FUNDAMENTAL JAZZ
In part two of his new series Jens Larsen examines the Harmonic Minor scale as a rich source of melodic choices over the V chord.
Jens Larsen shows how to make your soloing over the V chord sound jazzy and sophisticated using the Harmonic Minor scale.
The jazz standards we play today were, for the most part, written by classically trained composers in the tradition of the Romantic period. Therefore many of the harmonic devices found in jazz are not dissimilar to those used by Chopin, Schubert and Berlioz, so listening to classical music alongside jazz can teach us a lot about both styles. Historically, jazz is the combination of the aforementioned Romantic classical harmony with an added twist, achieved by mixing it with the blues. Of course both jazz and blues are African-American artforms that originated in the Southern states during the early part of the 20th century.
All the examples in this lesson will be in the key of F Major where the Dominant V chord would normally be a straight C7. However, we are going to ‘borrow’ the Dominant 7th chord from the F Harmonic Minor scale and extend
C7b9b13. it so it becomes
When playing over the V chord in a 12-bar blues, or in a typical jazz chord progression (say the C Dominant chord in the key of F), most guitarists tend to think ‘C Mixolydian’ (the fifth mode of the Major scale). However, because we will be playing over an Altered Dominant chord rather than a straight C7 (the
C7b9b13), aforementioned we can access some rather more interesting sounds. Some people call this scale C Mixolydian ( b9 b13), but Phrygian Dominant is a more common (and perhaps more logical) name as it has the same intervals as Phrygian, but with a Major 3rd instead of the flattened 3rd that’s normally
MANY OF THE HARMONIC DEVICES FOUND IN JAZZ ARE NOT DISSIMILAR TO THOSE USED BY ROMANTIC COMPOSERS CHOPIN, SCHUBERT AND BERLIOZ
found in the Phrygian mode.
Bb
C Mixolydian: C-D-E-F-G-A-
Db- Ab-Bb C Phrygian Dominant: C- E-F-G-
The examples that follow should give you an idea of how the Phrygian Dominant can be used over the V chord in various jazz-style chord progressions. Players can often struggle with what to play over this chord, especially when, as so often happens in jazz, it has one or more alterations, such as b5, #5, b9 or #9.
Enjoy, and I’ll see you next month.
NEXT MONTH Jens demonstrates another popular choice for jazz, the Altered scale