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The
Modes of the Major Scale - Developing a Practice
Routine pt. 2
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| Published
August 4th, 2006. © Chris Juergensen/chrisjuergensen.com.
All Rights Reserved. |
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More
of your questions answered - This is the second
part in this series on practicing improvisation.
Keep the questions coming, they may just get turned
into pt.3.
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| Q:
When I play over a ii - V - I in the key
of C (Dmin7-G7-Cmaj7) I attempt using the
D dorian mode but it just sounds like I'm doodling
around with the major scale, is there any way to
make it sound more like I'm actually playing modes?
A:
Maybe you aren't thinking about the chord changes
enough. If you can't hear the chord changes in
your solo, you're missing the chord tones all
together. Since you are playing in one key you
should try to outline the changes by incorporating
arpeggios. One progression I like to practice
over is the ii-V-I played through the cycle
of minor 3rds. Let's start in the key of C for
examples sake. The key changes will go like this:
C-Eb-Gb-A. The chord changes: Dmin7-G7-Cmaj7,
Fmin7-Bb7-Ebmaj7, Abmin7-Db7-Gbmaj7 and
Bmin7-E7-Amaj7. Start off by playing the proper
major scales first. Don't pay too much attention
to chord tones at first. Just get used to playing
in one position for now and get familiar with
the patterns. I've included the chord progression
and a sample of one position of the proper scale
patterns:
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| D
dorian (C major)/F dorian (Eb major)/Ab dorian (Gb
major)/B dorian (A major) |
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| Next,
let's try to incorporate some arpeggios into the
solo. This will help you to outline the changes
better. I'll give you an example of a sequence that
you can use as your practice motif. We are going
to take this motif through all our key changes but
first let's practice it in the first key, the key
of C. It consists of an ascending arpeggio (1-3-5-7)
followed by a descending scale from the root of
the chord (8-7-6-5): |
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| Now,
if you have it memorized, let's try to play it through
the key changes. I've notated it halfway through
for you, see if you can figure out the rest yourself.
You may have to rethinking things a bit by placing
certain notes in a different octave. These kinds
of problems make you think a little which is a good
thing. By the way, this is a great way to practice
but not necessarily a good way to actually play
a solo, it is a little too planned out and mechanical
and does not breathe at all. Regardless it will
teach you how to use chord tones and that is our
goal for the time being: |
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| Here
are a few more motifs that you can try to play throughout
the chord changes. For the sake of practice, try
to stay in the same position rather than moving
the same thing up and down the neck to accommodate
the key changes. |
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| Ex.1)
Descending scale from the root (8-7-6-5) followed
by a descending arpeggio (7-5-3-1): |
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| Ex.2)
Descending arpeggio (7-5-3-1) followed by
a descending scale from the 5th of the chord (5-4-3-2): |
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| Ex.3)
Ascending arpeggio (1-3-5-7) followed by
a descending intervallic 3rds scale sequence from
the root of the chord (8-6-7-5): |
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| Ex.4)
Ascending add9 arpeggio (1-2-3-5) followed
by an ascending scale sequence from the 7th of the
chord (7-1-2-3). You will have to slide up
to the twelfth fret for the last note: |
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| Now
what if we expanded on our idea by changing the
C major scale to the C lydian mode over the I chords?
All you would have to do is raise the F naturals
to F sharps. You would be taking more of a modal
approach. |
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is an example of how you could combine all of the
motifs we have worked on. Notice how I have used
the lydian mode over the maj7 chords:
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| More
Questions
Q:
My guitar teacher says that there are specific
"avoid" notes in certain scales and
I best be careful to not play them. They sound
okay to me, why should I "avoid" them?
A:
No disrespect intended but that is silly. True,
there are notes that are stronger than others
but that entirely depends on the chord you are
playing the scale over and the way the chord is
voiced. Any note that is included in the chord
is a strong note but generally the chord tones
voiced on the top of the chord are the strongest.
If there were tones that needed to be avoided,
they would have been eliminated from the scales
by musicians years ago. Just use your ears and
you should be okay.
Q:
I am trying to play over a Dmin7-Emin7 chord progression
using the D dorian mode and the E dorian mode
but it sounds weird. What's the deal? Is there
anyway to come up with good modal vamps?
A:
Your ear may protest you playing the E dorian
mode over a Emin7 chord in the Dmin7-Emin7
progression. The reason is simply because both
chords are diatonic of the key of C, the ii
and iii chords, which means that the D
dorian mode will work over both chords. That is
why the D dorian mode probably sounds correct
to you but the E dorian mode over the Emin7 chord
sounds off. There is a way to fix this problem
however. If you change both the chords (or at
least the second chord) to a min9 chord,
the chords will no longer be diatonic to the same
key. You see the ii chord (or dorian chord)
can be a min9 chord but the iii chord (or Phrygian
chord) has a lowered 9th so cannot be a min9
chord. Diatonic chords are a little tricky so
unrelated chords tend to work better. Try separating
same family chords (such as minor) chords by minor
3rds, major 3rds or tritons (major 3rds reversed
are minor 6ths and minor 3rds reversed are major
6ths). These cyclical progressions tend resolve
themselves back to the first chord and will make
sure that the chords are unrelated. Separated
by:
Minor
3rds: Amin7-Cmin7-Ebmin7-F#min7
Major 3rds: Amin7-C#min7-Fmin7
Tritone: Amin7-Ebmin7
Major 6ths: Amin7-F#min7-Ebmin7-Cmin7
Minor 6ths: Amin7-Fmin7-C#min7
Q: For some strange reason the dorian mode
doesn't work over the Amin7 chord in this
Gmin7-C9-Amin7-D9 chord progression I am
working on. I can't put my finger on it but it
sounds wrong. Why?
A:
Your ears do not deceive you my friend. This is
a gray area. You see, you are looking at the Amin7-D9
chords as a ii-V in the key of G but your
ear is disagreeing. Your ear believes that the
Amin7 chord is the iii chord in the
key of F because the two chords that come before
it are the ii-V in that key. If you play
the G dorian mode (F major scale) over the Gmin7-C9-Amin7
chords and the D mixolydian mode (G major
scale) over the D9 chord a harmonic truce
should take place. Not that your analysis was
wrong by the way, your ear just didn't like it.
The reason is simply because you ear doesn't know
that the D9 chord is coming so continues
to hear the progression in the key of F. I've
notated my analysis for you:
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| Q:
How come saxophone players have such good phrasing?
How can I learn how to play like them?
A:
If a saxophone player didn't phrase the way he
does he would die. They phrase that way simply
because they have to take a breath. Try to play
only when you breathe out and take a break when
you breathe in. This will help you get a handle
on their phrasing. You'll be happy to know that
there are some sax guys who practice circular
breathing so that they can play non-stop like
us. Players who use circular breathing, breathe
in through their nose and out through their mouth
at the same time.
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