Remember that major scale we were talking about? You know, that Bb major scale we all know and love. And do you remember that that one scale can do triple duty? To remind you, this is the Bb major scale:
And we discussed that if you start this scale on the second degree, you have another scale, called the Dorian Mode. Here it is, the shaded section is the Dorian Mode of Bb.
Start this scale on the 5th degree and you get a Mixolydian Mode:
Ok, here is where things start to get interesting. On this same Bb scale, you can build a 4 note chord (differing kind of 7th chords, more about them later). We are also going to number each degree of the scale, from I to vii. Why are we using Roman numerals? I have no idea, it's just how they've always done it, and who am I to argue. When we do that, we get all sorts of options for things called chord progressions. A chord progression is simply a series of chord, usually related somehow to each other. Most music uses chord progressions. That is what creates harmony. Lets look at that scale, with the chords that are numbered by degree:
That's a lot of chords, right? But here is the trick to "making changes" Within this key, Bb, all of those chords can use the same scale, just starting on a different note. Your modes. One of the most common chord progressions is called a ii-V-I progression. This uses chords build on the second degree of the scale (for which you can use a C Dorian Mode), the fifth degree of the scale (you can use an F mixolydian mode), and a Bb major scale. As you hopefully remember by now, these are all the same scale! So when you see chord progression that looks something like this: Cm7 / / / | F7 / / / | BbMaj7 / / / | / / / / ||, what you are seeing is a ii-V-I progression in the key of Bb Major. 3 chords, BUT ONLY ONE SCALE!
Now let's try that, by playing the scale over a ii-V-I progression in the key of Bb Major. I'm not going to write it out, but here is the scale for transposing instruments:
Bb Instruments - C Major Scale (no sharps, no flats)
Eb Instruments - G Major Scale (one sharp, F#)
Not very hard, is it? But you may have noticed that some notes of the scale sound better than others on different parts of the progression. This is because there are a couple of notes on each chord that are very important for the improviser. Actually there are three. The first very important notes are the roots of the chord. That is the bottom note of the chord, and it's easy to find because it's contained in the name of the chord. In a Cm7 chord, the root is C. On an F7 chord, it is F. So the first thing to do when faced with a new chord progression is to play just the roots. You can do this with long notes, or apply rhtymic values to them. We will do both, on that same ii-V-I progression in the key of Bb concert.
Jam for a while with all of this, then turn the page to find out the two other exciting scintillating magically moving guide tones you can utilize to make your improvisations more and more cooler!