Scales

Written for B♭ trumpet

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Minor PentatonicFive notes that always sound right over minor and blues. The first scale to get under your fingers.BluesThe minor blues scale combines minor pentatonic vocabulary with the ♭5 blue note.Major PentatonicBright, open and hard to play wrong. Perfect for major and dominant chords when you want air and space.

JAZZ ESSENTIALS· Pro

DorianThe default minor sound in jazz. Minor with a natural 6 — the modal jazz colour.MixolydianMajor with a ♭7. This is the sound of every dominant chord in a blues.Major ScaleIonian, the first mode of major. The reference point for everything else. Know it cold in all twelve keys.

ADVANCED JAZZ· Pro

Melodic MinorJazz melodic minor uses the same raised 6 and 7 ascending and descending. The parent scale behind most modern altered sounds.Bebop DominantMixolydian plus a passing natural 7, so eighth notes land chord tones on the beat.Harmonic MinorMinor with a raised 7. Use it over the V7 going home to a minor chord.Natural MinorAeolian, the sixth mode of major. The plain minor scale. Good for ballads and darker modal tunes.PhrygianThe third mode of major: minor with a flat 2. Let the half-step above the root supply the modal tension.LydianThe fourth mode of major. A raised 4 adds a bright sharp-11 color to major harmony.LocrianThe seventh mode of major, with a flat 2 and flat 5. A half-diminished sound for minor ii chords.Dorian ♭2The second mode of jazz melodic minor, also called Phrygian natural 6. Explore its flat 2 over a minor modal vamp.Lydian AugmentedThe third mode of jazz melodic minor. Raised 4 and 5 bring a floating color to augmented major-seventh harmony.Lydian DominantThe fourth mode of jazz melodic minor: Mixolydian with a raised 4. Use its sharp 11 over dominant harmony.Mixolydian ♭6The fifth mode of jazz melodic minor. A flat 6 supplies the flat-13 color over a dominant chord.Locrian Natural 2The sixth mode of jazz melodic minor. Locrian with a natural 2, giving half-diminished harmony a natural 9.AlteredThe seventh mode of jazz melodic minor. Spelled here as dominant colors: flat 9, sharp 9, major 3, flat 5, flat 13 and flat 7. Resolve the tensions into the next chord.Diminished Half–WholeEight notes alternating half and whole steps. Dominant spelling shows flat 9, sharp 9, major 3, sharp 11, 5, 13 and flat 7.Diminished Whole–HalfEight notes alternating whole and half steps over diminished-seventh harmony. The diminished seventh is shown as its easier-to-read enharmonic natural 6.

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