Romain Pilon Jazz Guitar Masterclass
18 Jul 2013
Practice Tips
Sing while practising!! The goal is not SPEED but ARTICULATION and KNOWLEDGE OF THE FRETBOARD. FRETBOARD . Work on LEGATO!! LEGATO!! Always play CHORD with scale!! Switch exercises the minute you feel you’re becoming mechanical. mechanical. Use as many notes per string as you deem necessary. 4 notes per pe r string seem to work best but sometimes 3, sometimes 5. Do not worry too much about fingering. Avoid adhering to a method. Try sliding the first finger into the second note on the string. Try sliding the 2 first notes on each string too. Work on building your own phrases/clichés. phrases/clichés.
Combine
Visual (place on neck) Aural (know your scale sound) Intellectual (know which flats and sharps feature in this key)
Knowing the Fretboard The Mick Goodrick Single String System Scales on one string. String by string: linear. e.g. start with C major on B string then cycle the keys e.g. F (include Bb), Bb (include Eb), Eb (include Ab), Ab (include Db), and so on.
Digital Patterns with Metronome 1 2 3 4 / 4 3 2 1 on all strings Many combinations of above e.g. 1 3 2 4 / 4 2 3 1 Pick alternately
Major Scales and Chords Use positions on Diatonic Modes rather than CAGED Ø e.g. GΔ7, A -7, B-7, CΔ7, D7, E-7, F# Play important tensions for each position e.g. 13 in Dorian, b9 in Phrygian, #11 in Lydian Follow up with diagonal scales along the neck in such a way as to utilise the whole of the fretboard. Play alternate 3rds, 4ths, 5ths, 6ths, 7ths, octaves all along the WHOLE fretboard, both as intervals and as double stops. stops. 1
Romain Pilon Jazz Guitar Masterclass
18 Jul 2013
Hitting the same note on two adjacent strings will not sound exactly the same, giving an interesting feel, just like sax players' false fingering.
Being Able to Switch from one scale to another on the Fretboard Try ascending in one key and descending in another say a relative minor or a fifth below and so on, first staying in the same neck area and then using the WHOLE fretboard. Try the cycle of 4ths as a basis e.g. up in C, down in F, up in Bb, down in Eb, and so on. Start with Ionian, then Dorian, then Phrygian, etc, always relating the key you’re in with the
ROOT. Repeat all of the above with Melodic Minor, Harmonic Minor (possibly only 5 th degree important) Play 3s and 7s to changes in a standard on all strings
Pentatonic Scale fitting Major and Minor Pentatonic scales on the 1st, 2nd and 5th degrees will fit chords with a root on the 1st degree. So, for instance, C, D and G major pentatonic will fit C Δ7#11 and D, E and A minor pentatonic will all fit Dm7.
Major
#11
CΔ7
chord
2
1
3 #4
Major scale
Maj Penta : 1 2 3 5 6
C D E
C
CDEFGAB
CDEGA
x
D
D E F# G A B C#
G
G A B C D E F#
x
x
D E F# A B
x
x
GABDE
x
x
6
7
Resultant
F# G A B
chord ext.
5 x
x
x x
6, 9
x
x
6, 9, #11
x
x
6, 9
Note: C, D, G major pentatonics are respectively equivalent to A, B, E minor pentatonics. b7
Resultant
C D Eb F
G A Bb
chord ext.
C Eb F G Bb
x
x
x
D D E F G Bb C
DFGAC
x
x
x
x
G G A Bb C D Eb F
G Bb C D F
x
x
x
x
C-7 chord
1
Nat Min (b3, b6, b7)
Min Penta : 1 3 4 5 7
C D Eb F G Ab Bb
Minor
C
2
b3 4 x
5
6
x x
11 6, 9, 11
x
9, 11
Note: C, D, G minor pentatonics are respectively equivalent to Eb, F, Bb major pentatonics. i Both Major and Minor Pentatonic scales will fit DOMINANT chords on the same root.
2
Romain Pilon Jazz Guitar Masterclass
18 Jul 2013
C7 chord
Dominant
2
b7
Resultant
C D E F G A Bb
chord ext.
1
C
major penta
CDEGA
x
C
minor penta
C Eb F G Bb
x
x
3 4
6
5
x
x x
x
x
9, 13 x
#9, 11
Also, the Major pentatonic scale on Bb will fit the DOMINANT (sus4) chord on C. sus4
C7
Dominant
chord
Bb major pentatonic
Bb C D F G
Bb
Bb Db Eb F Ab
minor pentatonic
2
b7
Resultant
C D E F G A Bb
chord ext.
x
x
11 (sus4)
x
b9, #9, #5
1
3 4
x
6
5
x
x
x
Additionally, the Major pentatonic scale on F will fit the DOMINANT (13) chord on C. C7
Dominant
(13)
chord
2
b7
Resultant
C D E F G A Bb
chord ext.
1
F
major pentatonic
FGACD
x
F
minor pentatonic
F Ab Bb C Eb
x
3 4
x
6
5
x
x
x
x
13 x
#9, #5
Conversely, as is the case with major and minor pentatonic scale fitting, taking Bb as the 1 st degree, its major pentatonic scales on the 1st, 2nd and 5th degrees will all fit the dominant chord with a root on the 2nd degree (C7): Degree
Major Pentatonic
Dominant Chord on 2nd degree
1st
Bb
C7(sus4)
2nd
C
C7(9,13)
5th
F
C7(13)
Furthermore, the major pentatonic scale on C ’s tritone substitute F# will fit the DOMINANT (altered, possibly also b9, #9) chord on C. F# major pentatonic: F# (b5 in C), G# (#5 in C), A# = Bb (b7 in C), C# (b9 in C), D# (#9 in C). Dominant
F# major pentatonic
(alt)
C7
chord
b7
Resultant
C D E F G A Bb
chord ext.
1
F# G# A# C# D#
x
3
2 x
3 4 x
5 x
6 x
b9, #9, b5, #5
Romain Pilon Jazz Guitar Masterclass
18 Jul 2013
Extending all the above pentatonic scale chord fitting further, one can end up using pentatonics on ii-V7-Is as illustrated in the following example in C Δ7:
options
equiv. to Choice 1 Choice 2
ii Dm7
V7 G7
I CΔ7
Minor pentatonics st nd th on 1 , 2 , 5 degrees st (taking D as the 1 degree)
Major pentatonics on st nd th 1 , 2 , 5 degrees nd (taking G as the 2 degree) and on tritone substitute
Major pentatonics st nd th on 1 , 2 , 5 degrees st (taking C as the 1 degree)
D, E, A minor penta
F, G, C, C# major penta
C, D, G major penta
A minor penta (Dm11) A minor penta (Dm11)
D, B, A, A# minor penta A minor penta (G13) A# minor penta (Galt)
A, B, E minor penta A minor penta (CΔ7) #11 B minor penta (CΔ7 )
For Half Diminished chords, one can use the minor pentatonic on the 4 th degree (e.g. F minor pentatonic = Ab major pentatonic on Cm7 b5) while taking good care not to be trapped by the b9 (and b13). (b5)
Cm7
Half Diminished
F
minor pentatonic
chord
b2
b7
Resultant
C Db Eb F Gb Ab Bb
chord ext.
1
F Ab Bb C Eb
x
b3 4 x
b5
x
b6 x
x
b13
It is worth trying practising pentatonics skipping notes, alternating in thirds, fourths, fifths and so on and also mixing them with other scales such as bebop and altered. Pentatonics sound angular while bebop scales sound more linear.
Bebop Scale fitting Bebop Dominant adds the natural 7 th to the Mixolydian. i.e. 1 2 3 4 5 6 b7 7 The natural 7 th is never to be played on an important beat. th
nd
th
The Bebop Dominant scale will fit the 5 degree of any key and also the 2 , 4 and 7 degrees of the same key. e.g. C Bebop Dominant scale will fit: C7
(V in F)
G-7 (ii in F)
BbΔ7
Bebop scale in F C7 G-7 BbΔ7
Em
Ø
(#11)
C E G Bb G Bb D F Bb D F A E G Bb D
V7 ii IV vii
#11
Em Ø (vii in F)
(IV in F)
1 F
2 G x x
x x
3 A
x x
4
4 Bb x x x x
5 C x
6 D x x x
b7 Eb
7 E x
x
th
Romain Pilon Jazz Guitar Masterclass
18 Jul 2013
Using Scales as Chord Voicings to build Modal Voicings (Chord Scales) Modal voicings are built by starting with a scale and taking 3 or 4 intervals from it, e.g. root, 2nd, 5th (6th sounds happy, 7th sounds unstable) and creating chords with those intervals from each note of the scale. For instance, with the C major pentatonic scale: 1, 2, 3, 5, 6 = C, D, E, G, A. Taking every other note in the scale (treating the scale as a looping list) yields C E A D as the first chord, then moving the up the scale a step at a time yields: D G C E, E A D G, G C E A, A D G C. Similarly, for the C minor pentatonic scale: 1, 3, 4, 5, 7 = C, E, F, G, B. Alternate notes up a step each time gives: C F B E, E G C F, F B E G, G C F B, B E G C .
Try the same concept with other scales e.g. dorian (major), altered (melodic minor)
Experiment with Drop 2 and Drop 3 voicings.
i
http://www.jazzguitar.be/forum/theory/27138-scales-over-2-5-1-progression.html https://www.google.com.mt/webhp?hl=en&tab=ww#hl=en&q=pentatonic+on+ii+v+i&safe=off
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