If you want to develop comfort and ease with changing keys swiftly, then practice patterns on the circle of fifths. In particular, work on dominant seventh chords; doing so will help you to develop facility in voice leading from the seventh of one chord to the third of the next, and vice versa.
The exercise on this page is one of countless possible dominant seventh patterns. I like it because it brackets the chord root with the flatted ninth and raised seventh, then descends from the root through the lowered seventh to the third of the ensuing chord. Bottom line: you get a nice combination of color tones and harmonic motion. Click on the image to enlarge it.
This is a pretty straightforward exercise, and I don’t think I need to say anything more other than, memorize it, apply it to the full range of your instrument, and have fun!
Oh, yeah…and, check out my jazz page for more exercises, solo transcriptions, and articles of interest to jazz musicians.
March 27th, 2010 at 10:41 am
[...] voice-leading and switching keys, cycle exercises are mandatory and the cycle of fifths is supreme. Taking dominant patterns and licks around the cycle of fifths is a longstanding habit of mine. As with a lot of musical disciplines, at first I delayed, I [...]
January 11th, 2011 at 5:11 pm
Hi, i have been playing my alto sax for 5 years and i am currently in a jazz band. I have a question about the chords on top of improvising areas and i can not find a website that will answer my question without throwing in complicated other things that i don’t know. For ex. D9. that is what it says on the top. Do i play the D scale with the 9th note added on, or do i flat or sharp anything in particular? Thank you
Cerian Hunter
January 11th, 2011 at 11:58 pm
A D9 is actually a D7 (D dominant seven) with an added ninth. So flat the seventh (C) and add the E, which is the ninth. The scale you want to use is: D, E, F#, G, A, B, C, D.
I’m keeping this answer very simple because I think that’s what you’re looking for right now, Cerian–something you can instantly apply. But having done so, let me take you just a little deeper. The scale I’ve spelled out for you above is called a D Mixolydian mode. If you look closely, you’ll see that it’s the same thing as a G major scale, except that it starts on the note D instead of G. This works great because the D9 wants to resolve to the G major chord, so you can cover both chords with just one scale, the G major scale.
Even better, the chord that often precedes a D9 in jazz is Am7 (A minor seven), and it, too, is the same thing as a G major scale, except that once again, it starts on a different note, A instead of G. So let’s say you come across these chords: Am7 D9 / Gmaj7. Just play a G major scale over all of them! Easy, eh?
Of course, it gets more complex, but you appear to be at a foundational level and I don’t want to confuse you with too much information. However, I strongly encourage you to start learning music theory. Knowing theory is absolutely essential to your growth as a jazz musician, or as any kind of musician.
‘Nuff said. Good luck and keep blowin’! And feel free to drop me any more questions you may have. I’m very happy to help.