Term for minor harmony with both major and minor sixths applied

Question

In my bar piano arrangement of the song "Georgia On My Mind" (pub. Schott), in the first measure, half beat, there is an interval of a diminished octave in the left hand: G# and G surrounding D. The chord symbol over that harmony is E7#9 in the sheet, but then, the arranger does not use Fx but G.

What scale, beside the chromatic of course, could include E7#9? Is there any known in western music? Minor scales offer certain degrees of freedom concerning the 6th and the 7th degrees, but as far as I know that does not mean I can use both 6ths at once.

Some context to outline why I think I need it: In a nutshell, I would use the chromatic scale as the last escape only, because I would have to let go off any error checking for the regions covered.

It is sometimes a struggle for me to integrate these tension notes into my ideal mindset of diatonic scales plus not so-diatonic-minor scales. Especially when the tension notes are put in addition to non-alterated tones in the stem octave. This mindset would have its benefits in context of programing at least, so I hope I could stick to it. So I rather tend to see that harmony as a varied Bm. Precisely, let it be harmony E7#9 regarded as compliant to scale B minor.

Until now, code stumbled upon that somewhere in my DIY computer program that I also use to double-check that I read notes correctly, which is achieved by observing that covered notes viewed horizontally comply to a scale vertically covering that (part of) measure. Think of light polarization, this works likewise. The scale to check notes against I indicate by a two- or three-letter abbreviation. This abbreviation is looked up in a mapping of scales. I could add another to my collection of diatonic and minor-variant scales, one of the latter type: >2>1>2>2>1>1>2>1 semitones, observe there are 9 steps, 6 and #6, so 9 steps in total. But light-heartedly inventing arbitrary non-diatonic scales has not much in common with learning and practicing music theory.

My idea is "dm" (among mn = [natural] minor / aeolic with b6/b7 compared to major, hm = harmonic minor with b6/j7, mm with j6/j7), spoken "dissonant minor". But I would rather prefer some established term if there is one.

Answer 1

We have here two perfect examples of music theory orthodoxy hitting its limits!

It's a dom7 shape chord with the major 3rd in an inner voice, a 'blue' flattened 3rd above it. Orthodoxy requires us to label the chord as a ♯9, though aurally it's indubitably a ♭10 and it makes sense to notate it as G♮ rather than Fx. (Yet no-one blanches at 'C6'. Go figure.)

Then there's the orthodoxy that any chord must imply a scale. No. It ain't so. And here's a perfect example of one that doesn't.

Answer 2

You ask about the E7#9 chord, but then cut off the next chord in your picture. That just makes it harder to talk about the music. It looks like there is an introduction with a lot of chromatic extended chords before it settles into the main song. Sometimes an introduction like that can be complex or a bit odd, you might call it a bit dreamy or drifting, before the main song displays more standard chord progressions. It might not be a section to try chord/scale improv.

What scale, beside the chromatic of course, could include E7#9?

Just that chord in isolation, the most obvious thing would be E7#9 is a dominant to A minor, so play an A minor pentatonic, or blues, scale. That scale will give you the G or enharmonically Fx along with E and D as chord tone of E7#9.

Watch out for being too literal with the "scale includes chords" idea. Chromaticism happens all the time in many, many styles of music, especially blues and jazz.

Why do you need to know this about matching a scale to a chord? The music is all right there in notation.

Also, I don't understand why you ask about both major and minor sixths. None of the chords shown have sixths added and relative to the key of G major there isn't both E and Eb.

Answer 3

What scale, beside the chromatic of course, could include E7#9?

1. E7b10 has nothing to do with b-minor.

2. Don't refer those tones to the root tone of the key-scale of a piece (G)!

3. F× has to be seen according to scale and the root tone of the actual chord E7. G "blue"-third in the E7, therefore you will find in every Blues a similar "diminished octave".

4. Further the blue note b10 is enharmonic equivalent #9, F× -> G, G -> F×.

Except of the blues scale with a major and minor third you won't find any scale containing both thirds.

You can identify G as a bluenote b10 of E7 or F× as a chromatic approach to G#.

Mind that E7 is a secondary dominant chord of am (V7/ii) => E7/(am D7) G ...

The last chord of the intro is better understood as D7b9 and not B7: D# should be wriiten as Eb: Am D7 = ii V7 of G.