Altered Dominant with Pentatonic b6 Scale

Lately my practice sessions have involved both the diminished whole tone scale and the pentatonic scale. There’s a reason for this: the two are related, and both scales go well with the V+7#9 chord. My previous post explored how this plays out with a basic major pentatonic scale. I worked with mode 4 of that scale, starting on the b9 of the V+7#9 chord. In root position, the scale would actually begin on the +4 of the chord.

Today during my practice session I focused on another pentatonic scale rooted on the +5 of the V+7#9. It’s a wonderful sound that really brings out both the major third and #9 of the chord as well as the evocative color of the raised fifth. This scale is not your standard-issue pentatonic; its flatted sixth gives it a mysterious augmented quality.

pentatonic-b6-scale
Click on the image to your right to enlarge it. The first thing you’ll see is a D+7#9 chord outlined in whole notes. To its right is an ascending Bb pentatonic scale with a flatted sixth. You’ll see how the scale is entirely consonant with the chord. Moreover, further analysis will reveal that the Bb pent b6 is actually an abbreviated form of the D diminished whole tone scale.

Still more interesting is the fact that the Bb pentatonic scale with a flatted sixth actually is the D+7#9! It’s what you get when you scrunch all the chord tones together linearly (or as near linearly as possible). While I’d love to make myself sound like a master theoretician who has known this fact for most of his musical life, the truth is, I just made the discovery a little while ago. Now I know why this scale sounds so great when played with the altered dominant chord. It is the chord.

Of course the scale has other applications besides the V+7#9, the most obvious being major and dominant chords that share the same root as the scale. I’ll let you work out the various other harmonic possibilities for yourself as they’re not the focus of this post.

Back to the image: The second and third lines introduce you to a basic exercise that will help you start getting your fingers around the pentatonic b6 scale. It would be most helpful if you had some kind of accompaniment sounding the chord when you work on this pattern. You want to internalize the sound of the chord-scale relationship, not just the technique.

It goes without saying, but I’ll say it anyway: Take this exercise through the full range of your instrument and learn it in all twelve keys.

And that’s that. For lots more chops-building exercises, solo transcriptions, and information-packed articles, visit my jazz page.

July 2, 2011 by
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The Tritone Scale

Many years ago, when I first became aware of chord superimposition, I hit upon a unique concept. Inspired by my new awareness of tritone substitution, I thought, What would happen if I took two major triads a diminished fifth apart–C and F#, for example–and crunched all the notes together to form a scale? Wouldn’t that be cool!

Of course it had already been done, just not by me. My musical innovations tend to be in the same league as my discovering fire, gravity, the wheel, Chicken McNuggets, things like that. In this case, I had stumbled upon the tritone scale, so named for obvious reasons.

tritone-scale
Think of a diminished scale with two notes missing, kind of like a smile with a couple teeth knocked out, and you have the tritone scale. The standard C half/whole-step diminished scale consists of the notes C, Db, D#, E, F#, G, A, Bb, C. If you remove the notes D# and A, the result–as shown in the first example (click to enlarge)– is a C tritone scale: C, Db, E, F#, G, Bb, C.

The tritone scale falls in the class of scales called hexatonic (six-tone), which also includes the augmented, whole tone, and blues scales. Since the tritone scale is derived from two major triads, you’ll of course find those triads contained in it. You’ll also find two dominant seventh chords native to the tritone scale. (See second and third examples.)

The leap of a minor third between the second and third tones, and between the fifth and sixth tones, renders the tritone scale asymmetrical. That asymmetry lends color to the scale and makes it a good source of angularity. By its nature, the tritone scale will make you think a bit differently than you would if you were using a complete diminished scale–with which, I should add, the tritone scale is interchangeable.

The last two examples in the image are actually exercises on the tritone scale. The first is a straightforward scale exercise. The second alternates the two triads that are native to the scale, taking you through their different inversions. As always, play each exercise through the full range of your instrument.

How to use the tritone scale in improvisation

All that theory is fine, but what about actual application? Naturally you want to know how the tritone scale is used.

Use it anywhere you would use a whole/half-step diminished scale. The most obvious use is with a V7b9 chord. Since, as I’ve said, the tritone scale is interchangeable with the diminished scale, you can use it with any of four different dominant chords. For instance, you can use the C tritone scale with C7b9, Eb7b9, F#7b9, and A7b9. Note that two of these chords, the Eb7b9 and A7b9, are built upon the “missing notes,” which means you can skate around the chord roots without ever landing on them.

Tritone scales built on the roots of dominant chords pack the advantage of having the tritone substitution built right into them. The second exercise (last example) demonstrates this beautifully and is one you definitely should get under your fingers.

The tritone scale also adds interest to minor scales. Use the seventh of the scale as the chord root. Another way of thinking of it is, use the note that’s a major second above the chord root as the tonic of your scale. For example, if the chord is a Bbmin7, use a C tritone scale.

If you want a good example of the tritone scale in action, the first part of Michael Brecker’s solo on “Quartet Number 3” in the Three Quartets album by Chic Corea is a tritone tour de force.

And with that, I’ll sign off. Practice hard, experiment, and have fun!

March 18, 2011 by
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