Scale Theory for Jazz

JazzScaleTheory byGlennT.Mori copyright2001 Version VersionBeta1.0 ersion Beta1.0 ReleaseDate: ReleaseDate: March19, March 19,2001 2001

Thisversionofthisdocumentisproducedforevaluationpurposes. Thisversionofthisdocumentisproducedfor evaluationpurp evaluationpurposes. oses. Usersaregrantedtherightto Usersaregrante Usersaregrantedtheright dtherightto to readandprintcopiesfortheirownpersonaluseonly. Donotcopythisfiletoanypubliclyaccessiblecomputer,suchascomputersthatareaccessibleas ftpsitesorsharewaresites. ftpsitesorshareware sites. sites. Alaterversionof Alatervers Alaterversionofthisdocumentthatdoes ionofthisdocumentthatdoesnotincludethisrestriction notincludethisrestriction statementmaybereleased,andthatlaterversionofthisdocumentmaynolongerincludethisrestriction.

JazzScaleTheory byGlennT.Mori copyright2001 Index: Objectives Prerequisites ChapterOne:DerivativeApproachtoBuildingScales/Modes ModesDerivedFromtheMajorScale ModesDerivedFromtheMinorMode ChapterTwo:OtherScales BluesScale SymmetricalScales Whole-Tone DiminishedScale Half-WholeDiminishedScale BebopScales ChapterThree:ScalesfromSuperimposedChords ChapterFour:Chord/ScaleFamilies ChapterFive:ParallelRelationshipsBetweenScaleandModes Scale/ModeRelationshipsbyAlteringOnePitch Scale/Mode Scale/ModeRelationshipstothe RelationshipstotheWholeT WholeToneScale oneScale Scale/ModeRelationshipstotheDiminishedand Half-WholeDiminishedScales ChapterSix:CommonTones ChapterSeven:ChoosingWhichModetoUse ChapterEight:PracticeSuggestions WritingOutScales WhenLearninga WhenLearningaNewT NewTypeofChord ypeofChordorScale orScale ModeShifting Transcribing FinalThoughts Notation/Names

Objectives: Theobjectiveofthefollowingdiscussionistoexaminetheapplicationofscalesandmodestothe processofjazzimpro processofjazzimprovisati processofjazzimprovisation. visation. on. Atthetimeofthiswritingthisdiscussionisnot Atthetimeofthiswritingthisdiscussionisnotintendedtoexplain intendedtoexplain basicmusictheorynordoesitlookextensivelyatharmonicrelationshipsbetweenadjacentchords. Italsodoesnotincludeextensivepracticeexercises,thoughtherearesomesuggestedpracticemethodsmentionedinpassingthroughoutandsummarizedattheconclusion. Itisintendedtobeathoroughexaminationoftheapplicationofsomekeyscalesandmodesasthey areappliedintheprocessofjazzimprovisation,and,assuch,includesallthewaysthatIknowof lookingathowscalesandmodesrelatetoeachotherandtochordsand lookingathowscalesandmodesrelateto eachotherandtochordsandmelodies. melodies. melodies. Thismeansthat Thismeansthat Thismeansthat someconceptsarediscussedmorethanonceindifferentapproaches. someconceptsarediscussedmorethan onceindifferentapp onceindifferentapproaches roaches. . Thisarealsomanydifferent Thisarealsomany Thisarealsomanydifferent diagramsdesignedtosummarizeinformationandtohelptoclarifyvariousapproaches. Onereasonforusingavarietyofapproachesisthatdifferentapproachescanbemoreusefulin differentsitu differ differentsituations. entsituations ations. . Forexample,findingcommontonesisonewaytoapproachaG7#9 Forexample,fin Forexample,findingcomm dingcommontones ontonesisone isonewaytoapproachaG7#9toCm7but toCm7but thisapproachisnotsousefulwhenyoucometoaCm7whenplayingmodally thisapproachisnotsousefulwhenyoucometo aCm7whenplayingmodally. . Ifyouareonly Ifyou Ifyouare areonl only y analyzingwrittenmusicyoumightnotneedavarietyofapproachesbecauseyouhavethetimeto applyanyoneapproachofbuildingscalesandmodesthatyouaremostcomfortablewith. applyanyoneapproachofbuildingscalesandmodesthatyou aremostcomfor aremostcomfortablew tablewith. ith. Ifyouare Ifyouare usingtheorytohelpyouimproviseinvariedsettingsyoumayfindthathavingavarietyofapproachesisusefuldependinguponthespecificsofthesituation. Eachapproachwilltendtoleadoneinaslightlydifferentdirectionwhich,throughtheprocessof exploration, exploration,willlead exploration,willleadtodifferentimprovisationresults. willleadtodiffer todifferentimpr entimprovisat ovisationresu ionresults. lts. Youcanthinkofeach Youcanthinkofeachapproachasavalid oucanthinkofeachapproachasavalid toolandthechoiceoftoolwillaffecttheoutcome. toolandthechoiceoftoolwillaffect toolwillaffecttheoutcom theoutcome. e. Ultimatelythemoreapproachesthatyoucan Ultimatelythe Ultimatelythemoreappro moreapproachestha achesthatyoucan tyoucan assimilate,themorecompleteyourmentalconceptwillbe. Ifyouarefamiliarwithjazzscalesbutwanttolearnmore,focusonthesectionsthatapproachthings differentlyfromtheapproachthatyouaremostfamiliarwith. differentlyfromtheapproachthatyou aremostfamiliar aremostfamiliarwith. with. Ifyouare Ifyouarenotfamiliarwithjazzscales notfamiliarwithjazzscales atall,focusononesectionatatimeoronsimilarportionsofeachsection,suchasonlyportions dealingwithdorianmodes.Ifyoutrytoassimilateallofthevariousapproachesatonceyouwillend upconfusingyourself.

Prerequisites: Prerequisites: Beforeusingtheinformationincludedhereyou Beforeusingtheinforma Beforeusingtheinformationincludedhereyou tionincludedhereyoushould shouldunderstandbasicmusic shouldunderstandbasicmusictheory shouldunde understandbasicmusictheory rstandbasicmusictheory. theory .. ThefollowThefo Thefollo llowwingisalistofsomeofthetermsusedin ingisalistofsome ofthetermsusedinthediscussion. thediscussion. Therearenoexplanatio TherearenoexplanationsoftheseparticuTherearenoexplanationsoftheseparticunsoftheseparticulartermsandconceptsbecauseitisassumed lartermsandconceptsbeca lartermsandconceptsbecauseit useitisassumedthatyoualreadyunderstand isassumedthatyoualreadyunderstandthem. isassumedthatyoualready thatyoualreadyunderstandthem. understandthem. them. Pleasereadthrough Pleasereadthrough thelist,and,ifyoufindsomethatyouarenotfamiliarwith, thelist,and,ifyoufindsome thatyouarenotfamiliarwith,findabasicmusictheory findabasicmusictheorysourcetolearn sourcetolearn thembeforereadingfurtherinthisdoc thembeforereadingfurtherinthisdocument. ument. Chromaticscale Majorscales Minormodes I,II,IIIIV I,II,IIIIV,VVI, ,VVI,VII VII Chordconstruction Inversions Root,3rd, 5th, 7th Tonic Wholestep,Halfstep Minorsecond,Majorsecond,Minorthird,Majorthird,Perfectfourth, Minorsecond,Majorseco nd,Minorthird,Majorthird,Perfectfourth,Perfectfifth,Augmented Perfectfifth,Augmented fourth,Diminishedfifth,Tritone,Ninth,Eleventh,Thirteenth Superimpose,superimposition Modulation Dissonance,consonance

Therearemanypossible Therearemanypossiblesourcesfor sourcesforthisbasicmusic thisbasicmusictheory,inclu theory,includingthestan dingthestandardgene dardgeneralmusic ralmusic theorytext,“Harmony”byW theorytext,“Harmony”byWalterPiston. alterPiston. alterP alterPist iston on. . Y Youmayalsobeabletofind oumayalsobeabletofindsom oumayalsobeable oumayalsobeabletofind tofindsomeinternetresourc someinternetresources. einternetresources. es.

ChapterOne: ChapterOne: DerivativeApproachtoBuildingScales/Modes: DerivativeApp DerivativeAppro roachtoBuildingScales/Modes: ModesDerivedFromtheMajorScale:

Mostchordsandmodescanbederivedfromtheeitherthemajorscaleorthemelodicminormode. (Note: (Note: Injazzoftenthetermsscale Injazzoften thetermsscaleandmode andmodeareusedinterchangeably. areusedinterchang areusedinterchangeably. eably. However,standardmusic However,stan However,standard dardmusic analysiscallsthemajorscaleascale,whileallsequenceofpitchesthatcanbederivedfromthe scale,includingtheminormode,arenotcalledscalesbut scale,includingtheminormode,are notcalledscalesbutmodes. modes. Allotherspitchsequ Allotherspitchsequencessuchas Allotherspitchsequencessuch encessuch as wholetone,diminishedandbluesscalesarecalled wholetone,diminishedand bluesscalesarecalledscales. scales. scales. Ihaveappliedthisnamingconvention Ihaveapplied Ihaveappliedthisnamingconvention throughoutprimarilybecauseitistheconventionthatIusebyhabit.) Tobuildmodesfromthemajorscale,simplystartonanoteofthescaleotherthanthetonicandgo uptotheoctaveaboveusingthenotesofyour uptotheoctaveabove usingthenotesofyouroriginalmajorscale. originalmajorsc originalmajorscale. ale. Forexample,usingtheCmajor Forexample,usi Forexample,usingtheCmajo ngtheCmajorr scalestartonthesecondnoteofthescale(D)andgouptoanoctaveaboveusingthenotesoftheC majorsc majo majorscale. rscale. ale. Youhavenowbuilta YouhavenowbuiltaDscalewiththenotesD, ouhavenowbuiltaDscalewiththenotesD,E,F E,F,G,A,B,C, ,G,A,B,C,andD. andD. Wheneveryou Wheneveryou startascalef startascalefromthes startascalefromthesecondnoteofanymajorscalethescaleiscalledadorianmode. romthesecondno econdnoteofany teofanymajors majorscalethes calethescaleis caleiscalledad calledadorianm orianmode. ode. Inthekeyof Inthekeyof Inthekeyof CmajorthescaleiscalledaDdorianmodebecauseDisthestartingnoteandbecauseitusesthe notesthatareinthekeyofCmajor.

Eachdegreeofthemajorscalehasamodeassociatedwithit.Themajor/minorscalesystemof WesternmusicdrawsuponthemusictheoriesoftheancientGreeks,andasaresultmanyelements ofmusictheoryst ofmusictheorystilluseGr ofmusictheorystilluseGreeknames,includingthemodes. illuseGreeknames eeknames,includ ,includingthemode ingthemodes. s. Themodebuiltfromthethirddegreeof Themodebuiltfrom Themodebuiltfromthe thethirddegreeof themajorscaleiscalledthephrygianmode. themajorscaleiscalledthe phrygianmode. phrygianmode. Themodebuiltfromthefourthdegreeiscalledthe Themodebuiltfrom Themodebuiltfrom thefourthdegreeiscalledthe lydianmode,thefifththemixolydianmode,thesixththeaeolianmode(alsothenaturalminor),and theseventhlocri theseventhlocrianmode. theseventhlocrianmode. anmode. TheseriesfromCtoChasanametoo;theionianmode,but Theseriesfrom TheseriesfromCtoC CtoChasanametoo;theionianmode,butmostmusimostmusiciansaremorefamiliarwithitasthemajorscale. So,fromthekeyofCmajoryoucanbuild: Cmajor(ionian) Ddorian Ephrygian Flydian Gmixolydian Aaeolian Blocrian OrinthekeyofAbmajoryoucanbuild: Abmajor Bbdorian Cphrygian Dblydian Ebmixolydian

Faeolian Glocrian andsoon,foralltwelvekeys. Mo Mod od de e Major

K Ke ey ey y/   /N / No No otte teess C

Db Db

D

Eb Eb

E

F

G

Ab Ab

A

Bb Bb

B

Dorian

D

Eb Eb

E

F

F F# #

G

A

Bb Bb

B

C

C# C#

Phrygian

E

F

F F# #

G

G# G#

A

B

C

C# C#

D

D# D#

Lydian

F

G Gb b

G

Ab Ab

A

Bb Bb

C

Db Db

D

Eb Eb

E

Mixolydian

G

Ab Ab

A

Bb Bb

B

C

D

Eb Eb

E

F

F F# #

Aeolian

A

Bb Bb

B

C

C# C#

D

E

F

F F# #

G

G# G#

Locrian

B

C

C# C#

D

D# D#

E

F F# #

G

G# G#

A

A# A#

Eachmodehasaparticularpatternofhalfsteps(h)andwholesteps(W)whichdefinesitssound. Mo Mod od de e Major

11-2

2--3 3

3 3---4 4

W

W

h

W

W

W

h

W

h

W

W

W

h

W

h

W

W

W

h

W

W

Lydian

W

W

W

h

W

W

h

Mixolydian

W

W

h

W

W

h

W

Aeolian

W

h

W

W

h

W

W

Locrian

h

W

W

h

W

W

W

Dorian Phrygian

4 4--5 -5

5 5---6 6

6 6---7 7

7 7--8 -8

Notethatasyoumoveupthroughthesequenceofmodes,thelocationofthehalfstepsshiftdownwardseachtime. wards wardseachtime. eachtime. Thisissomethingtokeepinmind Thisissomething Thisissomethingto tokeepinmindifyoupract keepinmindifyoupracticethemodessequentiallyie. ifyoupracticethe icethemodessequentia modessequentiallyie. llyie. C major,thenCdorian,thenCphrygian,etc.

Forthebeginningimproviserthemostimportantmodestostartwitharethedorian,mixolydianand majormod majo majormodes. rmodes. es. Thesemodesprovidethenotesforthe Thesemo Thesemodes desprov provide idethe thenotesforthemostcommonprogressionin mostcommonprogressioninjazz;theII–  jazz;theII–V–  jazz;theII–V– I. Learningthedori Learni Learningthedorian,mixolydianmodesandthemajorscaleinalltwelve ngthedorian,mixo an,mixolydian lydianmodesandthe modesandthe majorscaleinalltwelvekeyscombinedwiththe keyscombinedwiththe bluesscaleinallkeyswillallowyoutofindaworkablesolution(workablebutnotnecessarilythe idealsolution)forplayingoverthemajorityofjazzstandards. ThemodesfortheII–V–I,theV–IandtheII–Vprogressionsareallinthesamekey,soto simplifyyoumaythinkaboutplayinginone simplifyyoumaythink aboutplayinginonekeyovertheentire keyovertheentireprogression. progression progression. . Forexample,the Forexample,the Forexample,the progressionDm7–G7–Cmaj7(usingDdorian,GmixolydianandCmajor)isallinthekeyofC majorsoyoucanusethenotesfromtheC majorsoyoucanuse thenotesfromtheCmajorscale. majorscale. majorscale. However,thelimitationofrelyingonthis However,theli However,thelimitati mitationofrelyi onofrelyingon ngonthis simplifiedmethodisthatyoumissthedifferenceinfunctionandsoundofeachnoterelativetothe chordthatissound chordthatissounding. chordthatissounding. ing. InthepreviousexamplethenoteFwillsoundgoodovertheDm7 Inthepreviousexa Inthepreviousexamplethenot mplethenoteF eFwillsoundgoodovertheDm7andthe andthe G7sincetheFisimportantchordtoneinbothchords,butitwillnotsoundasgoodovertheCmaj7. Infactthefourthdegreeofthemajorscaleisconsideredan“avoid”notewhenusedoveratonic majorchord. majorchord. Anavoidnoteisonethatdoesnotsoundparticularlygoodandshould Anavoidnoteisone Anavoidnoteisonethatdoesnotsoundparticularlygoodandshouldusedonlyasa usedonlyasa

passingtone. Anotherlimitationofthesimplifiedmethodisthateventuallyyouwillneedtolearntheindividual modes. modes. Ifyourelyon Ifyourel Ifyourelyonthesimplifiedmethodyouwill yonthesimplifiedmethodyouwillhavedifficultysubstitutingmodes(ie.the havedifficultysubstitutingmodes(ie.the lydiandominantdiffersfromthemixolydianbyonlytheraisedfourthstep)orplayingmodally(ie. whenplayingmodallyDm7isnotthesameasCmajorbecauseDisthetonalcenterandnotC). Onethingthatmakeslearningthesethreemodeseasieristhattheparallel(parallelmeaningstarting withthesamerootsuchasCmajor,CdorianandCmixolydian)modesdifferfromeachotherby onlyonenote. onlyone onlyonenote. note. Forexample,if Forexample,ifyoutaketheCmajorscaleandlowertheseventhdegreetoaBb,you Forexample,ifyoutake youtaketheCmaj theCmajorscal orscaleandlowe eandlowerthesev rtheseventhdeg enthdegreetoa reetoaBb,you havetheC havetheCmixolydian. mixolyd mixolydian ian. . Ifyounowlowerthe Ifyou Ifyounowlowerthethirdtoan thirdtoanEb,younow Eb,younowhavetheC havetheCdorian. dori dorian. an. Seethe Seet Seethe he scalechartsectionformoreinformation. Theaeolianmodeisthenaturalminor Theaeolianmodeisthenaturalminorthatisrelatedto thatisrelatedtotheoriginalmajorscale. theorig theoriginal inalmajo majorsca rscale. le. Thismodeisan Thismod Thismodeis eisan optionwheneveryouhaveatonicminor. optionwheneveryouhavea tonicminor. tonicminor. Thelocrianmodeisparticularlyimportantwhenyouare Thelocrianmodeis Thelocrianmodeis particularlyimportantwhenyouare playinginminorkeysbecausethelocrianisfrequentlyusedwiththeIIchordintheII–V–iin minormode. minormode. Thelydianmodeisoftenusedasan Thelydianmodeis Thelydianmodeisoftenusedasanalternativeforthemajorscalebecausetheonly alternativeforthemajorscalebecausetheonly differenceistheraisedfourthdegreewhichaddscolourtothemajorsoundandeliminatestheperfectfourthdegreewhichisan“avoid”note fectfourthdegreewhich fectfourthdegreewhichisan“avoid”noteinthemajorscale. isan“avoid”noteinthemajorscale. inthemajorscale. Thephrygianmodeisoccasionally, Thephrygianmodeis occasionally, butnotfrequentl butnotfrequentlyused. butnotfrequentlyused. yused. Whenitisused,itis Whenitis Whenitisused,itisoftenintendedtoimpartaSpanishflavortothemusic used,itisoftenint oftenintendedto endedtoimpartaSpanishflavortothemusic

ModesDerivedFromtheMinorMode:

Thesameapproachisusedtobuildmodesfromthemelodicminor Thesameapproachisusedto buildmodesfromthemelodicminormode. mode. Instandardmusi Instandardmusictheory Instandardmusictheory ctheory themelodicminormodehastwodifferentformswherethesixthandseventhdegreesareraisedin theascendingformandloweredinthedescendingform. theascendingformandlowered inthedescendingfo inthedescendingform. rm. Injazztheorythemel Injazzthe Injazztheorythemelodicminorisalways orythemelodic odicminorisalways theascendingformonly. theascendingformonly . Itissometimes Itissom Itissometimesreferredtoasthe“jazzminor”. etimesreferr referredtoas edtoasthe“jazzminor”. Youcanalsothinkoftheminormodeasthemajormodewithaloweredthirddegree.Sincethe ascendingmelodicminororjazzminorhastheraisedsixthandseventhdegrees(F#andG#inA minor),theonlyremainingdifferencebetweentheparallelmajorandminoristhethirddegreewhich isanEinAmajorandanEbinAminor. FromthekeyofCminortheresultingmodesare: Cmelodicminor Dphrygian#6 Eblydianaugmented Flydiandominant Gminordominant Alocrian#2 Bsuperlocrian

Mo Mod ode de Melodicminor

K Keey ey C

C# C#

D

Eb Eb

E

F

G

Ab Ab

A

Bb Bb

B

Phrygian#6

D

D# D#

E

F

F F# #

G

A

Bb Bb

B

C

C# C#

LydianAugmented

E Eb b

E

F

G Gb b

G

Ab Ab

Bb Bb

Cb Cb

C

Db Db

D

LydianDominant

F

F F# #

G

Ab Ab

A

Bb Bb

C

Db Db

D

Eb Eb

E

MinorDominant

G

G# G#

A

Bb Bb

B

C

D

Eb Eb

E

F

F F# #

Locrian#2 Locrian#2

A

A# A#

B

C

C# C#

D

E

F

F F# #

G

G# G#

Superlocrian

B

B# B#

C# C#

D

D# D#

E

F F# #

G

G# G#

A

A# A#

Mo Mo od de de Melodicminor Phrygian#6

1 1--2 -2

2 2---3 3

3 3--4

4-5

5-6

6-7

7--8 8

W

h

W

W

W

W

h

h

W

W

W W

W

h

W

LydianAugmented

W

W

W

W

h

W

h

LydianDominant

W

W

W

h

W

h

W

MinorDominant

W

W

h

W

h

W

W

Locrian#2

W

h

W

h

W

W

W

h

W

h

W

W

W

W

Superlocrian

Alsoavailableforuseistheharmonicminorwithitsloweredsixthandraisedseventhdegrees. Alsoavailableforuseistheharmonicminorw ithitsloweredsi ithitsloweredsixthandrai xthandraisedseve sedseventhdegre nthdegrees. es. This createsanaugmentedsecond(minorthird)betweenthesixthandseventhdegrees. 11--2 2

2 2---3 3

W

h

CHarmonicminor C

D

3 3---4 4

4 4---5 5

55--6 6

W

h

W Eb Eb

F

G

6 6---7 7

7 7--8 -8

m3 m3 Ab Ab

h B

C

Theharmonicminorandthemelodicminoraresonamedbecauseinstandardmusictheorythe harmonicversionofthemodesuppliesthenotesthataretobeusedwhenwritingharmoniesin minorkeyswhilethemelodicminor,withitsascendinganddescendingversions,isusedinmelodic lines. lines. ForexampleinC Forexa ForexampleinCminoraGchordwouldhaveG,BandD,anFchordwouldhaveF,A mpleinCminoraG minoraGchordwou chordwouldhaveG ldhaveG,BandD, ,BandD,anF anFchordwouldhaveF,Aband band C,whilethemelodiclineswoulduseAandBwhenascendingandAbandBbwhendescending. Injazzthemelodicminor,dorianmode,aeolian(naturalminor)andharmonicminorareallavailable foruseastonicminorscales,withthedorianandmelodicminorbeingthemostfrequentchoices. Thephrygian#6(the“#6”referstotheraised6 thdegree,ie.thephrygianmodebutwithamajor6 th insteadofaminor6 th)isnotcommonlyused. )isnotcommonly used. Instead,thelocr Instea Instead,thelocrianmode(fromtheseventhmodeofa d,thelocrianmode ianmode(fromthes (fromtheseventhmod eventhmode eofa majorscale,seeabovediscussionaboutmajorscalemodes)ismoreoftenusedinaII–V–iprogressioninminorkey gressioninminorkeys. gressioninminorkeys. s. Thelocrian#2(locria Thelocri Thelocrian#2(locrianmodewitha an#2(locrian nmodewithamajor2 major2 nd)sometimesservesasasubstituteforthelocrianmodebecausethemajorsecondisnotasdissonantastheminor2 nddegreeofthe locrianmode.

Thelydiandominantdoesnotnormallyfunctionasascaleforthefourthdegreeinminor,butinstead isusuallyusedasasubstitutemodefordominantchords. isusuallyusedasa substitutemod substitutemodefordomi efordominantchor nantchords. ds. Thefourthdegreeofthemixolydianmode Thefourthdegree Thefourthdegreeofthe ofthemixolydianmode isanother“avoid”note,andthelydiandominant,likethelydianmode,hasaraisedoraugmented fourthdegree. fourth fourthdegree. degree. Notonlydoestheraisedfourthavoidtheavoidnote,butit Notonlydoesthe Notonlydoestheraisedfourthavoidtheavoidnote,butitalsocreatesasemitoneor alsocreatesasemitoneor leadingtonebeneaththefifthdegreeofthescale.Theaugmentedfourthasemitonebelowthefifth supportsfifth,andtheperfectfifth,inturn,increasesthestrengthoftherootofthechord. Theminordominantmodeisnotusedwiththedominantchordinminormode. Theminordominantmodeisnotused withthedominant withthedominantchordinmin chordinminormode. ormode. Insteadthe Insteadthe Insteadthe superlocrianisthestandardscalefortheVinminormode. superlocrianisthestandardscal efortheVinmin efortheVinminormode ormode. . Asaresult, Asare Asaresult,inCminortheII–V–i sult,inCmino inCminortheII rtheII–V–i –V–i th th progressionusestheDlocrian(7 modeofEbmajor),Gsuperlocrian(7 modeofAbminor)andC melodicminorordorian. WhenyouplayoveraII–V–Iprogressioninamajorkey,allofthepitchesforthestandardmodes tousecomefrom tousecomefromonemajor onemajorscale. scale. scale. Thisisnotthecase Thisisno Thisisnot tthecaseinminor inminormodes. mode modes. s. Oneofthedifficultiesin Oneo Oneof fthedifficultiesin learningtoplayinminormodeisthatthemostcommonmodesfortheIIandVinminormodeare nottheonesthatautomaticallycomefromthecorrespondingminormode. ch cho hor ord rd iiii V i

mo mod ode de D llo oc ocr cri ria ian an G ssu u up pe per erl rllo oc ocr cri ria ian an Cm me el elo lod odi dic ic mi min ino nor or Cd do or ori ria ian an

D G C C

no not ote tes es of of mo mod ode des es iin n C mi min ino nor or E Eb b F G A Ab b Bb Bb A Ab b Bb Bb B C C# # Eb Eb D E Eb b F G A D E Eb b F G A

C F B B Bb b

SothepitchesusedinthemodesarenotallthefromthesamekeyastheyarewhenyouplayaII–V –Iinmajorkeys. ch cho hor ord rd iiii V i

mo mod ode de D llo oc ocr cri riia an an G ssu up upe per erl rlo loc ocr cri riia an an Cm me el elo lod odi dic ic mi min ino nor or Cd do or ori ria ian an

C C C

no not ote tes es rre eo eor ord rde der ere red ed tto o co com omp mpa par are re w wiit ith th C m miin ino nor or D E Eb b F G A Ab b Bb Bb C# C# Eb Eb F G A Ab b Bb Bb D E Eb b F G A D E Eb b F G A B Bb b

B B

Particularlynotableisthefactthatthesuperlocriandoesnotincludethetonic(C)ofthefollowing tonicminorbutinsteadhasahalfstepbelowandabove. Thisrelationshipbetweenpitchesofthescaleschangesagainifyousubstitutethelocrian#2forthe locrianmode,orusetheaeolianortheharmonicminorasthetonicminor. locrianmode,orusetheaeolianortheharmonicminoras thetonicminor. thetonicminor. SeethesectiononComSeethesectiononCom SeethesectiononCom-monTonesforfurtherdiscussiononthepitchrelationshipsofthesemodes.

ChapterTwo:OtherScales Thefollowingscalesarenotderivedfrommajororminorscales. BluesScale:

Theeasiestscaleforbeginningimproviserstoworkwithistheblues Theeasiestscaleforbeginningimproviserstowork withisthebluesscale. scale. Ifyou’veplayedwi Ifyou’v Ifyou’veplayedwithit eplayedwithit thit beforeyoucanprobablystillrememberthefirsttimeyouplayeditandhoweasyitwastomakeup somethingthat somethingthatsoundedin somethingthatsoundedinteresting. soundedinterest teresting. ing. Ifyouhaven’tplayedwithitbefore,I Ifyouhaven’t Ifyouhaven’tplayedwithitbefore,Irecommenditasa recommenditasafirst first scaletolearnwhenlearningtoimprovisebecauseitiseasytomakeupsomethingthatsoundsgood usingthebluessc usingth usingthebluesscale. ebluesscale. ale. Atthesametimeitisdifficulttocomeupwithsomethingthathasn’tbeen Atthesametimeitis Atthesametimeitis difficulttocomeupwithsomethingthathasn’tbeen doneorusedmanytimesalreadybecausethebluesscalehasbeenusedsomuchforsolong,butthat shouldn’tdiscouragebeginnersfromhavingfunwithitandgettingastartintoimprovising. Thebluesscaleisnotamodeofeitherthemajoror Thebluesscaleisnota modeofeitherthemajororminorscales. minorscales. minorscales. Likethepentatoni Likethepentatonicscalesof Likethepentatonicscales cscalesof of orientalmusicorotherethnicscalesitisafolkmusicscalethatisnotderivedfromtheWestern Europeancommonpracticetheoryofmajorand Europeancommonpracticetheory ofmajorandminorkeys. minorkeys. minorkeys. Ithas,however, Ithas,however Ithas,however, beenmergedwith beenmer beenmerged ged with major/minortonalconcepts. CBluesscale CBluesscale

m m3 3 C

M2 M2 Eb Eb

m2 m2 F

m2 m2 m3 m3 F F# #

G

M2 M2 Bb Bb

C

Notethechromaticstep-wisesequencefromtheperfectfourththroughthetritonetotheperfectfifth, theminorseventhdegree,theminorthirdandtheabsenceofa theminorseventhdegree,theminorthirdand theabsenceofaseconddegreetothescale. seconddegreetothe seconddegreetothescale. scale. Allnotes Allnotes soundgood,andthereareno“avoid”notesinthescale. Thestandardchordforthebluesscaleisthedominantseventhchord,orC7forthe Thestandardchordforthebluesscaleis thedominantseventhchord,orC7fortheCblues. Cblues Cblues. . Note Note thedifferencebetweenmajorthird(E)inthechordandtheminor thedifferencebetweenmajorthird(E)in thechordandtheminorthird(Eb)inthescale. third(Eb)inthesc third(Eb)inthescale. ale. This contrastisoneofthemostcharacteristicelementsofthebluesscalewhenitisusedinjazz. contrastisoneofthemostcharacteristicelementsofthebluesscalewhen itisusedinjazz. itisusedinjazz. Pitchwise,thebluethirdshouldactuallyliesomewhereinbetweentheminorandmajorthirdwhichis somethingtokeepinmindifyouareasingerorafretlessstringedinstrumentplayer. AlsonotethattheC7chordwiththeCbluesscaledoesnotneedtoresolvetoanFchordbutfunctionsasatonalcenteritself. Itisalsopossibletoaddamajorsecondtothescale,ortoaddamajorthirdwhilekeepingtheminor third. third. Ontheotherhandinamorerock-orientedsituationthetritonemightneedtobeomittedfrom Ontheotherhandin Ontheotherhandinamorerock-orientedsituationthetritonemightneedtobeomittedfrom thescale. thescale. Theappropriaten Theappropriatenessofthesechangesdependson Theappropriatenessofthes essofthese echangesdependsonthemusicalcontext. themusicalcontext themusicalcontext. . Inaminorkeythe Inaminorkeythe blueswilluseam7chordinsteadofa7chord.

SymmetricalScales:

Symmetricalscalesarescalesthathaveapatternthatrepeatswithintheoctave. Themostessentialofthesymmetricalscalesisthechromaticscale. Themostessentialofthe symmetricalsc symmetricalscalesis alesisthechromat thechromaticscale icscale. . PresumablyyoualreadyunderPresumablyyou Presumablyyoualreadyund alreadyunderer-

standitsconstruction,andthepointofmentioningithereisnotethatonewayofapproachingany improvisationistouseonlythechromaticscale;thekeyishow improvisationistouseonlythe chromaticscale;thekeyishoweachnoteisused. eachnoteisused. eachnoteisused. Overanygiven Overanygiven Overanygiven chordanychromaticnotewillbeeitherachordtoneorapassingtonebetweenchordtonesorbetweenotherpassingtones. Youcanvieweach Youcanvieweachchromaticnoteintermsofitstensionandcolor oucanvieweachchromaticnoteintermsofitstensionandcolorrelativetothechord. relativetothechor relativetothechord. d. ForexamForexample,overaG7thenoteEhasacertaincolorwhichisverydifferentfromthecolorandtensionlevel oftheEb. Thecolorand Thecolor Thecolorandtensionwillalsochange andtensionwillalsochangedependingonhow dependingonhowthenoteis thenoteisused. used. used. TheEbmay TheEb TheEbmay wanttoleadtoE,ordowntoD,oritmayanticipateanF# Æ 7inthenextmeasure,oritmaybepart of aEbmchordsuperim aEbmchord aEbmchordsuperimposedthatissuperimposedovertheG7,oritmay superimposedth posedthatis atissuperimposedovertheG7,oritmaybepartofa bepartofasequential sequential melodicpatternthatisbeingcarriedovertheG7chord,oritmaysimplysitagainsttheG7chord.

Whole-Tone Whole-ToneScale: Scale:

Ifyouuseeverysecondnoteofthechromaticscaleyouwillcreateawhole-tonescale. Ifyouuseeverysecondnoteofthe chromaticscal chromaticscaleyouwil eyouwillcreate lcreateawholeawhole-tonesca tonescale. le. Forexample, Forexample, Forexample, theCWholeTonescaleisasfollows: 11--2 2 CWholeTone

2 2---3 3

W C

3 3---4 4

W D

4 4---5 5

W E

5 5--6 -6

W

F F# #

6 6--7 -7

W

Ab Ab

W

Bb Bb

C

Notethatthereareonly7notesor6differentpitchesinthescale;onceyoureachtheseventhnote youhavealreadyarrivedattheoctave. Theotherinterestingthingaboutthewholetonescaleisthatthereareonlytwo. Theotherinterestingthingaboutthewholetonescaleisthatthereare onlytwo. Transposethescale Transposethesc Transposethescale ale uponehalfstepandyoucreatetheotherwholetonescale: Db Db

Eb Eb

F

G

A

B

Db Db

Ab Ab

Bb Bb

C

D

NowtransposethescaleonemorehalfsteptostartonD: D

E

F F# #

andyouhavethesamenotesasyouhadin andyouhavethesame notesasyouhadintheCwholetonescale. theCwhol theCwholeton etonesc escale ale. . DisnowtherootinsteadofC, Disnow DisnowtherootinsteadofC, andF#isthethirdinsteadofE,butthenotesinthescalearethesamesoyouonlyneedtopractice twoinordertobeabletoplayinallkeys. Thewholetonescalelacksaleadingtoneanywhereinthescale(ie.thenoteahalfstepbelowthe tonic,BinthekeyofC,orEinaCmixolydianmode)anddoesnothaveaperfectfifthabovethe root root (aGabovetheC)whichwouldincreasethestabilityofthe (aGabov (aGaboveth ethe eC)whichwouldincreasethestabilityoftheCastheroot. Castheroot. Castheroot. Italsohasa Italsoha Italsohasavery savery open,homogenoussoundbecauseofthewholesteps. open,homogenoussoundbecauseofthewhole steps. Theseallarereaso Theseal Theseallarereasonswhythewholetone larereasonswhythe nswhythewholetone scalecansound scalecansoundasifthe scalecansoundasifthereisnorootorasifanyofthenotescouldbetheroot. asifthereisno reisnorootora rootorasifanyo sifanyofthenot fthenotescoul escouldbethero dbetheroot. ot. Thiscanbean Thiscanbean advantagewhenplayingimpressionisticallyorformodulatingtoremotekeys. Ontheotherhand,ifyouputaCinthebassandusetheEandBbintheaccompanimentitwill soundlikeaC7witha9 th(D),raisedfourth(F#)and (D),raisedfourth(F#)andraisedfifth(G#)inthescale. raisedfifth(G# raisedfifth(G#)inthescal )inthescale. e. ThisisparticuThisisparticularlytrueifthefollowingchordisanFchordsincethiswillsoundlikeaV-Iresolution.

DiminishedScale:

Thediminishedscaleusesaseque Thediminishedscaleusesasequenceofawholestepfollow nceofawholestepfollowedbyahalfsteprepeate edbyahalfsteprepeatedfourtimes dfourtimes withineac with withineachoctave. ineachocta hoctave. ve. Forexampl Forex Forexample,togofromCto ample,togo e,togo fromCtoC: C: 11-2 -2 Diminished

22-3 -3

33-4 -4

44-5 -5

55-6 -6

66-7 -7

77-8 -8

88-9 -9

h

W

h

W

h

W

h

W C

D

Eb Eb

F

G Gb b

Ab Ab

A

B

C

Notethatthereare8differentnotesinthescale,9notestothe Notethatthereare8differentnotesin thescale,9notestotheoctave. octave. octave. Because Bec Becausethereareonly7 ausethere thereareon areonly7 ly7 differentletternamesforno differentletternamesfornotes(A,B,C,D,E, tes(A,B,C,D,E,F,G),oneletterna F,G),oneletternamealwaysge mealwaysgetsusedtwice(in tsusedtwice(inthe the precedingexamplethere precedingexamplethereisanAandanAb). precedingexamplethereisanAandanAb). isanAandanAb). Thereasonthatthereare9notestotheoctaveisthat Thereasonthatther Thereasonthatthereare9notestotheoctaveisthat eare9notestotheoctaveisthat therearefourhalfstepsan therearefourhalfstepsandfourwhole dfourwholestepsinthescal stepsinthescalewhereasthe ewhereasthemajorscaleh majorscalehasonlytwoha asonlytwohalf lf andfivewholesteps. Thechordtonesforthisscaleareaminorthirdapa Thechordtonesforthisscaleareaminorthirdapart(C,Eb,Gb,A),spellingoutadimin rt(C,Eb,Gb,A),spellingoutadiminished ished chord. chord. Anotherwa Anot Anotherwayofcreatingthis herway yofcreatingthisscaleis scaleistosuperimposetwo tosuperimposetwodiminishedchords. diminish diminishedcho edchords. rds. Inother Inothe Inotherwords, rwords, takeaCo7chord,supe takeaCo7chord,superimposeaDo rimposeaDo7(D,F,Ab,B)cho 7(D,F,Ab,B)chordandyou rdandyouhavethenot havethenotesforthedimin esforthediminished ished scale. Becausethepatternrepeatseve Becausethepatternrepeatseveryminorthird,there ryminorthird,thereareonlythreedifferen areonlythreedifferentdiminishedscal tdiminishedscales: es: 1



2



3



4



5



6



7



8



9

C

D

Eb Eb

F

G Gb b

Ab Ab

A

B

C

Db Db

Eb Eb

E

F F# #

G

A

Bb Bb

C

Db Db

D

E

F

G

Ab Ab

Bb Bb

B

C# C#

D

Eb Eb

F

G Gb b

Ab Ab

A

B

C

D

Eb Eb

WhenyoureachtheEbdiminished WhenyoureachtheEbdiminishedscalethepitchesarethesam scalethepitchesarethesameasthoseintheCdiminishe easthoseintheCdiminishedscale. dscale. Therefore,youonlyha Therefore,youonlyhavetopractic vetopracticethreediffere ethreedifferentdiminished ntdiminishedscalesaslon scalesaslongasyoumen gasyoumentallyadjust tallyadjust rd th th forwhichnotesfunctionastheroot,3 ,5 ,and7 .

Half-WholeDiminishedScale:

Ifyoustartthediminishedsc Ifyoustartthediminishedscalewiththeha alewiththehalfstepfirstandth lfstepfirstandthenthewhole enthewholestepyougetad stepyougetadifferent ifferent diminish dimi diminishedscale. nishedsc edscale. ale. Nowthesca Now Nowthescalehasaminorseventhinsteadofamajorseventh,andthe thescalehas lehasa a minorseventhinsteadofamajorseventh,andthefourth fourth pitchofthescaleisadiminishedfourthor pitchofthescale isadiminishedfourthoramajorthirdabove amajorthirdabovetheroot. theroot. theroot. Because Bec Becauseitincludesaminor auseitinclud itincludesa esaminor seventhandamajorthird,thisscalewillnowwor seventhandamajorthird,thisscalewillnowworkwellwithinthefamilyofdom kwellwithinthefamilyofdominantharmon inantharmonies ies andscales. ThisscaleiscalledtheHalf-WholeDiminished(or8NoteDomina ThisscaleiscalledtheHalf-WholeDiminish ed(or8NoteDominant)becauseitstartswithahalf nt)becauseitstartswithahalf stepfollowedbyawholestep,wherea stepfollowedbyawholestep,whereastheusualdiminish stheusualdiminishedscalestartswithawhole edscalestartswithawholestepfollowed stepfollowed byahalfstep.

11-2 -2

22-3 -3

33-4 -4

44-5 -5

55-6 -6

66-7 -7

77-8 -8

88-9 -9

h

W

h

W

h

W

h

W

Half-WholeDiminished

Theothermethodforbuildingthescale Theothermethod forbuildingthescaleistostart istostartonthesecond onthesecondnoteofthe noteofthediminishedscale. dimi dimini nish sheds edscal cale. e. In otherwords,thehalf-wholediminishedisthesecondmodeofthediminishedscale,justlikethe dorianisthesecondmodeofthemajorscale. 1

2



3



4



5



6



7



8



9

D

Eb Eb

F

F F# #

G G# #

A

B

C

D

Eb Eb

E

F F# #

G

A

Bb Bb

C

Db Db

Eb Eb

E

F

G

G# G#

A# A#

B

C# C#

D

E

Notehowthesecondandthirdpitchesofthescalesarenotatedinthechartbelow. R

b2 b2

#2 #2

M3  # 4 

P5  M 6  m7 

8

D

Eb Eb

E# E#

F# F#

G# G#

A

B

C

D

Eb Eb

Fb Fb

F# F#

G

A

Bb Bb

C

Db Db

Eb Eb

E

F

F F# ## ##

G# G#

A# A#

B

C# C#

D

E

TheF##isnoteasytoworkwithwhenyouarepracticingyourscalesbutitisaccuratefromatheoreticalstandpoint. reticalstandpoint. Injazztheorytheflatte Injazztheory Injazztheorytheflattedninthandtheraisedninthcanrep theflattedninthandtheraisedninthcanreplacethemajorninthin lacethemajorninthin dominantchords,andoftenbothareusedat dominantchords,andoftenboth areusedatthesametime. thesametime. thesametime. Thehalf-wholediminishedscaleconThehalf-whole Thehalf-wholediminish diminishedscaleconedscaleconsistsofaroot,flattedninth,raisedninth,majorthird,raisedfourth(oreleventh),perfectfifth,major sixthandminorseventh. Forpracticingpurposesyoucan,likethediminishedscale,superimposeadiminishedchordontop ofadiminishedchordtogetthepitchesofthescale(ie.EbdiminishedontopofaDdiminished). And,likethediminishedscale,thethirdtranspositionofthescalehasthesamepitchesasthefirstso fromapracticingstandpointthereareonlythreehalf-wholediminishedscales. fromapracticingstandpointthereareonly threehalf-wh threehalf-wholedimin olediminishedsc ishedscales. ales. Infact,sincethe Infact,sincethe Infact,sincethe half-wholediminishedscaleisamodeofthediminishedscale,practicingthethreediminished scalescoversthefingeringsforallofthehalf-wholediminishedscalesaswell. However,keepinmindthattheharmonicimplicationsofthepitchesarenotsymmetricallikethey arewiththedimini arewiththediminishedsca arewiththediminishedscale. shedscale. le. Thechordtonesarenotthefirst,third,fifthandseventhnotesofthe Thechordtonesare Thechordtonesarenot notthefirst,third,fifthandseventhnotesofthe scaleliketheyinthediminishedscale,butinsteadarethefirst(root),fourth(majorthird),sixth (perfectfifth)andeighth(minorseventh)notesofthescalealongwiththeflattedandraisedninths. Youmayinsteadwanttopracticethehalf-wholediminishedscalewithitscloserelative,the superlocrian superl superlocrianmode. ocrianmode. mode. Botharedominantsubstitutesand Botharedominantsubstitutesandcanoften canoftenbeused beusedinterchangeably. interchangeab interchangeably. ly. Trythem Trythem oneaftertheotherandyouwillnoticethattheybothstartthesamewiththeflattedandraisedninth, themajorthird,theraisedfourthandthe themajorthird,theraisedfourthandtheraisedfifth. raisedfifth. raisedfifth. Atthispoint Atthispointthesuperlocrianmodeprogresses Atthispointthesuperlocrianmodeprogresses bywholesteps.

R CHalf-WholeDiminished

C C C

CSuperlocrian CWholeTone

D Db b D Db b

E Eb b E Eb b D

M M3 3

# #4 4

E E E

F# F# F# F# F F# #

8

G

A A Ab b A Ab b

B B Bb b Bb Bb

C C C

ThisiswhythesuperlocrianmodeisalsocalledtheDiminishedWholeTonescale;itstartslikethe half-wholediminishedscale,thenchangestothewholetonescaleaftertheoverlaponthemajor thirdandaugment thirdandaugmentedfourth thirdandaugmentedfourth. edfourth. . Alternatively,anotherwaytobuildthesuperlocrianmodeisto Alternative Alternatively,anoth ly,anotherwayto erwaytobuildthesuperlocrianmodeistousethe usethe wholetonescale,omittheseconddegreeandreplaceitwiththeraisedandlowered wholetonescale,omittheseconddegreeand replaceitwiththeraisedandloweredninths. ninths ninths. . Seethe Seethe sectionwiththewholetonescalechartformoreinformationonbuildingmodesfromthewholetone scale.

BebopScales:

Bebopscalesarescaleswithanaddedpassingtone. Thedominantbebopscaleaddsamajorseventhtothemixolydianmode. Thedominantbebopscaleaddsa majorseventhtoth majorseventhtothemixolyd emixolydianmode. ianmode. Theresultisthatthereisa Theresultisthat Theresultisthatthereisa thereisa non-chordtonebetweeneachchordtoneandanevensequenceofchordtonesandnon-chordtones throughoutthescalenomatterwhereyoustartinthe throughoutthescalenomatterwhere youstartinthescale. scale. Thisworkswe Thisw Thisworkswellparticularlywhenyou orkswellparti llparticularly cularlywhenyou whenyou startyourplayingonadownbeatwithachordtone.

Do Dom omi min ina nan ant nt be beeb bo bop op

1 C

2 D

3 E

4 F

5 G

6 A

B Bb b

7 B

8 C

Themajorbebopscaleaddsanotebetweenthefifthandthesixthdegreesofthemajorscale.

Ma Maj a jo jor or be beb ebo bop op

1 C

2 D

3 E

4 F

5 G

G G# #

6 A

7 B

8 C

Theminorbebopscaleaddsamajorthirdbetweentheminorthirdandtheperfectfourth,addinga majorqualitytothesoundofthescale.

Mi Min ino nor or be beb ebo bop op

1 C

2 D

E Eb b

3 E

4 F

5 G

6 A

7 B

8 C

Thereasonfortheaddednoteistohave8notesineachscalesothatitiseasytocreatealinethat consistsofasteadystreamofeighthnotesorsixteenthnotes.Thisissomethingthatyouhavetoplay andcontrastwith7notescalestohearthedifferencethatthe andcontrastwith7notescales tohearthedifferencethattheaddednotemakes. addednotemakes. addednotemakes. PlaytheCmajor, PlaytheCmajor PlaytheCmajor, mixolydianandminorscalesandcomparethemwiththebebopversionofeach mixolydianandminorscalesandcomparethem withthebebopversionofeachscale. scale. scale. Listenfor Listen Listenfor for howthe7notescalesseemtostopincomparisontothebebopversionswhichseemtowantto continueon.

Ch Cha hap apt ptteerT erTh rThr hre ree eee::

Scca Sc al ale leesF sFr sFro rom om Su Su up p peer erriim im mp po po osse sedC edCh dCho ho or rds rd ds

BuildingScalesFromSuperimposedChords:

Anotherwaytolookatscalesandmodesistothinkofthemastwochordsthatareeitherstackedon topofeachother(likeanextendedchord)orsidebyside(likeabi-tonalchord).

th

Major Lydian LydianAugmented Mixolydian LydianDominant Superlocrian Dorian Aeolian MelodicMinor HarmonicMinor Phrygian Locrian Locrian#2 Diminished Half-WholeDiminished

7 chor chord d

D Dist istan ance ceto to nextchord nextchord

Superimposed triad

M Maaj a j7 j7 M Maaj a j7 j7 M Ma aj a j7 j7# 7#5 #5 7 7 ∅7 m m7 7 m m7 7 m mM Ma Maj a j7 j7 m mM Ma Maj a j7 j7 m m7 7 ∅7 ∅7 o7 o7 o7 o7

W W W W W h W W W W h h W W h

m M M m M m m o m o M M o o7 o7 o o7 7

Example

C CM Ma Maj a j7 j7 Cm Cma maj a j7 j7 Cm Cma maj a j7 j7# 7#5 #5 C C7 7 C7 C7 C ∅7 C Cm m7 m7 C Cm m7 m7 C Cm mM mMa Maj a j7 j7 C Cm mM mMa Maj a j7 j7 Cm Cm7 m7 C ∅7 C∅7 C Co o7 o7 C Co o7 o7

D Dm m D DM Ma Maj a jj D DM Ma Maj a jj D Dm m D Dm ma maj a jj D Db bm bm D Dm m D Do o D Dm m D Do o Db DbM bMa Maj a jj D Db bM bMa Maj a jj Do D Do o7 o7 D Db bo bo7 o7

Guitarplayersthataremoreathomethinkingintermsofchordsratherthanscalesmayfindthisway ofthinkingeasiertoconceptualize. Anotheradvantagetothisapproachisthatiseasiertogofromthisapproachtoextendedchordssuch as11 as11 and13chords. and13chord and13chords. s. Notonlywillthes Notonlywilltheseextendedchordsseemlessintimidatingifyouare Notonlywilltheseextende eextendedchords dchordsseemlessintimidatingifyouarealready already familiarwiththisapproach,butitalsomakestheextensionsofthechordsmoreaccessible. Focussingontheextensionsisanotherapproachtoimprovisingortogettingdifferentsoundsoutof yourimprovisations. Ifyoualreadyknowyourscalesandmodes,youdon’thavetosuperimposethechordsinthesame mannerasabove. manneras mannerasabove. above. Forexample,insteadofaDmtriadoveraC7 Forexample,ins Forexample,insteadofaDm teadofaDmtriadoveraC7togetamixolydianmode,you togetamixolydianmode,youcan can buildaB Æ 7oranFmaj7insteadwhichwillgiveyouthesamenotesasDmoverC7butwillgive youadifferentsoundbecauseoftheharmonicandpassingnotefunctionsofeachnote,assuming thatyoucanalreadyhearthoserelationships. thatyoucanalreadyhearthos alreadyhearthoserelati erelationship onships. s. Harmonicallythiscanalsobeinterestingwhenwriting Harmonicall Harmonicallythiscanals ythiscanalsobe obeinterestingwhenwriting forabigbandbecauseyoucanputtheC7inthetromboneswiththeFmaj7inthetrumpetsandhave thesaxesoverlapwithaB Æ 7.

Ch Cha hap apt ptteer er Fo Fou our ur: r:

Ch Cho ho or rd  // S rd Sc ca cal ale le Fa Fam ami mil ili lie ies es

KeyCharacteristics:

Therearesomebasicgroupsorfamiliesofchordsandmodes.Eachfamilyhasanessentialsound whichisdeterminedprimarilybythekeycharacteristicpitchesofeach. whichisdeterminedprimarilyby thekeycharacter thekeycharacteristicpi isticpitchesof tchesofeach. each. Eachofthechordsand Eachofthe chordsand modesthatbelongtoeachfamilyhaveinthemthekeycharacteristicsthatdefinesthefamily. Thevalueofgroupingintofamiliesisthatoftenthesechordsandmodesareinterchangeablewithin thefamily. Forexample,whengivenaMaj7chordyourfirstchoicewouldbetouseamajorscale. Forexample,whengivenaMaj7chordyourfirstc Forexample,whengiven aMaj7chordyourfirstchoicewouldbeto hoicewouldbetouseamajorscale. useamajorscale. However,youcanoftensubstitutealydianmodeandhaveaslightlydifferentflavourofthesoundto workwith. F Fa a am m miil ily ly Major

Ke Key ey p piiittc tcch h he es es

C Ch h ho or orrd ds ds

S Sc ca ca alle les ess/   /m / mo mod ode deess

M3andM7

Maj,Maj7, Maj6,Maj9 asabove with#11 7,913,7b9, 7#9,7#9#5 7#9,7#9#5 7# 7#1 #11 11 m,m7 m, m7, ,m6 m6 m,m6, mMaj7 ∅7 o o7 7 7 7# #5 #5

major,lydian,lydianaugmented

Dominant

M3andm7

Minor

m3andP5

Half-diminished

m3ando5 m3ando5 o5 o5 an and nd o7 o7 M3 M3 an and nd #5 #5

Diminished Wholetone

lydian,lydianaugmented mixolydian,lydiandominant,superlocrian, half-wholediminished,wholetone, lly y yd di dia ian an d do om omi min ina nan ant nt,w t,wh ,w ho hol ole le tto on one ne, e, d dori orian an, ,ae aeol olia ian, n,ph phry rygi gian an melodicminor,harmonicminor llo oc ocr cri ria ian an, n, llo oc ocr cri ria ian an #2 #2 d diim imi min ini nis ish sh he ed ed w wh ho hol ole le tto on on ne e

Thekeyorcharacteristicnotesofeachfamilyarethestrongestandthebestnotestouseinamelody orasoloifyouwanttoidentifytheunderlyingchord. orasoloifyouwantto identifytheun identifytheunderlyi derlyingchord ngchord. . Thatisnotmeanttosuggestthatyoushould Thatisnotmean Thatisnotmeanttosugg ttosuggesttha estthatyousho tyoushould uld usethesenotesprominentlyallthetimebutratherthatyoushouldbeawarethatthesenoteswillfit moststronglywhenyoudousethem. Notethatthecharacteristicnotesofthedominantfamilyareatritoneapart. Notethatthecharacteristicnotesofthedominant familyareatriton familyareatritoneapart. eapart. Theinterestingthing Theinteresting Theinterestingthing thing aboutthatisthattheinversionofatritoneisstillatritone,whichmeansthatthedominantchorda tritonefromyouroriginalchordwillhavethesamecharacteristicnotes. tritonefromyouroriginalchordwillhave thesamecharacte thesamecharacteristi risticnotes. cnotes. ForexamplethecharacterForexamplethechar ForexamplethecharacteracteristicnotesofaG7chordareBandF isticnotesofaG7 chordareBandFandthecharacteristicnotes isticnotesofaG7chordareBandFandthecharacteristicnotesofDb7areFandCborB. andthecharacteristicnotesofDb7areFand ofDb7areFandCborB. CborB. Thisis thereasonthatthetritonesubstitution,oneofthemostcommonchordsubstitutionsinjazz,worksas wellasitdoes. wellasitdoes. does. Ifyouarenotfamiliarwiththe Ifyouar Ifyouare enotfamiliarwiththetritonesubstitution,thetritonesubstitutionallowsthe tritonesubstitution,thetritonesubstitutionallowsthe performerorthecomposertoreplacethedominantchordwiththechordandthescaleatritoneaway. Forexample,ifyouareinthekeyofCandcometoaG7chord,youcanreplacetheG7withaDb7 chordandusetheDbmixolydianmode. Dominantchordsbynaturearetensionchords,traditionallyseekingresolutionfromthetensionto thetonicmajororminor. thetonicmajororminor . Themusicallangu Themusi Themusicallanguageofjazz,however,acceptsmoredissonancethan callanguageofjazz ageofjazz,howeve ,howeverr,acceptsmoredissonancethan

commonpracticeharmonyandinajazzcontextthedominantchordsdonotalways commonpracticeharmonyandina  jazzcontextthedom  jazzcontextthedominantcho inantchordsdonotal rdsdonotalways waysresol resolv res resolve. olve. ve. e. Still, Still, becausethedominantfamilyisbynatureatensionsounditsupportsmorealterationsandsubstitutionsthantheothe tionsthantheotherfamili tionsthantheotherfamiliesofchords. rfamiliesofchord esofchords. s. Ninthsinadominantchordandscalecanbeloweredor Ninthsinadomina Ninthsinadominantchordand ntchordand scalecanbeloweredor raisedorboth,eleventhscanberaised,andeventhefifthcanberaisedorraisedandloweredatthe sametime,aslongasthecharacteristicmajorthirdandminorseventhsremainpresent. Theotherfamiliesdonotacceptasmanyalterationsalthough4 thscanberaisedinmajorscalesand 7thscanberaisedinminorchordsandscales. scanberaisedinminorchordsand minorchordsandscales. scales. Sincethe4 Sincethe4 thdegreeofascaleormodeisnotachord tone,ifamodewitharaised4 thisspecificallydesiredbythecomposerthechordwilloftenbe notatedwitha#11and/ortherewillbea#4 thdegreeinthemelody.

ChapterFive:ParallelRelationshipsBetweenScalesandModes Scale/ModeRelationshipsbyAlteringOnePitch

CMaj7#5 LydianAugmented C,D,E,F#,G#,A,B,C ↑ ↓ #5 b5 ↑ ↓ CMaj7#11,CMaj9#11 Lydian C,D,E,F#,G,A,B,C ↑ ↓ ↑ ↓ #7 b7 #4 b4 ↑ ↓ ↑ ↓ C7#5, C9#5 Cma j j7 7 Lydian Dominant Ma j jo or C, D, E, F#, G, A, Bb, C C, D, E, F, G, A, B, C ↑ ↓ ↑ ↓ ↑ ↓ ↑ ↓ #6 b6 #4 b4 #7 b7 #3 b3 ↑ ↓ ↑ ↓ ↑ ↓ ↑ ↓ C7, C9, C13 CmMa j j7 7 Lydian Minor Mixolydian Melodic Minor C, D, E, F#, G, Ab, Bb, C C, D, E, F, G, A, Bb, C C, D, Eb, F, G, A, B, C ↑ ↓ ↑ ↓ ↑ ↓ ↑ ↓ ↑ ↓ #4 b4 #6 b6 #3 b3 #7 b7 #3 b3 ↑ ↓ ↑ ↓ ↑ ↓ ↑ ↓ ↑ ↓ Cm7, Cm9 CmMa j j7 7, Cm Ma j j9 9 Melodic Minor Dominant Dorian Harmonic Minor C, D, E, F, G, Ab, Bb, C C, D, Eb, F, G, A, Bb, C C, D, Eb, F, G, Ab, B, C ↑ ↓ ↑ ↓ ↑ ↓ #3 b3 #6 b6 #7 b7 ↑ ↓ ↑ ↓ ↑ ↓ Cm7,Cm9 Aeolian C,D,Eb,F,G,Ab,Bb,C ↑ ↓ ↑ ↓ #5 b5 #3 b3 ↑ ↓ ↑ ↓ Cm7b9(iii) C∅7(addD) Locrian #2 Phrygian C, D, Eb, F, Gb, Ab, Bb, C C, Db, Eb, F, G, Ab, Bb, C ↑ ↓ ↑ ↓ ↑ ↓ #9 b9 b6 #6 b3 #3 ↑ ↓ ↑ ↓ ↑ ↓ SpanishPhrygian C∅7 Locrian Harm onic Dominant C, Db, Eb, F, Gb, Ab, Bb, C C, Db, E, F, G, Ab, Bb, C ↑ ↓ #4 b4 ↑ ↓ C7#9#5,C7#9#11 Superlocrian C,Db,D#,E,Gb,Ab,Bb,C

Howthechartworks: 1) 1) Pickany Pick anymod mode/sc e/scale aleon onthe thecha chart rt 2) 2) Followanarrow Follow anarrowtoanoth toanothermode ermode. . The Th Thearrowwill ear arrrowwilltellyou tellyouwhatno whatnoteoft teofthemode hemodeneedst needstobe obe raised(#)orlowered(b)inordertochangethemodetothenewmode. Forexample,findthemajorscalenearthetoprightareaofthe Forexample,findthemajorscalenearthe toprightareaofthechart. chart. Thenfindthemelod Thenfindthemelodicminor Thenfindthemelodicminor icminor belowandtotherightofthemajorscale. belowandtotherightof themajorscale. themajorscale. Thearrowthatpointsfromthetotheminormodetellsyou Thearrowthatpoi Thearrowthatpointsfro ntsfromtheto mthetotheminormodetellsyou thattochangethemajorscaletothemelodicminoryoulowerthe3 rddegreeofthescale. Thereisalsoanarrowthatpointsintheoppositedirection. Thereisalsoanarrow thatpointsintheopp thatpointsintheoppositedi ositedirectio rection. n. Thisarrowtellsyouthatinorderto Thisarrowtell Thisarrowtellsyouthat syouthatin inorderto reversethechan reversethechangeandgof reversethechangeandgofrommelodicminortomajoryoudotheoppositechange. geandgofrommel rommelodicmin odicminortomaj ortomajoryoudo oryoudotheoppo theoppositecha sitechange. nge. Togofromthe Togofromthe rd melodicminormode melodi melodicminormode cminormode tothemajorscaleyou tothemajorscaleyouraisethe3 scaleyouraisethe raisethe3 degreeofthemelodicminor. ForthekeyofCmajor,the3 rddegreeofthesc degreeofthescaleisE. degreeofthescaleisE. aleisE. LowertheEtoa Lower LowertheEtoanEbandthemodebecomes theEtoanEbandth nEbandthe emodebecomes Cmelodicminor Cmelod Cmelodicminor. icminor. . Conversely,ifyouwanttochangeaCmelodicminormodetoaCmajorscale, Conversely, Conversely,ifyouw ifyouwanttocha anttochangeaC ngeaCmelodicminormodetoaCmajorscale, rd raisethe3 degreefromanEbtoanEnatural. Aboveeachscale/modenamethereareoneormorechordsnoted. Aboveeachscale/modenamethereareone ormorechordsnoted ormorechordsnoted. . ThesechordsarethemostcomThesechordsare Thesechordsarethemost themostcommonchordsusedtoindicateeachscale/mode. Changestotheseconddegreeofthescaleshavebeennotedas Changestotheseconddegreeof thescaleshavebeennotedas9thsratherthan2nds. 9thsratherthan2nd 9thsratherthan2nds. s. Thereasonis Thereasonis th th that9thsarefrequentlyaddedtoanytriador7 chordandthemodificationofthe9 oftenappearsin thechordsymbol. Whenyouchangeonlyonenoteofascale/mode,thesoundofthescalechangesslightly.Modesthat arelocatedclose arelocatedclosetogether arelocatedclosetogethersoundsimilar. togethersoundsim soundsimilar. ilar. Forexample,youcanoftenuseeitherthedorianorthe Forexample,youca Forexample,youcanoften noftenuseeitherthedorianorthe aeolianmodeforthesameminorseventhchord. Ifyouchangetwonotes(ie.taketwostepswithinthe Ifyouchangetwo notes(ie.taketwostepswithinthechart),thesoundchangesevenmore. chart),thesoun chart),thesoundchanges dchangesevenmore. evenmore. For rd example,whenyoulowerthe3 degreeoftheMajormodeyou degreeoftheMajormodeyougettheMelodicMinorMode. gettheMelodicMino gettheMelodicMinorMode. rMode. Ifyou th alsolowerthe7 degree,you degree,younowhavethe nowhavetheDorianMode. DorianMode. DorianMode. Becauseyou’venowchangedtwopitches Becauseyou’venow Becauseyou’venow changedtwopitches fromtheoriginalMajormode,thesoundofthescalehaschangedevenmore. Asyoumovefurtherawayfromyourstartingscale,thesoundofthescalechangesmore. Asyoumovefurtherawayfromyour startingscal startingscale,thes e,thesoundoft oundofthescale hescalechanges changesmore. more. Thismay Thismay seemtobeanobviouspointbutitbecomesrelevantwhenyouusethecharttoconsiderscalesubstitutionsorscala tutionsorscalarcontra tutionsorscalarcontrasts. rcontrasts. sts. Forexample,ifyou Forexamp Forexample,ifyouareplayingovera le,ifyou areplayingoveradominantseventhchordyoucan dominantseventhchordyoucan useamixolydianmod useamixolydianmode. useamixolydianmode. e. Insteadofmixolydianyoumaysubstitutealydiandominantmode,but Insteadofmixol Insteadofmixolydianyou ydianyoumay maysubstitutealydiandominantmode,but becausethereisonlyonenotedifference(theraised4 thdegree;F#foraCscale)thedifferencein soundisnothuge. soundis soundisnothuge. nothuge. Thentrysubsti Thentrysubstituting ThentrysubstitutingaCSuperlocrianmode(bottomrightquadrantofthechart) tutingaCSuperloc aCSuperlocrianmode rianmode(bottom (bottomright rightquadrantofthechart) andyouwillfindabigdifferencein andyouwillfind abigdifferenceinsound. sound. Thesuperlocri Thesupe Thesuperlocrianmodefarawayfromthemixolydian rlocrianmodefar anmodefaraway awayfromthemixolydian modeonthechartbecausemanynotesaredifferentbetweenthetwomodessothereisabigcontrast insound. Itisworthnotingthattheparticulardegreeofthescalethatyouchangeisalsoafactorindetermininghowmuchthesoundofthescalechanges. inghowmuchthe soundofthescalecha soundofthescalechanges. nges. Forexample,thechangeofthethirddegreeofthe Forexample,the Forexample,thechangeofthe changeofthe thirddegreeofthe scalefrommajortomelodicminorchangesthe  quality qualityofthesoundaswellasthecolourofthe

soundofthescale,soitisabiggerchangeinsound soundofthescale,soitisabiggerchangeinsoundthangoingfromthedo thangoingfromthedoriantotheaeolianmod riantotheaeolianmodes es th wherethe6 degreeischanged. degreeischanged changed. . Seethesecti Seeth Seethesectiononchord/scalefamiliesfor esection ononchord/scalefamiliesformoreinformation. moreinformation. Eachmemberofeachfamilyofchord Eachmemberofeachfamilyofchordsarecolorcodedsimila sarecolorcodedsimilarly sarecolorcodedsimilarly. rly.. rly . Allmembersofthemajo Allmembersofthemajorfamily rfamily areblue,allmembersoftheminorfamilyaregre areblue,allmembersoftheminorfamilyaregreen,thedominan en,thedominantfamilyisred,andthehalf-d tfamilyisred,andthehalf-diminiminishedfamilyispurple. Threemodeshavenocolorandnochord Threemodeshavenocolorandnochordsindicatedwiththem. Threemodeshavenocolor andnochordsindicatedwiththem. andnochordsindicate sindicatedwiththem. dwiththem. Thelydianminorandthe Thelydianminorandthemelodic melodic minordominantarenotfrequentlyused. minordominantarenot frequen frequentlyuse tlyused. d. Thethirdis Theth Thethirdistheharmonicdominant,themode irdistheharmonicdominant,themodebuiltfrom builtfrom thefifthdegreeoftheharmonicminormode. thefifthdegreeoftheharmonicminorm ode. Insomeinst Insom Insomeinstancesthismodeisreferredtoasthe einstanc ancesthi esthismode smodeis is referredtoasthe SpanishPhrygianmode SpanishPhrygianmodeandcanbeu andcanbeusedwheny sedwhenyouorthecom ouorthecomposerarese poserareseekingaSpan ekingaSpanishorflaishorflamencosound. mencosound. OtherreferencescallthismodetheHarmonicMinorInverseand Otherreference OtherreferencescallthismodetheHarmonicMinorInverseandstatethattheSpanscallthismodetheHarmonicMinorInverseand statethattheSpanishPhrygianisan8notesca ishPhrygianisan8notescale(C,Db,Eb,E,F, le(C,Db,Eb,E,F,G,Ab,Bb,C)whic G,Ab,Bb,C)whichisthephryg histhephrygianmodewith ianmodewithan an addedmajorthird,ortheharmonic addedmajorthird,ortheharmonicdominantwithanadd dominantwithanaddedminorthird. edminorthird. Notetheboxcreatedbytherelationsh Notetheboxcreatedbytherelationshipbetweenthefou ipbetweenthefourtonicminorchoice rtonicminorchoices;dorian,melod s;dorian,melodic ic minor,harmonicminor,aeolian. minor,harmonicminor ,aeolian ,aeolian. . Allofthese Allof Allofthesehavethesamefirstfivenotesanddifferonly thesehave havethe thesamefirstfivenotesanddifferonlywiththe withthe sixthandseventhdegrees. Lowerboththe sixthandseventhdegrees. Lowerboththesixthandseventhdegreesand sixthandseventhdegreesandyouhavethe youhavetheaeolian. aeolian. Raisebothandyouhavethemelodicminor. Raisebothandyouhave themelodicminor. Raisesixthbutlowertheseventhand Raisesixthbutlowertheseventhandyouhavedorian, youhavedorian, andlowerthesixthbutraise andlowerthesixthbutraisetheseventh theseventhandyouha andyouhavetheharmo vetheharmonicminor. nicminor. Anotherthingtonote:thesuperlocr Anotherthingtonote:thesuperlocrianandlydianaug ianandlydianaugmentedmod mentedmodesareattheextremeend esareattheextremeendsofthe softhe chartbutsameseriesofnotes,sincetheyarebothmodesderivedfrom chartbutsameseriesofnotes,since theyarebothmodesderivedfromthemelo theyarebothmodesderived fromthemelodicminormode. themelod themelodicmin dicminormode. icminormo ormode. de. By workingthroughthechartandmo workingthroughthechartandmovingthehalfstepsaro vingthehalfstepsaroundwehavemov undwehavemovedtheminorseco edtheminorsecondsfrom ndsfrom th th th th betweenthe5 and6 degreesandthe7 and8 degreesforthelydianaug degreesforthelydianaugmenteddo menteddowntotheroot wntotheroot nd rd th and2 degreeandthe3 and4 degreesforthesuperlocrianmode.

Scale/Mode Scale/ModerelationshipstotheWhole-T relationshipstotheWhole-ToneScale oneScale

Thefollowingchartlooksatanother Thefollowingchartlooksatanotherrelationship,this relationship,thisonebetweenthewho onebetweenthewholetonescaleandthe letonescaleandthe modesderivedfromthemelodic modesderivedfromthemelodicminormode,allofwhich minormode,allofwhichincludeaseriesof5conse includeaseriesof5consecutivewhole cutivewhole tonessomewherewithinthemode. Thewholetonescalehasonlysixdifferentpitches. Thewholetonescalehas onlysixdifferentpitches. onlysixdifferentpitche s. Bytakinganyone Bytakinganyonepitchandreplacingitwith pitchandreplacingitwith thepitchesonehalfstepaboveandbe thepitchesonehalfstepaboveandbelowtheoriginalpitch lowtheoriginalpitchyoucreateasevenno youcreateasevennotescalewhichwill tescalewhichwill beoneof beoneofthemodesofthe themodesoftheminormode. minormode. Converselyyoucanreplaceparticula Converselyyoucanreplaceparticularadjacentpitches radjacentpitches withinmodesderivedfromthemino withinmodesderivedfromtheminormodeandtheresultwillbethewh rmodeandtheresultwillbethewholetonescale. oletonescale. Forexample,takethesec Forexample,taketheseconddegre onddegreeoftheCwhole eoftheCwholetonescale(D)a tonescale(D)andreplace ndreplaceitwithaDbandaD# itwithaDbandaD# andyouhavetheCsuperlocrianmode. andyouhavetheCsuperlocrianmode. Csuperlocrianmode. Thiswasdiscussedearlie Thiswasdiscussedearlierinthedescriptionofthe Thiswasdiscussedearlierinthedescriptionofthehalfrinthedescriptionofthe halfwholediminishedscaleandhow wholediminishedscaleandhowthesuperlocria thesuperlocrianmodecombin nmodecombinesthelowerportion esthelowerportionofthehalfofthehalfwholediminishedscalewiththeupp wholediminishedscalewiththeupperportionofthewhole erportionofthewholetonescale. tonescale.

C∅7(addD) Locrian#2 C,D,Eb,F,Gb,Ab,Bb,C ↑ split 3 ↑

C7#5,C9#5 LydianDominant C,D,E,F#,G,A,Bb,C

↓ meld 3&4 ↓

↑ split 5 ↑

↓ meld 5&6 ↓

C7#5 Wholetone C,D,E,F#,G#,Bb,C ↑ ↓ meld split #9&b9 9 ↑ ↓ C7#9#5,C7#9#11 Superlocrian C,Db,D#,E,F#,G#,Bb,C

↑ meld 4&5 ↑

↓ split 4 ↓

MelodicDominant C,D,E,F,G,Ab,Bb,C

↑ meld 6&7 ↑

↓ split 6 ↓ CMaj7#5 LydianAugmented C,D,E,F#,G#,A,B,C

Thisshowshowsimilarthewholetonescaleistothesuperlocrian,locrian#2,lydiandominantand lydianaugmentedmodesandexplainswhythesemodescanhaveaverywholetone-likesoundif youdon’tplaythesplitnotes(non-wholetonescalenotes). youdon’tplaythe splitnotes(non splitnotes(non-whol -wholetonescal etonescalenotes) enotes). . Forexample,trytousetheC Forexample,try Forexample,trytouse tousetheC superlocrianmodebutdon’tplaytheDborD#anditwillbeimpossibleforthelistenertodetermine whetheryouareusingthewholetonescaleorthesuperlocrianmodesincethenotesthatyoudiduse arethesameforboth. Thetwowholetonescalesarerelativelyeasytolearnandthischartmaybeusefulwhentryingto findthenotesforanyoneofthemodesthatyoucanbuildfromit. findthenotesforanyoneofthemodesthatyoucan buildfromit. buildfromit. Forexample,if Forexam Forexample,ifyouhaven’tquite ple,ifyouhaven youhaven’tquit ’tquitee learntthesuperlocrianmodeyetyoucanusethewholetonescaleandthenaddtheraisedandloweredninth. Or,achallengingthingtotrymightbetostartwithasuperlocrianmode,thenleaveouttheraised andloweredninths(DbandD#inaCsuperlocrian)effectivelyturningintoawholetonescale,then takeadvantageofthewholetonescale’sambiguityandestablishadifferentnoteastheroot,saythe E,addtheraisedandloweredninthsfortheEsuperlocrian(FandE##orG)andthenresolvetheE chordtoA,amajorthirdawayfromwhereyoustarted!

Scale/ModeRelationshipstotheDiminishedandHalf-WholeDiminishedScales Scale/ModeRelationshipstotheDiminishedand Half-WholeDiminishedScales

Thischartisverysimilartothepreviousonebutinsteadlooksattherelationshipsbetweenthe diminishedandhalf-wholediminishedscalesandthemodesthataresimilar diminishedandhalf-wholediminishedscalesandthe modesthataresimilartothem. tothem. tothem. Notethe Notethe appearanceagainofthesuperlocrianmode.

C7#5,C9#5 LydianDominant

C7#9#5,C7#9#11 Superlocrian C,Db,D#,E,Gb,Ab,Bb,C

C,D,E,F#,G,A,Bb,C

↑

↓

↑

↓

meld 2&3

split 2

meld 6&7

split 6

↑

↓

↑

↓

C7b9b5 Half-WholeDiminished C,Db,E,F,F#,G,A,Bb,C

↑ | ↑ | ↑ | |

| | ↓ | ↓ | ↓

shift up ½ step

shift down ½ step

↑ | ↑ | ↑ | |

| | ↓ | ↓ | ↓

↑

↓

meld 4&5

split 4

↑

↓ Cm7b9 Phrygian#6 C,Db,Eb,F,G,A,Bb,C

CmMaj7 MelodicMinor C,D,Eb,F,G,A,B,C

↑

↓

meld 5&6

split 5

↑

↓

Co7 Diminished C,D,Eb,F,F#,G#,A,B,C

↑

↓

↑

↓

split 3

meld 3&4

split 7

meld 7&8

↑

↓

↑

↓

CMaj7#5 LydianAugmented C,D,E,F#,G#,A,B,C

C∅7(addD) Locrian#2 C,D,Eb,F,Gb,Ab,Bb,C

Probablythemostimportantpartofthischartistheuppersectionwhichincludesthelydiandominant,superlocr nant,superlocrianandhalfnant,superlocrianandhalf-wholediminishedscales. ianandhalf-wholedim wholediminishe inishedscales. dscales. Notonlyarethesescales Notonlyarethesescalesrelatedtoeach relatedtoeachother other asindicatedinthechart,theyareallcommonjazzscales,andtheyalsoallfunctionasdominant scales. scales. Thismeansthatyoucan Thismeansthat Thismeansthatyoucanoftenfreelysubstituteonefor oftenfreelysubstituteonefortheother. theother. theother. Thisiswhy Thisiswhyitisvaluableto itisvaluableto understandhow,bychangingoneortwopitches,youcanchangethescaleandthecorresponding soundofyourimprovisation.

Ch Cha hap apt pte ter er Si Siix x: x:

Co Com omm mmo mon on To on neess ne

Theconceptofcommontoneslooksatnotesthatarethesamebetweenanytwoormoregroupsof notes. notes. Thegroupsofnotescouldanytypeof Thegroupsofnotes Thegroupsofnotes couldanytypeofgroupinglikechords,scales,amelodicfragmentor groupinglikechords,scales,amelodicfragmentoran an atonaltoneclust atonalto atonaltonecluster. necluster. er. Forexample,betweenaC7chordandanF#7chordthereare Forexample,betw Forexample,betweenaC7chor eenaC7chordand dandanF#7chordtherearetwocommon twocommon tones,EandBborA#,andfournon-commontones,C,G,F#andC#. Inmostcircumstancesachordhasallofitstonesincommonwiththescaleormodethatwillbe used. used. Themostcommonexce Themost Themostcommonexceptiontothisisthebluesscalewithaminorthirdthatisusedover commonexceptionto ptiontothisisthe thisisthebluesscalewithaminorthirdthatisusedoveraa dominantseventhchordthathasamajorthird. Thewideruseoftheconceptofcommontonesistolookatadjacentchordsorscalesinaprogression. Forexample,look sion. Forexam Forexample,lookatthemodesinthestandardII–V ple,lookatthemodes atthemodes inthestandardII–V–Iprogressioninminorthatwas –Iprogressioninminorthatwasdisdiscussedearlier. ch cho hor ord rd II II V I

mo mod ode de D llo oc ocr cri ria ian an G ssu up upe per erl rlo loc ocr cri riia an an Cm me el elo lod odi dic ic mi min ino nor or Cd do or ori ria ian an

C C C

no not ote tes es rre eo eor ord rd de er ere red ed tto o co com omp mpa paarre re w wiit ith th C m miin ino nor or D E Eb b F G A Ab b Bb Bb C# C# Eb Eb F G A Ab b Bb Bb D E Eb b F G A D E Eb b F G A B Bb b

B B

CommontonesbetweenallmodesaretheEb,FandG. Commontonesbetweenallmodesare theEb,FandG. theEb,FandG. BetweentheDlocr Betwe BetweentheDlocrianandGsuperlocrian entheDlocrianandG ianandGsuperlocrian AbandBbarealsocommontones. AbandBbare alsocommontones alsocommontones. . BetweentheGsuperlocrianandtheCmelodicminorBisalsoa BetweentheGsupe BetweentheGsuperlocr rlocrianandtheC ianandtheCmelodicminorBisalsoa commontone,andbetweentheGsuperlocrianandtheCdoriantheAisalsoacommontone. Ananalysisofcommontoneswillgiveyousomepitchesthatwillworkovermorethanonechord. Thismaymakeitsimplertoplayoveraprogressionsinceyoudon’thavetobeasconcernedabout theindividualchordchanges,aslongasyoupayattentiontohoweachnoteisgoingtoworkover eachchord. eachchord. Intheexampleabove,theEbisgoingtohave Intheexampleabove Intheexampleabove,theEb ,theEbisgoingtohavealotoftensionoverthe alotoftensionovertheDhalfdiminDhalfdiminishedchordbecauseofthehalfstepfromtherootD,butitwillsoundstrongwiththeCminorchord. TheFwillsoundgoodwiththeDandGchordsbutwon’tsoundasgoodovertheCminorchord. Commontonesalsoworkwellaslongsustainednotesoverchordchanges,orassustainedtrillsover thesameprogression. Non-commontonesaregoodnotestouseifyouwanttoemphasizeachord’sindividualityrelativeto theotherchords. theother theotherchords. chords. Forexample,theC#aboveexistsonlyintheGsuperlocrianmodeandwouldbe Forexample,theC# Forexample,theC#aboveexis aboveexistsonlyin tsonlyintheGsuperlocrianmodeandwouldbeaa goodnotetousetohighlightthepresenceofthesuperlocrianmode. Thesamerecommendationsapplywhenselectingmode Thesamerecommendationsapply whenselectingmodesubstitutionsaswell. substitutions substitutionsaswell. aswell. Forexample,ifyou Forexample,if Forexample,ifyou havechosentosubstitutethelydianmodeforthemajorscale,emphasizingtheraisedfourthdegree willhighlightthefactthatyouaremakingthissubstitution. willhighlightthefactthatyou aremakingthissu aremakingthissubstitu bstitution. tion. Ifyoudon’tplaytheraisedfourthat Ifyoudon’t Ifyoudon’tplaytheraisedfourthatall all thesubstitutionwillnotbeheardatall. Onefinalreminderaboutcommontones;ifyouusethestandarddorian–mixolydian–majorscale overaII–V–I overaII–V–I progression progr progressioninmajor,allnoteswillbecommontones. essioninmajor, inmajor,allnotes allnoteswill willbecommontones.

Ch Cha hap apt ptteer er Se Seev ve veen n: n:

Ch Cho ho oo os osi siin n ng gW Wh hi hic icch hM Mo od od dee to to Us Use se

1) Startwiththekeythatyo Startwi Startwith thth thekeythatyouarein. uarein. uarein. Ifthereisno Ifthere Ifthereisnokeysignatu isnok  k eysignatureandyouk  reandyouknowthetun nowthetuneisnotinC eisnotinC majororAminor,checkth majororAminor,checkthefirstandlastch efirstandlastchordsofthepiec ordsofthepieceforhintsforth eforhintsforthekey(beaw ekey(beawarethat arethat somepiecesinminormodemayend somepiecesinminorm odemayendintherelatedorparallelmajor intherelatedorparallelmajorkey). key). key). Onceyou’ Once Onceyou’vedeteryou’vede vedeterterminedthekey,mostcho minedthekey,mostchordsthatfitthekey rdsthatfitthekeycanusethesc canusethescaleormode aleormodesderivedfro sderivedfromthatkey. mthatkey. Alsolookformodulationstootherkeys. Commonplacesforthisto Alsolookformodulationstootherkeys. Common Commonplacesforthistooccurareinthe5 placesforthisto occurareinthe5 thand/or6th barsofeightbarphrasesandinthebridgeorBsectio barsofeightbarphrasesandinthebridgeorBsectionofanAABA barsofeightbarphrasesandinthebridgeorBsectionofan nofanAABA,ABAorAAB AABA,ABAorAABform. ,ABAorAAB form. form. Ifyou Ifyou knowthereisamodulationtoanotherkey knowthereisamodulationtoanotherkey,usethescalesandmo ,usethescalesandmodesfromthatkey ,usethescalesandmodesfromthatkey ,usethescalesandmo desfromthatkey desfromthatkey. .. Ifyou Ify Ifyou’ve ou’ve ’ve studiedtraditionalmusictheory studiedtraditionalmusictheorybeawarethanmodu beawarethanmodulationsinjazzareoften lationsinjazzareoftenmuchbrieferthanin muchbrieferthanin traditionalharmonyandareoftendone traditionalharmonyandareoftendonewithoutpivotchord withoutpivotchords. withoutpivotchords. withoutpivotchords. s. Inmanycases Inmanycasestraditionaltheory traditionaltheory wouldlabeljazzmodulationsasatonic wouldlabeljazzmodulationsasatonicizationrathertha izationratherthanafullmodulation. nafullmodulation. Onceyou’veidentified Onceyou’veidentifiedamodulation amodulation,applythesc ,applythescalesappro alesappropriatetothatke priatetothatkey. y. 3) 3) TheII–Vp The II –Vprogressio rogressionisth nisthemost emostcommon commonprogressi progressioninj oninjazz. azz. Lookfo Loo LookforII– kforII–Vprog Vprogressions ressionsin in eitheramajororaminorkeyorboth. eitheramajororaminorkeyorboth. Rememberthetableofchordfamilieswhen Rememb Rememberthetableofchordfamilieswhenyoulookfor erthetableofchordfamilieswhen youlookfor theseprogressions. theseprogressions. TheIIcouldbe TheIIcouldbeanychordfromthe anychordfromtheminorfamilyifthe minorfamilyiftheprogressionisin progressionisin major,orfromthehalf-diminished major,orfromthehalfdiminishedfamilyiftheprogressio familyiftheprogressionisinminor,andtheVchordcou nisinminor,andtheVchordcould ld beanyofthechordsinthe beanyofthechordsinthedominantfam beanyofthechordsinthedominantfamily. dominantfamii ly. ly. YoumayalsofindtheminorformofIIandV(ie. Youmayalsofindtheminor oumayalso oumayalsofindtheminorformofIIandV(ie. findtheminorformofIIandV(ie formofIIandV(ie.. half-diminishedandaltered half-diminishedandaltereddominant)resol dominant)resolvetoatonicmajor. vetoatonicmajor. OftenyouwillfindaseriesofII–V OftenyouwillfindaseriesofII–Vprogressio progressionsinsequen nsinsequence,suchas ce,suchasaseriesthatgoe aseriesthatgoesdownby sdownby wholesteps,downbyha wholesteps,downbyhalfsteps,arou lfsteps,aroundthecycle ndthecycleoffifthsorthrou offifthsorthroughacycleofm ghacycleofmajorthirds. ajorthirds. Ifyoufindaprogressionthatrepeatsafter Ifyoufindaprogressionthatrepeatsaftermodulating,app modulating,applythesamescaleswith lythesamescaleswithappropriate appropriate transpositions. transpositions. 3)Looktothemelodytohelpdeterminewhatscalesor 3)Looktothemelodytohelpdetermin melodytohelpdeterminewhatscalesormode ewhatscalesormodeswouldbeappropriate modeswouldbeappropriate. modeswould swouldbeappropriate. beappropriate. . Forexampleif youaregivenaG7chord youaregivenaG7chordbutthereisaC#in butthereisaC#inthemelody, themelody,thisimpliesthata thisimpliesthataGlydiandomi Glydiandominant nant wouldbemoreappropriatethan wouldbemoreappropriatethanamixolydianmod amixolydianmodebecausethelydi ebecausethelydiandominantmo andominantmodeincludes deincludes theraisedfourth,C#. Whenlookingatmelodynotes,don’t Whenlooking Whenlookingatmelodynotes,don’tbe atmelodynotes,don’t atmelodynotes,don’tbeconfusedbychroma beconfusedbychromaticpassing confusedbychromaticpassing ticpassing notesthatdon’tneedtobeincludedintheharmony notesthatdon’tneedto beincludedintheharmony. . Thereareso Ther Therearesomerulesfordetermining earesomeru merulesfo lesfor rdetermining whetheramelodynoteshouldbeco whetheramelodynoteshouldbeconsideredwhe nsideredwhendetermining ndetermininganappropriate anappropriatescaleforimproviscaleforimprovisation,butessentiallyyou sation,butessentiallyyouneedtorelyo needtorelyonyoureartote nyoureartotellyouwhethe llyouwhetherthatnoteisacru rthatnoteisacrucialpartof cialpartof thesoundorwhetheritfunctionsasapassing thesoundorwhetheritfunctionsasapassingtonewhichsupp tonewhichsupportsatruechordtone. ortsatruechordtone. 4) Ifachordsustainsforalen Ifa Ifac cho hord rds sus ustainsforalengthoftimeyo gthoftimeyoumaywantt umaywanttoconsideru oconsiderusingmoreth singmorethanonescaleo anonescaleorr mode,perhapsbeginnin mode,perhapsbeginningwiththemostconson gwiththemostconsonantoneandcha antoneandchangingtoprogre ngingtoprogressivelymore ssivelymore dissonan dissonantone dissonantonesasyougo. tonesasy sasyougo ougo. . Youcandothesamethingevenifthechorddoe oucandothesamethingevenifthechorddoesn’tsustainbutinsn’tsustainbutinsteadreappearsfrequently.. steadreappearsfrequently . Eachti Eac Eachtimethechordappears htime methechordappearsyoucould youcouldusea useadifferentscale. differen differentscale tscale. . Likely Likely candidatesforthistreatmentaremino candidatesforthistreatmentareminor(especiallyinmod r(especiallyinmodaltunes)anddomin altunes)anddominantchords. antchords. 5) Whentryingtodeterm When Whent try ryin ing gtodeterminewhichm inewhichmodeofafa odeofafamilytoapp milytoapply ly,youmayw ,youmaywanttofirstt anttofirsttrytheoneth rytheonethat at hasakeysignaturethatisclosesttothekeyof hasakeysignaturethatis closesttothekeyofthepiece. thepiece thepiece. . Theonetha Theo Theonethathastheclosestkeysignanethathasth thasthe eclosestkeysigna-

turewillhavethemostcommontoneswiththe turewillhavethemostcom montoneswiththeoriginalkeyandisoftenasafe originalkeyandisoftenasafebet. bet. 6) 6) Or,youmaywanttodo Or,y ,you maywanttodotheopposite theoppositeassuggeste assuggestedin5)andlookf  din5)andlookforopportu oropportunitiestohavem nitiestohavemore ore contrastingnoteseitherwiththeorigin contrastingnoteseitherwiththeoriginalkeyorwithadjacen alkeyorwithadjacentmodes. tmodes. 7) Evenifyouarenotagoodpia Even Eveni if fyo you uar arenotagoodpianist,someti nist,sometimesfindin mesfindingthebestmod gthebestmodechoicereq echoicerequiresgoingt uiresgoingtoa oa keyboard,findingthe keyboard,findingthechordsforyo chordsforyourlefthand, urlefthand,andnoodlin andnoodlingoverthech goverthechordswithyo ordswithyourright urright handuntilyoufindsome handuntilyoufindsomenotesthatsee notesthatseemtoworkand mtoworkandthentryingtoa thentryingtoanalyzewha nalyzewhatmodeitisthat tmodeitisthat youareusing. Thiswillapplyespeciallywh Thiswillapplyespeciallywhentryingtofin entryingtofindthebestmo dthebestmodestoapplyo destoapplyoveraprogre veraprogressionof ssionof chords. Thisisbecauseeventhough Thisisbecauseeventhoughone Thisisbecauseeventhoughonemodemayseemto one modemayseemtobeusableoveracertainchord,in beusableoveracertainchord,in thecontextoftheotherchordsanoth thecontextoftheotherchordsanothermodemaymake ermodemaymakemoresense. moresense.

Ch Cha hap apt ptteer er Ei Eiig gh ght htt::

Pr Pra rac act cti tic iccee S Sug Su ug gg ge ges est sttiiio on ons ns

WritingOutScales:

Whenyouarestartingoutasanimprovisoryouwilloftenhavetoplayasolousingscalesthatyou arenotcomfortab arenotcomfortablewithye arenotcomfortablewithyet. lewithyet. t. Thesolutiontothisistowriteoutthescalenearthe Thesolutiontoth Thesolutiontothisisto isistowriteoutthescalenearthechordsymbolor chordsymbolor onaseparatepieceofmanuscript. onaseparatepiece ofmanuscript. ofmanuscript. Ifyouaresomewhatbutnotentirelycomfortablewiththe Ifyouaresomewha Ifyouaresomewhat tbutnotentirelycomfortablewiththescales scales inapiece,onlywriteoutthenotesforthe inapiece,onlywrite outthenotesforthescalesthatyouarenot scalesthatyouarenotcomfortablewith. comfortablewi comfortablewith. th. Don’trelythe Don’trelythe Don’trelythe writtenscaleswhenyoudon’tneedto. Ifyouarefamiliarwithascalethatissimilartotheonethatyouwanttouse,writeonlythenotes thatyouarelessfamiliarwith. thatyouarelessfamiliarwit lessfamiliarwith. h. Agood Agoodexamplearethe examplearethelydianandlydian lydianandlydiandominantmodes. domina dominantmo ntmodes des. . You maybecomfortablewiththemajorandmixolydianscalesandthesescalesdifferfromthelydianand lydiandominantmodesbyone lydiandominantmodes byonenote;theraised note;theraisedfourthdegree. fourth fourthdegr degree. ee. Inthiscaseyoucan Inthisca Inthiscase seyoucanwritedownjust writedownjust theraisedfourthdegreetoremindyouwhichnoteisdifferentfromthemajorandmixolydianmodes.

WhenLearningaNewTypeofChordorScale:

1) 1) Learntoplaythe Learn to playthechord/scal chord/scaleinone einonekeyfirst. keyfirst. keyfirst. Arpeggiat Arpeg Arpeggiatechords giatechordsandplay andplaythescale thescalesoverthe soverthefull full rangeofyourinstrument(fullrangemaynotbenecessaryforpiano). 2) 2) Getfamiliarwit Get familiarwiththed hthedistanceb istancebetween etweeneachno eachnoteinth teinthesequen esequence. ce. Forexample,a Forexa Forexample,aminors minorseventh eventh chordhasaminor chordhasaminorthird,majorthird,minor third,majorthird,minorthird,majorsecond. third,majorsecond. third,majorsecond. Thedorian Thedorianmodegoes modegoes modegoes WhW WhW WWhW. Trytodothiswithoutmusicasyouaretryingtodevelopyourmusclememory,yourmental conceptandyourinnerear. conceptandyourinnerear . Thiswillhelpyou Thiswi Thiswillhelpyouwiththenextstep. llhelpyouwith withthenextstep. 3) 3) Learnthe Learnthecho chordan rdandsca dscalein leinall1 all12key 2keys. s. Startwithscalechartsifyouprefer,butworktowardsdoingthis Startwithscalechartsifyouprefer ,butworktowardsdoingthiswithoutwrittenmusic. withoutwrit withoutwrittenmusi tenmusic. c. Youcan Youcan usewrittenchordprogressionsorevenjusthandwrittenstartingnotesasbelow. Usecommon Usecommonsequentialpatternstogothrough sequentialpatternstogothroughallkeys. allkeys. Forexample, Forexample, A Assc sce cen end ndi din ing ng ch chr hro rom oma mat ati tic ica cal alllly ly A Assc sce cen end ndi din ing ng b by yw wh ho hol ole le sstte tep eps ps T Th h hrro rou ou ug gh gh tth he he cy cy yc cl cle le of of fi f if  ift f th ths hs De Des esc sce cen en nd di din ing ng ch chr hro rom om ma at attiic ica cal alllly ly De Des esc sce cen en nd di din ing ng b by yw wh ho hol ole le sstte tep eps ps By By mi min in no or or tth hi hir ird rds ds By By ma maj a jo jor or tth hi hir ird rd dss

C C C C C C C

C# C# D F B Bb Bb Eb Eb E

D E Bb Bb Bb Bb Ab Ab F# F# Ab Ab

Eb Eb F# F# Eb Eb A F# F# A Db Db

E Ab Ab Ab Ab Ab Ab E Db Db F

F Bb Bb Db Db G D E A

F# F# C# C# F# F# F# F# B G D

G Eb Eb B F A Bb Bb F# F#

Ab Ab F E E G D Bb Bb

A G A Eb Eb F F Eb Eb

Bb Bb A D D Eb Eb Ab Ab G

B B G Db Db Db Db B B

Atfirstyoumaywanttofocusonkeysthatyouarealreadyusinginyourcurrentbandbecause thosekeyswillhavethemostimmediateapplicability. thosekeyswillhavethe mostimmediate mostimmediateapplicab applicability. ility. Keepworkinginallkeysthoughbecause Keepworkingin Keepworkinginall allkeysthoughbecause

manypiecesmodulate manypiecesmodulatethroughava throughavarietyofkeys rietyofkeysoryoumayfin oryoumayfindthatyouha dthatyouhavetoplayafam vetoplayafamiliar iliar tuneinanunfamiliarkeyto tuneinanunfamiliarkeytoaccommo accommodateasinger dateasingerorabeginner orabeginner.. 4) 4) Exploretherel Explore therelationship ationshipbetween betweenvarious variouspitches pitchesofthe ofthescale. scale. scale. Particula Parti Particularlyimp cularlyimportantis ortantisthe the relationshipbetweeneachnoteandtherootofthescale. relationshipbetweeneachnoteandtherootof thescale. Forexample,thedorianmod Forexample,thedorianmodehas Forexample,thedorianmodehasa ehas a M2,m3P4,P5,m6andm7relativetotheroot. M2,m3P4,P5,m6andm7relativetotheroot. Playingthescaleinthirdsordoingother intervalicexerciseswillhelpwiththis. Thereasonforthisstepisthaty Thereasonforthisstepisthatyoudonotwa oudonotwanttoalwayssta nttoalwaysstartyoursoloon rtyoursoloontherootofthesc therootofthescale ale andyoudo andyoudonotwanttoalways notwanttoalwaysmovebystepsthroughthe movebystepsthroughthescale. scale. scale. Gettingfa Gett Gettingfamiliarwithallthe ingfamilia miliarwitha rwithallthe llthe intervalsinvolvedinthescalewillhelpfreeyo intervalsinvolvedinthescalewillhelpfreeyoufromtheselimitation ufromtheselimitationsandwillhelpwiththe sandwillhelpwiththe nextstep. 5) Findorcreateyourownm Find Findo or rcr crea eateyourownmelodicpat elodicpatternsthatuse ternsthatusethescaleand thescaleandsoundgood soundgoodoverthecho overthechord. rd. Practicetransposingthepatterntoall12keysusingthesequentialpatternsinstep3). Practicetransposingthepatterntoall12keys usingthesequentialpatternsinstep3). usingthesequentialpatternsinstep3). This accomplishesanumberofimportantthings: a) a) Helpstoreinfo Helps toreinforcethe rcethemental mentalconcept conceptofthe ofthenotesa notesavailable vailableineach ineachmode. mode. b) Ifthepatternclearlys Ift Ifthe he patt patteernclearlysupportsthe upportsthesoundqua soundqualityofthech lityofthechordandofth ordandofthemodebye emodebyemphasizi mphasizing ng chordtonesandcharacteristic chordtonesandcharacteristicscalenotesitwillhelpdevelo scalenotesitwillhelpdevelopyourinnerear’sco pyourinnerear’sconceptofthe nceptofthe qualitiesofthesoundofthechordandscale. c) Ifyouuseavarietyofp Ify Ifyou ouu use sea a varietyofpatternsitw atternsitwillfurtherh illfurtherhelptofreey elptofreeyoutochoos outochoosenotesothe enotesotherthanthe rthanthe rootasastartingnoteandtochooseintervals rootasastartingnoteand tochooseintervalsotherthanstepwise otherthanstepwisemotion. motion. d) d) Thepatternsthemse Thep epatte tternsthemselvesmaygi lvesmaygiveyousom veyousomethingto“f  ethingto“fallbackon” allbackon”whenyoue whenyouencountert ncounterthe he chordin chordinactualimprovisationsituations. actualimprovisationsituations. actualimprovisationsituations. The“fallingback The“fallingbackon”may on”mayhappensubconsciously happensubconsciously andflownaturallyoutofyo andflownaturallyoutofyouplayingan uplayingandmaynotne dmaynotnecessarilybe cessarilybeabadthing. abadthing. JerryCoker’sbook“PatternsforJaz JerryCoker’sbook“PatternsforJazz”isbasedonthisappro z”isbasedonthisapproachandinclud achandincludessomegoodpatessomegoodpatternstouse. Anothersourceistotranscribeapatternfrom Anothersourc Anothersourceistotranscribeapatternfromasolo,ortouse eistotranscribeapatternfrom asolo,ortouseanysolotranscripanysolotranscriptionandlookforinterestingpatternstoisolateandlearn. Youcanalsodevelopy Youcanalsodevelopyourownpatte ourownpatternstouse,bu rnstouse,butthedifficulty tthedifficultywillbethefactthat willbethefactthatyouarestill youarestill learningthisnewscalean learningthisnewscaleandyoumayha dyoumayhavesomedif vesomedifficultycreatin ficultycreatingsomethin gsomethingthatuseseno gthatusesenough ugh essentialcharacteristicsofthatscale essentialcharacteristicsofthatscalesothatthepatternwillhelpdev sothatthepatternwillhelpdevelopyourinnerea elopyourinnerear’sconr’sconceptofthesoundofthesca ceptofthesoundofthescaleandchor leandchord. d. Ontheotherhand,onerecomme Ontheotherhand,onerecommendedmethod ndedmethodfordeveloping fordevelopingyourimprovisa yourimprovisationalabilityisto tionalabilityisto regularlywritedownintere regularlywritedowninterestingideasth stingideasthatyoucome atyoucomeacross(you across(yourownorsome rownorsomeoneelse’sid oneelse’sidea)so ea)so thatyoucanbuildaownrepertoireofpattern thatyoucanbuildaownrepertoireofpatterns. thatyoucanbuildaownrepertoireofpatterns. s. Y Youthenneedtobeabletotaketheseideasand outhenneedtobeabletotaketheseideasand beabletousetheminallkeys,justlikethepracticepattern beabletousetheminallkeys, justlikethepracticepatternsabove. sabove. 6) Chordsrarelyexistiniso Chor Chords dsr rar arelyexistinisolation,sode lation,sodeterminesom terminesomelikelycho elikelychordsandscal rdsandscalestopreced estoprecedeand/or eand/or followthescalethatyouareworkingon,an followthescalethatyo uareworkingon,andthenfindordevelo dthenfindordeveloppatternstouseoverthe ppatternstouseovertheentire entire progression. progression. Forexample,tothemixolyd Forexample,tothemixolydianmode Forexample,tothemixolydianmodeyoucanaddthe ianmode youcanaddthemajorscale(aV majorscale(aV–Iprogres–Iprogression)orprecedeitwiththedo sion)orprecedeitwiththedorianmode(II rianmode(II–V)orboth(II–V– –V)orboth(II–V–I). I). 7) Ifyouhaveacomputer Ify Ifyou ouh hav ave ea acomputer,soundcard ,soundcard,speakersa ,speakersandsequenc ndsequencingsoftwa ingsoftwareoraccom reoraccompanimen panimentsofttsoftwarelikeBandinaBox,yo warelikeBandinaBox,youcancreate ucancreateordownload ordownloadvampsusin vampsusingprogressio gprogressionstopractice nstopracticewith. with.

CreateII–V,V–IandII–V–Ivamps, CreateII–V,V–IandII–V–Ivamps,firstinmajorandlaterinminor,andtr firstinmajorandlaterinminor,andtransposethemto ansposethemto allkeys. Or,gettogetherwithsomemusicianfriendsandtrythesamething. AnotheralternativeisthefirstfewplayalongissuesfromJameyAebersold. Anotheralternativeisthefirstfewplayalong issuesfromJam issuesfromJameyAeber eyAebersold. sold. Aebersoldhasan Aebersoldhas Aebersoldhasan an entireseriesofplayalongswithmusicinC,Bb,Ebandbassclefwithprofessionalmusicians doingaccompanime doingaccompaniments. doingaccompaniments. nts. Thefirstissuesaregoodfordevelopingthe Thefirstissuesare Thefirstissuesare goodfordevelopingthebasics,whilethebulk basics,whilethebulkofthe ofthe seriesisfordevelopingyourrepertoireandexpandingtherangeofyourplayingexperience.

ModeShifting:

Onceyou’vestartedtogainsomefamiliaritywithafewscales,youmaywanttotrymodeshiftingto getfamiliarwiththedifferencesbetweenmodes. Forexample,s Forexample,startby Forexample,startbyplayingaC7chord. tartbyplaying playingaC7chor aC7chord. d. Useametronometomakesureyouarekeepinggood Useametronom Useametronometomakes etomakesureyou ureyouare arekeepinggood time. time. ThenruntheC Thenrun ThenruntheCmixolydianmode. mixolydianmode. mixolydianmode. ThentrytheC ThentrytheClydiandominant. lydiandominant. lydiandominant. ThentheC ThentheCsuperlocrian, superlocrian, half-wholedim half-wholediminishe half-wholediminishedandwholetonescales. inishedandwhole dandwholetonescale tonescales. s. Trymixingtheorderbygoing Trymixing Trymixingtheorderbygoingmixolydian, mixolydian, superlocrian superlocrian,whole superlocrian,wholetone,oranyotherseries. ,wholetone,orany tone,oranyotherser otherseries. ies. Themostlogicalsequencestotryareby Themostlogicals Themostlogicalsequence equencesto stotryarebygoingfrom goingfrom lessdissonanttomoredissonantbutyoucanalsogothe lessdissonanttomoredissonantbutyou canalsogothereversedirection. reversedirecti reversedirection. on. Alsotryplayingeach Alsotryplayin Alsotryplayingeach geach modeinthirdsorfourths,ornoodlingwiththenbeforegoingtothenext modeinthirdsorfourths,ornoodlingwith thenbeforegoingtothenextscale. scale. scale. Trythesamething Trythe Trythe samething withthemajor,minorandhalf-diminishedfamiliesofscales. Whatyouaredevelopinghereisanunderstandingofhowthedifferentmodesrelateandcompareto eachother,whatnotesareincommon,whatisdifferent,andhowthequalityofthesoundchanges witheachdiffer witheachdifferentmode. witheachdifferentmode. entmode. Thiswillhelpyoutofindthenotesoflessfrequentlyused Thiswillhelpyou Thiswillhelpyouto tofindthenotesoflessfrequentlyusedmodeswhen modeswhen youneedthemandwillalsohelpyoutoknowwhereyouareheadingwhenyouwanttotrysubstitutingscales.

Transcribing:

Thisprocedureisimportantforlearningallaspectsof Thisprocedureisimportantfor learningallaspectsoftheartof theartofimprovisation,notjustscales. improvisatio improvisation,notjustsca n,notjustscales. les. The objectivehereistolearnwhatamasterimproviserhasdonewhileatthesametimedevelopingyour ownear-to-inst ownear-to-instrument ownear-to-instrumentconnection. rumentconnection connection. . Theear-to-instrumentconnectionhelpsyouto Theear-to-inst Theear-to-instrument rumentconnectionhelp connectionhelps syoutounderstandwhat understandwhat isgoingonaroundyouaswellastohelpyougetthethingsthatyouhearinyourheadoutthrough yourinstrument. Transcribesolosyourself. Transcribesolosyourself. yourself. Playing/analy Playing Playing/analyzingother /analyzin zingotherpeople’stranscriptionshas people’stranscriptionshasbenefitsbutdoes benefitsbutdoesnot not helpyoutointernalizethesoloortodeveloptheear-to-instrumentconnectionaswellastheprocess oftranscribingdoes. Sometipsandsuggestionsfortranscribing; a) a) Startwithless Start withlesscomplex complexsolosby solosbymusicians musicianswhopla whoplaythes ythesameinst ameinstrumenta rumentasyoud syoudo. o. Orstart Orst Orstart art byjusttranscribingheadstosongsthatyoudon’tknow byjusttranscribingheadstosongsthat youdon’tknow. . Headswillhave Heads Headswillhavefewernotes,simwillhavefewernot fewernotes,sim es,sim--

plerrhythmsan plerrhythmsandwill plerrhythmsandwillthereforebeeasiertotranscribe. dwilltherefo thereforebeeas rebeeasiertotr iertotranscri anscribe. be. Workyourwayuptomore Workyourwayuptomorecompliorkyourwayuptomorecomplicatedsolosandonesperformedonotherinstruments. b) b) Writeitdow Write itdownasy nasyougo. ougo. Thiswillhelp Thiswil Thiswillhelpyouto youtogoback gobackanddo anddoanalysis analysislater later.. c) Ifitgetsdifficul Ifit fitg get etss difficulttopindo ttopindown,findt wn,findthepitche hepitchesfirstand sfirstandthengob thengobackand ackandfindther findtherhythm. hythm. Writedownthenoteheadsandaddthestemsandbarlinesafterwards. d) Theeasiestwaytodot The easi easieestwaytodotheactualtr heactualtranscribing anscribingthesedays thesedaysistoconver istoconvertanaudiofi tanaudiofilefromyou lefromyourr CDintoastandardcomputersoundfile(.WAVforWindows)andthenuseasoundediting programsuchasCoolEditorGoldwavetoisolatesmallportionsofthesolosoyoucanlisten tothatportion tothatportionoverando tothatportionoverandoveragain. overandoveragai veragain. n. Ifthesoloisatafasttempoyoucanevenalterthesound Ifthesoloisat Ifthesoloisatafastte afasttempoyouc mpoyoucanevenal anevenalterthes terthesound ound filetoaslowertempowithoutchangingthepitchtomaketranscribingeasier. W Workingwithsmallfragmentsofasolomakesfindingpitcheseasierbutit orkingwithsmallfragmentsofasolomakesfindingpitcheseasierbutitalsomakes orkingwithsmallfragmentsofasolomakesfindingpitcheseasierbutit alsoma alsomakes kes defindefiningtherhythmmoredifficult,soyoumayhavetogetthepitchesfirstandgobackforthe rhythmasinc).

FinalThoughts:

Thisisobviouslynotacompletediscourseonjazztheoryorimprovisationasithasonlytouchedon thesubjectofharmonyandhasnotdiscussedrhythmormelody thesubjectofharmonyand hasnotdiscussedrhythmormelodyatall. atall. Thisisnotbecaus Thisis Thisisnotbecausethese notbecausethese ethese otherelementsarelessimportantbutbecausethisdiscoursewasspecificallyfocussedonscalesand modes. Infact,betweenrhythm,melodyandharmony,harmonyistheleastimportantelementofjazzimprovisation. provis provisation. ation. Itisentirelypossibletocreateavalidimprovisationwithcreativerhythmand Itisentirelypos Itisentirelypossibleto sibletocreate createavalidimprovisationwithcreativerhythmandmelody melody overstaticharmonyorwithoutpayingattentiontocorrectharmonyatall. overstaticharmonyorwithoutpaying attentiontocorr attentiontocorrectharmo ectharmonyatall. nyatall. Scales,anextensionof Scales,anextens Scales,anextensionof ionof harmony(scalescanbeviewedaschordtonesplusextensionsorchordstoneswithpassingtones), areevenlessimportantbutareoftenthefirstthingthatbeginningimprovisersfocuson. areevenlessimportantbutare oftenthefirst oftenthefirstthingthatbe thingthatbeginnin ginningimprovi gimprovisersfo sersfocuson. cuson. Partlythis Partlythis isbecauseifyouplayasolothatislimitedrhythmicallyandmelodicallybutyouuseallthe“right” notesitmaysoundboringbutatleastit notesitmaysoundbo ringbutatleastitdoesn’tsoundwrong. notesitmaysoundboringbutatleastitdoesn’tsoundwrong. doesn’tsoundwrong. Ifyouchangetotherightchordsat Ifyouchangetotherightchordsat Ifyouchangeto therightchordsat therighttimeatleastyousoundlikeyouknowwhereyouarewhereasifyoufocusonplaying interestinglinesbutdon’tmakethechangesyoumaysoundasifyouarelost. Also,themelodiccontourofanimprovisationislessrestrictedthanisrhythmandharmony,anditis easiertomakeuprhythmsthatfit(ie.intimeandwiththecorrectfeel)thanitistofindpitchesthat fit,sothereisatendencytostartwithandtofocusonharmonyandscaleswiththeassumptionthat rhythmicandmelodicdevelopmentwillcomelater rhythmicandmelodicdevelopment willcomelater. . Butw Bu Butwhywait? twhy hy wait? Spendsometime Spendsome Spendsometimeplayingby timeplayingby yourselfwithoutharmonicconsiderationsoroversinglelong yourselfwithoutharmonicconsiderationsor oversinglelongsustainedchords. sustainedchord sustainedchords. s. Ifyouconcern Ifyouconcern yourselftoomuchwithscalesyouwon’tpayenoughattentiontowhatyouandthemusiciansaround youaredoing,andyouwillhaveatendencytoplaytoomanynotes,tonotvaryyourrhythmsandto notleaveenoughspa notleaveenoughspace. notleaveenoughspace. ce. Gettingscalesunderyourfingerswillhelpyoutomake Gettingscales Gettingscalesunderyour underyourfingers fingerswillhelp willhelp youtomakethechanges,but thechanges,but developingagoodrhythmicandespeciallymelodicsensewillhelpyoutogivemeaningtothenotes thatyouareplaying.

Notation/Names:

Jazzhasamultitudeofnotationalandnamingconventionsforexactlythesamething. Jazzhasamultitudeofnotationalandnaming conventionsfor conventionsforexactlyth exactlythesamethin esamething. g. Forthe Forthe musicalelementsinthelefthandcolumnthisdiscourseusesthenamingconventioninthemiddle column. column. Commonalternativesareinthe Commonalternati Commonalternativesare vesareintherighthandcolumn. righthandcolumn.

Majorchord Minorchord Diminishedchord Halfdiminishedchord th

Dominant7 chordwith th th raised9 and5 Raiseddegree Raiseddegree Lowereddegree Lowereddegree Superlocrianmode Half-Wholediminished

Us Usse ed ed

O Ottth he her er n no o otta tat attiio io on n nss/  s /n / na na am m me es es

Maj m o 7#9#5

M, ∆ m miin in, n, Mi Min in D Diim im m7b5 Alt

# b ssu u up pe per erl rlo loc ocr cri ria ian an half-w half-who hole ledim dimin inish ished ed

+ aallt lte ter ere red ed, d, d diim imi min ini nis ish sh he ed ed w wh ho hol ole le tto on one ne 8 8no no note tedom domina inant nt

∅

References:(Incomplete) “Harmony”Piston,Walter “PatternsforJazz”,Coker,Jerryetal Aebersoldseries CoolEdit Goldwave “AJazzImprovisationPrimer”,Sabatella,Marc