Many of you have seen the film The Matrix with Keanu Reeves from 1999. I am not about to dive into an analysis of the score, that would be tiresome and unenlightening, I think. Instead I am just focusing on the two chords that are used throughout the film as an aural indication that the worlds are intermingling or separating. It creates a sense of the ethereal, a signal that the bond between the two worlds is being breached, and that is repeatedly stated throughout the story.
The two chords, stated in more than one key throughout, is shown below in its first iteration in Bb:
Bb Major - F# Major
The notes of the two chords are:
Bb Major = Bb D F
F# Major = F# A# C#
You can see that A# is an enharmonic equivalent of Bb and changing F# to its enharmonic equivalent means that we really only have five notes, Bb C# D F Gb.
These two chords are two of the three from John Coltrane’s changes that he used in Giant Steps. For those that are unaware, Coltrane changes are based upon the equal division of the octave into three intervals of a Major third and then a Major chord is built on each interval. In Bb Major, that would be:
Bb Major – D Major – F# Major
The change in the Matrix uses the first and third chords of the Coltrane changes in Bb. Now, if we add our second chord from the Coltrane changes into our progression, we can see which scale is being used and which modes are implied by the bass notes. D Major = D F# A, and F# = Gb so now we have a six note scale comprised of the notes Bb C# D F Gb A. The only note missing is an E or an Eb. With an added Eb we have :
Bb C# D Eb F Gb A which is mode IV of D Neapolitan minor b4, compared to an added E:
Bb C# D E F Gb A which is mode IV of D Harmonic minor b4.
My choice is the Eb of the D Neapolitan minor b4 scale (for those with the M3 book, the Neapolitan minor b4 scale is scale number 18 as shown with its modes on page 80) and now returning to the two chords of the movie, Bb Major – F# Major, the modal sounds are of two really interesting modes:
D Neapolitan minor b4/ Bb (Bb Major) = Bb Ionian #2b6
D Neapolitan minor b4/Gb (F# Major) = Gb Ionian +#2x4
When the D Neapolitan minor b4 scale is played over both of these chords, the two modes shown create the modal sounds of Ionian #2b6 – Ionian +#2x4, a truly mesmerising sound and one that is created from the use of just one scale, the Neapolitan minor b4.
So if we now go back to the Coltrane triple of Bb Major – D Major – F# Major, we can now play the D Neapolitan minor b4 scale (D Eb F Gb A Bb C#) over all of the chords without changing. The modal sound that results is:
Bb Ionian #2b6 – D Neapolitan minor b4 – Ionian +#2x4
That is a truly fabulous sound. The Neapolitan minor b4 (and Harmonic minor b4 if you prefer) has three Major chords within it on degrees I, bIV and bVI. These can all be played over the three chords that occur when the octave is divided equally into Major thirds and Major chords are played. The Neapolitan minor b4 scale can also be used to play over the two chords that create the mystical sound from the Matrix movie.
The only question left is why do you continue to play the Neapolitan minor b4 scale? The answer, because I choose to. Thanks for reading.
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