PHOTOSTEVE J ENNI NGS

MANY GUITARISTS USE THE MELODIC

minor scale for soloing. In the jazz world, melod-
ic minor is viewed as a major scale with a low-
ered 3 (1, 2, b3, 4, 5, 6, 7). This scale yields an
amazing series of chords and modes that sound
hip and are easy to useonce you become fa-
miliar with some basic techniques.
We can start this journey by learning to use
the melodic minor scale to play over the minor-
key cadence of IIm7b5-V7alt-Im7. Heres the plan:
Over the IIm7b5, well improvise using the
melodic minor scale that starts a minor third
(three half-steps) above the chord root.
Over the V7alt, well improvise using the
melodic minor scale that starts one half-step
above the chord root.
Over the Im7, simply arpeggiate chord tones
or play a straightforward natural minor scale (1,
2, b3, 4, 5, b6, b7) starting from the chord root.
The changes. Dealing with offset melodic
minor scales is tricky, so well take small steps.
For simplicity, lets use the same progression in
each example: Em7b5-A7alt-Dm7the IIm7b5-
V7alt-Im7 cadence in the key of D minor. We
need two melodic minor scalesone for playing
over Em7b5 and one for A7alt. (See FYI: Altered
Dominants for details on the latter chord.)
The note pools. For Em7b5, we need to find
the melodic minor scale a minor third above E
(the chord root). This is Gmelodic minor. For
A7alt, we want the melodic minor scale located
a half-step above A. Thats Bb melodic minor.
This chord/scale relationship works because
each offset melodic minor scale contains the
chord tones of its target harmony. Its easy to
correlate G melodic minor with Em7b5:
G melodic minor: G, A, Bb, C, D, E, F#, G
Em7b5: E (1), G (b3), Bb (b5), D(b7)
Its a bit trickier to spot the relationship be-
tween Bb melodic minor and A7alt, but all be-
comes clear when you use enharmonic spelling:
Bb melodic minor: Bb, C, Db, Eb, F, G,
A, Bb
A7alt: A (1), C# or Db (3), Eb (b5), F (#5), G
(b7), Bb (b9), C (#9)
Were jammin. You can apply bluesy phras-
ing to melodic minor lines, as in Ex. 1. Scott
Henderson and John Scofield are two players
who often use melodic minor this way. Lay
backrushing this phrase will make it sound
contrived.
For a bebop flavor, try Ex. 2. This is the type
of line youd expect to hear from more traditional
players. Think of Wes Montgomery and Grant
Green, or even such contemporary guitarists
S E S S I O N S
Melodic Minor
Mayhem
B Y A N D R B U S H

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Ex. 2

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Ex. 3

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4
Ex. 1
Send us your candidate for Lick of the Month
(preferably notated and on cassette), along with
a brief explanation of why its cool and how to
play it. If we select your offering, youll get a
funky custom T-shirt thats available only to
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try to Lick of the Month, Guitar Player, 411
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the office to check the status of your submis-
sion. Youll get your shirt if your lick is chosen.
THIS FOUR-BAR EXAMPLE IS
an arpeggiated sequence of the chords
written above the staff, write John Kiefer,
of Houston, Texas. To enhance legato
phrasing, Ive used string skipping. The
progression features a somewhat unusual
descending chromatic figure. This se-
quence is inspired by J. S. Bachs Prelude
in C from the Well-Tempered Clavier.
If you appreciate switched-on Bach,
check out Kiefers J. S. Bach for Electric
Guitar, published by Mel Bay. g

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Gm D/F F m F

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S W I T C H E D - O N B A C H
L i c k o f t h e M o n t h
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1
as Russell Malone and Peter Bernstein.
Indicative of modern jazz styles, Ex. 3uses
wide intervallic leaps. For this line, use plenty
of overdrive. Mix these intervals with the fig-
ures in Ex. 1, and youll begin to connect with
such 70s fusion masters as John McLaughlin,
Pat Martino, and Larry Coryell. g
San Francisco-based Andr Bush melds
jazz, R&B, and blues on his Invisible City.
This CD features jazz heavyweights Steve
Smith on drums and David Liebman on
soprano saxophone. For more info, visit
www.andrebush.com, or e-mail Bush at an-
drebush@aol.com.
F YI : ALT E RE D DOMI NANT S
When you see an altered dominant chordsuch as C7altthe alt indicates
that you can modify a basic dominant-7th construction (1, 3, 5, b7) by raising
or lowering the 5, or adding a lowered or raised 9. (If youre ambitious, you
can even include an altered 5 and an altered 9.) This gives you considerable
freedom, either as a rhythm player or soloist, because you can incorporate dif-
ferent combinations of b5, #5, b9, and #9 in your grooves and lines. Common
C7alt guitar voicings include C7#5 (C, Bb, E, G#) and C7b5 (C, Bb, E,
Gb)both played on strings 6, 4, 3, and 2as well as C7b9 (C, E, Bb, Db)
and C7#9 (C, E, Bb, D#), played on strings 5, 4, 3, and 2. ANDY ELLIS