Finding the Correct Major Scale

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From the course by Berklee College of Music

Jazz Improvisation

542 ratings

Berklee College of Music

Jazz Improvisation

542 ratings

Learn the basic concepts of improvisation from Gary Burton, one of the most renowned improvisers in the jazz world, including the mental, melodic, and harmonic processes that contribute to the instinctive skills that an improviser puts to use when taking a solo. While many people are fans of jazz and understand that musicians are often “making up” the notes they are playing during a performance, most people—often including musicians, themselves, who are beginning to learn improvising—aren’t clear about what exact processes take place to enable this to happen. The purpose of this course is to introduce the basic concepts of modern improvisation and how to go about mastering the different musical and mental skills involved. Course author Gary Burton codifies a sought-after approach to improvisation that has been at the core of Berklee College of Music's curriculum for decades. Students who complete this course will know what to practice and how to practice the various aspects of improvising, in addition to understanding how the improviser spontaneously communicates to the listeners through their musical creations.

From the lesson

Making Scale Choices in Real Time

Improvisers must be able to quickly recall chord scales and be able to play around on them fluently. This becomes important when choosing which chord scale to use on a given harmony—another thing we must be able to determine immediately. When a new tune is put in front of you at a session or a rehearsal, there isn't time to take the music home and spend an hour or two working out the correct scales. Improvisers need a quick, mostly intuitive way of making these scale choices in real time as the tune is being played. This week, we'll explore my method for making these quick musical decisions.

Choosing a Chord Scale1:24

Finding the Correct Major Scale2:53

Chord Scale Method2:00

Finding the Correct Minor Chord Scale2:44

Minor Examples1:42

Finding the Correct Dominant Chord Scale5:12

Meet the Instructors

Gary Burton

So this is how it works. With any harmony, there are questions one

or two that you have to ask, to determine the right chord scale.

Let's take the easiest example, let's say it's just a major chord.

it's a major harmony, let's say it's C major 7.

remember the scales we talked about last week.

Up, among the 10 most common scales, there were two major scales involved.

There was the Ionian [SOUND], and the I, and the Lydian [SOUND].

The difference is in the fourth degree. The Ionian has a natural 4, the Lydian

has a raised 4. So if you come to a major, C major 7

chord in a piece of music you have to answer the question is it a natural 4 or

a raised 4? Or in other words is it an F natural or F

sharp? And then you'll know which of the 2

scales is the right one for that measure. And here's how you find the answer.

first you look at what you see in front of you.

Look at the written music. Half the time, the note in question will

be right there in the written melody of the song.

So if you see an F sharp, [SOUND]. Then you know, [SOUND] it's Lydian.

If you see an F natural, [SOUND] you know it's Ionian.

if you don't have written melody in front you.

Sometimes, like, you may be playing a big band chart and all you have are chord

symbols. or, if the note in question that F or F

sharp doesn't appear in the written melody.

Then we find the answer to the question by looking at the preceding chord scale,

the harmony before the one we're looking at.

And you'll find the note there. It'll, you'll find that F natural or F

sharp in the preceding chord. So using the most common example of going

G7, [SOUND], to see. We see that [SOUND] there's an F natural

in the G7 chord, [SOUND] and that's going to influence the C Major chord to

be Ionian. Whatever is ringing in the harmony, wants

to continue ringing into the next harmony if it can.

If something forces it to change because the chord symbol requires it, that's

another story. But if nothing forces it to change, then

any note that's ringing wants to continue on into the next harmony, and it's

going to influence it. So that's [SOUND], that's how we answer

that question. So there's two ways to answer the

question. It's either, visible in the written notes

that you see in front of you or you look at the at the preceding cord scale and

use that as an indicator.

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