The Close Relationship between the Hindolam Scale and Minor Blues Scale
"Saamajavaragamana" follows a Carnatic scale called the Hindolam Scale (Balaji). "Mr. P.C." follows a jazz scale called the Minor Blues Scale (Zisman). The two scales are closely related to each other because both of them are versions of the Minor Pentatonic Scale.
The following score is an example of the minor pentatonic scale. For the sake of explanation, I will use F as the key center. As we can see below, the minor pentatonic scale has the following degrees from the regular minor scale: I, III, iv, v, VII, I.
The following score is an example of the minor pentatonic scale. For the sake of explanation, I will use F as the key center. As we can see below, the minor pentatonic scale has the following degrees from the regular minor scale: I, III, iv, v, VII, I.
Figure 1
Figure 2
"Saamajavaragamana"
Let us start with discussing the characteristics of the Hindolam Scale "Saamajavaragama" uses. The Hindolam Scale is characterized by the following scale degrees in Carnatic notation: Sa (S), Ga2 (G2), Ma1(M1), Da1 (D1), Ni2 (N2), Sa (S) (Balaji). Traditionally in Carnatic music, the scale degrees I just wrote out comprise of the "Aarohanam", which simply means "ascending" scale (Balaji). The "Avarohanam" is simply the "descending scale," which is just what I wrote out in backwards order: S, N2, D1, M1, G2, S (Balaji). The following picture corresponds these notes to the keys on the keyboard (Balaji):
Figure 3
In the above keyboard layout, the note "C" is the key center because "Sa" is the root note of the Hindolam Scale and "C" is "Sa." We can translate the Carnatic Notation then into the C Hindolam Scale, which consists of the following notes: C, Eb, F, Ab, Bb, C. This scale is shown in the following score:
Figure 4
By looking at the C Hindolam Scale further, we can see that it is just a rearrangement of the F Minor Pentatonic Scale, as depicted in Figure 2. Both scales have exactly the same notes: F, Ab, Bb, C, Eb, F. It is just that those notes appear in a different order in the Hindolam Scale. Thus, the Hindolam Scale is very similar to the Minor Pentatonic Scale because it shares the exact same scale degrees as the Minor Pentatonic Scale.
As seen in the above discussion of the Minor Pentatonic Scale, the scale degrees, in order, are the one, three, four, five, seven and one. From the analysis in the previous paragraph, we can conclude that the Hindolam Scale is a "mode" of the Minor Pentatonic Scale because it starts on the fourth note, or the fifth scale degree. Thus, the scale degree order for the Hindolam Scale, relative to that of the Minor Pentatonic Scale, is five, seven, one, three, four, five. These are also depicted in Figure 4.
We can apply this concept to "Saamajavaragamana" as well. The following score is an excerpt from the recording I used for this investigation. The melody shown below is played by the violin and occurs between and including 1:10 to 1:16 on the recording, which can be found at the bottom of this page:
Figure 5
From Figure 4, and also by listening to the entirety of the recording, we can first of all tell that the key center Ustad Hussain and Pundit Vaidyanathan use is E because that is the most frequently played note in the entire piece. We can clearly see that "Saamajavaragamana" follows the E Hindolam Scale because the only notes this excerpt, like the rest of the piece, uses are E, G, A, C, D, E. The score for this scale is below, including the appropriate scale degrees:
Figure 6
With the given scale degrees above, the E Hindolam Scale is clearly a "mode" of the A Minor Pentatonic Scale, as A is the root note. The notes of both scales are the same: A, C, D, E, G, A. A score of the A Minor Pentatonic Scale is below, including the respective scale degrees:
Figure 7
Thus, "Saamajavaragamana" is based on the Minor Pentatonic Scale.
"Mr. P.C."
John Coltrane bases "Mr. P.C" off of the Minor Blues Scale (Zisman). For explanation purposes, I will use the key center of F. The following score is the F Minor Blues Scale:
Figure 8
With closer examination of Figure 8, we can see that it is very similar, in fact, based off of, the Minor Pentatonic Scale in Figure 2. The only difference is that the Minor Blues Scale has an extra flat 5, or diminished 5, note. In the example shown in Figure 8, the extra B can be considered as a half-step under C, meaning that is a diminished 5.
"Mr. P.C." follows the C Minor Blues Scale. A score of it is shown below:
Figure 9
The following is a score of the melody of "Mr. P.C.," which is played by the tenor saxophone (Aebersold). It can be heard in the first 11 seconds of the recording at the bottom of this page. Even though the tenor saxophone is a Bb instrument, I have transposed it to concert pitch for the sake of easier analysis:
Figure 10
We can see in Figure 10 that "Mr. P.C." follows the 12 bar C Minor Blues chord progression. For any key center, the chord structure for a 12 bar Minor Blues form is represented in the following score (Aebersold):
Figure 11
Since "Mr. P.C." follows this form, we can tell that it clearly follows the C Minor Blues Scale, a close relative of the C Minor Pentatonic Scale.
Concluding Statement
"Saamajavaragamana" follows the Hindolam Scale while "Mr. P.C." follows the Minor Blues Scale. Despite the differences in their key centers and specific scale degrees, both are relatives of the Minor Pentatonic Scale. This is the musical link between the two pieces in terms of melody.