All Jazz Scales
Shanta Plansinis
A jazz scale is any musical scale used in jazz. Many "jazz scales" are common scales drawn from Western European classical music, including the diatonic, whole-tone, octatonic (or diminished), and the modes of the ascending melodic minor. All of these scales were commonly used by late nineteenth and early twentieth-century composers such as Rimsky-Korsakov, Debussy, Ravel and Stravinsky, often in ways that directly anticipate jazz practice.[2] Some jazz scales, such as the bebop scales, add additional chromatic passing tones to the familiar diatonic scales.
An avoid note is a note in a jazz scale that is considered, in jazz theory and practice, too dissonant to be played against the underlying chord, and so is either avoided or chromatically altered.[3] For example, in major-key harmony the 4th, and thus the 11th, is an avoid note and is therefore either treated as a passing tone or is augmented (raised a semitone).[4] Avoid notes are often a minor second (or a minor ninth) above a chord tone[5] or a perfect fourth above the root of the chord.[6]
[One] can get a good sense of the difference between classical and non-classical harmony from looking at how they deal with dissonances. Classical treats all notes that don't belong to the chord (i.e., the triad) as potential dissonances to be resolved. ... Non-classical harmony just tells you which note in the scale to avoid ["what is sometimes called an avoid-note"] (because it's really dissonant), meaning that all the others are okay.[6]
The number of scales available to improvising musicians continues to expand. As modern techniques and musical constructions appear, jazz players find the ones they can put into compositions or use as material for melodic exploration. Prominent examples are the seven modes of the diatonic major scale and added-note scales.
Bebop scales add a single chromatic passing tone to the seven-note major scale (Ionian and Mixolydian modes). The added passing tone creates an eight-note scale that fits rhythmically evenly within a 4
4 measure of 8 eighth notes, thus making it useful in practicing. When an eighth note bebop scale run starts on the beat from a chord tone (i.e. the root, third, fifth or seventh) the other chord notes will also fall on the beat. As a result, all of the nonchord tones will fall on upbeats.
Sometimes called the octatonic scale because it contains eight tones, the diminished scale is composed of a series of alternating half and whole steps. There are two types of diminished scales, one starts with a half step and the other starts with a whole step. The two scales are modes of one another.
The major pentatonic scale begins with a major scale and omits the fourth and the seventh scale degrees. The minor pentatonic scale uses the same notes as the major pentatonic scale, but begins on the sixth scale degree of the corresponding major scale. In this nomenclature, minor is employed in the sense of relative key, as the diatonic A minor scale is the relative minor of the diatonic C major scale.
In this post, we will explore 16 common jazz scales and reveal important tips and tricks for learning and memorizing them. The more you learn in music theory, the easier it is to understand new concepts as you build on what you already know.
These scales are important tools, but without understanding how to use them, they are simply tools. Think of them like paints. An artist must use these paints to create something that becomes more than the sum of their parts.
If you want to take your jazz scale knowledge and playing to the next level, then you need to check out the Learn Jazz Standards Inner Circle. We help players like you break through practice plateaus and focus on the important things that will help them become better jazz musicians.
Also, memorizing the modes of the major scale will help you tackle non-diatonic scales often used in jazz improvisation, such as the melodic minor scale (jazz minor scale), harmonic minor scale, or other jazz scales.
The basic principle behind modes is that you can start at any note in a scale sequence and count it as the first note. This works because scales are repetitive sequences, and the modes of scales are made of all the same notes.
The C Ionian scale is made of the same notes as the D Dorian scale, which has the same sequence of notes as the E Phrygian scale, and so on. This principle is true for other scales, like harmonic minor scales or melodic minor scales.
Of the five types of minor scales (Dorian, Phrygian, Aeolian or Natural Minor, Harmonic Minor, and Melodic Minor), the Phrygian mode is arguably one of the two least common minor scales for jazz improvisation, along with the harmonic minor scale.
These scales are often played over a jazz blues because of the chromaticism between the 4th and the 5th scale degrees. If you are ready to go beyond these basic blues scales, sign up for our free masterclass, Boost Your Jazz Blues.
Lydian implies a #4. Dominant implies a b7. If you put them together, you have the Lydian dominant scale sound, which works well over jazz chord progressions with a dominant 2 chord, like the Bb7 in Donna Lee or the F7 in There Will Never Be Another You.
By placing a chromatic passing tone either between 6th and 5th scale degrees (in the case of major bebop scales) or between the 8th and b7th scale degrees (in the case of the dominant bebop scale or the minor bebop scale), jazz musicians can keep chord tones on the downbeats while still playing 8th-note lines.
The chromatic passing tone is placed between the 6th and 5th scale degrees, keeping chord tones on the down beats. With any of these bebop scales, the idea is to use the chromatic note as a chromatic passing tone and not to stop on the chromatic note for too long.
The dominant bebop scale is the quintessential bebop scale. It has a chromatic passing tone between the 8th and b7th scale degrees, and it works best over dominant chords (ensure they are unaltered ones).
There are many, many ways to practice scales, especially if your instrument is polyphonic (like guitar or piano). Intervallically practicing jazz scales is one way to master them and spice up your improv.
Trying to improve your jazz guitar playing by flying through chord scale guitar solos like Joe Pass? Are you trying to blast through the whole tone scale on the saxophone like Wayne Shorter? Do you want to rip through melodic minor scales on the piano like Chick Corea?
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