Hot House in Mi

Hot House in Mi

Dizzy Gillespie's bebop contrafact over "What Is This Thing Called Love" adds Bebop Major vocabulary and Harmonic Minor tension to a E foundation. Locrian color appears at pivotal moments, testing a soloist's command of altered and diminished harmonic space. The Bm7b5 – E7b9 – Am – F#m7b5 – B7b9 – EMaj7 – F#m7 – B7 changes are a bebop rite of passage that separates the fluent improviser from the merely competent.

Hot House in Mi

E major is arguably guitar's most powerful key. The open low E and high E strings ring sympathetically as the root, while the open B provides the fifth. This triple reinforcement gives E-based riffs and chords unmatched depth and volume. E is a beginner-level key on guitar because both the low E and high E strings ring as the root, and the open B is the fifth — three open strings reinforce the tonic chord. Beginners will find this key approachable since most chords use open voicings with minimal stretching.

Voice Leading

The bass line moves through B to E (ascending perfect fourth), E to A (ascending perfect fourth), A to F# (descending minor third), F# to B (ascending perfect fourth), B to E (ascending perfect fourth), E to F# (ascending whole step), F# to B (ascending perfect fourth). The root motion by larger intervals (fourths and fifths) gives each chord change a strong, decisive character. When the progression loops, the bass returns from B to B by unison.

Scales for Improvisation

E major pentatonic works because every note is either a chord tone or a safe passing tone — there are no avoid notes. For soloing, this means you can play freely without clashing. Over dominant seventh chords, E Mixolydian adds the flat seventh for an authentic blues-rock edge.