6th Sequences. Interval Sequence Lesson

This is another installment in our guide to intervallic sequences in jazz. Playing through these interval sequences will improve your overall technique, give you interesting musical ideas and also improve your aural skills. You should ideally be able to recognize the sounds of all of these intervals instantly.

In this lesson we are going to look at the 6th interval and I will show you how you can play through the C major scale in sixths. To me the sixth interval has a very country type sound to it. Once you master all of the interval patterns in this series, be sure to play through all your scales in this way. By practicing scales using intervals you will have a much better understanding of the scales you are playing through. Interval sequences can open up a whole load of interesting ideas that you might not have thought about.

Let’s get started by looking at the interval of a sixth. If we start on see we get the following sixth intervals

(C, A)

(D, B)

(E, C)

(F, D)

(G, E)

(A, F)

(B, G)

Below I have written out the C major scale in sixths in both guitar tab and standard notation.

Have fun practicing these interval sequences.