However, knowing and practicing scales, in all their variations and forms, does have some real benefit for your playing you just have to approach them in the right way. Oct 02, 2015 in this guitar lesson you will quickly learn about how to use scales over chords. These are not lessons, but supplements to my lessons. C major over a c major chord, d minor or d dorian over a dm7 chord you can play the 1, 3, 5, 7 of the scale to get the chord tones. We developed some tools while playing and composing that helped us in our work. Like all major 7th chords it is constructed from the root, 3rd, 5th, and 7th degrees of the major scale. How to use pentatonic scales to play over chords jake bellows.
In this article, well look at more conventional chord scale options listed according to chord types. The chordscale system looks at individual chords in isolation and allocates scales to each individual chord. This site is geared to playing musicians and composers. Click here to learn more in our previous two lessons, we went over the major scale and the minor pentatonic scale. Learning how to solo over chords is important for applying your knowledge of scales theory and lead technique practical in the context of your own songs and improvisation.
Jan 27, 2017 so when it comes to jazz improvisation, think about scales as pitch collections. Free guitar scales chart10 guitar scales you must know pentatonic scales chart source. A lot of people ask me how you apply the scales you learn over chord progressions i. To be able to improvise over a minor key you need a minor scale. Soloing over chord changes is one of the most valuable skills you can learn as a. To show this, i will use the c, a, g, e, and d chord forms. Combining the major scale with the minor pentatonic turning scales into solos part 4 david hodge guitar lessons 12 bar blues, guitar columns by david hodge, how to play guitar solos, scales and modes for guitar, turning scales into solos. Think of the scale as your path, and the chord tones as your destination. Any scale that contains all the chord tones of a chord can be used for improvisation over that chord the best choice is a scale that reflects the function of the chord a chord function is the role a chord fulfils in. Why you can use multiple scales over the same chord the jazz. Chord harmonization over major scales scales chords. The scale or mode that you are playing in should be viewed as the framework for you to use in order to allow you to walk between one chord tone and the next.
Knowing how chords and scales relate to each other helps you to find them more easily than if you were not to know their relation. If you dont know how to form the chords in a scale, first watch this video. This is a basic theory lesson for beginner guitar players. How to combine modes together over chords that are all in. For the past few decades or so, more and more jazz players have been using the chordscale approach for soloing over chords in progressions. How to combine modes together over chords that are all in the same key. The relationship between chords and scales guitar chord.
Playing these notes on the guitar neck is a c major 7th chord. How to superimpose the pentatonic minor scale over chord progressions in a number of different scenarios. Jan 29, 2016 why you can use different scales over the same chord. Apr 20, 2016 also, most guitarists are familiar with the pentatonic scales. How to improvise lead lines over chord progressions and never play bad. Several times so far, we have indicated that certain chords are suited to particular scales more than other chords. You can choose one of the two scales below to play over the entire chord progression. See the scale notes and most important chords for each key of your keyboard. A guide for which scales to use over 7th chords learn. This depends on how much time you have over the chords. Savidge randy lee vradenburg, music sales distributed. Before combining them, i remember first learning to solo over the standard 145 blues.
Nov 01, 2010 guitarists guide to scales over chords. Using pentatonics over each chord e major pentatnoic over e chord can give you variety. No matter what mode you are playing in, you should always be focusing on landing on chord tones of the underlying chord or chords that are being played by the rhythm section. May 23, 2014 take your improv skills to the next level as toby pitman shows you 10 scales you can play over a dominant 7 triad for greater melodic variation. In some cases however, especially in jazz, the chord s tones will be stacked beyond the 7th to a 9th. Lets take a look at the c major scale, focusing on the notes on the d string and above as this is where our melodies will. How to combine modes together over chords that are all in the. The table above focus on major keys with a major chord as the first chord a.
And i try explain why particular scales fit over particular chords. How to combine the major and minor pentatonic scales. How to improvise over major 7 chords jamieholroydguitar. Before attempting to improvise over a jazz standard, its a very good idea to identify which chord scales will. How to use scales over chords guitar lesson youtube. I say if, because in most cases the chord will only extend to a 7th chord. However, the question i always wanted to know the answer to was. You may use a g note over the a major chord or c note of d major chord for a dominantmixolydian sound.
How to combine chords and couples to create endless possibilities. There are normally some more notes to memorize, but it is nevertheless the same kind of logic. Patterns for chords and scales in the harmonic table layout. Basically, the first disc 1 hour, 25 min of the worship course covers dozens of chords to play on each tone of the major scale. If youve been following me for some time, you know that i love to teach students how to master systems and patterns this lesson is no different. If you are not yet familiar with the major and minor pentatonic scales, check out my lesson on them here.
When practicing the scales and arpeggios, it is very important not to over. But on the other hand, going out on a limb can sometimes result in a crash getting lost and never returning to. Jan 27, 2011 sus chords have a very open sound and as a result, create a wide variety of harmonic possibilities for the improviser. In the key of c major the notes would be c, e, g, and b as constructed from the c major scale as illustrated above. Soloing over extended chords up to this point weve learned how to choose the right scales for soloing over triads and 7th chords.
How to use pentatonic scales to play over chords new. Why you can use different scales over the same chord. The chordscale system is a method of matching, from a list of possible chords, a list of possible scales. But on the other hand, going out on a limb can sometimes result in a crash getting lost and never returning to safe ground is no fun either. You can see that the chords are all major chords, but they can be other chords also. Because in your mind, youre thinking i play x sale over this chord, and y scale over this chord and most likely you jump from one to the other with no connections between them and maybe you dont even know how to connect them. If you are interested in joining the unstoppable guitar system for only. For example, i wont mention the different kinds of minor pentatonic scales or bebop scales you can use.
Combining the major scale with the minor pentatonic. There are two guiding rules for selecting a chord scale combination called a chord scale fit for improvisation. How to combine chords and couples to create endless. Simplify guitar and theory in 5 fretboard positions do you believe its. An em7 chord is made from the scale degrees of root, b3rd, 5th, and b7th.
For the f major chord, you can substitute an f major 7th chord. Learning how to use them in new ways is easily applicable, and can immediately broaden continue reading how to use pentatonic scales to play over chords. The problem really is in playing scales over chords. This gives us a cool new sound that works wonders over dominant 7th chords, and therefore works well in blues and funk playing. When you do see these chords come up, you want to be able to have more options than the misguided advice of avoiding the third or relying on some sort of pentatonic concept. An exotic choice of pentatonic scales to play over a maj7 chord, playing a minor pentatonic based a half step down from the root will give you a lydian sound. The two most used and fundamental scales are the natural minor scale and the minor pentatonic scale. Combining the major scale with the minor pentatonic turning. Here is a list of what scales you can use over 7th chords. See all 6 formats and editions hide other formats and editions. The difference between chord and scales are in simplifying terms. Take your improv skills to the next level as toby pitman shows you 10 scales you can play over a dominant 7 chord for greater melodic variation. The first logical step is to learn how to apply scales over single chords.
You can apply this formula to any major key to find the diatonic chords derived from that scale. A future issue will address more advanced scale options such as crossreferenced scales, use of parent scales, and synthetic scales along with. This will tell you what scales will always work over particular chords. You need to be playing lines over chord progressions. How to blend chords and scale for super melodic solos youtube. In essence you can play any scale over a chord, if that scale has the. In this guitar lesson you will quickly learn about how to use scales over chords. Ive scoured the internet and went to college to learn how to solo over chord progressions. And over a minor 7th chord, you can play dorian, phrygian, or aeolian, and so on. Sometimes i like to switch between major and minor pentatonic scales and. This works even if the whole progression is in a particular key. We practice them up and down, in different keys and sequences. The more measures you have for the chord the more creative you can get to interest the listener.
Since you are playing major chords without extensions, you can imply an extension from the scale. Scales over chords book and cd paperback january 1, 1994. Scales are not the secret shortcut to jazz improvisation jun 22, 2011 jul 27, 2018 by eric. Chord harmonization over a scale is a fundamental tool to understand the correct use of harmony in a theme. Ill be chewing on it for a month you are amazing teach so well.
The chordscale approach is based on the idea that if a chord is diatonic to a scale, then that scale can be used as a source to derive melody on that chord. This lesson introduces a 2step process for identifying potential chord scales and then we apply the approach to the jazz standard blue in green. In the above example, it doesnt matter what key the cmaj7 chord is in, we can use both scales to improvise over it. The table tells you, for example, that you can combine the chords c, dm, em, f, g, am. Im decent in music theory, started with piano and know things like chords, scales, modes, etc but i guess i never put it all together and im lost when it comes to what scale i should be playing when i want to solo on a chord progression. If you want all the chords for each tone along with 4 more hours of instruction, check out my worship course. Take a look at scales that can be used over each chord. Scale over chords pdf it is the intention of this book to help you learn some of the chords, scales, and.
Soloing over extended chords how to solo over 9th, 11th. Before attempting to improvise over a jazz standard, its a very good idea to identify which chord scales will work over the chords in the progression. Let it be said that without taking any musical chances, an improvised solo will lie pretty flat. Soloing over chord progressions guitar lesson world. The next step is to identify if the chord youre soloing over has any additional tones. The major scale also referred to as the modes starting on the 1st note of the scale c in a c major scale the ionian mode. If youre playing the appropriate scale or mode that can be used to construct the chord ex. Why you can use multiple scales over the same chord the. Minor pentatonics over minor type chords lets examine how we can use the minor pentatonic scale in other ways over minor chords then just playing the minor pent scale over the root. For example, look at minor shape 1 tallest green box. If youre the lead guitarist in a band, or you at least aim to be, knowing how to play lead harmony over chords is crucial as youll most likely be expected to write your. Check out my free video lessons on my free lessons page. A popular and common chord progression is c am f g i vi iv v.
Or does it depend on what style youre playing like blues. All of the notes of the c major scale are theoretically correct over the chords d7, g7, and cmaj7, but by thinking in this fashion you. So that means, when improvising, you can use any scale over a particular chord, as long as that scale has all the notes found in that particular chord. Guitar basics of chords, keys, and scales upfront worship. When to use different scales or modes over chord progressions. And so we have found 3 simple common scales which fit over the entire chord progression. Now you can use these chords to build any progression. Sus chords have a very open sound and as a result, create a wide variety of harmonic possibilities for the improviser. Were going to explore various chords from my newest gospelkeys tm 202 course dont worry if you dont have this course yet ill post the chords i want to use below. Instead of just telling us chords and rhythms you care about the feel of the song which is the most important part.
Soloing over extended chords how to solo over 9th, 11th and. At first the tools were just a list of relationships that we used to help us find scales and chords. The chordscale system how chords and scales are related. How to solo over chord changes 3 step approach fretjam. Both scales, however are considered modes using the names, ionian and aeolian respectively. Learn how to become a better guitar player by using scales to connect your chords.
Similar to soloing over a key, you can use the major and minor scales to solo over chords. The relationship between scales and chords scales the good news is that there are very few scales you need to know to improvise over the vast majority of chord sequences. As well as providing a set of notes for creating melodies, scales can help us find chords which suit the key of a piece of music. The major scale can be used over major chords, and the minor scale can be used over minor chords. In this lesson i will be teaching you how to improvise over major 7 chords by implying the lydian sound. For example, if you see a dominant 7th chord, you know right away that you can play a mixolydian scale over that. But are we clear on how to apply them in a musical way. We do not need to know what key a particular chord is in, in order to choose a scale to play over that chord.
Lets say you played the first chords listed in chart 1, in the order that they were listed. It can seem like the practice of scales never ends. Therefore you can use both scales to improvise over this chord. So, first visualize both major and minor pentatonic scales, and practice them up and down the neck. So even though this chord progression changes key a few times, you almost dont have to worry about that, and you can just keep on playing your common scale. Fretboard positions diagram a guitar fretboard unscrambler, marc scheffel, oct 12, 20, music, 218 pages. How to quickly find what scales you can play over a chord. Scales are not the secret shortcut to jazz improvisation. Country players with switch scales with the chords in a guitar solo emphasizing chord tones and implying extensions. It has to do with the truth that chords and scales are linked. The d minor chord can be replaced by the d minor 7th chord. The foundation of melodic soloing johnson, chad on. A guide for which scales to use over 7th chords learn jazz.
Here are some free pdfs used to supplement my free video lessons. Today we are going to explore a simple theory concept. Scales are typically known as more complicated than chords. Soloing over chord changes is a far more advanced concept which well come to later. Now, that you have just a sample of chords to play on each tone of the scale, we can move on to making chord progressions. How to combine major and minor pentatonic scales guitar. Lets take a look at some chords and the patterns that they go with. It is a concept that many hobbyists do not know, but they are doing it unconsciously when they are searching for a chord that sounds good over a certain progression.
Today we focus on the most important scales played over a minor key. This book explores how scales and chords are intertwined, a concept that is key to creating functional and memorable bass lines and solos. Chord tones are the gems that are found within the scales. There are certain groups of chords that when used together, often sound good. If you combine those scales you can come up with a set of notes that works really well. Most sites ive seen either have riffslicks or theory such as scales, modes, etc. The system has been widely used since the 1970s and is generally accepted in the jazz world today however, the majority of older players used the chord tonechord arpeggio method.
438 100 288 1422 12 389 1575 400 67 880 717 1242 1 1494 407 1349 198 1107 1618 58 55 940 1108 1154 1295 1519 1569 673 1335 925 847 1048 812 420 627 1127 848 984 1134 104 46 718 509