Much of my playing is pretty boppish, and I’ve wanted to break it up with some different flavors and larger intervals. Lately I’ve been toying with some exercises on angularity involving couplets applied to the augmented scale, and I thought I’d share the wealth. Click on the thumbnail to the right to enlarge it.

The first two exercises are ones I’ve been woodshedding for about a week. They go well, as indicated, with altered dominant chords, but of course they work in any situation where you’d use an augmented scale. While the written exercises specify a B+7b9 chord, you can also use it with an Eb+7b9 and a G+7b9.

The third exercise outlines a half-whole diminished scale and will function as such. I’ve paired it with a B7b9, but it also works with a D7b9, and F7b9, and an Ab7b9.

While it probably goes without saying, play each exercise through the entire range of your instrument and through all twelve keys (“keys” being used here for lack of a better word). Since both the augmented and diminished scales are symmetrical scales, much of your work is done for you. You need learn only four versions of the first two exercises and three versions of the third one.

Happy woodshedding! And if you find these exercises helpful, check out the rest of the offerings on my jazz page.