How’s your progress going?

[Tony Grey]

Hi guy’s, has anyone jumped in yet? Working on this material opened up my playing to another level. I want to know where you are at with it and let me know any limitations you are having with the material. Let’s get a good practice schedule going so we can chip away at the creative rock!

[Michael P]

I have been working on the first 2 parts , but now on 6-string. Was going through it 4-string. I had done some of these lessons first time I did the academy and later on , but I decided to start over again. I think last time I went up to the alternating 3rds, but stuff happened in life at the time and lost interest in bass. I have decided to really focus on knowing all the notes in each key and the modes in each position. I did 6-string and it took awhile to do just one key. It’s cool how you can do some of the modes in several octaves in one position. \

[Tony Grey]

Hey Michael, great to see you today in the webinar. Glad that everything worked on my end so I have the confidence to do more.

About the fingerboard stuff. As you go through each mode, make sure you build up that improvisational fluidity over time. If you are comfortable to share you can always send me a private youtube link here or to me directly to check out.

Understanding each vertical shape is essential for improvisation, as it allows you to apply fingering pattern rules across the entire fingerboard. Work through each mode and pattern methodically, remembering that any given key is simply the same collection of notes played with specific intentionality. This approach to fingerboard navigation will unlock freedom in your playing, regardless of key.

[Scott M]

Hi Tony.

My question is about the melodic minor modes rather than the major modes .I hope its ok to post in this section.

I am nipping away at the melodic minor mode lessons and got confused on the altered scale lesson.Specificaly the scales we can use over the Dom 7 chord.I get the theory behind using the lydian modes but don’t get why we can use the Mixolydian here,seeing as there isn’t a “natural ” 4th degree in the altered scale.Is it a passing tension note between chord tones we can use?Apologies for not making the webinar.My laptop doesn’t seem to like zoom for some reason.

Scott

[Tony Grey]

Hi Scott, thanks for the question. This is a long reply 🙂 I would check out the Understanding Harmony course on minor harmony and understanding the melodic minor modes. Also the Bebop study course goes deep into the altered chord.

Dominant 7 chords in general contain natural tension due to the tri-tone interval. In the Major Modes we have the Mixolydian mode which gives us a chord scale for the V7 dominant chord. The contains tension 9 and 13. The 4th degree (tension 11) is considered a passing tone. We can use this scale as melodic content for most dominant chords like, II V I’s etc.

Due to the natural tension in the dominant chord we can pile on more tension. The Altered being the heaviest in tension as all the non chord tones are Altered. There is no natural 5th degree in the mode so we only consider the Root 3rd and b7th degrees. These are the main characteristics of a dominant sound. The tensions are b9, #9, #11 and b13.

If you want to think compositionally we could think of the b13 as a #5 and have the chord tones R, 3, #5, b7 with tensions b9, #9, #11.
We could think of the #11 as a b5 and have the chord tones R, 3, b5, b7 with tensions b9, #9, b13.

There are many mays to think about this mode, it’s just a very dark sounding scale to play over V7 chords. Herbie Hancock uses it a lot.

I personally like to use dominant chord scales depending on where the chord is going next. a II V I for example, I’m thinking of the 3rd degree on the Imaj7 chord. In the key of C major (Cmaj7) that note is (E), If we were thinking about G mixolydian for the V7, tension 13 is the note (E). This common tone really helps the listeners ears through the resolution. Common chord scale choices are, Mixolydian, Lydian b7, Symmetrical Diminished (half-whole) as they all contain tension 13. Altered is hip but very out.

II V I’s in a minor key tend to look like this, II-7(b5) V7(b9) I- The I- has a b3rd degree, so we want to look for dominant chord scales that contain a b9 and b13. If we were thinking C minor key (C-) The b3rd is (Eb). Tension b13 over a G7 chord is also (Eb). Again, the common tone really helps the melodic nature of your phrasing. The commonly used chord scales for a minot II V I are Spanish Phrygian (aka Phrygian Dominant), which is the 5th mode of the Harmonic Minor Modes.This mode gives us tension b9 and b13.

Another choice is the Altered mode which also contains tension b9, #9, #11 and b13.

Hope this helps.

[Scott M]

Hi Tony.

Very helpful,thank you.Thank you for pointing me to the relevant courses.

Scott

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