Reader,
Our solos on Beautiful Love last week are harmonically correct. But do they sound interesting?
On our last workshop, we covered the entire tune with just 2 scales: D harmonic minor and F major. It worked...but it was safe. Today, I'm showing you how to add color where it matters most: the dominant chords.
Dominant chords exist to create tension, and as jazz musicians, we harness that tension to create movement. As such, we can use more dissonant scales over dominant chords to create more compelling lines. While our two-scale approach is a great place to get started, it is ultimately it is lacking that satisfying dissonant, jazzy altered dominant sound.
So today, I'm introducing a new scale specifically for dominant chords - one that gives you those altered dominant colors you hear on the records.
The Half-Whole Diminished Scale
Diminished scales are our tool for adding color and movement to dominant chords by using notes from outside the scale.
Here's what it does:
- Gives you access to the dominant chord alterations: b9, #9, #11, and natural 13
- Creates tension with these dissonant, altered notes while maintaining harmonic logic
- Sets up resolution through chromatic voice leading in our lines.
Where We're Using It in Beautiful Love
Here's where we left off last week.
- Blue: Play D harmonic minor scale
- Red: Play F major
Today, we're going to change the scale over 2 specific dominant chords, marked below in yellow.
How to Play the Scale
The scale is called "Half-Whole Diminished," which I'll admit sounds a bit intimidating. But it's pretty simple to understand. And despite the "diminished" in the name, we actually play this scale over dominant chords.
We build this scale by starting on the root, and then ascending by alternating half-step and then whole-step. We repeat that pattern up the keyboard until we end up on the root again.
Here it is for C7, which we would use to solo on bar 5:
Can you work out the scale over the G7 in bar 14?
Of course, knowing how to construct the scale is only 1% of the work. The next steps are actually playing it fluently over the tune, and using it to solo creatively.
And I have a lot to teach you about that this week at our workshop.