Scales
JazzValve
Written for B♭ trumpet
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Minor Pentatonic
Five notes that always sound right over minor and blues. The first scale to get under your fingers.
Blues
The minor blues scale combines minor pentatonic vocabulary with the ♭5 blue note.
Major Pentatonic
Bright, open and hard to play wrong. Perfect for major and dominant chords when you want air and space.
JAZZ ESSENTIALS
Dorian
The default minor sound in jazz. Minor with a natural 6 — the modal jazz colour.
Mixolydian
Major with a ♭7. This is the sound of every dominant chord in a blues.
Major Scale
The reference point for everything else. Know it cold in all twelve keys.
ADVANCED JAZZ
Melodic Minor
Minor with a raised 6 and 7. The parent scale behind most modern altered sounds.
Bebop Dominant
Mixolydian plus a passing natural 7, so eighth notes land chord tones on the beat.
Harmonic Minor
Minor with a raised 7. Use it over the V7 going home to a minor chord.
Natural Minor
The plain minor scale. Good for ballads and darker modal tunes.
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