This month's issue of Downbeat (the one with Brad Mehldau on the cover), has a woodshed article on (what else) "Substitute Scales for Dominant 7th Chords" -- in other words, what to play over the V in order to produce those hip alterations -- written by jazz-education legend Jamey Aebersold. Assuming you're playing over a ii-V-I or ii-V in the key of F major here the some scales he suggests you try out over the V (alterations are in bold):
- Dominant 7th (or Mixolydian) = C D E F G A Bb C
- Bebop = C D E F G A Bb B C (features natural 7th played as a passing tone)
- Lydian Dominant = C D E F# G A Bb C (a C7#4 chord, features b5 alteration)
- Whole Tone = C D E F# G# Bb C (a C7#5 chord, features b5, #5 alterations, no 6th)
- Diminished = C Db D# E F# G A Bb C (a C7b9 chord, features b9, #9, b5 alterations)
- Diminished Whole Tone = C Db D# E F# G# Bb C (a C7#9 chord, features b9, #9, b5, #5 alterations)
- Spanish or Jewish scale = C Db E F G Ab Bb C (features b9 and #5 alterations).
- The Chromatic Scale = every note on the guitar.
Lots of good stuff there, and I'm especially interested in the possibilities of the Whole Tone and Diminished Whole Tone scales, neither of which I've ever properly explored. However, Mr. Aebersold's article does return me to a recurring problem, viz the genuine practicality of internalizing chord-scale relationships for a kack-handed divot such as I. Far be it from me to take issue with the efficacity of his system, lucrative as it has no doubt been, but it seems that when we're talking about what scale to play over which chord in a ii-V-I, we're wasting our time learning an entire scale when all we're actually looking for is one, two or three altered notes tastefully placed to create the appropriate tension and funky sounds over a V chord.
A beginner, I think, needs something simpler to stop them feeling overwhelmed. As you know, if you're playing an orthodox ii-V-I in G, even if you intend to play arpeggios for all the chords, you don't ever leave the scale of Gmajor. The only time you'll play anything outside of the "parent" scale is if you a) connect notes with chromaticism; or, b) play an alteration over the V.
Here's how I would simplify my search for the alterations. Instead of learning a host of substitute scales or formulas for producing them (such as "play a major 7th arpeggio a step up from the root of the V), I learnt where the V chord alterations sit in the parent scale. In other words, I visualize the G major scale and locate all the alterations for the V chord in relation to that. Starting with just one note to keep it easy, I began by learning where all the flat 9ths of a D7th chord would be in the Gmajor scale:
Clicking on the image should reveal all the notes of Gmajor on the fretboard marked in red, with all the Eb notes (the b9 of D7) in blue. Once you've located all the Ebs, you can forget about chord-scale relationships and just play tastefully in G, outlining the changes and hitting an Eb at the appropriate time in the measure. Obviously, once you've learnt where the b9s are, you can then fill in all the other alterations. Doing that will leave you with the chromatic scale of course, but at least you will have a sense of the individual alterations within a parent structure. Jimmy Bruno's concept of Tonal Circles is what I'm thinking of here. Drawbacks, I suppose, would include the danger of losing the specific identity of the chords and making them all sound like G, but that could be fairly easily remedied if you incorporated this idea with a sound knowledge of where all the diatonic arpeggios are within the parent scale -- see the exercise posted on August 2nd.
...and finaly, Happy holidays to all of you who ever read this, wherever you are, and however you came upon us -- especially the gentleman who came looking for fun single ladies in the Camarillo area. Good luck to you, sir, we salute you with a festive glass of sherry.
