Welcome to Jazztheorylessons.com, the best place to find lessons on jazz theory and improvisation. If you are looking to learn jazz theory then our free jazz lessons will help you. We will be adding new and interesting jazz theory lessons each week. Our site is here to make learning jazz theory fun and interesting. We have lessons on scales, jazz chords, modes, arpeggios and jazz repertoire. In this lesson we will learn everything there is to know about the major scale and how you can use it in your improvisations. The major scale, sometimes called the Ionian mode, is the starting point for all music theory and is without doubt the most important scale you will ever learn. Every musician, no matter what style of music they play needs to know about the major scale and how the major scale is constructed. In this lesson we will take a look at the notes of the major scale, the chords of the major scale and then we will show you the notes of the major scale in every key.
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This lesson will help you think about jazz theory and help you find a way to organize your jazz theory practice time. When we start learning jazz music theory, it is easy to get bogged down with individual topics and lose track of where we are. Jazz theory can be a fun and interesting topic but you need to have a structured approach to learning jazz theory. I will try and outline the main topics you need to think about when you are learning jazz theory. We can break our practice time down into small sections and work on each section in turn. When learning anything, it really helps to have a plan of action by following the list below you will have a structured guide to learning jazz theory.
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In this lesson we are going to take a brief look at the jazz bebop scale and how to use the bebop scale when playing jazz. The bebop scale is used mainly by jazz players and the idea is that by adding an extra note to a seven note scale, the chord tones will tend to fall in the right places making jazz lines sound more interesting and melodic. All bebop scales are just regular seven note scales with an added chromatic note. The great thing about bebop scales is simply that if you play and eighth note run starting on a chord tone, the remaining chord tones will tend to fall on the strong beats making them really useful for jazz improvisation.
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Since we have been looking at altered chords recently, I thought it would be a good idea to take a look at the altered scale and see how the altered scale can be used in jazz. The great thing about the altered scale is that is contains all off the possible chord alterations (b5, #5, b9, #9) within the scale and so you can use it to play over any altered chord you like.
The altered scale is the seventh mode of the melodic minor scale and is sometimes also called the super locrian scale or Melodic minor mode seven. The altered scale is a seven-note scale that differs from the locrian mode in having a lowered fourth scale degree.
The notes of the C altered scale are
C, D♭, E♭, F♭, G♭, A♭ and B♭.
Try playing the altered scale over the V chord in a standard II V I progression and you will immediately hear the jazzy sound of thie altered scale.
The Lydian mode is the fourth mode of the major scale and it is used to play over major and major 7#11 chords. It has a much more modern and exotic sound to it than the standard major scale and thus it is a popular substitute for the Ionian mode when playing over major chords.
On of the main problems with using the major scale over a major chord is that the fourth note tends to sound a bit wrong and is generally considered by most jazz players as being a note to avoid when soloing. This is a good reason for using the Lydian mode over a major chord because it contains a raised fourth as opposed to a natural fourth and consequently there are no avoid notes in the Lydian scale.
The Lydian mode is a major scale but with a raised fourth. The notes of the Lydian mode are:
C, D, E, F#, G, A, B
The intervals of the Lydian mode are:
1, 2, 3, #4, 5, 6, 7
The most common way to bring out the sound of the Lydian mode is to play the scale over a major7#11 chord. The notes of a C major7#11 chord are:
C, E, G, B, F#
The intervals of the major 7#11 chord are:
1, 3, 5, 7, #11
As with all modes, the best way to get started with learning the sounds and shapes of this mode are to play around and improvise with the scale over a static vamp. Try recording a major7#11 chord loop and play the scale over it to hear how it sounds. As well as having a more modern sound and no avoid notes, the Lydian mode sounds a lot more interesting than the major scale when soloing over major chords for any length of time.
The whole tone scale is a symmetrical six note scale that has a very distinctive sound and is used for playing over altered dominant chords. The whole tone scale has been around for a long time but is commonly used in jazz to play over altered dominant chords with a flat or sharp fifth. Classical composers used this scale to great effect, especially composers such as Ravel and Claude Debussy. I really love the sound of this scale and because it only has six notes, it is great for creating interesting altered patterns and wide interval jazz lines. Guitarists love this scale because it is easy to visualise on the fret board due to its symmetrical nature.
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The Lydian Dominant mode is the fourth mode of the melodic minor scale and is used in jazz music mainly to play over dominant seven chords with a flat 5th note. The Lydian dominant mode can also be called the Lydian flat seven mode because it contains a sharp fourth and flattened seventh note.
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