Hey, First post here so be gentle
I learn better by having an entire concept laid out before me,
instead of learning segments and relating them back to the original concept.
I've done a fair amount of research and have a good idea about whats behind
it all, but I still have some loose ends.
For example, i know how to analyze a chord such as Dm7. 1/b3/5/b7.
Taking from that i would conclude that Minor or dorian would be best suited
to fit over the top. But this leaves me wondering, is there a
system to deciding whether to use minor or dorian depending on the function of
the chord in relation to the progression? This is not the only situation I
wonder about either. What about Major, or Lydian over Maj7?
Or when a Minor chord progression has a V7 chord, I've
gathered somewhere that you can play harmonic minor over a dominant 5 chord.
This makes no sense to me as normally i would be thinking Mixolydian over a
Dominant chord?
Any links to resources that list chord scale relationships/ or situations such
as the V7 chord in a minor key corresponding with harmonic minor, would be greatly appreciated., Well any advice in general would be honestly! Thanks.
Chord Scales/Situational Chord Scales
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- KVRist
- 441 posts since 30 Apr, 2007
Well, consider a simple diatonic piece in C major. Over the CM7, the player uses ionian mode, but over FM7 he uses lydian mode. Similarly, he uses dorian over Dm7 but aeolian over Am7. This is a pretty convoluted way to realize that he plays C major scale all of the time because the piece is always in C major. The "safe" choice is often the one that most closely fits this diatonic way of thinking. Sometimes if you dwell on the specific chord in front of you and what mode your scale would be for that specific chord, you could lose sight of the big picture. It should hardly be a big surprise that if the song is in C minor, you might choose to use C harmonic (or melodic!) minor scale over the G7 chord which is probably about to resolve to a Cm chord. If you instead play the E natural from G mixolydian mode (aka C major scale), it will give more of a "major feel" to that part of the piece. But perhaps sometime that is exactly what you want.
So I guess the "safe" way is often to think about what the overall tonality is for this whole group of chords, and think in terms of that scale. But to consider the benefits of picking a different option, you are going to have to play that mode in that context and understand with your ears what effect it will have. A chart can list the options, but it can't really explain what effect they will have and how to decide which one to use. Certainly the choice you make in a contemporary jazz piece might be very different from what one would hear from Mozart or a 12 bar blues.
So I guess the "safe" way is often to think about what the overall tonality is for this whole group of chords, and think in terms of that scale. But to consider the benefits of picking a different option, you are going to have to play that mode in that context and understand with your ears what effect it will have. A chart can list the options, but it can't really explain what effect they will have and how to decide which one to use. Certainly the choice you make in a contemporary jazz piece might be very different from what one would hear from Mozart or a 12 bar blues.
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- KVRian
- 1084 posts since 12 Sep, 2008 from Your basement
Welcome to the forums Aquitas!
An alternate way of approaching this question is to try to hear where your solo or lead is driving melodically. In other words, rather than a scale-to-chord matrix or chart driving your melodic material, I think it should be the reverse...playing from the melodic minor (aeolean), dorian, chromatic scale, diminished scale, should be the RESULT of being a sensitive musician and listening and following where the melody is taking you.
Another consideration is, 'where is that dm7 chord going next?' If it's the ii in a ii V I progression, then your melody could exploit the natural tendency tones in the cadence within C maj. You'll do things such as really leaning on the B natural resolving upward or F natural resolving downward, etc.
I like what Pat Metheny says about improvising. Rather than picking a "correct" scale to go with the changes, he says, "If I were in the audience listening to this, what would I want to hear?" and he tries to play that. In most cases the answer to that question is not "D Dorian" or whatever...it's finding the little melodic story that you want to tell.
Some things to think about anyway...Hope it gives you some grist for your mill.
An alternate way of approaching this question is to try to hear where your solo or lead is driving melodically. In other words, rather than a scale-to-chord matrix or chart driving your melodic material, I think it should be the reverse...playing from the melodic minor (aeolean), dorian, chromatic scale, diminished scale, should be the RESULT of being a sensitive musician and listening and following where the melody is taking you.
Another consideration is, 'where is that dm7 chord going next?' If it's the ii in a ii V I progression, then your melody could exploit the natural tendency tones in the cadence within C maj. You'll do things such as really leaning on the B natural resolving upward or F natural resolving downward, etc.
I like what Pat Metheny says about improvising. Rather than picking a "correct" scale to go with the changes, he says, "If I were in the audience listening to this, what would I want to hear?" and he tries to play that. In most cases the answer to that question is not "D Dorian" or whatever...it's finding the little melodic story that you want to tell.
Some things to think about anyway...Hope it gives you some grist for your mill.