (used predominantly in Spanish and Jewish/Klezmer music) but a gorgeous sound nonetheless. I feel in the Satie, once it lands on the second chord (the E minor), it still has a pull back towards the A, making it feel like the tonal centre. It does very obviously modulate to the E Ukrainian Dorian/Dorian #11 later on though. Due to the nature of these chords i and II, there's a very natural pull to the v, and I think the trick is for the composer to make the piece feel like it's stable in i (in this case, A), without getting II to feel like a dominant and accidentally modulate to v (in this case, E minor). Opeth's track 'A Fair Judgement' actually does this. It starts out with just A minor and B major and creates a hauntingly beautiful atmosphere (combined with great supporting instrumentation, a distant and filtered piano intro etc). Then about 2 minutes in it finally arrives in E minor, making the Am and B feel more like iv and V in hindsight. It's amazing how we can interpret music, or even a simple chord or two so very differently considering their context. I can go back to the start of A Fair Judgement and feel this mysterious atmosphere, or I can mentally skim ahead and wait for that Em and feel the music differently - with less of an air of mystery yet more of tension, a slow pull towards that eventual tonic.

[@pawo161]

amazing sound

[@valadao]

With a G# it would become the gypsy or arabic scale. Oh the colors... so great. The "gap" between F# and A sounds so nice. Good improv! And nice video =)

[@pjdahmen]

Thank you for the great tutorial

[@sebastianmoggia4800]

awsome! !!.... great explanation. this is very helpful. Cheers

[@sidewaze8]

Such awesome videos thank you!

[@Gee-no]

Wow. Really great vid. I never listened to Satie much except for Gymnopedies. Now I'm really gonna check him out. Thanks.😁🎹🎶

[@tonysavannah4839]

Thanks. Super.

[@brainrussell6811]

Awesome.

[@rhogeterp]

Indeed !

[@ernestscribble4922]

Thanks for your great video

[@estoico629]

Thank you. Excellent

[@rumarey2]

Fell in love instantly, I'I'm subscribing.

[@IlhanNegis]

3:10, that scale sounds soooo good to me, anything but exotic or different, and, yes, I'm Turkish. and a small note, want this kind of stuff more, search for Ilhan Ersahin

[@armandocairo5444]

Great! Thanks!

[@composer7325]

Very interesting.Thank you.

[@skinnyrigid]

maan your content is so good u deserve an apple. here are apples for u lotsa fresh apples 🍎🍎🍎

[@SamChaneyProductions]

Thanks so much for this. This is identical to the 4th mode of harmonic minor but missing the 7th. At 2:24 you can see the "Satie Scale" in A is the same as E harmonic minor but missing the third (G) which would be the 7th in the 4th mode starting on A.

[@gregfagan38]

Okay.. flat five and major 7th. Thank you.

[@JacobAlonso]

I love your videos. Gracias

[@jamierogers6600]

You are the best!

[@aleinjazz]

E Minor armonic starting from A user when you play cadenza plagale

[@SamChaneyProductions]

Jens Larsen has a video where he suggests using the 4th mode of harmonic minor to play over tonic minor 7th chords in modal tunes, so this scale would work in the same exact context, though it would be missing the 7th which is an important chord tone. Still, if you were improvising in the 4th mode of harmonic minor, you could quote a melody from a well-known piece by Satie to get a rise from any Satie fans in the audience.

[@HHJoshHH]

Great colors man!

[@omarreroch]

Great!!!

[@phanjazm]

I'm late to the party. Love this video!!!! Good stuff!

[@TheMorne777]

He reminds me of the infamous Joe Haisishi (not sure about spelling). His music is very similiar but with an extra Persian feeling to his music (Satie)

[@italozanoti7180]

True, the way they buld motifs and phrasing is quite similar. But Satie is more on this harmonic minor vibe

[@martinvrhovski7106]

Excelente, gracias!!!

[@unclesoul8839]

这个教学内容太棒了！amazing place！

[@juancarlossanchez7318]

Genial

[@ziqinggu6085]

I figure something After practicing this scale for a few moment on guitar fretboard. it's easy to Remember when I remove 3b in a Harmony Minor Scale I will get another Erik Satie Scale. I memorise Melodic Minor Scale by #1，C# D E F G A B＝D melodic minor Scale. I memorise Harmonic Minor Scale by #5, C D E F G# A B＝A Harmonic minor Scale. All depend on C major scale. So when I get these two scales familiar while improvising, it's Easy to combine them into C# D E F G# A B(=D melodic 4# Minor),then remove C# , Another Erik Satie Scale on D。

[@CimClem]

It reminds me some John Surnam's pieces, like Not love Perhaps

[@dissolve842]

Muy Bueno, gracias!!

[@tonyedwards4067]

thank you for this,,,,

[@jeewanrai2781]

Nice one

[@ronaldo.araujo]

He explores this scales further as in his triad pair improvisation video part 2

[@ideath173]

THANK YOU!!!!

[@vincentquinsac9827]

thank you so much bro....

[@TobiasLeonHaecker]

Thank you, gonna try this on footprints

[@keydesire1512]

Thank! I fucking love his music

[@TheKungfulol]

it's probably worth mentioning that this scale (Dorian #4) and the other modes of the harmonic minor scale are quite common in Eastern European traditional and folk music, whether Satie knew this I don't know

[@JazzDuets]

Sorry.This is Not the 4th mode of the harmonic minor scale. The harmonic minor has 7 notes. This scale has 6 notes. The interval between F# and A is probably the most characteristic thing of this scale. But thanks for this as it has inspired me to make a video about space and less is more etc. Satie left us so much with so little. Cheers!

[@docbobster]

Please record a whole album's worth of jazz Satie.

[@eriksatieofficiel]

Interesting.

[@TheMrlovegoodtimes]

i think of this as H minor a fith abow

[@philippeguiblin2516]

Hi and thanks again for this brilliant video. I suppose the scale used and played on the saxophone is the A scale transposed to the type of saxophone used, right? Philippe

[@cxmxg]

Please share any essential bibliography about Satie’s analysis

[@alejlange]

Cool!! In A it has the sound collection of E harmonic minor with no third. So it's a modal permutation of the scale omitting one important note that could leads you to another tonal center (E), and that is what you don't want. Am I right? @Jazzduets

[@ociroid]

Correct me if I'm wrong, isn't this just the 4th mode of the Harmonic minor scale? Before I've seen this video, I was already noodling around different modes of the harmonic minor scale. Eventually, I found the 4th mode having this uniquely distinct sound. :) I have heard of Satie's music but never really paid attention to it. I guess now I have something to project on. :) Awesome vid. I love your channel.

[@JazzDuets]

that modes has 7 notes, this scale has 6. Big thing not having the 7th in the scale, makes the sound ambiguous

[@ociroid]

@@JazzDuets I see. True true. I didn't pay close attention. I was watching this video in a crowded train with a mask. What a time to live in. Anyway, indeed... That missing 7th seems to add the special sound. Very hard to explain. But I guess ambiguous is about right. Thanks for the response and keep up the good work.

[@feilik]

This scale is used in Jewish music with the addition of the b7. Mi Sheberach I think - one of the liturgical modes

[@SamChaneyProductions]

Yes, that would be the same as the 4th mode of harmonic minor or dorian #4. Do you know if there is a name for this scale in Jewish music? I know that in Arabic music, there is the Hijaz scale which is basically identical to the 5th mode of harmonic minor. Thanks for the info!

[@octahedron115]

Also called Ukrainian Dorian

[@thomasdupont7186]

yeah i think it's called "klezmer" or something like that...

[@ericcalonico5621]

George Russell's Lydian Diminished Scale without the 7th.

[@jwallguitar]

burning

[@Pyrobeats]

I think I'm late to the party, but this scale sounds a lot like the Romanian Minor scale, which is a minor scale with a raised 4th and 6th. Basically the exact same thing, except it has a 7.

[@freezee-y4x]

isn't that scale dorian #11, the 4th mode of harmonic minor?

[@LucasLorenzoBrizuela]

How beautiful is the sonority of this scale! I would like to know more of his harmonic posibilities. I mean, there is a I minor (add13?) and then a II Major, but, which other chords may appear and what would be its functionality?

[@tacos1337]

If we're not counting suspended/modal triad and only count triads with a root, third and fifth, you can get a diminished chord build from the I, iii, sharp 4 and VI scale degree (Adim, Cdim, D#dim, F#dim, which would explain why you get that prygian dominant vibe ?), but that's pretty much it imo. As you only have 6 scales degrees, you're pretty limited with the number of chords you can generate from it.

[@SamChaneyProductions]

Since this scale is the same as the 4th mode of harmonic minor but missing the 3rd, you could use all of the harmony from that scale and play over it with this one. Of course, you would have to be careful to not accidentally sound like you're in the relative harmonic minor scale, so I'd stray away from hanging out on the v chord too much, and definitely don't go from the II chord to the v chord because that would be the same as the V to i chord cadence in harmonic minor and would shift the tonic in the listener's ears.

[@lambrosfouloulis5714]

Which recordings of which performers are used in this video? Does anyone happen to know?

[@intervalkid]

Dorian #4 the 4th mode of harmonic minor scale sans the m7.

[@billsybainbridge3362]

NO! It is its own thing, a hexatonic scale, like the Wholetone scale, but with less symmetry (and therefore unlike the diminished scales, with their symmetry). One could say they are related to the mode of the Harmonic System, only missing the 7th scale degree, but that is sort of missing the point; not unlike a case such as one of the modes of the Pentatonic Scale being merely a Major scale without the 4th and 7th degrees.

[@markwalker5295]

's got good hand writing.

[@ivanlydian6698]

Es la escala Lidia Disminuida (Lidia menor) omit 7. El 4to modo de la escala Mayor Armónica (1 2 3 4 5 b6 7). Lo cual da como resultado 1 2 b3 #4 5 6 7, pero Satie omitía la 7ma y da ese resultado.

[@diegoanmar]

Iván Chávez en ese caso, yo pensaría más en el 4o modo de la menor armónica, dórica #4, ya que asumir la 7 mayor en un acorde menor es algo muy específico y "naturalmente" (aunque sea omitida) la 7a menor es más propia para un acorde menor. Aún así lo que destaca aquí más que nada es el tono y medio entre la 3a y la 4a por lo que es muy atinado que se te haya ocurrido resolver esto con una escala armónica y no me explico por qué en el vídeo no lo comentan, incluso me parece que lo hacen más complicado (raro en este canal). Es sabido que el tipo de armonía que se explotó más en el Impresionismo y otras corrientes derivadas del mismo, fue la armonía modal ¡Saludos!

[@ganjitavk3980]

Hay 2 segundas aumentadas, estre la 3 y 4, y la 6 y 1

[@ThomasHope73]

Fourth mode of Harmonic Minor

[@JazzDuets]

close but no cigar

[@paulfiore9852]

Really nice lesson. I had a thought though, don't the scale degrees 1 2 b3 #4 5 6 simply describe the Dorian mode of Harmonic Minor?

[@billsybainbridge3362]

NO! It is its own thing, a hexatonic scale, like the Wholetone scale, but with less symmetry (and therefore unlike the diminished scales, with their symmetry). One could say they are related to the mode of the Harmonic System, only missing the 7th scale degree, but that is sort of missing the point; not unlike a case such as one of the modes of the Pentatonic Scale being merely a Major scale without the 4th and 7th degrees.

[@ronaldo.araujo]

John Cage's 'In a Landscape' and 'Dream' seems to use a different scales "lacking notes" to me

[@serseriherif9530]

Amazing content and immediately applicable! I see alot of similarities with the ottoman 'nikriz' mode which is also spelled 1 2 b3 #4 5 6 7/b7 8, also erkan oğur has a great fretless guitar version of this... btw how would you harmonize this scale besides the 2 triads?

[@italozanoti7180]

he uses 6 notes, maybe that´s why just 2 triads take the whole scale

[@Beyondabsence]

What is your name? Are there videos of yourself performing live with other musicians? Thank you!

[@ahmedalian7220]

Omfg YES

[@andresref.2657]

If you people love jazz check Jacques loussier trio Satie álbum

[@fryingwiththeantidote2486]

its a lydian minor without the 7th