EXAMPLE7 FLOATING AROUND THE CHORD TONES

When it comes to scales, one common misunderstanding is that all notes are Ex equal. 7 They’re not. Another is that you need to use every note in the scale. You don’t. They don’t need to be presented in any particular order either.

8 Am78 ( 11) 10 8 ( 11)

So, what can we do with them? Scales are significant as we can take various

9 9 9 9 component notes and combine them to create chords. These ‘chord tones’ are the most significant notes of the scale, and while other scale tones can be auditioned against the basic harmony to create either an extension or a tension (to be resolved), it’s the fundamental chord tones we should look for as a priority. When we consider that a composition can be constructed with a combination of different scales, then we can see that management of the Ex 7 chord tones is an important issue. When playing through chord changes, especially when they involve non-diatonic events (not from our ‘home’ key), your first (13) port of call 10 is to 8 establish which notes relate to which chord, and to Cmaj7 ( 11) 8 10 8 Am7 (12 ) make sure you can hit these points clearly every time (and this is before you

9 9 even think about which scales to use). This example moves from the diatonic events of Am7 (A-C-E-G) to Cmaj7 (C-E-G-B), before taking in the non

Bbmaj7 Bb- diatonic ( D-F-A). Make sure you can identify which notes are the fundamental building blocks, harmonically speaking, which ones function as extensions, and which work as decorative tensions. In a well formed and balanced solo we’d ideally like to see all three.

7 3 10 9 8 7