What other modes/scales can i play over a song in the Key of Eb Minor?

Question

I'm wanting to have two pieces of music flow from one to another, first one will be completely original and performed by me the other one is a song that already exists. I've already discovered that the artist's song is in the Key of Eb Minor; however despite being in a minor key when i listen to it it doesn't sound that sad. As it's a eurodance track it tends to be more upbeat Now when im improvising i naturally default to blues. However i need to make the piece sound a bit more upbeat towards the end (so that the feeling flows from my piece into this other track) so i'm not sure how to make a naturally blusey solo get more upbeat towards the end I'm doing this to honour a family's members memory who died a few years ago and i've chosen his favourite song. What other modes/scales would work In case anyone is wondering the artists song is "Can't Stop The Rain" - Cascada. Also if the song isn't in Eb minor please correct me

Answer 1

Hi there! Just gave a listen to the song you listed. Unfortunately, there isn't much you can do over this sort of progression due to the nature of the chord progression being used. You are also correct about it being in the key of EB minor. So you could obviously play Eb natural minor or Eb minor pentatonic. Having said that, you could slip in A Phrygian dominant (D Harmonic minor). I would play this only over specific parts of the song i.e when the chords shift to A major or G minor. That'll give you a nice bit of tension outside of the typical diatonic sound.

As far as the original goes, it really depends on the chord progression. Context is everything when it comes to modes. If you want something minor but more upbeat I'd suggest the Dorian mode. Dorian has that haunting minor sound with a bit of hope thanks to the natural 6 interval. Though you'd have to be sure to write your progression to fit accordingly or the Dorian mode won't work. Again context is everything.

A basic example of EB Dorian would be to play an Eb minor7 chord and then move to A Major or Adom7.

Anyways, feel free to reach out anytime and we can discuss more in detail about your original tune as well as what chords/modes are available to you.

Answer 2

Hi, great question! We really need to see the chord progression before we decide what to play on. This Eb minor can be minor scale or pentatonic if it's the key center. If it is 2nd degree of Db major then Eb minor scale will not work. Since you define that "it doesn't sound sad", I assume that may be the case so you would play Eb dorian mode. If the same chord was 3rd degree of Cb major scale (or let's call it B Major to be less academic), then you would play Eb Phrigian scale over. We always need to see the connections in the chord progressions before we try the scales.