Lesson 1: The ii-V Progression
What it is
his is the most common chord progression in Jazz music. Knowing how to solo over it will be the most useful skill you can have as a jazz guitarist. First, let's look at the progression itself.
In the key of C, a ii-V would be composed of the following chords: Dmi7 and G7.
Typically, this is followed by the I, which in this case is Cmaj7. (Notice that in jazz, the 7 is automatically added to virtually every chord.) Both the ii chord and the V chord are organic to the original key; that is, you don't have to add any accidentals to create the chords. Let's change keys and see what a ii-V would be in Eb:
opefully, that will show you what a ii-V progression is. Anytime you see a minor 7 chord followed by a dominant7 chord whose root is a fourth higher, it is a ii-V. The chords themselves can also have added tones, like Dmi9-G13.
Dorian mode, used over Dmin7
Mixolydian mode, used over G7
Lesson 2: The Harmonic Minor Scale
he Harmonic Minor scale is one of more limited usefulness than the Major scale, but it yields some interesting possibilities. Let's see how this scale is constructed: If we have A harmonic minor, the pitches are A, B, C, D, E, F, G#, A. There are two ways of describing this scale:
~ Natural minor with a raised 7th
~ Major with flat 3rd and flat 6th
If we look at this scale according to the first example, we see something useful. The raised 7th is known as a "leading tone" because it leads your ear up to the tonic. If you know your theory, you know that the chord that contains the leading tone is the V. What is the V7 chord of A minor? E7 is. What if we took this harmonic minor and used it over a E7? To experiment, we will start the A har. min. on a E:
hat gave us the 1, 3, 5, 7, b9, 11, b13. Wow, those are colorful notes. Seems that if youre are in A minor and hit a E7 of some kind, the A Harmonic Minor scale gives you an interesting option. Here's another even less common usage: Start the scale on the F. What do we get then?
ver an F major chord, we would have 1, 3, 5, 7, #9, #11, 13. How's that for an unorthodox sound? I also see some interesting triads in that scale, like C augmented.
The key to getting these sounds in your ear is rote repitition. If you can "hear" it, it becomes easier to incorporate into your playing. Try it out yourself. Now get up from the computer and GO PRACTICE!
Lesson 3: The Melodic Minor Scale
orry for the delay in posting this lesson, but finally, here it is. The melodic minor scale (also called the Jazz Minor) is a very useful one in jazz playing. Like the major scale, this scale spawns a host of modes that work with a variety of different chords. The scale itself is identical to a regular minor scale EXCEPT for the raised 6th and 7th degrees (You could also think of this scale as a major scale with a flatted 3rd). In classical theory, this is called the Ascending melodic minor, while the Descending scale is identical to the natural minor. This distinction is useless in jazz, so we will consider the ascending and descending scales to be the same. Here is the scale in C minor:
sed by itself, the scale can be used over a Minor(maj7) chord. The chord is spelled: 1, b3, 5, 7. Like this:
f you want to hear this chord in a tune, the best one would be Horace Silver's Nica's Dream. The scale is also useful over augmented sounds, i.e., C melodic minor over B7aug. As for the modes of the melodic minor, there is an excellent discussion of the subject by Marc Sabatella here. But right now I'll just discuss two of them.
Mode : Lydian b7
he Lydian b7, or Lydian Dominant, starts on the 4th degree of the melodic minor scale. In our case, it would look like this:
his mode is most useful over the 9(b5) or 9(#11) chord. An F9(#11) is spelled F, A, C, Eb, G, Cb. It has an interesting sound. The most famous use of this chord is in bars 3 and 4 of Take the "A" Train, by Billy Strayhorn.
Mode : Diminished/Wholetone
his mode has several names: altered, altered dominant, etc. I pick this name because I think it is the most accurate description of this scale. A Bdim/wt mode would look like this:
his mode can be used over almost any type of altered chord. In this case it could be: B7#9, B7(#5b9), etc. This sound is most useful in a ii-V progression in a minor key (remember Lesson 1?).
As you have seen, the Melodic Minor is a very versatile scale. This is one to spend a lot of time on.
Lesson 4: The Bebop Dominant Scale
he innovations of Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie in the 1940s changed jazz forever. These two guys codified how the language should be spoken. This scale is one result of their efforts. This particular term for the scale was coined by David Baker, so I use it myself.
he Bebop Dominant Scale is basically a Mixolydian mode with an extra note -- a natural 7th. Here is the basic C Mixolydian mode:
he Bebop Dominant has the extra natural 7th, like so:
his added note does two things: 1) Provides a smooth descending leading tone, 2) gives the scale 8 notes. Item 1 is immediately obvious. Item 2 is not apparent until you start soloing with the scale. What the 8 notes do is give you the ability to play chord tones on all downbeats. This is important; it is the most effective way to get long phrases. For example, check out this standard Mixolydian lick:
otice how the last half starts to sound awkward. You don't have chord tones on downbeats. Look at this bebop lick:
o you hear it? It just wants to keep going. That's how those guys like Parker, Gillespie, Adderley, etc. could get those endless lines. Even Pat Martino uses this technique. Remember this however: Use the added 7th ONLY when descending. Skip it when you ascend. And KEEP THE CHORDTONES ON DOWNBEATS! By the way, I highly recommend David Baker's 3 volume set on how to play Bebop.
This little device can revolutionize your playing if you take time with it. It can change how you view improvisation. I am not kidding. The Bebop technique is one of the secrets of the masters. Take this one home and lock yourself in a room for a week. Experiment. Make your own licks. Create lines. Then, go get a gig!
Lesson 5: Bebop lines over the Minor 7 Chord
Just as you can use them over their native Dominant 7 chord, Bebop scales can also be used over a Minor 7 chord whose root is a 4th below the root of the scale. In other words, anything that works over C7 will work over Gmin7. For your further practicing enjoyment, here are some minor licks in the Bebop style that I came across some years ago. They have a Pat Martino-ish sound to them. Enjoy!
Hope you liked those. You should transpose them in all keys so you can use them whenever the need arises.
Lesson 6: Bebop scales over the min7b5 chord
his will be s short one, but the information will take a while for you to practice. This is a little technique that gives you more sounds over the half-diminished (or min7b5) chord. If you refer back to the earlier lessons you will notice how I have covered topics that all relate to each other. Here is another one. Up till now, the only scale choice I have discussed for this chord has been Locrian. It has been a useful chord, but it only takes you to the first level: the I chord (see lesson 2 for an explanation of this concept). This next scale takes you all the way to the level of the V - the most harmonically rich level.
ollw me here: The min7b5 is based on the vii of the major scale. Therefore, all scale choices within the major scale's key should work pretty well. Let's forget all but the V, or the mixolydian. A C mixolydian should work over the Emi7b5. (If that is confusing, just take a minute and think about it). Taken a step further, the C bebop dominant should be extremely effective over the Emi7b5 chord. With that in mind, go back to all the Bebop licks you worked out from my past lesson (you DID practice, didn't you?), and use them over the corresponding mi7b5 chords!
f you're stuck, here's a way to think about it: Over a mi7b5 chord, use a Bebop Dominant scale whose root is a MAJOR 3RD below. Try it...and please let me know how it works!
Lesson 7: Guitar "Shell Voicings"
o, what the heck is a shell voicing, you ask? That's a term from jazz arranging, also used by jazz pianists, that refers to the basic essential notes of a chord. You ever hear a piano solo whare the guy snaps out those cool 2 and 3-note chords in his left hand that sound so full? Wanna learn how to do it on guitar? Well, here goes:
irst, we need to know what the essential notes of a chord are. They are (in descending order of importance) the 3rd, 7th, added tones, root, fifth. In English, that means in, say, a C13 chord, the most important notes are: E, Bb, A, C, G, in that order. What is implied is that you can omit the least important notes if you don't want them. Usually, the fifth is the first to go. Then the root - especially if you have a bass player. What would you need with another root? With that in mind, let's look at some guitar shell voicings for various chords.
maj7 voicings
min7 voicings
7 voicings
hese are just a few voicings. With this concept in mind, you can construct shell voicings over just about any chord you can think of. Try it!
Lesson 8: The Turnaround
turnaround is a chord progression that occurs at the end of a tune. It is designed to get you back to the beginning, to "turn it around". Usually, it is a 2-bar progression consisting of four chords, two beats each.
The most basic is the so-called 1-6-2-5 turnaround. In the key of C, it would look something like this:
We can replace the Cmaj7 (the I chord) with Emin7 (the III chord) and the turnaround still functions the same way:
he 2nd chord of the turnaround doesn't have to me a min7. It can be an "altered" 7 chord. We can also add an augmented 5th to the last chord for extra "flavor":
ere's a completely different turnaround taken from the Miles Davis tune "Half Nelson". It makes use of the "tritone substitution" principle (more on that later):
isten to all the turnarounds in a row: (RealAudio)
You should learn these in all keys. These turnarounds should be a permanent part of your playing. They happen at the end of every chorus of a tune, so you're gonna play a lot of them from now on!
Lesson 9: Line Variations From Chord Substitutions
t is commonly postulated that knowledge of chords and scales is essential in order to improvise well in the jazz idiom. By contemplating this axiom early on in my studies I came to an important realization: anything you play as an harmonic idea (chord) can be played as a melodic idea (melody or line) and vice versa. There are no shortcuts to playing fluidly and melodically on tunes with changes; it is something that develops over time and by approaching it from many perspectives. This is one reason that the harmony/melody inter-relationship is so useful, because this symbiosis helps to advance your playing as an accompanist and as a soloist if you are taking the time to study the implications. Let's begin with new melodic ideas from harmonic changes.
In lesson 8 Bob showed some very useful turnarounds, beginning with the basic I VI II V and then some common variations. Here is a line which you could play over the basic I VI II V:
As you'll notice there are no accidentals (sharps or flats) in this line; all the notes are in the key of C major. While this line is perfectly serviceable, the lack of chromatic notes makes it a bit unadventurous. Now check out what happens when we change the chords a little and adapt the line to fit the new changes:
All we've done is change the minor 7th chords into dominant 7th chords, and the line reflects these changes by raising the note C in the A chord and F in the D chord to C# and F#, respectively. This gives the line an entirely different character; it sounds more "jazzy". Let's take this a step further:
ow we've introduced an alteration on the dominant chords, the flatted 9th, which in turn gives us more chromatic melody notes. Compared to the first example this one is much more "jazzy."
Two more things to keep in mind as we explore these options. One is that you don't have to follow this exactly the way I've done it. Because the shape of the melody is pretty consistent you can cut and paste any of the individual lines over each chord and create variations. Here's one possibility:
Last, it's important to realize that these are just possibilities and not rules. Use the principles to find lines that you like and that fit the music you are playing; don't throw something in just because it works in theory. As always, trust your ear. Happy practicing!
Lesson 10: More Bebop Licks over ii, V7 and vii
s I have mentioned previously, the Bebop scale is basically a Mixolydian mode with an extra added "natural" 7th. In the case of C7, that would be: C, D, E, F, G, A, Bb, B, C. Of course when soloing, that extra note sounds more effective descending than ascending. Now the Bebop or Mixolydian modes usually match up with a Dominant, or V7 chord. But a trick used by many players (such as Pat Martino) is to also use the bebop scale over the related IImin7 and VII half-diminished.
f our V7 were C7, then the II is Gmin7 and the VII is Emin7(b5). If you consider F Major the tonic, you will see this relationship.
o with that in mind, it should be effective to use a C Bebop scale over C7, Gmin7 or Emin7(b5).
ry the Bebop licks below over all three of those chords. If you like what you hear, be sure to learn them in all keys. Have Fun!!
Lesson 11: Using the Tritone Substitution
The tritone substitution is a powerful technique both for chordal playing and improvisation. It makes use of an interesting harmonic phenomenon. In any dominant 7th chord, the two most important notes (the 3rd and the 7th) form the interval of a tritone. In the case of C7, the 3rd is E and the 7th is Bb. But what if you were to make E the 7th and Bb the 3rd? You would essentially turn the interval upside down and make a new chord:
he above example shows a C7 going to a Gb7 with Db in the bass. Notice that the Bb and the E appear in both chords. That shows the tritone substitution in action. Also the roots of the two chords are a tritone apart. The two chords can function as the same chord, as shown here:
This has enormous implications for improvising. You can choose scales, arpeggios and licks based on the tritone sub. Here's an example:
Instead of G7 and Db7 above, try playing the lick over Dmi7 and G7b9 and see what you get. In other words, a lick based on a tritone sub sounds especially effective over an altered chord. Here is a line based on the D dorian and Db Mixolydian (tritone sub of G Mixolydian) scales. Check it out.
ou can see how the tritone substitution can open huge areas of exploration for your improvising. Try it out and we'll be back soon with more examples.
Lesson 12: Exploring Tritone Subs
In the previous lesson we learned what the tritone sub is. Now let's begin to look at it's real world applications. A good way to start would be to examine this progression:
As in the previous lesson, we used a generic bebop lick in the first bar and repeated it down a tritone in the second. Those two chords are the germ from which the bridges of countless tunes are built. Let's look at a more conventional treatment of those two chords
You see a D mixolydian in the first bar and a G mixolydian in the second. Pretty basic stuff. Here's where the tritone sub comes into play. Let's change the G mixolydian to a Db mixolydian (the tritone sub of G). And since the 4th of Db is Gb/F#, which is a no-no over a G7 chord, we'll raise that a half step to G, giving us a Db Lydian Dominant scale:
lay it and see how it sounds. Examine the notes as they relate to the G7 chord. We have the Root, b9, #9, 3, b5, #5 and 7. All the great altered notes. Now what if we extended this chord pattern out to form a full 4 bar bridge and extended the lick? Here's what we get:
here are some heavy dissonances there, but they add a wonderful level of richness to the line. Experiment with this technique further and try it out the next time you play. Good luck!
Lesson 12: Exploring Tritone Subs
n the previous lesson we learned what the tritone sub is. Now let's begin to look at it's real world applications. A good way to start would be to examine this progression:
As in the previous lesson, we used a generic bebop lick in the first bar and repeated it down a tritone in the second. Those two chords are the germ from which the bridges of countless tunes are built. Let's look at a more conventional treatment of those two chords:
You see a D mixolydian in the first bar and a G mixolydian in the second. Pretty basic stuff. Here's where the tritone sub comes into play. Let's change the G mixolydian to a Db mixolydian (the tritone sub of G). And since the 4th of Db is Gb/F#, which is a no-no over a G7 chord, we'll raise that a half step to G, giving us a Db Lydian Dominant scale:
lay it and see how it sounds. Examine the notes as they relate to the G7 chord. We have the Root, b9, #9, 3, b5, #5 and 7. All the great altered notes. Now what if we extended this chord pattern out to form a full 4 bar bridge and extended the lick? Here's what we get:
here are some heavy dissonances there, but they add a wonderful level of richness to the line. Experiment with this technique further and try it out the next time you play. Good luck!
