1

Intervals

Scales
When you go out to buy a book on scales you'll probably end up with a true "thesaurus" in which literally dozens of different scales are given and explained. Who has the time to work through such a book? My guess is nobody. !n my "humble# opinion one only needs to know five different scales as a help for improvising. $n this page ! want to discuss these scales and their uses. %ou need to be familiar with terms like altered& octotonic& mixolydian etc.

The five "important" scales and their uses

!onian 'cale (entatonic 'cale $ctotonic 'cale Wholetone 'cale Minor Melodic 'cale )ebop 'cale

Ionian Scale
*he !onian is the "first" scale of the church+scales. !f you're not familiar with the term church+scales don't worry about it. *he !onian scale is also called the major+scale. !t is the most common scale and probably known by every musician "and probably a lot of non+musicians# on the globe. !n C this scale would go like this CDEFGAB %ou can use this scale "C+ionian# on the following chords + Cmaj7/F6 *his gives you a very natural sound on this chord, be careful though with the "F#. +Fmaj7/F6 !f you use the C+ma-or scale on Fmaj!7 you accomplish a l"dian sound. *his is more modern. When you try to do this keep the tonic of the chord "F in this case#& not the tonic of the scale in mind as your bass. *his makes sure you get a F#l"dian sound in stead of "playing a C+ma-or scale on Fmaj7". + Dmin7 *his accomplishes the sound of a Dorian scale. !n other words when you play a .+ma-or scale on a Dmin7 from D to D you are in fact playing a D#dorian scale. /gain keep the D as your modal "focus". "*o give an other example on A$min7 the "right" scale would be G$+ma-or#.

Pentatonic Scale
*he pentatonic scale is probably the scale with the most uses. 'ince the scale only consists of five notes "penta0five# it is very compatible. 1ot only for inside playing "playing inside the chords# but for outside playing as well. 1ow& on this page ! will confine myself to the uses for playing inside the chords. Mayby in the future ! will dedicate a page to various "outside+techni2ues". Most people make a difference between the major and the minor pentatonic scale. $f course you can practice both& but it might be easier to realise that due to the "parallel+key phenomenon" every major pentatonic scale is the same as the minor pentatonic scale of the parallel key. 3or example C#major 0 A#minor& E#major 0 C%&D$'#minor and F#major 0 D#minor. 'o ! would say practice either the ma-or or the minor pentatonic scales and learn the parallel keys44 3or the examples ! will take a C#major pentatonic scale "0A#minor pentatonic scale#. *his scale

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consists of the following notes CDEGA %ou can use this C#major pentatonic scale on the following maj7 or 6 chords + Cmaj7/C6 1ormal sound. + Fmaj7/F6 1ormal sound& but this time you are avoiding the root "which to me sounds better4# + B$maj7/B$6 5ydian sound. 6ery nice& but be sure to use this with taste. %ou can also use the C#major pentatonic scale on the following min6/min(aj7 chords + Amin6/Amin(aj7 /lthough the scale contains a b7 it still sounds very natural. + Gmin/Gmin(aj7 *he scale is harmonically correct, it can however sound really terrible& because the sixth and the ninth are there& but the third is missing. !t can also sound 2uite "hip" though& if you use the scale as a outside+scale "but you'd have to be an experienced player for that4#. %ou can also use the C#major pentatonic scale on the following min!7 chords + Amin7 1ormal sound. + Dmin7 'omewhat more modern. + Gmin7 Most modern of the three choices on Gmin7. "!f you would transpose the two example above for Gmin7 you would get B$ pentatonic and F pentatonic and of course C pentatonic with B$ being the least modern and C the most modern.# %ou can also use the C#major pentatonic scale on the following dominants + C7 1ormal& almost old fashioned sound. + F%7 /ltered sound b8& b9:. + A7 'trictly spoken this is a b9; sound& but ! recommend using it on a blues. !n this case that would be a blues in A. %ou can also use the C#major pentatonic scale on the following sus& ' chords + D7sus 1ormal sound. + G7sus 'omewhat more modern.

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+ C7sus ! consider this most modern& because in this case the used scale is not representing the chord you're actually playing a normal third now4

Octotonic Scale
*he octotonic scale finds its name in the ei)ht tones the scale consists of. *he scale is built in a very orderly fashion first the root& then a half step up& a whole step up& a half step& a whole step etc. 'ome people call this scale the diminished scale& but ! make a little difference between the two. 3or me& the octotonic scale starts with a half step up after the root& whereas the diminished scale starts with a *hole step up after the root. 'o the octotonic scale in C would be C D$ E$ E F% G A B$ /nd the diminished scale of C would be C D E$ F F% G% A B !n other words the octotonic scale of C consists of the same notes as the diminished scale of D$. <ue to the structure of this scale you can only built three different scales. $f course one could argue that there are in fact twelve octotonic scales& but the only difference between let's say the C+ octotonic and the E$+octotonic is its "starting+point"& the notes are all the same. 'o& to keep things simple -ust practice the octotonic scales of C& D$ and D and you've practiced them all44 3or the examples again ! will take the C+octotonic scale. %ou can use this scale on the following chords + C7& E$7& G$7 and A7 %ou accomplish a pure octotonic sound b8& 9:. + D$dim& Edim& Gdim and B$dim *his accomplishes the most natural "but maybe not the most "hip"# sound on these diminished chords.

Wholetone Scale
*he wholetone scale like the octotonic scale is built in a very orderly fashion from the root a whole step up& a whole step up& a whole step up etc. $f course that's why the scale is called a wholetone scale. <ue to this structure you can only built two different scales. 'o& practice the wholetone scale of C and D$ and again you've practiced them all4 *he C+wholetone scale again serves as the example scale C D E G$ A$ B$ %ou can use this scale on the following chords + C7& D7& E7& G$7& A$7 and B$7 %ou accomplish a pure wholetone sound 8& b9:

Minor Melodic Scale

*his is no doubt the scale ! use the most, ! -ust love it. 1ot only does it sound great& it also gives

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you insight in a otherwise complex considered theoretical sub-ect44 *he minor melodic scale is in fact nothing else but a !onian scale with a minor third. 'o in C you would get C D E$ F G A B %ou can use the C+minor melodic scale scale on the following chords + Cmin6/min(aj7 6ery natural sound. + Cmin7 *heoretically this is not "right"& because the chord has a minor 7 in it and the scale a major 7& but if you consider the major 7 in the scale as a passing tone or a lead tone to C it sounds great4 !n fact ! use this scale more often than the C+dorian scale "which is the same as a B$+ionian scale4# + Amin7$+ *heoretically the best choice for this chord4 + F7 Mixolydian=99 sound. 6ery nice4 + B7 /ltered sound. *his is in fact the altered scale you're using now4 1ow for the theoretical sub-ect ! was talking about. !f you take all the chords this scale fits too except for the Cmin7 you can make the following rule Cmin6/Cmin(aj7 0 Amin7$+ 0 F7mi,o%-- 0 B7alt. %es4 *hese chords are all the same& only the bass+note& the root is different. *his "rule" is extremely handy when it comes to voicing the different chords one voicing fits all.

Bebop Scale
*he bebop scale was to my sources first analysed by <avid )aker "!'m not sure though& so don't hold it against me if it proves wrong#. >e has written an excellent paper on this sub-ect. !f you really want to practice all the possibilities ! advice you to get a copy of that paper "! don't know the name#. *here are two different bebop scales. $ne is for maj7+chords and one for dominants. )oth scales are extremely usefull in bebop because of their flowing character. *he scales are meant to be played in a descending fashion and in eighth+notes or sixteenth+notes "double time#. *he first note of the scale should be played on a downbeat. ! will -ust give you the scales so you can experiment with them. Cmaj7 bebop scale C B A A$ G F E D &C' C7 &dominant' bebop scale C B B$ A G F E D &C' )oth scales when started on the "one" of a bar and when played in eight notes will exactly last one bar. *he C between brackets will be on the "one" of the new bar. /gain there are lots of different possibillities and "tricks" using this scale. *ry your local music shop for the <avid )aker book4 Well& that's it44 My rendition of the important scales. ! truly believe that knowing these scales in every key and knowing all the possibilities will carry you a long way when it comes to scales. $f course using a scale in a interesting and "-azzy" manner is a whole different story. Maybe some day a page on that too will appear on the ?azz @esource .enter 4

Modes/Scales

When musicians talk about modes in jazz, they often mean the seven modes based on the major scale. I prefer to think of each mode as a scale in its own right, however to learn the concept there is nothing wrong with taking a major scale and making each note in turn the tonic of a mode. Modes are used in Modal Jazz, which is not covered in this course, but knowledge of modes can also sometimes be useful for learning to improvise over chord changes. It is important to realise that this approach should only be used as a preliminary to learning to improvise melodically. et!s look at modes in two ways, relative and parallel"

1) Relative
#he simplest way to understand relative modes is to start with the major scale of $, but instead of beginning and ending on the note $, begin on each degree of the scale in turn to create a different mode"

e% &a" 'elative modes.

2) Parallel
(lthough the above modes are based on the same notes as the $ major scale, they each function as a different key in their own right and the starting note of the mode, not the relative major scale, is the root note. )g the *orian mode starting on * +using all the same notes as $ major, is a * *orian not a $ *orian. -imilarly the *orian mode starting on $ +which would use the same notes as .b major, is a $ *orian, not a .b *orian. If we take one key centre +ie one note, and base different modes on it using that note as the root we get parallel modes. In other words the *orian mode starting on the note $ is parallel to the $ major +Ionian mode, and all the other modes starting on $.

e% &b" /arallel modes It is important to learn both approaches. Initially it may be easier to think of the 0 modes relatively as above, e.g in relation to a major scale, but a more musical approach is to learn the actual se1uence of intervals that make up each mode. In other words a *orian mode functions purely as a scale by itself, not a relative of the major that starts on the second degree. ( good e%ercise is to write out and learn all the modes in all keys as relative and parallel. earn the intervals between each step of the different modes" + #2#one, -2-emitone, Ionian 2 ##-###- +in semitone intervals 3343334, Dorian 2 #-###-# +3433343, etc.

and learn to sing them using +moveable doh, solfege Ionian2 *5 ') MI 6( -5 Dorian2 *5 ') M(W 6( -5 ( #I *5 ( #(W *5

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CHORDS
CHORD SYMBOLS
.elow is a list of the most common chord types with alternative symbols" #he symbols in red are recommended as some of the others can be confusing +especially 7 for minor and alt for altered forms of 8 and 49. #he triangle symbol can be useful for major0 +: or :0, when in a hurry, but be careful as it can sometimes look like a badly drawn o, #he capital M for major 0 can also be confused for lower case m. Cmaj7 Cm7 Cm maj7 C7 Co (7) C7 C9 C11 C7 sus4 C13 C7 C7 b5 C7 !11 C7 b9 C7 !9 C7 b1" C7 b9 b13 C7 b1" b13 C13 !11 $0 aug $0 7& $0 >44 $0 78 $0 >8 $0 74@ $0 alt $0 alt $49 >44 $0>& ;m0<$ Cma7 Cmin7 Cmin ma7 Cm7 b5 C dim (7) $: or $:0 $70 $ 7 :0 Cmin7 b5 $7 $M0

$ major 0 $ minor 0 $ minor major 0 $ half diminished $ diminished +0, $0 $8 $44 $0 suspended =th $49 $0 augmented $0 flat &th $0 ?44 $0 flat 8th $0 sharpened 8th $0 flat 4@th $0 flat 8th flat 49th $0 flat 4@th flat 49th $49 sharp 44th

#$%IC C&'RD %()#'*% $+D ,&-IR )-$+I+.

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M or Maj

major chord

M7 or Maj7 major se e!"h chord m or m#! m#!or chord

m7 or m#!7 m#!or se e!"h chord 7 m7$5 d#m d#m7 ' or (5 ,5 or $5 s)s 4 -m7./ -m'M7 dom#!a!" se e! chord m#!or se e!"h %&a" 5 or ha&% d#m#!#shed d#m#!#shed d#m#!#shed se e!"h a)*me!"ed or shar+ %# e %&a""ed %#%"h s)s"a#!ed or s)s+e!ded %o)r"h -m7 0#"h $ass / - m#!or chord +&)s Major se e!"h

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A3@@& /ete #homas

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16 B-S1C CHORDS
#he most basic chord formation is a triad, consisting of the root, 9rd and &th.

e% 4a" $ major +triad, Jazz rarely uses triads" chords usually have at least four notes so the diatonic 0th is added +e% 4b,. (dded notes beyond the 0th are called upper e%tensions We shall be looking at chord types in two ways" (. (s chords functioning diatonically within a key .. (s different types of chords based on one root, which can function in various keys

$) C/ords 0un1tionin2 diatoni1all3 4it/in a major 5e36

e% 4b" *iatonic chords of $ major B... ( Cth is an alternative to the major 0th on chords I and ID. #his usually occurs when either" a) the Cth is the melody note, or b) when the root is the melody note +to avoid a semitone interval between melody note and 0th. Bote" this semitone interval is fine when it is between inside parts of an inversion of a chord, (s you can see diatonic four7note chords in a major key fall into four different categories"

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Chord chords I and ID chord D chords II, III and DI chord DII Symbol major 0 +dominant, 0 minor 0 Defining Intervals contains major 9rd and major 0th contains major 9rd and minor 0th contains minor 9rd and minor 0th

half diminished +minor 0 b&, contains minor 9rd, a diminished flattened, &th and minor 0th

It is important to learn all diatonic chords in all keys. Esing the roman numeral system helpsF e.g. chords II, III and DI in any major key are always minor 0 chords.

Roman +umeral (R+) anal3sis6

#his is a common way of analyzing the harmony of a tune. Instead of 1uoting the actual chord symbols +*m0 7 ;0 7$maj0,, it can be useful to use the roman numerals along with the type and e%tension of the chord. +IIm0 7 D0 7 Imaj0,. #his helps to memorise short chord progressions in any key. I would advise against using lower case for minor 0 +e.g. ii0 7 D0 7 I, as this can be misleading. #his can become more comple% as many jazz tunes consist of short temporary modulations, known as key centres. #his will be discussed later.

#) Di00erent t37es o0 1/ords based on one root6

e% 4c" basic chords" Chord type Major 0 *ominant 0 Minor 0 Galf diminished +minor 0 flat &, Possible functions in different keys I of $, ID of ; D of 6 II of .b, III of (b, DI of )b DII of *b

#here are two further basic chord types that are not diatonic in a major key but are also very important" 4. #he diminished 0 chord +e% 4c73,. It is not always necessary to write the 0 in the chord symbol, it is assumed that all diminished chords are four note chords rather than triads. 3. #he augmented chord. +e% 4c79, . In jazz this is nearly always a dominant 0 chord with an augmented &th so it is best to refer to it as a 0 augmented +(s in $0 augmented,.

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Bote that 0 on its own always means a dominant 0 type chord, a major 0 isalways denoted major or one of its abbreviations. #he table in e% 4d shows some alternative spellings for chord symbols. 5nly symbols in red font are recommended for clarity $ major 0 $0 $ minor 0 $ half diminished +minor 0 b&, $ diminished 0 $0 augmented Cmaj7 C7 Cm7 C7 Co (7) C7 Cmin7 Cm7 b5 C dim (7) $0aug $0>& $>0 $70 Cmin7 b5 $7 $70 b& Cma7 $: $M0

e% 4d" alternative spelling of chord symbols. With the e%ception of tritone substitutes and diminished scales and arpeggios, correct enharmonic spelling is necessary, e.g. the 0th degree of a . major scale is (? not .b, the 9rd of )b minor is ;b not 6?.

CHORD 2RO/R3SS1O4S
(part from blues and early jazz progressions, the traditional I7ID7D se1uence is not common in jazz. 5ne of the most basic chord progressions is I7DI7II7D +e% 3a,.

e% 3a +Ima07DIm07IIm07D0, (s in classical harmony there are 9 main areas" tonic, subdominant and dominant. It can be useful to think of tonic as home, subdominant as away from home and dominant as returning home. 1) ,oni1 area #he tonic area obviously includes chord I, but also includes chord III and sometimes chord DI. #he chords are similar because their roots are a diatonic third away from chord I +three out of the four notes of these chords are the same as those in chord I,. *iatonic root movement of a 9rd is therefore seen as a weak progression. $hord III is often used as a substitute for chord I. 2) %ubdominant area #raditionally this is chord ID but also includes chord II and sometimes chord DI. $hord DI is a diatonic 9rd away from chord I and chord ID hence it can be seen either as tonic or subdominant, depending on conte%t. In jazz the II chord is more common than the ID chord as a subdominant, but it also functions very commonly as a lead in to the dominant D chord. ID is very common as a subdominant in blues.

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3) Dominant area $hord D and chord DII. #he dominant 1uality of a chord is usually defined by thetritone +flattened &th, interval which creates what is traditionally thought of as a dissonance or a need to resolve to a chord that sounds more at rest +e% 3b,. #he DII is rarely used as a dominant.

e% 3b" 'esolution of tritone.

S3CO4D-RY DOM14-45S
$onventionally a secondary dominant is a D0 of D0 chord" in the key of $, instead of preceding ;0 by *m0, the ;0 is preceded by *0 7 the dominant chord in the key of ;. (n actual modulation does not occur because the ; is not a tonic, it is a ;0 and therefore functioning in the key of $ +e% 3c,. In this case it is created by chromatically altering the 9rd of the *m0 chord from minor to major.

e% 3c" -econdary dominant" chord II0 +D0 of D, In practice any chord that is not a tonic chord can be preceded by a secondary dominant. When analysing this progression we call it II07D07I. 6rom this it is obvious that the II chord is a dominant 0th rather than a minor 0th, which would have been called IIm0. If we look again at a I7DI7II7D se1uence we could instead create a secondary dominant of the IIm0 by chromatically altering the DIm0 to DI0. It is e%tremely common to alter the DI chord in this way" one advantage of changing m0 chords to secondary dominants is that there are more interesting sounding e%tensions and alterations available on dominant 0th chords.

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e% 3d" -econdary dominant of II It is also very common in jazz to use chord III as a substitute for chord I +see #onic (rea,

e% 3e" -ubstitution of chord III for chord I (lthough they never actually resolve, the )m0 and (0 could be also viewed as IIm0 D0 in the key of *. In this case the 9rd scale degree of the tonic is not present in either chord so the key centre could actually be either * major or * minor. 6or now we shall consider thisalternative key centre to be * major. ooking at it like this, there are two ways to describe the progression in e% 3e using 'B analysis" +a, C6 IIIm07DI07IIm07D07Ima0 etc. +b, D6 IIm07D0 C6 IIm07D07Ima0 etc. Method +a, defines all the chords in their relationship to the key of the tune. Method +b, defines the chords in their relationship to the key centres +* and $, for each II7D progression. (lthough theoretically method +a, is the correct analysis 7 (0 is a secondary dominant" it precedes *m0 which is functioning in the key of $ so the progression does not actually modulate 7in practice method +b, can often be more useful to the improviser +-ee Modes, ( secondary dominant can have its own secondary dominant. We could take a diatonic IIIm07DI07IIm07D0 se1uence and make all the minor 0 chords secondary dominants.

e% 3f" +4, *iatonic III7DI7II7D se1uence +3, Minor 0 chords replaced by secondary dominantsH

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B... #hese chords are voiced to allow the top and inside parts to move smoothly. +$ompare the root position voicing in e%. 3c, d and e,. #his type of voicing is typical of horn parts or right hand piano voicing. ( bass part or left hand would normally supply the roots.
A3@@& /ete #homas

M14OR H-RMO4Y
It is possible to build diatonic chords on each degree of any of the modes, as with the major scale"

e% Ca" *orian mode diatonic harmony Iou will remember from Modes that the *orian, /hrygian and (eolian modes are minor, i.e. the interval between the root and 9rd degree is a minor third, hence the chord based on the 4st degree of the scale is a minor chord. #he (eolian mode +sometimes called the natural minor, can be e1uated with the harmonic minor scale. Bote that in this mode the chords on I, ID and D are all minor. +)%" Cc,

e% Cc" (eolian #he difference between the (eolian and harmonic minor is that the 0th degree of the harmonic minor is raised a semitone to provide a leading note, i.e. a semitone leading from the 0th to Jth degree of the scale, which supplies a satisfying perfect cadence"

e% Cd" (eolian and harmonic minor cadences showing the raised leading note. It is very important to play this on a keyboard to listen for the differences between the modal and leading note cadence

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We can see in e% Cd how the raised 0th in the harmonic minor allows for a conventional D7I cadence, where the D chord is a dominant 0th rather than a minor 0th. If the harmonic minor scale is used melodically the augmented second interval between the Cth and 0th creates an e%otic middle eastern flavour. #his is not the case with the melodic minor as it also has a raised Cth which makes it a closer relation to the *orian mode. +e% Ce,. In jazz this form of the melodic minor is used both ascending and descending.

e% Ce" *orian and melodic minor cadences. #o understand conventional +non modal, minor harmony we need to build chords on the harmonic and<or melodic minor scales as we did with the major scale in e% 4b. Bote that there are two possibilities for the root of the DI chord, depending on whether the harmonic or melodic scale is used.

)% Cf" Dariations in minor harmony (part from the fact that this is rather comple%, we have an unsatisfactory situation here. #he alterations to the Cth and 0th degrees of the scales were made for melodic not harmonic considerations. Esing these scales to create chords is unsatisfactory in some cases, so in practice alternatives are borrowed from modal minor harmony, usually the *orian or (eolian" 4. $hord I. #he major 0th is fine in some cases but the leading note is harmonically unnecessary and can sound slightly dissonant or too sophisticated for certain styles. It also clashes unpleasantly if there is a tonic in the melody.

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5ther chords that can be used for chord I in a minor key are Im +triad,, ImC +from *orian or melodic minor, or Im0 +from *orian, 7 see e% Ch. $hord II. #he harmonic minor version +half diminished, is usually more satisfactory. $hord III. #he leading note +. natural, is ungainly and unnecessary as the chord is rarely if ever used as a cadential chord. ( .b +*orian or (eolian, is usually better. $hord ID. )ither chord is suitable. #he minor 0th gives more of a minor flavour, but the dominant 0th on the ID is common, especially in latin jazz or jazz rock se1uences with 3 chords repeated, e.g. $min0<60<. $hord D. 'aised 0th is good as it allows for the conventional D07I cadence. $hord DI. )ither chord can be used, depending on the preceding or following chords. #he harmonic minor chord sounds more modal. $hord DII. $ould be either but the harmonic minor version +diminished, is more common. #he DII chord is sometimes used as an alternative to a D chord and the diminished 0th makes a more satisfactory cadence in a minor key.

3. 9. =. &. C. 0.

(lthough this appears more comple% than major harmony it allows for a great deal of variety. #o simplify we could use a combination of chords based on harmonic minor harmony with some borrowed modal chords.

e% Cg" Minor harmony with some borrowed modal chords. (s mentioned above there are several possibilties for tonic chords in a minor key +e% Ch,.

e% Ch" #onic minor chords. +Bote that in a mC chord the added Cth is always a majorCth,. In jazz earlier than the C@s a minor 0 is rarely used as a tonic minor and should be not be used +to avoid confusion with IIm0,. Melodic and stylistic considerations need to be taken into account when choosing which type of tonic minor chord to use. +)g. m maj0 and mC may sound too sophisticated or too old fashioned in some styles,. 8/en usin2 R+ anal3sis a minor triad9 m: or m maj7o0ten indi1ate a minor toni19 7 useful for locating new key centres. +mC or minor triad could be chord ID, of a minor key, but if so this will be obvious by the presence of a minor tonic nearby, It is important to show which root the DI and DII chords are based on when doing an 'B analysis in a minor key"

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Chord DI chord whose root is a minor si%th above the tonic DI chord whose root is a major si%th above the tonic DII chord whose root is a minor seventh above the tonic DII chord whose root is a major seventh above the tonic RN bDI DI bDII DII