10 Jazz Scales You Should Know Part 1

10 Jazz Scales You Should Know (Part 1)
Posted on by Steve Nixon

Do you want to learn
more about jazz
scales?
Congratulations
youve come to the
right place.
This jazz scales article and many others on this site
will help you!
Musicians love scales. We really do!
They sit nicely on our instruments, they are easy to
play over changes, and many of us have been playing
them for years and years.
Early on in our development most of us probably
learned to play the the major scale, maybe its modes,
and possibly the minor blues scales.
This is usually passable enough for classical, pop,
and some rock songs.
But Theres More Music To Learn
Unfortunately, we are often stuck when we begin to
explore scales within the context of jazz music.
Herbie Hancock, Charlie Parker, and Wes
Montgomery arent just going up and down major
scales right?
How do we get the sounds we hear our favorite jazz
musicians playing?
Scale Exploration
In the first part of this article series, we will explore
essential scales that every jazz musician should
check out.
This will help you expand your playing beyond minor
pentatonic/blues scales and the modes of the major
scale.
I also recommend you check out several other jazz
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1 von 10 22.05.2014 18:11
Major Jazz Scales : A simple guide to scales that work
over major chords and major chord progressions.
Minor Jazz Scales : A simple guide to scales that work
over minor chords.
The Altered Scale If youre looking for more of an
advanced jazz scale you can use over dominant chords
this is the lesson for you!
Now, no scale will make you sound jazzy on its
own.
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.
Now, on to the scales in this article!
1. Dominant Bebop Scale
You can start learn by watching this video taught
by Steve Nixon
(click to expand)
Interval Structure: R M2 M3 P4 P5 M6 m7 M7 R
How To Apply
The Dominant Bebop Scale is one of the most
commonly used and important scales in the
jazz musicians bag of tricks.
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mode of the major scale, and adding in a passing note
between the b7 and R to produce an eight-note scale.
If youve started to check out transcriptions or licks by
Charlie Parker, Pat Martino, George Benson or Mike
Stern, youll have come across this scale in the lines of
these great players.
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.
Or even the V7 chord in a iim7-V7-Imaj7 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.
2. Minor Bebop Scale
(click to expand)
Interval Structure: R M2 m3 P4 P5 M6 m7 M7 R
How To Apply
Just like its cousin the Dominant Bebop Scale, the
Minor Bebop Scale is derived from a mode of the major
scale.
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
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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.
Youll also be to apply it to ones that youll learn as you
continue your development as a jazz musician.
How Do You Practice Minor Bebop Scales?
A great way to practice this scale is to set up a iim7-V7
vamp in one or more keys.
Then, practice improvising using the Minor Bebop
Scale over the iim7 chord, followed by the Dominant
Bebop Scale over the V7 chord.
Being able to apply both of these scales to
your improvising will go a long way in building up
your jazz guitar vocabulary as well as helping
you outline chord changes at the same time.
3. Major Bebop Scale
(click to expand)
Interval Structure: R M2 M3 P4 P5 m6 M6 M7 R
How To Apply
To finish up the major-scale based Bebop scales, we
have the Major Bebop Scale.
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 yourguide as to
when and where you want to apply this sound.
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a iim7-V7-Imaj7 progression though.
(Heres a bonus video lesson that demonstrates the
major bebop scale)
How Do You Practice Major Bebop Scales?
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.
As you improvise over these chords, use the Minor
Bebop Scale to blow over the iim7 chord, the Dominant
Bebop Scale over the V7 chord and the Major Bebop
Scale over the Imaj7.
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.
4. Harmonic Minor Bebop Scale
(click to expand)
Interval Structure: R m2 M3 P4 P5 m6 m7 M7 R
How To Apply
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.
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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.
Tips For Practicing The Harmonic Minor
Bebop Scale
When practicing this scale, you can set up a iim7b5-
V7alt-im7 vamp, and use this scale to improvise over
the iim7b5 and V7alt chords.
Start from the the root of the V7alt chord over both.
So, if you are improvising over a Dm7b5-G7alt
progression, you would play the G Harmonic Minor
Bebop Scale over both of those chords.
Then, when you get to the im7 chord, you
could improvise using the Minor Bebop Scale, training
your ears and fingers to mix these two sounds together.
For a number of great licks using this scale, check out
Clifford Browns solo on A Night in Tunisia. Clifford
was a master with this sound and his solo on this tune
is chalk full of great ideas on how to blow using this
scale.
( On a related note if you love Clifford then you
should also check out this Clifford Brown jazz lick)
5. Lydian Dominant Scale
(click to expand)
Interval Structure: R M2 M3 A4 P5 M6 m7 R
How To Apply
When exploring the Melodic Minor Scale and its various
modes, one of the first scales most jazz
musicians stumble upon is the 4th mode.
This scale is actually known as the Lydian Dominant
Scale.
Because it doesnt contain a natural 4, such as the
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more dissonant sound as compared to its major-scale
counterpart, giving more grit to any line using this scale
in an improvised solo.
The Lydian Dominant Scale is used to improvise
over a 7th chord, or more specifically, a 7#11 chord.
To check out this scale in action, read through Sonny
Rollins classic blues Blues Seven, which uses the
Lydian Dominant Scale for each chord in the
progression.
As well, check out the solos of Wes Montgomery, Pat
Martino George Benson and Jake Langley.
All of these great players frequently use this scale in
their improvising.
How Do You Practice The Lydian Dominant
Scale?
To practice this scale, you can put on a 7th chord vamp
and then improvise using this scale, the Mixolydian
mode and even the Dominant Bebop Scale.
As you move between these different scales in your
lines, notice how each new mode creates a new sonic
color that is slightly different from the other two.
Having a strong command over how each of these
dominant 7th chord scales sound will go a long way in
allowing you to use them in your solos in a natural and
organic fashion.
Be sure to check out the next article in the 10 Jazz
Scales You Should Know series where we
continue to explore all the great jazz scales you
need to play this fantastic style of music.
Update: Heres the second article in the series:
jazz scales you should know part 2
In the meantime you can leave a comment below to
discuss your favorite scales and/or ask a question!
Be sure to also subscribe to the
freejazzlessons.com mailing list to receive over 20
free lessons right in your inbox! You can subscribe
right below this article or on the top left of the site
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Dr. Matthew Warnock is a jazz educator and performer in
Manchester, UK. He owns
and operates www.mattwarnockguitar.com, a free online resource
for jazz guitarists and is on the faculty of the Leeds College of
Music. You can also connect with him on Facebook. You can also
download a pdf file for this lesson with all the scales notated right
here jazz scales pdf.

Related Lessons:
10 Jazz Scales You Should Know (Part 2) 1.
10 Ways To Dominate Dominant Seventh Chords 2.
Dominant Bebop Scale Video Lesson 3.
3 Of The Most Useful Scales To Play Over Major
Chords
4.
How To Add The Major Bebop Scale To Your
Playing
5.
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Lisanne Otten
Hi Steve, Thanks so much for this website, it is truely
awesome! I love jazz but am classically trained and am at
times somewhat limited by my own rule-based thinking. This
brings theory and improvising together nicely, I have learnt
so much already! Just one question: the Harmonic Bebop
scale is based on a mode of the harmonic minor, which is
the same as the Phrygian Dominant, am I correct? In the
second bar of the notation there is an Eb, shouldn't it be E
natural to produce that slightly mysterious "arabic" sound?
Haha sorry for being picky, I just wondered about it that was
all. Your website is awesome! Thanks,
Lisanne

C R
I'm learning some scales at the moment, so this article is
really relevant to me. Many thanks for writing it.
I like the way that a bebop scale can be easily created by
the addition of one note to another scale. It follows on nicely
from the '28 scales from one fingering' lesson (on the
MattWarnock Jazz Guitar site), which I have been studying
recently.
cheers
Charlie

Mattwarnockguitar
Thanks for checking out the article CR. Yeah, the
Bebop scales are great and they fit well on the
guitar, and many other instruments, so they are fairly
easy to learn and apply. Enjoy these scales!

Curtis
Hey Steve, For the Harmonic minor bebop scale you have
listed the minor 2nd, but on another website. They have the
2nd listed as Major. http://www.kendaljazz.com/less..... ..
Which one is it? LOL THanks

Steve Nixon (freejazzlessons)

Mod
I actually didn't write this article Matt Warnock did.

Marcus Cornelius Aurelius
I have a question: If I am playing the Dorian over the iim7,
and the mixolydian over the V7, and the major scale over
the Imaj7, then aren't I in fact just playing the mixolydian
(and its extensions) with different roots? I mean, don't they
all belong to different modes within the same major scale?
In other words, if I am playing a Em7-G7-Amaj7, wouldn't I
just be playing extensions of the G mixo with roots that
follow the progression? For example, my lead might be E A
B D G D (for the Em7), then A D G F# (for the G7), and A
C# D E D (for the Amaj7), but aren't all those notes just from
the G mixo scale? In other words, if you extend out from the
G mixo, you find the E dorian notes and the also the A
major notes. G mixo seems to encompass all the notes I
need, so why not just say "play mixo with different roots?"
I'm confused.

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2014 - Free Jazz Lessons
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10 Jazz Scales You Should Know Part 1

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