Back with a vengence!

Okay, now the long delay is over.  I will be doing two video blogs a week, starting with some basic technique and working my way up!  Here’s lesson #1

Another ii V I substitution

Let’s look at the second half of Blue Bossa.  The chords go to: Ebm7 for one bar Ab7 for one bar  then Dbmaj7 for two bars.  Anytime you have a longer ii V I setup like this, you can compress the two and five chord into one bar, then put another two five a half step below into the next bar.  In the example of Blue Bossa, it would look like:  Ebm7  Ab7 in one bar, then Dm7  A7 in one bar, resolving to Dbmaj7 for two bars.

Try this out with any tune that has ii V I progressions with long harmonic rhythms.  Take a look at All the Things You Are, which is riddled with long ii V’s and enjoy making them chromatic!  This is another sax player trick for how they play so many notes at a time without running out of ideas.  They are chromaticizing the ii V parts of songs.  Enjoy!

turnaround substitutions

Ever play Half Nelson or Ladybird and wonder where those chords at the end come from?  Let’s take a look.

We start with the standard diatonic turnaround: C Am Dm G7.  This is I vi ii V for those of you who like to think of it this way.  The first substitution is to make the turnaround chords dominant, because a dominant chord has more momentum than a minor 7 chord: C A7 D7 G7.  The next step is to play tritone subs for all the chord: C Eb7 Ab7 Db7, and voila! You have the Half Nelson turnaround.  This substitution will sound great even if you play it over the standard turnaround, and any piano or guitar player with experience will be able to catch it the second time around.  Especially if you use some kind of melodic sequence like: 1 2 3 5 of the chords, or an arpeggio.  Sometimes I’ll also walk this underneath a solo to try to push some tension or to try to push a soloist in a direction.

Fun blues substitutions

Sorry for the long delay, I’ve been on the road with the Max Allen Band for several days.  Today, we’ll look at a way to play Giant Steps changes over an F blues.  For those of you who are unfamiliar, Giant Steps chords move in a sequence of up a minor third and then resolving to the new one chord (down a fifth).

The same thing can be done with a blues progression; we’ll use an F blues.  The first four bars of a 12 bar F blues are an F7 chord, which gives you a lot of time to play different substitutions.  Putting Giant Steps changes makes the first four bars look like: F7 Ab7 Db7 E7 A7 C7 F7 B7 then the four chord of Bb7.  Each chord lasts two beats until you get to Bb7.  Notice how the sequence works: F7 up a minor third to Ab7 then resolve down to Db7, then up a minor third to E7, then resolve to A7, then up a minor third to C7 then resolve to F7; at this point the sequence is done, but I put in the tritone substitution of B7 to keep the feeling of the chord changes moving two beats at a time.  The beauty of this is that the sequence is strong enough that it can all be played over an F7 chord.  If you’re playing with a piano or guitar player that can hear this substitution, even better.

The best way to approach these changes is to sequence your melody line too.  You can use John Coltrane’s lick: 1, 2, 3, 5 over each chord, which would be F G A C over F7, then Ab Bb C Eb over Ab7, then Db Eb F Ab over Db7, and so on.  What I found on the bass is that I have to have an ascending and descending lick to make it all fit comfortably; so I usually play F G A C over F7, then Ab Eb C Ab in a descending arpeggio, then Db Eb F Ab over Db7, then E B G# E descending over E7, and so on.

This is a really nice substitution, and actually fits a lot of places where you have a static dominant chord.  If you change the last chord, in this case the B7, you can basically make this resolve anywhere.  Enjoy!

new gig footage

I had 7 gigs in 3 days, so I haven’t had much time to write.  Here’s some gig footage.  You’ll see my strategically placed foot keeping the bass drum in place for most of the show.  The bass solo is over E to C to Dmin, which is a perfect opportunity to use E spanish phrygian: E F G# A B C D, which gives you the essentials of those three chords.  You’ll hear me switching the G# to a G over the C chord to stay in the key, and sometimes playing the G# over the C, just to get a little outside.  Enjoy!

Diminished scale fun

Actually, the diminished scale most commonly used in jazz is called the auxiliary diminished scale.  It’s really the second mode of a diminished scale.  A normal diminished scale is eight notes and goes whole step, half step, whole step, half step until you reach the octave.  It’s Yngwie’s favorite scale!  The auxiliary diminished scale goes half step, whole step, etc…

The way you use this scale is on a chord that looks like: X13b9.  Actually any dominant 13 flat 9 chord is pretty much a guaranty to use this scale.  It’s a nice substitution over any dominant 7 chord.

Let’s take C13b9.  The aux diminished scale that goes with this is: C Db Eb E F# G A Bb.  This scale is such a nice choice because it gets the natural 5th, the flat 9, the dominant 7, and the thirteenth (A) that are all important parts of the sound of the chord.  This scale would also sound nice over a C7 chord.

To transpose, just take start from the root of the chord and play half step, whole step…

using major pentatonic for dorian video!

the table of doom

When I was teaching improvisation classes at the Muscian’s Institute, I came up with a table with one of the classes to help understand that knowing all these scales and chords is really about options and tonal colors.  A minor chord is still a minor chord, but you can change the scale and change the entire color of your solo by understanding all your options.  Here is a table to sum up what my blog has dealt with thus far:

Major Chords:

You can play 1) ionian, 2) lydian, 3)  I/I major pentatonic, 4)  V/I major pent, 5)  IV/I major pent, 6)  II/I major pent (lydian sound), and 7) lydian augmented, 8)  III/I major pent b6

Minor chords:

You can play 1) dorian, 2) aeolian, 3) phrygian (this one is to be used over mostly static chords and definately sparingly), 4) melodic minor (for one chords), 5)  bIII/I major pent, 6)  bVII/I major pent, 7)  IV/I major pent (dorian sound), 8)  bVI/I major pent (aeolian sound), 9)  bII/I major pent (phrygian sound), 10) V/I major pent b6, 11) minor pentatonic

Dominant chords:

1) mixolydian, 2) altered, 3) lydian dominant, 4) whole tone, 5) auxillary diminished (half-whole scale), 6) I/I major pent, 7) IV/I major pent, 8)  bVII/I major pent, 9) bVI/I major pent b6 (altered), 10) II/I major pent b6 (lydian dominant), 11) minor pentatonic (for blues)

Minor seven flat 5 chords:

1) locrian 2) super locrian 3) bII/I major pent 4) bVI/I major pent 5) bV/I major pent 6) bVII/I major pent b6

As you can see, each chord offers a wide range of choices, and each choice has its own color, which gives you endless possibilities for putting a solo together.  Enjoy!

major pentatonics for #5 major chords

The last commonly used mode of melodic minor is called lydian augmented.  As you might imagine, this is a lydian scale with a #5.  It’s also the brightest sounding scale you can play, because every interval in the scale is either major or augmented.  This scale is used over any chord that looks like:  Xmaj7#5  or X+maj7.  It’s also a nice substitution over any Xmaj7 chord, but you have to be playing with a piano player that can hear.  Sax players get a lot of mileage out of this scale.  If you’re ever on a gig playing a major 7 chord and wondering, “what is that cool out sound,” this is it.

Let’s take a Cmaj7#5 chord.  The scale that goes with this is: C D E F# G# A B.  As you can see, it’s all major or augmented intervals; you get a major 2nd, a major 3rd, a #4, a #5, a major 6th, and a major 7th.  These are the same notes as A melodic minor; so you can also think of this scale as the third mode of melodic minor.

An easier way to get this sound is to use major pentatonic b6.  Taking Cmaj7#5, play E major pent b6 over it and get: E F# G# B C, which gets all the important sounds of the chord, plus this gets you away from thinking about roots, which is a big pitfall for all begining improvisors and all bass players in general.

To transpose, make it III/I (three over one) for any chord that has maj7#5 attached to it, and for extra tension any chord that has maj7 attached.

using the whole tone scale

The whole tone scale is made up entirely of whole steps and only has six notes.  For example, the C whole tone scale is: C D E F# G# A#, and the Db whole tone scale is: Db Eb F G A B.  Technically, there are only two whole tone scales, because if you were to start one on D, you would have: D E F# G# A# C, which are the same notes as the first scale above.

The most obvious use of the whole tone scale is for augmented dominant seventh chords, for example, the second chord of “Take the A Train.”  The tune goes: C6 (or Cmaj7) for two bars, then D+7 for two bars.  You can play whole tone starting from D, and get the major third, sharp five, and flat seven that make up that chord.

A less obvious use of this scale is for ANY dominant seven chord.  It’s especially fun to do later in a blues solo.  Say you’ve played about 2 choruses and going into the third chorus of an F blues.  The first four bars of the form is over an F7, so why not try it here?  It adds quite a bit of interest, and is spelled F G A B C# Eb.  Then resolve it to Bb mixolydian.

This also works in ii V I progressions.  If we go to the user friendly Dmin G7 Cmaj7, try playing F major pentatonic over Dmin, the G whole tone over G7, then C lydian over Cmaj7.   It gives you a nice outer space sound in the middle of your solo.  Enjoy!