At the sight of a chord symbol, the player needs to have an instant response:. With the combination of visual and auditory memory, the player should be able to start playing on the scale immediately without having to actively think about the mechanics involved. The goal is to imprint the shape and sound of the scales in our memory, and also to have a variety of ways to group the notes of the scale, which will come in handy when we want to make melodies.
We also have to learn how to comfortably start playing on a scale without having to start with the root note every time. Practice Tip: When learning new chord scales for a tune, do not allow yourself to cheat.
Learning the vocabulary now will allow you to better express yourself later. When learning new chord scales for a tune, do not allow yourself to cheat. This becomes important when choosing which one to use on a harmony.
Question: What scale should you use if the chord symbol is for a major chord, say Cmaj7? The difference between these two versions of the chord scale is just one note, the 4th degree of the scale. Answer: There are two places where you can look for the answer to this question. In reality, all the players in an ensemble are following a similar process; making decisions about what is the most appropriate chord scale for each harmony. And, like our examples, they are looking for the notes in question to decide which scales are the best choices.
Most of the time, the choice is fairly obvious and can be determined in an instant. In that case, you can either choose which one you like or check to see what scale the other musicians are using for the harmony.
The purpose here is not to necessarily get all of the jazz scales correct the first time through. For example, Dorian, Aeolian, Phrygian and Locrian can all be characterised as types of minor scale, as the third degree of each is flattened. This one obviously works on most major chords, but you can also use it in a broader approach to a section of music that sticks to a given major key centre. The Lydian is like a major scale but with a raised fourth, which gives it an even brighter sound.
You can also play a Lydian scale on major chords in more functional settings to create a distinctive, brighter sound. When becoming familiar with these modes it may be easier at first to think of each one in relation to its parent scale. For example, Lydian is the fourth mode of the major scale, so if I want to play the A flat Lydian mode I work out the notes by first thinking of E flat major, its parent scale, to find the key signature.
But it may ultimately be more useful to try to think of each mode as a separate entity with its own sound. Why not try to sing a Lydian scale, then play it through all the keys? Then do the same with the other modes. But melodic minor-derived harmony crops up frequently in standard jazz repertoire. The descending version is typically an Aeolian scale, aka the natural minor.
This is like a Mixolydian scale with a raised fourth, or a Lydian scale with a flattened seventh. The altered scale is the most extreme example of this: it contains a flattened ninth, a raised ninth, a major third, a flattened fifth, a flattened thirteenth, and flattened seventh. The harmonic minor scale is notable for its distinctive jump of a minor third between its sixth and seventh degrees, although its first mode is not used that frequently in jazz improvisation.
Its fifth mode — so the notes of C harmonic minor starting on G, for example — is sometimes called the Spanish Phrygian, or the Phrygian Dominant. I also recommend you check out several other jazz scale lessons on this site here. Major Scales : A simple guide to scales that work over major chords and major chord progressions. Minor Scales : A simple guide to scales that work over minor chords.
But, a thorough knowledge of the scales below will allow you to properly navigate many of the common changes and progressions found in the standard jazz repertoire. You can start learn by watching this video taught by Steve Nixon. The scale is built by taking the Mixolydian scale, the 5th mode of the major scale, and adding in a passing note between the b7 and R to produce an eight-note scale. When applying this scale or licks derived from this scale, you can use it to improvise over a dominant 7th chord, such as any 7th chord in a Blues progression.
For more examples of this scale, I highly recommend you check out this dominant bebop scale video lesson and this bebop lick video lesson. Dominant 7th chords are found in many tunes in the jazz repertoire and some would say the 7th chord is the foundation of the traditional jazz sound.
So, learning the Dominant Bebop Scale will provide and essential improvisation tool for any jazz musician. In this case, we are taking a Dorian mode , the second mode of the major scale, and adding in a passing note between the b7 and R to produce an eight-note scale.
The Minor Bebop Scale can be used to improvise in many different musical situations. The m7 chords in a minor blues progression, or the iim7 chord in a iim7-V7-Imaj7 progression will work great with it! Because of this, it is an important scale to master as you will be able to apply it to many of the jazz standards you already know.
Apply both of these scales used in jazz to your improvising. It will go a long way in building up your piano jazz scales toolkit, your jazz theory knowledge, as well as helping you outline chord changes at the same time.
Just like the previous two Bebop scales, this scale is based on the first mode of the major scale, with an added note between the fifth and major 6th intervals to produce an eight-note scale. This scale can be used to improvise over any Maj7 chord, using your ears and tastes as your guide as to when and where you want to apply this sound.
A good exercise to work on this, and the previous two Bebop Scales, is to work up a iim7-V7-Imaj7 vamp in one or more keys. If you are just beginning to explore these sounds then you might want to make each chord longer that one bar. Maybe start with four bars of iim7, four bars of V7 and 8 bars of Imaj7, then work your way down to one bar each from there. This will help you to apply these different Bebop sounds in your solos, as well as learn how to outline each change in a ii-V-I at the same time.
The Harmonic Minor Bebop Scale is similar to the first three scales we looked at, in that it is an eight-note scale with a passing tone. In this case it is built by adding a note between the b7and root of the 5th mode of the Harmonic Minor Scale. Because this scale is built off of the Harmonic Minor Scale, it can be used to improvise over the iim7b5 and V7alt chords of a iim7b5-V7alt-im7 progression. Because we tend to spend more time practicing our major key progressions, having a good grasp of this scale can go a long way in bringing our minor key soloing up to the same level.
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