Let's continue the thought we started with that Lester Young example in part 1, that a scale is a framework rather than a prescription. I've always wondered if a trumpet picker could somehow "see" a scale as a shape the way we can see a pattern on the fingerboard.
So when you play something "in a major scale" you are giving the broad impression of do-re-mi-fa-sol-la-ti-do without having to limit yourself to those seven tones (see the examples in the first post in this blog). Beautiful beautiful BEE-yoo-T-ful music is made with just those seven tones https://youtu.be/duy85obJhLk, but making good jazz requires us to approach "scales" and even the idea of pitch and intonation a bit more loosely.
Let's look at some notes which aren't actual members of the major scale but, shall we say, have pool privileges if they come with one. The "blue" notes - the minor third, aug4th/dim 5th, and minor 7th - are pretty easy to fit in. We'll continue using the pentatonic scale as our template, adding or changing notes to suit. Notice that none of these "scales" go in straight scale-wise motion.
First the aug4th/dim 5th. This is also called the "tritone," because this interval is three whole steps (or whole tones) above the root. We'll be treating this as an augmented 4th (F# in the key of C).
This is usually called "Lydian mode," a major scale with a raised 4th. Later on I'll go into more detail as to why this is a confusing and limiting way to look at it, but for now suffice it to say that it doesn't mean you're suddenly in Lydian mode every time a fourth gets raised. I prefer you to think about raised fourths as a thing that occasionally happens to fourths.
And it's the same with thirds! Now the blue third. Notice here that instead of the maj3 being hit dead on, it is preceded by the 4th, then the min3. Approaching a note this way, by means of a scale step above, and a half step below, is an effective way of emphasizing it. So in C-pentatonic, instead of C D E G A... you have C D F-Eb-E G A. Descending, you do the same thing: C A G F-Eb-E D C.
Let's add the "blue" (minor) 7th to the above.
You can get a cool effect by flatting 6ths as well.
A "blue sixth" would fall somewhere in between: a major 6th sung a little flat.
After all this, if you still want to run major scales, you have what you need here. But why? And for whom? By way of an answer, let's consider the Pittsburgh Steelers. Every member of the team spends serious time lifting weights; it's an important part of being a good football player. But once it's game time, if they get on the field and start lifting weights, it's going to make for some lousy (and losing) football.
seeeeeeya!
So when you play something "in a major scale" you are giving the broad impression of do-re-mi-fa-sol-la-ti-do without having to limit yourself to those seven tones (see the examples in the first post in this blog). Beautiful beautiful BEE-yoo-T-ful music is made with just those seven tones https://youtu.be/duy85obJhLk, but making good jazz requires us to approach "scales" and even the idea of pitch and intonation a bit more loosely.
Let's look at some notes which aren't actual members of the major scale but, shall we say, have pool privileges if they come with one. The "blue" notes - the minor third, aug4th/dim 5th, and minor 7th - are pretty easy to fit in. We'll continue using the pentatonic scale as our template, adding or changing notes to suit. Notice that none of these "scales" go in straight scale-wise motion.
First the aug4th/dim 5th. This is also called the "tritone," because this interval is three whole steps (or whole tones) above the root. We'll be treating this as an augmented 4th (F# in the key of C).
This is usually called "Lydian mode," a major scale with a raised 4th. Later on I'll go into more detail as to why this is a confusing and limiting way to look at it, but for now suffice it to say that it doesn't mean you're suddenly in Lydian mode every time a fourth gets raised. I prefer you to think about raised fourths as a thing that occasionally happens to fourths.
And it's the same with thirds! Now the blue third. Notice here that instead of the maj3 being hit dead on, it is preceded by the 4th, then the min3. Approaching a note this way, by means of a scale step above, and a half step below, is an effective way of emphasizing it. So in C-pentatonic, instead of C D E G A... you have C D F-Eb-E G A. Descending, you do the same thing: C A G F-Eb-E D C.
Let's add the "blue" (minor) 7th to the above.
A "blue sixth" would fall somewhere in between: a major 6th sung a little flat.
After all this, if you still want to run major scales, you have what you need here. But why? And for whom? By way of an answer, let's consider the Pittsburgh Steelers. Every member of the team spends serious time lifting weights; it's an important part of being a good football player. But once it's game time, if they get on the field and start lifting weights, it's going to make for some lousy (and losing) football.
seeeeeeya!
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