Inner Urge in B
Inner Urge in B
Joe Henderson's post-bop minor composition challenges soloists with Altered dominant tension and Lydian color against a searching B minor center. The harmonic ambiguity rewards players willing to push beyond conventional minor vocabulary into genuinely exploratory territory. The F#maj7#11 – Fmaj7#11 – D#maj7#11 – C#maj7#11 – Em7 – A7 – Dm7 – A#m7 – D#7 – G#Maj7 – Bm7 – E7 – AMaj7 – C#m7b5 – F#7b9 changes develop command of altered harmony and the kind of harmonic courage Henderson embodied.
Inner Urge in B
B major mixes barre and open elements. The B chord itself is a barre at fret 2, but E and A are comfortable open chords forming the IV and V. The open B string rings as the root, allowing creative drone-based arrangements. B is a intermediate-level key on guitar because the open B string rings as the root and the open E strings provide the 4th — useful for sus4 voicings and drone effects. This key mixes open and barre shapes, making it a good intermediate challenge that builds fretboard fluency.
Voice Leading
The bass line moves through F# to F (descending half step), F to D# (descending whole step), D# to C# (descending whole step), C# to E (ascending minor third), E to A (ascending perfect fourth), A to D (ascending perfect fourth), D to A# (descending major third), A# to D# (ascending perfect fourth), D# to G# (ascending perfect fourth), G# to B (ascending minor third), B to E (ascending perfect fourth), E to A (ascending perfect fourth), A to C# (ascending major third), C# to F# (ascending perfect fourth). A half-step bass movement creates a strong leading-tone pull that demands resolution. 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 F# to F# by unison.
Scales for Improvisation
B 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, B Mixolydian adds the flat seventh for an authentic blues-rock edge.