[Tony Grey]

Hey Scott, if you want to schedule something privately, just hit me up @ support@tonygreybassacademy.com and we can schedule it.

[Tony Grey]

All good, keep me posted.

[Tony Grey]

No the same fingering patterns are not necessary. However, the position shift rules are what you want to retain. That will give you the freedom. Whatever I am demonstrating is just a version of using those rules to find a way of moving around.

[Tony Grey]

Hey Scorr, we can always meet up privately if you ever want to go through a good routine to get this stuff under your fingers.

[Tony Grey]

Hi Scott, always great to see you on the webinars, thank you for joining in.

Yes the Pentatonic is a very powerful tool for soloing and grooving. Over the changes to Now’s the Time you can use the F major Pentatonic over the whole progression as long as you use your ears to avoid any clashes. Creating short phrases really helps with this as it creates a lot on intention which the ears love.

You can also try experimenting with the F minor pentatonic as well to create a more bluesy sound. Leaning on the b3rd can be a strong color.

One idea I talked about was to use the F major pentatonic over the F7 chord and the F minor pentatonic over the Bb7 (IV) chord. The note Ab is also the b7th of the Bb7 chord and has a great sound.

n the Understanding Harmony course you have all the chord tones for the triads and 4-note chords and as a fundamental rule, I believe it is important to be comfortable with all the chord tones for the commonly used chords for example: Major, Minor, Dominant and Minor 7(b5). These chords appear all the time and if we have these as second nature we can bounce our ideas from them. I think I will also do a class on this subject as I think it’s one of the most important elements of your playing.

I also suggested writing out 2 short phrases with the major and minor pentatonic scales and to think of them as statements kind of like a call and response dialogue. I’ll have a think about a short video that will help reinforce these concepts.

As far as chords for the major pentatonics. Cmaj7 chord can use C major Pentatonic (gives you chord tones C, E and G and the non chord tones (D and A), G major Pentatonic (gives you chord tones E, G and B and the non chord tones (D and A) and D major Pentatonic (gives you chord tones E and B and the non chord tones (D, F# and A).

C-7 chord can use C minor Pentatonic (gives you chord tones C, Eb, G, and Bb and the non chord tone (F), G minor Pentatonic (gives you chord tones C, G and Bb and the non chord tones (D and F) and D minor Pentatonic (gives you chord tone C and G and the non chord tones (D, F and A).

If you want me to check out anything you are working on please send them over..

Thanks so much.. Tony

[Tony Grey]

Hey Michael, happy memorial day. I will definitely check that out tomorrow. Thanks for sharing.

[Tony Grey]

Hi Michael, I’m going to send you an email to see what’s going on.

[Tony Grey]

Hi Michael, I’m going to do another one on the 24th of May, I’ll keep you posted. I will also be posting the archived webinars if you want to watch any of them. The new site will be live in the next 2 weeks so lots going on here.

[Tony Grey]

Sorry David, there was a short cut in service due to some hosting work.

[Tony Grey]

Hi Scott, I have used allsorts on gigs from bif Beats headphones to moulded in-ears. The best I have ever experienced are from Plunge Audio https://plungeaudio.com/ They have dynamic noise cancelling ones and a dynamic set that hear some room as well. For my gigsand session work I use the unity stage (noise cancelling ones) Absolutely best ever and super comfortable, they come with a bunch of adaptors to fit your ear and they do not move.

[Tony Grey]

Hey Michael, yes absolutely. I have some ideas. All of what you suggested sounds great. I’ll set up a schedule maybe every 2 weeks and the following 2 weeks a Q&A, I’ll also start filming these. It will be a lot easier for me once the web guys upgrade the system and there is a members lounge.

Anyone else chip in and write a list of specific webinars you’d like me to do.

[Tony Grey]

Hi Javed, the website is currently being restructured right now to make the navigation a lot easier. LEt me know what some of the subjects are that you are interested in studying. I’m happy too to send you a short video on how to navigate in the meantime. The courses are systematic so when you start one you can just follow the path.

Let me know how I can help you more. I’ll also send a follow up email to you. Talk soon.

[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.

[Tony Grey]

January 18th Webinar Follow-Up & Key Takeaways

Thanks to everyone who joined yesterday’s webinar! For those working on applying what we covered, here are some key areas to focus on:

Understanding Harmony course (Major Modes section)
Fingerboard study for major modes
Pentatonic practice across vertical positions

Remember: Chunk your practice (20-30 min sessions), go slow, and track your progress. If you want personalized guidance or video feedback, just reach out, I’m here to help!

Looking forward to the next one. Keep practicing!”

[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.

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