I like fact that this is my 80th Museday Mumbling entry, because it honors the passing age of someone we just lost who was weirdly important to my lead guitar playing but I would never really think to credit until now.

Dickey Betts was a founding member of the Allman Brothers Band, and one of the most solid, unique, and melodic guitarists rock music ever saw. Honestly I always respected ABB but was never any sort of major fan of their music. I loved a bunch of songs, but not enough to ever consider them a major inspiration. That said, they were a major inspiration to Jive Town Jimmy and The Knights of the Purple Cadillac, the jam band I had with my brothers and brother-from-another-mother, but that was largely because the brother-from-another-mother was trying desperately to BE Dickey.

The Allman Brothers Band made fantastic music, legendary, classic truly capital-A AMERICAN music. A bit noodly, sometimes a bit plodding, but the stuff they did I loved I LOVED. Overall, generally not for me. But there was one aspect of their music that was 100% for me, and it’s something that imprinted on me and I’ve used in solos pretty much to this day.

So even though I was never a superfan, I did nick a scale they would frequently use. I’d always joke and call it the “Allman Brothers” scale, but more accurately you could call it a major hexatonic scale – adding the fourth to a regular major pentatonic.

Now, before you close the page, I hear ya…major hexa-what?

Here’s a breakdown of how the scales compare.

Let’s do an example in the key of C, since that doesn’t have any sharps or flats. A full C major scale is composed of the notes C – D – E – F – G – A – B, and a C major pentatonic removes the 4th (F) and the 7th (B) to make C – D – E – G – A. Dickey and the brothers utilized a scale that added back in the 4th, which added some beautiful suspension tension in for playing melodic lines. So that scale is C – D – E – F – G – A. That little bump between the E and F allows for some interesting texture that’s not available in a regular pentatonic scale.

Now for the multimedia portion of our show…A little “Major Hexplanation” for ya…

And there are actually tons of examples of solos I’ve cut on basically anything that even hints at being country, Americana, or whatever, where you can hear me add this little flavor in to a major pentatonic, because I just love the sound so much. That little suspended-sounding 4th adds so much to my ears and just makes me happy. And I have Dickey Betts to thank for that, because it was his beautiful playing that put that in my brain. Listen to the solos in the Allman Brothers Band’s classic “Ramblin’ Man” (a Dickey song, even). It’s ALL OVER THE PLACE…

So as tribute to the man, please hit up your favorite streaming service and go enjoy some more of his beautiful music. Start with the tracks “Jessica” (Top Gear fans might recognize that one) and “In Memory of Elizabeth Reed”.

Thanks so much, Dickey, for the fantastic music and being an unsung-until-now part of the fabric of my guitar playing, and may you rest in peace.

Thanks for reading and peace be the journey!
TMS