Borrowing from the Neighbors

Dissonance, colorful harmonies, and a heightened since of contrapuntal motion can be achieved by "borrowing"
a note from the adjacent chord from within the minor/major 6th diminished scales. For a first example, let's look
at a voicing that is well known by guitarists
Dr. Thomas Echols

w ww
& w
"diminished" note (B natural) moves

w w
4 to Major 6th of chord (A natural) 4

w w
2
1
3 3
1 2
Ex. 1

A Drop 2 C Major 7th chord can be seen as "borrowing" one note from the diminished chord in the alto voice. Barry
calls this "borrowing from the neighbors". For those who are familiar with the idea of a neighbor note in classical
theory, this will be familiar. Part of what makes this distinctive in Barry's theories is that we have the 6th-diminished
scales, which provide a structure of duality: each note in the scale belongs to one of the two chords (the 6th or the
diminished) allowing us to more easily predict the sound of that note and to kow how to resolve it in an effective and
interesting way.

At first, I found "borrowing" to be a daunting concept, until I realized that, for me, the best way to practice it
is by thinking about the function of each note in whatever chord you are holding. If you understand the structure
of the scale, and know what note you are holding, it follows that you know where the neighbor note is.
For example, I know that A-natural is the 6th of a C major 6 chord, and I know that that means that there
is a diminished note a half-step below (the #5 from the scale) and a whole-step above (the Maj7 from the scale).
Make sure to remember that the diminished chord in all of these scales is made up of scale degrees maj7, 2, 4, and #5
in relation to the root note of the scale --if you understand this structure, it will really help!

nw w #œ œ
ww w w
nw
Major 7th

œ œ
4

w
6th sharp 5

& w #œ #œ w
4

w
Major 7th Major 7th 1

w
6th sharp 5 1 sharp 5 3
3 6th
2 2

Ex. 2

In addition to being a powerful method of exploring more exotic harmoies, borrowing provides us with a fantastic way
of practicing the scales that allows us to get to know them more intimately. With borrowing, you are always thinking either
a whole step or a half step below or above a given note. Choosing the correct one is a way of gaining deeper knowledge
of the 6th diminished scales, which will allow you to create independent contrapuntal lines instead of just thinking of chord
progressions in the conventional way.
2
Three Ways of Practicing Borrowed Notes
(There are many ways to practice this, but these are my three favorite ones)

1. Pick a string and borrow above and below on that string as you move up through the diminished 6th scale. Say
to yourself the function of each note that you play on that string (I often talk outloud while practicing to prove to
myself that I am thinking clearly). Practice this with each "floor" of the contrary motion elevator from episode 1

˙ ˙ n˙œ œ œ #˙˙œ œ œ
& n˙˙œ œ #œ œ #˙˙œ œ nœ œ œ œ
4

n˙˙
4 4

˙
3 1
1 -1 1 -1 1
4 -1 3 -1
2

Â
-1 3 2
3 1 1
1 2 2
Ex. 3

n ˙œ œ œ œ nn ˙˙œ œ œ œ n# ˙˙œnœ œ œ nn ˙˙œ #œ nœ #œ nnn ˙˙œ œ #œ œ

4
2 4

& n˙˙ n˙
3 3

n˙ Ó
4 3

n˙
4 1 4

#˙
1 -1 -1
-1 2 2

‰
3 2

Â
3
1 1
2 1 1

2. Pick a function, and borrow above and below that note as you play through the scale. On diminished chords, simply
continue to borrow on the string from the previous 6th chord. In this example, I am always borrowing above and below
the 6th of the Major 6 chord (and the Major 7th of the diminished).

˙ ˙ n˙˙ #˙˙œ
œ #˙˙œ œ nœ
etc. . .

& n˙˙œ œ #œ œ
˙œ œ #œ œ ˙ œ œ
3 3

œ
4
4 1 -1 4 -4
2 1 3 2 1 1
3 4
3 1 -1
2 2
1 2
Ex. 4

3. Pick a note and make it a pedal tone, moving the other three notes through the scale (as much as you can), while
continuing to play that note. This can be done in all voices, but I particularly like the sound if it in the soprano voice.
This exercise can be a real knuckle buster, so watch out!
switching octaves of the pedal tone can be pretty. . .
CV
œœ œ œœ œ œ œ œ œ
CII

& nœœ œœ œœ #œœœ

3

nœœœ œ œœ œ ˙˙
1

œ
1 1

˙
1 1

œ
1 2 1
4 4 1 1
1 3 2 1
1
3 1
2 2 2
Ex. 5
 3

More Musical Examples

Here's a brain teaser that produces seemingly infinite results: you can also borrow more than one note at a time.
I recommend practicing this more once you've started to become comfortable with borrowing a single note on a particular
voicing

˙ ˙ ˙œ œ ˙˙
etc. . .

& #˙œœ nœœ #œœ nœœ #˙˙˙ ˙œ #œ nœœ #œœ ˙˙

3 2
2 1 1 1 1
4
4 3 1 3
3
3
1
1
Ex. 6

Here it is with 3 borrowed notes

˙ ˙˙˙ ˙˙ ˙˙˙ <n>etc.

˙˙ . .
& #˙˙˙˙ n˙˙˙ #˙˙ ˙˙
4 1 4 1

˙
1 4

˙
2 1 3 1
3 1 1
4 3 3 4 3
2 1 2 2 2
1
Ex. 7

Here, we'll take the ii-V-I at the beginning of Thelonius Monk's "Ruby, My Dear" as a backdrop. Notice that the
first note of the melody is a borrowed note over both Abmaj6 and Bminor6 (If referring to Fmin7 and Bb7 in this way
is new to you, make sure to check episode 2 "substitution", and the accompanying PDF)

Œ ˙ œ bœ˙˙ œ œ œ bœœœ œ# #œœœ nœœ bnw œ œ œ œ #œœ œ <n>˙˙

CI borrowed note cover tone (oblique motion) with borrowed note
CI 3 borrowed notes 2 borrowed notes

<n># œœ##œœ <n>b˙˙ Ó

w
& b˙˙ n˙˙ nœ bbw # œ n œ# œœ bw b˙˙
4 1 3 3 3 3 3

w
1 1

˙
‰
w w
1 3
3 2 4

b ˙ nœ
1 1 0 1 1 12 1
0 4 1 1

˙ ˙
1 3 1 1
2 2 2 1 4
4 4 4 4
1 0 2
1 1
Ex. 8 1
1 Ebmaj6dim
Bmin6dim Ebmajor
Abmaj6dim Bb7(flat9)
Fmin7

The final chord of the previous example has 2 borrowed notes that do not resolve (the D and F are from the diminished
chord in an Eflat Major 6th scale). This brings up an important point: you don't neccessarily have to resolve borrowed notes.
Let your ear be your guide, and resolve as you see fit. The important thing is for you to know the "meaning" of them within
a given context, which helps to deal with them in a musically satisfying way. I often view them as little questions, and it
might be the case that a phrase ends as a question, which can be quite effective!

This example makes a nice ending for a tune in Bflat major. It begins by borrowing on the Bflat major 6 diminished
scale, and then moves to F-sharp minor 6 (the "tritone's minor" over an F7 chord). Be sure to check out episode 2
"substitutions" if you haven't yet, to see an explanation of why this works and how to implement it.

Borrowed Borrowed Borrowed Same idea starting from a different place in the scale

bbœ̇˙ œ œ œ bœœœ œ##œœœœ #œœœ nw

note note note

& œ̇˙ bœ œ œ #œœœ œ #œœœb#œœœ nw

w w
w
3 1

bw
4 1 1
4 1 -1 2
1 3 4 1 1 3

w bw
1 0 1 4
3 2 2 2 3 4 2 2
3 3 2
2 1 2 3 1
Ex. 9 2 4 1 1
Bflat Maj 6 A diminished F#minor 6