The Alabama Loop · or is it 1 · b7 · 4? hearable in two keys, famously
↳ reharmEngine, backdoored · the b7 does the 5's job — rock's favorite dominant substitute
Inside moves to graft onIN·03 Double Plagalextend any 1–b7–4 with the second plagal rung — b7 of the b7IN·04 Borrowed b3 Slideslide 2- up to b3 for the mixture crunch mid-riffIN·08 Fourths Ladderrun the full fourths ladder into the chorus — Hey Joe energyWays outOUT·16 Mixolydian Gatethe b7 you're already vamping is a door — walk through to the 4-key for the bridgeOUT·03 Truck Driver: Up a Whole Stepkick the last chorus a whole step; keep the riff shape, move the hand
Target notes, chord by chordPower chords have no 3rd, so the melody decides major or minor — that ambiguity is a feature. Target roots and 5ths with the band; bend the b3 toward 3 when you want the blues lean to show.How the scale is playedMinor pentatonic with attitude: full-tone bends, double stops, notes dug in with the pick. Phrasing follows the kick and snare more than the bar line.Genre theoryRock legalized the parallel 5ths classical banned — power-chord planing means whole progressions move in parallel. The borrowed b7 and b3 are structural, not decoration.