Jazz - soloing over altered dominant chords

[TCgypsy]

Since there has been some jazz talk on this forum lately, I thought I would post a new thread.

When playing jazz, one of the more challenging aspect is playing over the dominant chords which are altered in most circumstances. What tricks do you guys use? I thought I would post a couple to get the thread started.

For those not familiar with this subject, a brief explanation. In order to get the 'color' of jazz you need to know the 'hip' notes to play over a dominant chord. For instance, in the key of C the dominant would be G7. The obvious notes in the chord are G B D F which you will want to utilize, particularly the 3rd and 7th which are B and F. The chord extensions are where the action is, such as the 9th (A)/11th (C)/13th (E). In general, sliding these extensions up/down a half step gives you the nice altered tones. The cool notes are the Ab (flat ninth or b9), Bb (sharp ninth or #9 which is also the minor third), the Db (b5 / #11), and the Eb (#5 or b13). Of course, seeing/hearing these notes in real time and playing them presents a problem for most guitarists. So, there are, quite naturally, some tricks.

TRICK #1: When you see a dominant chord, play the melodic or harmonic MINOR scale ONE HALF STEP UP from the chord root. For instance, on our G7 example, you would play Ab (G#) minor with a major 7th. The melodic minor scale gives these notes Ab Bb Cb Db Eb F G Ab which contain the 3rd (B or Cb in our example) and the 7th (F) of our G7 along with some tasty colored tones: Ab (b9), Bb (#9), Db (b5/#11), and Eb (b13). It's as easy as this! Arpeggiate a simple minor triad one half step up from the dominant to get started, and expand on it.

TRICK #2: Play around on the dom 7th chord a TRITONE UP from the dominant chord. This is know as tritone substitution and it is not that complicated - it was actually a trick that some early players used that became part of the language of jazz. So, for our example, you would play a Db7 arpeggio over the G7 chord. The notes are Db F Ab Cb(B). Again, you see the 3rd (B) and the 7th (F) along with 2 other notes Db, which is the b5 or #11, and Ab which is the b9 for some very nice color. Toss in the 6th of this chord (Bb) for one of my favorites, the #9. A nice easy trick that will get you sounding 'hip' very quickly.

There are some other cool tricks, so share them if you guys use 'em!

Peace,

TC

Edited September 28, 2015 by TCgypsy

[Rudi]

Sweet stuff TC. I will try some out.

[TapperMike]

Who do you want to emulate should be the starting point.  Jazz musicians have certain peculiarities with regard to theory.

 

With Satchmo it was all about the line.  He would pick a "tonal center" or just use the key and would play extended lines not phrases that would rest above whatever anyone else would do.  The chord changes would come and go and if the line didn't match up wholly with the chord change so be it.  It was what I call consonance/dissonance/ Which is my "All in one" theory to jazz.  Dissonance creates tension because the notes of the melody may not be inline with the harmony.  There are relative values to dissonance in context.  Some non chord tones have more dissonance then others.  And when you are playing a long line which contradicts the harmony beneath it that makes the resolution of simply changing the chord without changing the line.  Eric Clapton on Phil Collins "I wish it would rain" Does the inverse. He plays in context for some chords but does not for others.  It is a Consonance to Dissonance to make the solo "sour" as a means or reinforcing anguish.

I know it's not jazz but it has been used on more dramatic jazz songs as well.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bsz8xLZCoPI

Now we have to consider the chords function in relation to the song.  Is it a Vamp?  Vamps are common to early rock solos, fusion and as introductions to songs.  Basically it's one chord played over an entire or almost entire progression.  Most rockers and jazzers get down with working through modes via vamps. Generally the chord stays static with minimal (comped) value and the solo may play each mode correlating to the chord value (major, minor, dominant)  So lets say you are playing over an F7 with the 5th C omitted) you might play from the Bb scale, then in another section play from the F half -whole scale (F-Gb-Ab-A-B-C-Db-Eb-F) or for brevity you could use the Dominant 7 pentatonic.  Normally when we thing of pentatones we think in terms of the minor 7th pentatonic scale and it's relative major the Major 6th pentatonic scale.  Pat Martino super imposes the dominant 7 pentatonic scale (1-2-3-5-7) and the minor pentatonic 6th scale (1-b3-4-5-6) over any chord where he can find two common tones.  This is the way he's approached everything after having a heart attack and had to relearn the guitar.

Trane (John Coltrane)  .relied on 4 note grouping patterns derived from scale tones.http://www.freejazzlessons.com/jazz-patterns/ These come in quite handy if you are playing an extended solo where every 1,2 or four measures the key modulates.  Songs like Bluesette and the chorus to Michael Franks (popularized by Diane Krall) "Popsicle Toes"  (the verse is a jazz/blues progression)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHdCmNtFZ3w

Oddly Joe Pass doesn't color outside the lines as much as one believes. He will occasionally "sour" a Dominant V7th chord that doesn't resolve to the I chord.  At that point he subsitutes the 5th of the chords harmonic or melodic minor.  Ergo if the Chord was a G7 he would play the D harmonic or melodic minor,

Me after experimenting most of my life it always comes back to Bird (Charlie Parker) Although his performances always seemed weak to me his premise  remains strong.  Focus on Chord tones during the strong beats and connect chord tones with chromatic alliterations such as passing and neighboring tones.  I remember when I first learned the Bird approach. I was studying at Wayne State University under a professor who had also taught Al Di Meola and Earl Klugh it's like a light went on in my head that never shut off.  I said "Wow Man this is the coolest thing ever"  His reply was that many a musician had the same approach and it was all that they needed for their entire career.

 

The biggest thing is ...time

 Learning these any "approach theory" to improvisation isn't something you do with 5 minutes while your in between studying something else.  You really need a long stretch of a full hour twice a week just to improvise over changes.   And that's where my usual plug comes in..... Band in a Box by http://pgmusic.com.  Load up a standard, mute the melody and solo and then just jam your way through the song (or songs) for a good hour using the same approach. Be it Gypsy's or mine.  It's all good and well to talk about theory.  However talk wont' ingrain the concepts into your brain like playing them.

 

Edited September 30, 2015 by TapperMike
editor is funky

[TCgypsy]

Good approach to jazz, Mike. But I would like to limit this thread to altered dominant chords and was wondering what people think about when they see one, and the approaches they take within their styles from a note point of view. Obviously timing and phrasing and all that is every bit as important but I was just hoping you folks would post any tricks or give a brief approach if you have one. I did notice your half-whole scale hits some great tones over the dominant. Unfortunately, I struggle with synthetic scales (although I find myself more or less playing these when I stop to analyze). A lot of modern players like the super-locrian scale over a dominant but again, I prefer to think in terms of modes, triads, pentatonics, and altering these off of a non-root tone of the chord when playing over dominant chords. Many times these translate to a fancy sounding synthetic scale if I stop to analyze but it's not the way I am thinking when I play.

ANOTHER TRICK: If you are playing a major ii V I (or anything major with a V I), a simple trick is to switch to minor type modes during the dominant, and switch back to major when it resolves. This can yield anything from a bluesy (great for this) to very jazzy depending on which notes and how you phrase. For example, Dm G7 C you stay in C major and relative modes for the Dm and C but then switch to a minor mode/scale for the G7. Let's look at C phrygian: C Db Eb F G Ab Bb C - this scale hits the Root, 7th and a host of 'hip' color notes such as flat 5th (Db), flat 13th (Eb), flat 9th (Ab) and sharp 9th (Bb). You can use the blues scale and mix in some chromatic tones (especially the B natural before heading back to the I chord (C) ). Some experimentation with this will get you sounding jazzy very quickly and is easy for rock oriented players.

Peace

TC

[TapperMike]

Damn you TC (jk)

 

Here they are by the numbers.

Trane would use his four note grouping as applied to the "Dominant Lydian Mode" Yes it's spelled as one would think 1-2-3-#4-5-6-B7 He went to it after studying the versatility of one mode that would work fluidly over Alt chords.  He also had a tendency to through out chord progressions all together and reharmonize the entire score for "angular" sounding chords as demonstrated in his rendition of "My Favorite Things"

 

Stanley Turrentine favored the phrygian scale and would use harmonic justification has well to "land" on the chord tone with the melody even though the whole of his phrases may have not fit the alt chord...  Check out "Sugar"

Elliot Randall and a young Larry Carlton would superimpose a whole tone scale when faced with Alt chords.  Eventually Carlton moved away from this practice in later years.  You can hear Elliot Randall's approach to this during the ending solo to "Reeling In the Years" Where the cycling G and A chords start getting mashed together and the 5ths are omitted from the background. Which gets back to my statment regarding comping to omit the 5th note.

While the later (post heart attack) Pat Martino would use the "other pentatonic shapes" for getting around alt chords.  The younger Pat Martino would super-impose different chord structure arpeggios while working with Alt Chords.

 

Personally I find the approach a little too far out of the box for my personal playing and so try to use it in limited doses.

 

Robben Ford - while mostly known for his blues playing Robben Ford had a long history with Arranger/Composer/ Studio Ace Saxophonist Tom Scott....who as a matter of record also had a solo on Steely Dan's Aja not to mention is hother many accomplishments*.  When Robben Ford was playing with Scott he used the minor 6 pentatonic scale with a b5 note (similar but not the same as the blues scale) for playing over altered chords.  He never worried about justifying the minor/major 3rd.

 

I had this quack teacher once.. (not the one mentioned above) who believed everything could be resolvable using Parallel Minor Keys and superimposing either the bebop scale or the half-whole scale.  Damn guy drove me insane. He would expect that I transpose an entire song to it's parallel minor and make adjustments then make more adjustments/embellishments on the melody to emphasis the unique characteristics of the scale tones  Didn't matter whether I knew the original score or not. He'd just open some sheet music and expect it all on the fly.  It drove me batty.  I no longer substitute parallel minor keys. and only rarely do I use the Bebop Dorian scale.  Generally when trying to sound "hip" over an alt chord I'll super-impose the half -whole scale which also works exceptionally well over 7b9 and 7#9 

 

 

In summary.

I don't vamp on Alt chords anymore. I did when I had to in order to explore various methods for interpretation.  Mostly when you are vamping solely to work out a scalar/melodic idea you lose sight of the fact that IRL arrangements are moving somewhere and you have to be on top of the next chord.  I also don't like Vamps in general. I hate staying on the same chord ad nauseam.  The only time I'll work through successive alt chords is on "My Favorite Things" and when I do I stick to John Coltrane's approach because... Everyone in the audience is a critic and they are all staring at my hands.  When ever I stretch to include elements not within the Trane framework I hear it to no end once I get off stage.  They only want to hear Coltrane treatments on songs Coltrane songs.  It's freaking annoying as hell.

I rarely improvise these last few years. I'm more into guitar "Chord Melody" arrangement which has it's own unique set of challenges and creativity.  It pushes out any desire to solo over the head. Rewriting and then trying to accomplish the chord/melody approach (sure call it fingerstyle if you like) is more then enough to keep me entertained.

Like I stated in the beginning.  I'm more of a Parker type soloist. Focus on moving around the arpeggio with neighboring, passing, leading and otherwise chromatic notes as filler between the strong beats.  Occasionally throw in the Whole-Half scale where needed and let the rest work out for itself.

 

When I was still quite new to playing guitar Steely Dan rocked my world. Steely Dan led me to Jazz. At that point I was obsessed with anything jazz fusion. Delucia, Di Meola, Ritenour, Hallsworth, Metheney, Abercrombie  If they were under 40 and played some semblance of Contemporary Jazz (at that time) I wanted to be them do what they were doing and do it all.  That makes for a mighty schizophrenic player with no sense of self.  Through the years I've looked back on various artists with respect and admiration but not always love.  I hate Pat Martino's playing. It isn't that he's not good or great doing his thing yes he is. It's just that his playing leaves me cold as there are no cliche's that he resolves to it's just an endless stream of consciousness based on his substitution principles.  The same goes for many a jazz luminary such as Miles Davis... Really not into Miles at all though I respect what he has brought to the field.

 

Now I'm older, maybe wiser (the jury is still out) and I've sculpted my sound into "me" I've removed those grand idea's that may have worked just fine for someone else although sometimes I do return to them for "novelty sake" And when I'm approached by some theory zealot who claims my improvisations aren't adherent to someone else's approach(Like Coltrane) I simply say... Hi I'm Mike Chrysler perhaps you've heard of me during the introduction or when I was with so and so (Insert famous local artist) I studied at Wayne State University as well as CCC and the Detroit Recording Institute.  I've played at (long list of jazz venues) And I'm not trying to be that famous person.   

As for the newer jazz player, Sure climb every mountain.  Rise to the challenges.  Then take what you find uniquely you and disregard the rest.  Because it's supposed to be you expressing yourself through music. Not you trying to be a carbon copy of someone else.

 

 

 

* Though Tom Scott gets around most any scale adepthly the solo he did on Aja was based solely on the major scale)

[TCgypsy]

I am a big Charlie Parker fan, too, and probably model my more traditional stuff in a 'near-Parker' style. For bluesy stuff, it is a cross between Wes Montgomery and George Benson 'ISH". I have never been a fan of Miles Davis either. Interesting that we agree on him. I don't like the stream of notes style either that some jazz players do, although it can be educational as they go through all these substitutions and give me ideas. But that type of playing sounds cold and clinical to me. I try to play melodically, and I make use of all those 'cliches' that I love :-p. In the end, I like a tasty line that you can sink your teeth into that resolves nicely (whether I am playing inside or out until that moment. I do the same thing with rock within that language.

Peace,

TC

[TapperMike]

It's funny you mention Benson.  I think he's the most underrated jazz guitarist of all time simply because people pass him off as pop.  I love George Benson's playing.  He brought the riff back to jazz in a respectable form that had pretty much ended with the big band era.  He also could make covers his own by bringing his unique flare of self.  It's hard for me to even consider Leon Russel's Masquerade after hearing the Benson version.  Same goes with Jose Feliciano's Affirmation.  Benson was considered the last of the great chord soloists during his peak. He could simply bust out full chords not just octaves on a whim during a jam and pull it off exceedingly well. Even contemporaries of Chord Melody arrangements like Tim Lerch and  Jake Reichbart can't hold a candle to what Benson could pull off on a whim. 

 

 

[TCgypsy]

George Benson is interesting because he breaks the rules a bit, specifically by playing a major 7th over the dominant chord many times. He makes it sound good which is all that matters in the end.

Peace,

TC

[TCgypsy]

YET ANOTHER TRICK: Use ALTERED PENTATONIC scales over the dominant. Mike eluded to this in his posts so I will give one specific example. So, in the key of C again let's take G7alt.

G altered pentatonic: Two notes per string starting on the 6th string as we go up G (fret 3) Bb (fret 6) B (fret 2)  D# (fret 6)  F (fret 3) G (fret 5) and so forth (stick to two notes per string). The notes are Root, minor 3rd ( also known as sharp 9 (#9)), major 3rd, sharp 5th (#5), and the dom 7th (b7). In short hand (2 notes for string) you would play 3 6 / 2 6 / 3 5 / 3 4 / 4 6 / 3 6 for this G scale. You can obviously transpose this pattern up or down for other scales. Note that the pattern on the top and bottom strings is the same which is very helpful, AND you are playing a scale that starts on the same note as the chord you are playing over so you have less mental gymnastics than the first 2 tricks I shared.

There are other tricks with pentatonics that require even less thinking such as simply shifting standard pentatonics up or down by intervals (such as a half or whole step) as you play through the dominant, then shifting back 'in-key' afterwards. There are some good youtube video lessons about this so check it out if you are interested.

Peace,

TC