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HANCEPTS O 2oo2WARNER BROS. PUBLTCATTONS
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A n yd u p l i c a t i o na ,d a p t a t i o o
nr a r r a n g e m eo n ft t h e c o m p o s i t i o n s
c o n t a i n e idn t h i s c o l l e c t i orne q u i r etsh e w r i t t e nc o n s e not f t h e p u b l i s h e r .
N o p a n o f t h i s b o o k m a yb e p h o t o c o p i eodr r e p r o d u c eidn a n y w a y w i t h o u tp e r m i s s i o n .
i a u t h o r i z euds e sa r ea n i n f r i n g e m e o n ft t h e U . S .C o p y r i g hAtc t a n d a r e p u n i s h a b lbev l a w

-A

i.;ttlti
v
WARNERBFOS. PUBLICATIONS
W.d.r M!.b cro@
An AOLTth.W.h.rOnp.ny
USA| 15800 NW 48th Avenue, Miami, FL 33014

nzp
IMERIATIOMI MUSCPUBLEATIOilS
LI'trED
ENGUND:GFTFF]N
HOUSE
161NAMMENSMITH
FOADLONMNW6sBS
II\ IHUUUUI IUI\
fhis bOOl trasteenintheworksformanyyears.lt wasalways myintention thatit would
serveasthelinearadiuncrro S0tTEltP0mny E[onDIHtilgtpIS andthatthesetwobooks
wouldften be able t0 functionbeautifully togetherLikethe aforementioned book,
,If[IltlG lllltctFls sharswithyoua particular philosophy
theorerical tharis designed
to givevarietyandflowto yourimpruvisations. Thereis certainlynothingnewabout
penttonic impruvising.
However, perhapsit hasiust neveT
beenprcsented in quitethis
formandthismanner. Oneearlychapter
inthebookis dedicated
to making certalnthatyou
clearlyunderstandthedistinction
betweenwhatmakesa pentatonic linedifferentfroma
ia2z line.
Oncethat hasbeenaccomplished,thefocusof thebooknarrows.
Tle materials arorganized in a manner thatshowsyouhowto employ themquickly and
witi resultsyoucanhearimmediately. Inpresenting thematerials fof thisbook,I'vetried
t0 keeptiingsassimpleaspossible andt makecertain thattheteminology andlanguage
fle crFistentwifi rry chordalpublication.
As wi*r GllltBDlflllilGtpls, myhopeis that the
sophistication0f thejdeaswillappeal to playersin allgennes: notbeing'overthehead'of
thosewttomightnotbeinterEsted inthespecifics of musictheoryandnotseeming to ,talk
doum'tothosewhomighthavealrady attaineda highlevelof sophistication wheremusic
tieory is concenned. Sincethe publication of GllOB0 lfil IC[pIS,I havereceived manv
encouraging lettrsfmmthosewhohaveusedthebookandgained fromit. I canonlyhope
thatthesuccessful communication of ideaswillbemuchthesamefor thisbook.
I believe
thereareaspects to theunderstanding
of musicandmusictheorythatinvolve n0
"r.dc.' I thinkthat,at onetimeor
another,
all of uswouldhavebelieved thateverything
weheardandsawir musicwasbornof ,,magic." However, thefurtherwetakeoufindivid-
ualstudies,wefindthatthereis a verymathematical logict0 much0f it. The,,magic"
ele-
mentliesintheirbrastiorofthepeople making themusic.But,in almostallcases,there
arerasons whymusicsounds good,andoftenthoseTeasons arebonnof soundtheory.
InthisbookI havetriedto 0rganizethosetheoriesthatI verymuchwantto sharewithyou
t0 appearin simplecharisaid tablessoyoucanaccesstheinformation quickly
andwith
greataccuracy.Thetheories, likethosein math,shouldholdfirmandtrueandnotlet you
donn.Withsomehardwo* 0nyourpart,somememorization of thefonmulas,
vouwillbe
capable0f somenewmusical ideassoon.0f thisI amcertain.
Sincethisbookwasgoingt0 betotallyfocused onlinesandlinean concepts,I knewtJrattJn
play-along
CDwouldhaveto be apprcached differently.Forthefonmerbook,whidrdealt
withchofusandchordal harmony, youweresupplied withplay-along
tnackstiat, in alnnst
youwithonlybassandpercussion.
allcases,supplied Hereyouwillfindthatyuj willstill
havethebassandpercussion, butto giveyoue harmonic cushion,
someharmonic sfpot,
youwillheafstdngpadsin the background on all the newtracks.lhis willgivelul tJE
chanceto hearyournewlyformedlinesagainstsomething harmonically
solid.And,in tlc
end,knowing whatyounowsoundlikewillgiveyouthat all-important senseof selfgf,
dencefof playing
yourlinesin anycontext.
Youwillfindonthe CDa balancebetween recordeddemonstfationsof thewritten@n-
plesandmanyimprovisataons,whichattemptto present
thelinearconceptsastey cuff
beusedin realplaying
situations.
Usuallytfredemonstration
trackis immediatelyfrrllocd
bytie sametrackminusmyguitar.
CtIIIInmf,Y 8H0R0 tllltG$fs showsyoua comptete anddetailed descriptionof my
equipment ontheTechnical GuitarInformation"page{page 74).Thene wasalsoa w*[E d
Intotie recording pmcesswithMalcolm PollacKs "Engineering
Notes"lpage7S).ForfE
recording of lt fi lillGIllltGIFlS, noneof myguitarequipment reallychanged, fld I still
usednryGibson ES-335fB2,film the Heritage Senies] fof everything.However, d.c to a
problem lwas havtng withoneof myspeakers lbutit couldhavebeensomefring dsel],re
decided to mixhe recording usingonlyonesideof mystereosoundisotheguitr, as yui
no^,hearit, appears in thecenter. 0n theengineering side,muchof ourrecording 6:m
remained thesameaswell;though Malcolmhadto improvise a bit sincesomesf tfE o.t-
boardpmcessing gearfrverb anddelay units]inAlGorgoni's studiohadchanged. Stnddyur
care!o radaboutmyequipment in grcaterdetail,please feelfreto visitthefollowingWbb
page:rrrsterullu[cony'equipmenthtn. I am hopefulthat oneof thesebflo sorces r'l
ansu,ermostof yourquestions aboutmymusical equipment andtherecording itself.
lntroduction
Fonmost0f thetracksonthe CD,I putto useoneverysimpleyetsolideveneighf}flote
nhythmic groovewith a Latinflavotwhichalwaysappearsat the moderate tempoof
=
J 122.Though thegroove mayseemsimilarfromtfackto traek,theharmonic challenges
arealways oversomethirtyyearsof privateteaching,
diffenent. I'vecometo beliewtld
this kindof play-along withplayens
feelis the bestwayto connect fi'omall genrcs,ad
that'sa goalfonthisbook.
Forthose0f youwhohavealways beenjazzplayers, beingforcedto cometo termswith
playing overeveneighth-notefeelscanbe6 greatthing.Forme,it remains to get
difficult
sequencers to feellikethebrilliantplaying
of drummers suchas ElvinJones,RoyHaynes,
JackDeJohnette, PhillyJoeJones,andcountless others.0n "Hippity Hopto the Bebop
Shop," Irach 3 and4 ontheCD,I decided t0 avoidtheseproblems andpresentmyver-
sionofa contemporary hip-hopshufflebeatthatwouldallowthewrittenpassages to swing
a bit.Thetempofor thesetracksis ) = 72. I amhopeful thatthis,in smallpart,willsat-
rsfysomeof youfromtheiazzcampandinspirceveryone elseaswell.
Though I am repeatrng myself,I can'tstressenough that, in the longvieu the liner
approach presented in this bo0kshouldworkbeautifully withthe chordalandharmonic
approach in G0ilIEMP0R[BY GH0B0 lfililGEFIS.Duringthepenfonmance 0f music,in y
genre,yourplaying shouldalways bea balance of allthatyou've experienced andlearned
sothat it'snot one-dimensional. lf youallowyounself to doiustthementalportionof tiis
effoft,leamingtheformulas asto whythesepentatonics worksobeautifully, I canguarsF
teethatyouwll achieve resultsfar fasterthanif youspendtimefesisting thisaspectand
justrelying 0nyourears.Tfue,intheend,everyihing willcomedownto yourear,yourabiF
ity t0 hearsomething,,but it's so important to understand whythingsdo soundgood.To
thatgoal,I hopeI cancontdbute something of lastingvalueto yourmusic.
Staysafeandbewell,
Sterelhan
ewlbrl Gitl,0ctobcr2001

t4,.tta-

0rigin.l t!tr ..d hl lt J!|F irld tolon. Sirln b stero .r . gift for . loltible rotghool col!. in 1900,
Ilir l|nicrhr a|rrin! Enind. u. ol folon'r ldnlinq for th! tittbrt! LDrollr |tor 'tt.
Al Gorgonr:
Aar.onStang;Mike Selver.ne;StevenLaitmon;ChristineMar.tin;
MalcolmPollack:Rob Mounsev; FeliciaMichael;
Ned Shaw;BlaineFallis;RonAslon;
Christran
Pacher;OscanHernandez;ManoloBadnena; MarcOuifrones; Bub6nRodriguez;
wrllreBobo,PietMondrian;i/ikeLandy;KennyInaoka:patriziochiozza;Fneddyzernin;
RrchandLarrd:RobWallis;ColinSchofield;
L. JohnHar.ris;
DennisChamber.s; Anthony
Jackson:
SteveJondanAdamGor.goni;ClareFischer";
DonSebesky; Naokisawaoka;
'or.tiz; Nadine
DeMarco;Davesamuels;RafaerGreco;AlvanoFalc6n:Daniel Ang6lica
Lamanca
Caneldn:
DougWest,Jean-Michel Folon;Heathprice_Khan;
andto Car.idadCanel6n.

Acknowledgments
Grbson
Guitans tJimmyArchey, LouVito,andDanr.ell
Gilber.tl;
DeanMar.kleyStr.ings
lDeveLrenhard):
Sadowsky GuitarstBogerSadowsky); WaltenWoodsAmps tWalter.
Woodsl Korgy'lrr,tarshail
tMirchCotby);yamahaGuitar.itshigenobuMiyake);lbanez(John
Lomas;LPAatrnPencussion tMartinCohenl;
DannyK. MusiiSer"vices; andDr.eamhir.e.

Dedication
The wonkconlained withinthis bookis dedicated with loveano nespectm
0lI ltl'lt[, oneof my deanesJfriendssincejunion
highschool,whor.ecently
passedaway
hon. lungcancer. lf youanethinking
aboutsmoking, pLEASE don'teverstar.tllf yo, ar. i
smokernow PLEASE do everything
withinyourpowerto stopNOW|

Conrespondence
Pleasefeerhee to visitmy Web site:hftp//www.steuekhan.com.

Andrf youlike,wrireto me anytime


viathe c0tTlgr srtuEpageat the site

Cnedits
ProicctXaneger:Aar-onStang
Xrsic [rgrrring rnd Bool layout/ltesign:
MankBur.gess
0rigiml Gcer 0esign:H6teneCote
Becl Gorerllh:tration: NedShaw
Boottrt LeyoutRobertRamsay
Ptotoof stere rhrn lpageil: chnistianpacher,Ingolstadt,
Genmany tMay31, j gg3l
G0BacordingInformation:
Produced by: SteveKhan
AssociatePnoducens: Al Gor"goni
& Malcolm pollack
Prrgnammed & Sequenced by; S[eveKhan& Al Gor.goni
Addrtional
Sequencing: SteveKhan& RobMounsey
Reconded at: LightstneamStudios,N.yC.,Ny _October
A0_A1,A001
Recorded andMixedby: Malcolm pollack
Pos[-Pnoductjon: RobMounsey @ FlyingMonkev Studios
IABLEOFCONTENTS
UNITONE:Pentatonic
Scales:
WhatAneThey?
Example pentatonic
1: Minor I
Fingenings
..
Example pentatonic
2: DominantTth 10 .,2
Fingerings.
. 1 1. . . ?
uNlrrwO:Rerationship
oftheMinorpentatonic
to theBrues
scare. 12
Example
3

pentatonic
UNITTHREE: Linesvs.JazzLines
Example
4: Hippity 13
Hopto theBebop Shop
. 1 3. . 3 / 4
UNITFOUR: of pentatonic
Application Theory
17
UNITFIVE:
MajorChords
Example5: EzarajT 19
20 . .5/6
UNITSIX:MinorChonds
Example 6: Em7 22
23..7/B
UNITSEVEN:
Dominanr
7rhChonds
Example
7: A7 .25
.26..9/10
UNITEIGHT.
Minor7tvil Chords
ExamplA e 8m: 7 t b .5.l. ."' 2B
29 .11/12
UNITNINE:
Altered
Dominanr7rhChords. . .
Exampleg: Fnontien 31
Justice,
CTtaltenedl
...... . 34 . 13/14
uNlrrEN:Pentatonic
rmprovising
Overcadences:
ii-v-r_tV
rn . . . . 36
Examples
10A-H:ii-V-l
t1OE-G
notrecor.ded] 39 .15/16
Example
101:SolMotion
Example
10J:Charanga 4 1 .. . 2 1
C.C.
41...22
uNlr ELEVEN:
Pentatoniclmprovising
0verCadences:
iimTtbsl-v7tatr.l-im7
Example11: iimTtbsl-V-i
Example
12: Clane 44 . 1 7 / 1 8
as Day.
45 . 19/20
TabhofConmtg
PageTD=ffi[

UNITTWELVE:Pentatonics
in Sequence
Exercises . . 4E
Examples
13A-J:PentatonicSequences
tii-V-ll.. . . . .48 . 1sl16
t13E-JnotrecordedJ
Examples
14A-J:PentatonicSequences
[iim7tb5]-V-il . . . . .49 .17/18
\ E-J notrecorded]

UNITTHIRTEEN:
Pentatonics and"Outside"
Around theConsonan[, . . . S0
Example1s.. ....52.29/24

UNITFOUBTEEN: Pentatonic
StretchFingenings
. . . , 5g
Example16......i ....54
E x a m p l1e6s4 - 8 . . .56.. .p4

UNITFIFIEEN:
String-Skipping
Exercises 57
Examples
17A17Dtii-V-l) 58 15/16
Examples
18A-18DtiimTtbsl-V-il ... 59 1 7/ 1 8

UNITSIXTEEN:
TheDoubled-Note
Effecr 60
Example
19 60

UNITSEVENT VE e lEoNc :i t y E x e r c i s e s . . .....61


Example 20: MinorPentatonic. .. . . . 61
Example 21: Dominant 7th Pentatonic . . . . 6A
E x a m p l e 2C2l a: s s i c L i n e / P a t b e n n ....63
Example 23: Ascending andDescending
MinorandDominantTthPentatonic... ...64
Example 24A:Ascending andDescending MinorPentatonic
... . . . 6b
Example 248:Ascending andDescending Dominant7th Pentatonic . . 65
Example 25: Dominant 7th Velocity Study . , G6
Example 26: Combinations: MinorandDominant 7th Pentatonic.
.. 67 . .2/24

UNITEIGHTEEN: lmprovising Over"Standard"


Changes . . . 68
Example?T:Denzal6n.. .....69.25/ZE
E x a m p2l8e:K h a l a t m o . ..70...27
Example 29:A Shade ofTjade . .72. , . AB
Example 30: MadBumpyville . . .74 . Agl80
Example 31:BigKayak . . .76 .31/gP
Example 32: OffthePath . . . . .77 .33/34
UNIT ONE
Pentatonic
$cales:
WhatAreThey?

Thedefinitionof a pentatonicsGslaccordins
totheHARVARD
DrcroNAFy
0FMUSIC
is thefollowino:
A scaleoffh,ediffere pitches.Oneformcanbe played bysoundingsixsucces_
siveblackkeysof thepianotthesixthconstitutesanoctaveof thelirst anddoes
notcountasa diffenentpitchj.Thepentatonic
scaleis commonlyfoundworldwide,
including
indigenousAmenican music,EasternEurope, tnerar East,andAfrica.
Vafiations
ofthepentatonic scalearealsofoundin Uiactgospei
musicanOrhythm
andblues.
Inthewo|ldof improvisedpopurar music,I believe
thatthepentatonic scarehasbecome
synonymous wtthanygroupingoffivenotes.Andthosenotes,asa unjt,donothaveto have
anythingto dowitha particuraf
chond sound or name.As*., .Li.J.-n-. therecanbe
some.vefy exotic
andunusualpentatonicscales.Withthispointinmjnd,let,sbegin
,ngthisconcept. explor_

For.improvised music,weare'loingto useonlytwopentatonjc confjgurations,


derived Bothcanbe
fnomanymajofkey,though theywouldbeginfromOiiterent siartingnotes(pitches,
tones, degfees, orvoices).InthekeyofFmajor, forexample, theDonian mode is buihupon
thesec.nddegree, which wourdgiveusG Dorian te, n dl c, o,l, rJ.rn" modeis m.st
commonly used.for extendedimprovlsations yams]
[solos, overaGniTch0r00nperhaps
closelynelated the
c7 chord.Forthe minofpentatonic, *a *orn rrtr*i tive0f the seven
modlnotes.Inthissample key,wewouldomitthenotesE andA, WearethenIeftwith
the basicminorpontat'nic, whichwo_uld-always
contain the -ot inl;-.ino,.thirdlm'rdl;
fourthltltht;fiftht5tht;andsevenrhltthl degnees.
You.mav.bg familiarwiththis groupingof notebuthavebeenthjnking
pentatonic ot it as the maior
butbuiltfromtherelative malorof G minor, which,in this"case,woutd
majorpentatonic. be B,
A basrcmajorpentatonic alwayspresents uswiththe no0ttnt, second
t2ndl,thirdtSrdl'fifthtithr,andsixtht6thrdegneer.rn..J.*., irr. i-egrees
same;it'sjusta matterof consolidating remain the
yourpointsot orientaiion.
ie1 ttrecnartuetow,

Asyoucansee,thenotesareinfactthesame. So,I amhopjngthatwhilewonkrng


nr:.telials through
inrhebook,youwi buyjntomyconcept,mypoi;t;t orj.ni.trn, andchoose
:fe
t0 rerateto everything
byusingeitherthe min0rpentatonic
or a second pentatonicI am
aboutto intfoduce.
UnitOne
In the example keyof F major,theJvixolydtanmodeis builtuponthe bth degree, wtridr
wouldgiveus C l\4ixolydian tC, D, E,F,G,A, B!1.Generally
speaktng, andhomthe per-
spective0f theroot,thismodeis usedforextended improvisattns ovir stationarytstaticl
doninsnt lth chords,in thiscaseC7.Toarriveat the basicdominant 7th pentat0nic,u,e
wouldagainputto usefive0f thesevenmodalnotes,hereleaving outonlyF andA. This
gives_ls-configuration usingrher.ot lH, second Pndl,thir.dllrdl, fifrh(Etht,andsev_
9
enthl?thl.

Theharmonic nelationship
betweenGm7andc7 as a iimT-v7shourd beobvious,
pentatonics, andthe
whichwe'vederived,
arejustascloselynelated.
Infact,ofthefivenotesused
foneach'fourareexactry
thesame.Theonrydifference
is thattheGminorpentatonic uses
an_F andtheC dominant 7th pentatonic
usesanE. Intheflowof moving ttnes,thissmall
difference
canproveto bea greataddition.to
the soundandshapeof yourlines.As full
modes, G DoriantGmT) andC MixolydiantCTlc.ntainexactlythesameseven notes,all
derivedfnomthekeyof F maion
Thedominant 7thpentatonic js notsomethingldiscovered through mycollegemusicstud_
ies,privateteachens,or evenshaned exchanges ofinformationwiti othermusicians.r came
uponit thnoughmystudiesof pianistMcCoy Tyner,simprovisations,especially
thosefound
0n his recordingsas part of JohnColtmne's legendary quartet(Coltrane, Tyner,bassist
JimmyGarnison, anddrummer ElvinJoneslfor lmpulseFlecordsduringthemid_,60s. Due
to theclosenelationshipbetween theminorpentatonic andthebluesscile,rt wasfelatively
easyt0 detectMccoy's usageoftheminorpentatonjc, butthemoreI listened, I kepthear-
inganother c.nfigurati.nof n'tes.Aftermanymorehours0f sittingin fr'nt of thestereo,
I wasfinally
ableto definethisfive-notegrouping andrealizedthati; t00,c'ntormed to the
diatonicstructurcs,butthatit began0nthe Sthdegnee of themajorscaletthisbeingthe
degreeof the dominant 7th).so, fromthat pointforward,I havearways refemed to this
scaleasthedominant 7th pentatonic,
.->

UnitOne
GD:'nceyou,ve
been
abre
r0se*hefo'owins
;ilj.X1i,1iyl,i.",+iil
j::t,'mr:ru:*t#u*r
l,lfll9"l,lJ finserrnos
r0a neasonabre
I$:in:,1.:.T"{tlJ ruii
;:t[
lust whatbotha G minonpentatonic

rg,mjm.lx*1r,.il...",*T.:iilffiiii{,!:T".H::J#ifl
jlf
,'$::it
:BT[1;::#;$ilil:T::J$:i:
;,.X*tnUn:li[*iix:iT;^'I#ffi
Pentatonic
rinserinss
(s)
F.i:frfr
!l|' trff,'
Keyof:F Maior
Mode:
G Dorian
UnitOne
USlltlE TllE Gll: Justaswiththeprevious
minorpenraronic
fingerings,
onceyou'\,e
berl
6blet0 getthe dominant7th pentatonic
to a reasonable
level0f readiness,
try to appty
themby playing
themslowlyoverlrack2 0ntheCD.Youcanalsopractice theC dominat
7th pentatonic
oveflracl24, a simpleGpedal,whichwouldallowyouto hearhowit migtt
soundovera G minofsononity.

Example
2:Dominant
7thPentatonic
Fingerings
Example:
C7'
Keyof:F Major
Mode:C Mixolvdian
4
b-

1
e

,:. L

1 4
e =
UNIT TWO
of theMinorpentatonic
Belationship to theBluesScale

e principal_r.eaSons
forpresenring
themateriats
andconceprs
.0!: toW
book.is helpall players
inrhis
finda closerconnection
between the bluesandmoresophisti-
catdformsof hamony.0ftentimeswhena playeris conhonteA
bya cnord,otherthana
d'minant7thonminor7thchord,anyreiation to th. blrrs o,.to u [inAot ,,Urrsiness,,
seemmtherforignwhen,in fact,it couldbe fightat hisor her can
nng.rtipr.pefiapsthe
first stepto braking
downthesebarriersis ti examine fl't, r.aitnrnip of the minor
pentatonicto thebluesscaleof thesameroor.
lhis example
shoesGastheroot:

t r.rrr frtttoric B n3d Ith 5rh tth


G a, c D F
Ellcs rcele I mSrd 3rd* {th birh 5th 7rh
Bb B C Unb D F
tblue
note) hlLEr:otel
! llb fbl car apperrrs a ni$otone
betreonl! ald Bl.

Uponclosen inspection,
it becomesclearth8tthefeis essentiallya one-note, .
half-note, one_and_a_
or two-notediffurence
betiweentheserwo.r.frr. io* ioul-P.rnto usetheblue
notesandthat subtremicrctone wifl.realykeepyourimprovisaiionl' ctosety
tiedto the
l
mots,thecommon gmund_theblues! youwillbeableto dothisby
simply addingthenotes
ft'om.the
bluesscaleto theminorpentatonic youchose to employoverJnyoneotthechond
tumilies
discussed.'nce you,femastereO ttretireories
Ueni;i;r1rg;r-;,r0. pentatonics,
youcanbeginto addthebluesscaleandallof its nuances,
whichinly theguitarseemst0
offun

Example3: G MinorPentatonic l
j
l
I

I
l
I
UNIT
THREE
Pentatonic
linesus.Jazzlines
[Of thOSe Of yOUwtroarenewto improvising rhnough complex sersof chordchanges
frommusical experiencesin rock,R&8,oncountry, I feelthat it wouldonlybefairto pro-
videanexample ofiazz-oriented to dothissoyoucanseeandheanthe
lines.lt'simpontant
significant
differences
intheshapes andsounds oftheselinesas0pposed to thepentatonic
linesfromwhichthisbookdrawsits focus.
Jazzlinesnotonly0bserve thebasicprinclples of sounding outa scaleor modepereach
chordfamilyand change,but also,withinthe numberof beatsallowed,the basic
modal/scaletonescanbe,andare,embellished bytheusageof uppen andlowerneighbors
[bothchromatic andconsonant), chrcmatic passing tones,simpleanpeggios, andocca-
sionalidiosyncfatic
rhythmic groupings.Even withalloftheseelements addingto thequal-
ity andchanacter of the lines,therestill existsa decidedly qualityto the
scale-oriented
shapeof the lines.In otherwords,onenotefollows closeproximity.
the nextin relatively
Likeanygenne, jazzhasits ownlanguage, andto playit in a recognizable
wayrequifes that
youlearnto speakthislanguage.

Usingpentat0nic scalesinyourimprovising vocabulary,


whilednoppingonlytwonotesfmm
thediatonic scales or modes, willgiveyourlinesa decidedly
moreangulr sound, look,snd
feel.But, penhaps morethanthis, by truly underctanding andheaning the relationship
between theminonpentatonic andthebluesscale,as pneviously addressed,it willaddan
earthiness to yourplaying that penhaps hadbeenmissing. In a strangeway,whatI have
iustsaidcouldneally bemostlyaddnessed to thoseofyouwhoarealready competent iazz
players. As a listenefin recentyears,I findthatthisquality is sadlymissing fnommany
youngandverysophisticated players.Bythesametoken,thereanemanynock-fusion play-
erc-with technical giftsI couldonlyhopeto achieve someday-who have,in theifway,
already mastefed theart of flyingaround thefingerboardin pentatonic
flurries,butthose
players seemto havemissedthe soulful element wherethe bluesis connected t0 every-
thing,lt's mysincere hopethatsomeof theconcepts, putforthin thesepages,willhelp
andinspireplayers fromallstylesto heargreatthings.
Manyyearsago,long,LoNGbef0fethebirthofthesmooth lazzgenre,whenI waspartof
theBrecker Brcs.Band,wehadarguably thegneatest smallhonnsection inexistence,with
Handy Bnecken [trumpet),
MichaelBrecker ltenonsax],andDavidSanborn laltosax].And.
inthoseyears,the'70s,allofusinthebandwereconstantly amazedat how,afterthebril-
liantandcomplex impfovisations
of bothHandy andl\4ichael,DaveSanborn couldplayover
thesamechordchanges andcapiune something soverydifferent.Hecouldsomehow hear
thnough all the complex chordchanges fespecially
thosein the compositions of Randy
Breckenl andgo immediately to wherethebluesiness existed.Hedidthisnomattenlpn
sophisticated anindividual
chordor seriesofchor.d
changes mighthavebeen.lt wasa gr"at
lessonfor usall.Thisis to saythatyoucouldstillbedeeply committedto oneparticular
style0f playing,notloseanyof that,butaddsomedegreeof depthandsophistication to
younplaying. Forothefs,youmightneedto realize that,at times,simplcis best.
UnitThree
4: "Hippity
Erample Hopto theBebop
$hop"tii-U-l-Ull,
in tbt
USlilE THE G0! presentedovefa contemporary hip-hopshutftegroove,.,Hippity Hop
t0 the Beb0pSh0p"presents a mini-compendium of jazzlinesandjazzmannerisms. I
don'tbelievethatanyone wouldeverplaysucha thingin the .ontrit of. neattmprovisa_
tion0nsolo,but again,for the purposes ot thisbook,I am simplytfyingt0 shareas
muchas i c6nin the spacegiven.So,youcanwatchtxample 4 go byandlistento Tracl
3 andyouwillthenheana ful 32 barsof linesplayedin u
irettfrajitionat lazzstyle.At
har33 andthfoughthe fade,youwillthenhearthat I switched'to a pentatontcstyleof
playing,andit is my feeringthat you'[be struckbythe radicardifference
betweenthe two
approaches. Youshouldheafthatthe pentatonic linessoundmuchmoreangulan anddis-
jointedthanthejazzlines.At leastthiswasmy intent.
Alsoof special noteis thetime
feelfor playingeitherstyleof ljnewhereswingis perhaps morelmportant thanthe notes.
Youwill hearthat I playedwith a ratherlazy0r laid_back time feelon purpose,tryingt0
playa bit behindthe beatandthen,withoutmakingit ioo noticeable, catDhingup ttthe
pulse.Pleasemakean effortto givethis a try too. lt canmakesuch
a hugedifference in
howyoufplaying is perceivedandfelt by othefs.lt hasmucht0 d0 withdeveloping a high
-
levelof rhythmicself-confidence.Whenyoufuelreadyt0 playthe w tten example or to
aftmptyourownimpr0visations, useTrack4,

Example4:"HippityHoptothe
BebopShop,,
@ @
t-m/ Bb7(alt.) C7(alt.)

tm/ Bb7(alt.) E majT c7(att.)


e

Bb7(alt.)
UnitThree
Bt7(alt.) C7(alt.)

Bb7(alt.) EbmajT C7(alt.)

@ rmz

Bb7(alt.)
UnitThree
@rrz Bb7(alt.)

Bb7(alt.) C7(alt)

Bb7(alt.)

Bb7(alt) C7(alt)
UNIT
Application
FOUR
of Pentatonic
lheory
This is whgre thetheoreticar and/ormathematicar-oniented
sectionof thisworkrear-
ly beginswhat I triedto doformyserf manyyea.r.go *."io-find ;way ro pursomekind
0f .rdent0 how,where,andwhenI coutoappty res.'e t*o tunaur*t,| pentat.nac
[theminorandthedominant scales
7th pentatonics]
t0 mostof thecommonly usedchordforms
[0f chordfamiriesasI riketo ca'|them)thatweencounter on. o.irvlr,, inthemusic
plav. we

lbeganby takingthe threemostbasicchordfonmsandfamiries_MrJon,


00M|il[ilT-andsoughtt0 appry MrtI0B,and
those,
twopentatonics ;; ;G wharI courdcomeup
with rnaddirion,I nearizedthatrhemllb5tchordtorr, rinc. ir i. puri0f rhediar.nicfam-
ily of scales,wasa possibirity
too.Andfinafly,
to be abreto ur. ir.,... pentatonic
oventhesophistication scares
of artereddominant
7t'hchordsastn.yr..otu. to maj'r andminof
would beaninvaluabietool.
Theunitsthatfollowaddress eachofthesechondfonmsandfamjlies
plechordformin onekey.lt willsupply andprcsentonesam_
youwitnatttnepentatonic
poJriOiliriu,
andin some
casesmake suggestions,
frommyexperience, justwhjchoneswillsound
bestandinwhich
contexts
or genres.
T0communicate theseoptionsto youin the mosteffjcient manner,
I haveusedgridsor
y?uthe.oprions
youmighrhaveANDjusrwhjchcotl. tonestheypnoduce
:._l,,:jT!,tur
agarnst the givench.rdform youmaysimpry findthattheysoundgood,andtfiai wiflbe
enough. Youtruill
goonandapplythemasyouchoose. Aut,om. oiyou'r,ghtwantto undef_
standlust whatit is you're
doingandwhyit mlghtsound goodind s0appeattng
so-.nJprr.ented
ears.-'Eithen to youn
way,thematefials, thetools,arcih.r. fol.yo,
andefficient in a veryclear
mannen
whenviewing anyofthesegnids,youwillfindthatto theimmediate rightofeachpentatonic
listedyouarepresented withthenotesinthatparticuraf minoror doriinant
Above 7thpentatonic.
eachofthosenotesis thescaredegree thatthatnotepnoouces retative
ofthechodfonmbeingdiscussed t0 theroot
in thatuniychapter.ff.,i,..r. prin.ipf.of prcsentation
apprrest0 arrthechordfamiriesthatfolow.with a cunsory rook,youcanimmediatery
whlchpentatonics see
aregivingy.u themostcol.rtones-thosenoiesabove the noot,
andSth. 3rd,

Beyond ell thetheory,the math,andthe memorization,whatis mostimpontant


growtiis developing for your
a personalandemotionalrelationshjp withthe-noles youcnoose
play-Someof themoregiftedamong to
youwillsimptyhear.tliirg. .rJWir beguided by thar
instinct.
Othercwiflhaveto searchandwor]< veryr',ara
at finoiigit. | ;uggestthefo|owing
approachwhenyoubeginto imprcvise ovefthepiay-alongtnacts-tor eacrrottnechordfam_
tlres.
BeforeI getto thespecifics, I thinkthatthisis theappnopriate moment to mention some-
thingdirectlyrclatedto theguitanAs guitarists, weshould r..rrrl.r.
'naked' in., *n.n we play,
we areplaying one0f the mostvisually instnuments. Thatis to say,peopte
cometo hearusplayoftentimesareunfoftunately who
listeningwiti ih; eyes,n.t withrheir
earc.Wewantpeople t0 hearthemusic.Butwetivein a visuatag;, ;n-og.ttingpeople
heafthemusicis hardto d0.Ontheguitafit is oUvious t0
wirenwe"g;ip or downtheneck;
wtrena particurar motifgoesup of downin sequence, irb appaneitro the audience.
ultimately,
beyond one'stechnicar abirities
andspeed, wrratauofrices trurynemember ane
m'mentsof grcatryficism, grcatimprovised melodies, andthe interylay withthe other
musicians. Pleasestrivefontheseelements perhapsmorethanbecoming
greatest the world,s
virtuoso.It is nota callingfonman\/l
UnitFoun
First,alwaysbegi[byplaying
slow'. Anelementthat,might
helpgiveyoua groundtng
r'no..'o.iuig;[','.'ti'Jr"iit'.
;tiXff[','.IiJT'i]'lT,Y,::'i"t::'':l,]lo *.rr*,tr,in
tn...
before

'j*ft!',''ld';''ll+#ff'.'M
trx#t',f*,n:.J,ffi
ffiill:rlilr.ffi
ffir#f?ff#};s[::ixiFi#fl"T;#;il};r.'[iil:T:#;H^,*ffi
\Menyoufuelready
to jmprovise
lin

romake
that
j;3tt-tril.,}'ffi
rTil,i:ffi
ffL.ilttrt,+#..J#iltr1i{g#':
itri rhe
othJriwo
*, *,0., ffi..Jfl:1,#r:i,ji,:r,,i,?:roo.jil,X.#1,,,n
'.Tl
ffi ,q"#[F::,Htilitfti;il1;1.,,,::ulsl#ffi
;i:,T%
:iT'J:i
l'ff ;i#
;ffi: irI'J:Hilffi
:";'iiT$'l
il?.??;.'i,ii
i,l"J;
fi:illfiJt,rul,f
flj|"trJ::tr'TilT v'umust
i'JHi'J:'::TlT'rlld a'ow
v.urce
;ililffi s:frfl
#,#J.;i#
ttilft.J:id.r;:xlir*ilifii,,i.f.*il,,ffi
f.U::*min.;*;
SlJ..eTil.T:'T;:yJ;#il:J::,#:::l.,ll..lXill,,lili?1i1ff
With thls said,let'smoveon t0
the fivechordfamiliesoffered.
I

'18
UNIT FIVE
MaiorEhords

illJ0[ $10[05:0n anymaionchord,the playermayappbninor lcolatolhr buik


uponthe3rd,6th,or 7thdeg|tosof the lonianmodelthemaiorscale]or Lydian
mode.otheroptions theminofpentatonic
mightinclude
in certaincontexts hlih
uponthe2nddegre andthedominant 7th pentatonic
builtupontheznddeg{ee-

ouerEbmaiT
lor erample, use:
Gminor 3r'd 5rh 6th maiTth srh
pentatonic G Bb C D F
0 minor majTth grh 3rd il4 6th
pentatonic D F G A C

Gminor 6rh IR] 9rh 3rd 5rh


pentatonic C E' F G Bb
3theroptions:
F minof 2nd l4thl 5rh 6rh lRl
pen[a[0nrc F Ab Bb C E'

F dom.7th 2nd 3rd *4 6rh tRl


pentatonic .F G A C Eb

Mill|N GHI|BOS
Inthecontextof prognessive music[iazzandiazz-rock
instrumental fusion],I necommend
theminon pentatonicsbuiltuponthe 3rd andthe 7th degrees 0f the maj0rscale[lonian
modelbecause they affordthe nicest 0f
selection colorlones.In addition,
because of the
ofthetones
configurations in anyminorpentatonic,
therc a
exists subtletyin how thenotes
thechord
fallagainst andits sound.
Often,playersdiscovening of the shafpjourth(*4)in majorchofdstendto
the beauties
ovenemphasize that noteratherthanallowing it to happenas the improvised lineunveils
itself.Byusingtheminorpentatonic builtuponthe7th (themajorTthl' it inroducestf|is
toneandpresents it withsomedegnee 0f subtlety.

Withmajorchordsappeafing in nock,country, B & B, andfolkstyles,theminorpenttonic


builtuponthe 6th degrcecan,anddoes,soundfine.Tohard-cone players andlisteners
alike,thefeis usuallyno danger of sounding too jazzy,whichis a common complalnt.
However. withmorciazz-based music,you'llfindthatyouhaveto bea littlemonecareful
whenusingthispentatonic. lt'sthepresence 0f theroot[H]thatcancausea kindof fiic-
tion.evena dissonance, because it canrubagainst themajor7thwithinthechord. You'll
findthatplayerslikeWesMontgomery andGeorge Benson,plusallof thoseinfluencedby
them,use thismin0rpentatonic to givetheirlines a flavor
bluesy by skatingoveror justby
the nootand notmaking thatdegree appear s0 pnonounced intheline.They alsodo thisW
adding tonesfr"omtheblues scale to the minon pentatonicbuiltupon the 6th degree

l'dberemissif I didn'tpresent twootherpentatonicslistedin thepentatonic theorychart


section.These pentatonics
contain coTnect
thetechnically n0tes' but t0 my eans theyalso
canpresent problems.Oneoption is theminonpentatonicbuiltupon the znd degree, giv-
ingyouthezndon glh;4th;sth;6thiandlRl. The pnoblems can arise because of the inclu-
sionof the4th tthesuspensionl and,of course,theroot.Letthestyle0f musicandtur
earsdictateiusthowusable this mightbe for you lt's alsopossible
pentatonic to usea
dominant 7th pentatonicbuiltuponthe2nddegnee, which produces the znd or gth; 3rd:
t4th;6th;andIF).Again, a problem occursbecause0fthe presence ofthe rootlR! Also.
because of the presenceof the {4th,whichgivesit a Lydian feeling,this pentatonic will
probably sound bestin more jazz-oriented
settings.
UnitFive

En0Rll iltt0R MITOR Mtil0B MINOR Dotv.7


Pfilr.tSdt pttT. I6tht PTilT.ITThI PENI[2ndl PENT.
I2ndl
CmaiT t A B D D
DbmaiT t Bb G c, E'

DmajT fl B G{ E E
EbmaiT t C 0 F F
EmajT EI 0* Fil Fil
F maiT I D I G G
GbmaiT Bb Eb t Ab Ab
GmaiT B E r* A A
AbmaiT G F I Bb Bb
AmaiT EI Fil G* B B
BbmaiT D G T c C
BmajT D{ GI [il c{ C{

USlilG TllI G0: Yo, ..n heafthe performedversionof Example 5 byplayingTrack5 on


the CD.With allthe examples I performed fonthe individualchordfamjlies,
ltried to first
playsomethingthat puts me in the rhythmicgrooveof the tfack; then the improvisation
beginssimplyusing,in varying
ways,manyof the available pentatonics.In addition,
I try to
usethe blueslanguage as wells0 that we are nevertoo faf removedffom that. Whenyou
ar readyto attemptyounownimprovisations, useTraclS.

Example
5:OnMajor (Ebmai7,
Chords
@ @
UnitFive
UNIT SIX
MinorChords

for eranple,orer[nI use:

t|1il088fl0R0s
0f arrthechordfamiries addnessed in thisbook,theminofchofdfamrry is the.ne that
alradyexistsin minonSo,,there's noneedto convert thethinking pal because youwould
simplyusetheDorianmodebuirtfromthenoot.Inthe.*urprr'oi
Eri wewourdusethe
E Dofianmode.Theuseof thethreeminorpentatonics i, u.iy ,ir.ightfor*ardandshould
comedownto a simplematteroftaste.youwouldusejustthose
c#ainrngnotesyoureal_
t[::, inmy0pinion, arcgoing to soundterriiic.
ttremlnor pentatonrcs
ll||Tl
therootandsth degrces buittupon
onlydifferinthattheonebuiltftomthe5thdegree ooes notuse
them3rd.and thercforeoffersgreaten subtlety.
lt als.add;tf',e.o[. to* ottnegth,which
somefindto bea veryprettynote.Theminonpentat'nicouitt
upon-irre znddegnee ars'
givesyouthegth,and,in addition ro that,presents thecolortoneoflhe gti: lt, too,is a
pfttynote,butnotoneto beovenused. youshould always feelfneeto try to useallofthese
pentatonics because experiencewilltell youwhichonesfit intoyourpeisonet style.
However, thisis anexcellent placeto beginto getaccustomed to usingthedominant
pentatonic. Withtheexample 7th
of Em7,themodalorjentatjon beingE Do"rian, we arein the
keyof D majoxso Em7is a ii chord,and47 wouldne a VZ cnJnJ.
pentatonic ff,e A dominant 7th
is buirtfn.mthe4th degnee 0f E D.rian,andit onryJitr.., t.o.nthe E minor
penttonic in that it hasa cr (6thor '13thrinstead of D ttheith). whiregettingfamiriar
with this s.und,try interchanging the E minorpentatonic urJ ir,. a dominant 7th
pentatonic^to heafthecolorchange created bythisone_note diffenence whenyouptayalong
witi thecD. In[rampre6 youshourd payaft;ntionto barsz+-ziano ?g-g0offeredasa
poiniof reference.
UnitSix

MIIIORCIOND
NTftBEITEE
GHIBT

Elt0Bll MIIIUB PTIIT. MIIIUF PTITT. MIIIUB PTIIT. utM. lllt Pti[
IRI l2ndl ISrht Itrht
Cm7 C D G F
DrmT Db Eb Ab
Dm7 D E G
Lbm/ EO F B' Ab
Em7 E Fil B A
Fm7 F G C Bb
F*m7
l9bm7 F+/Gb G*/Ab ct/Db BlCb
Gm7 G A D C
Abm/ Ab Bb Eb DI
Am7 A B E D
tJrm/ ,Bb c F Eb'
Bm7 B F{ E

USlltlG lllt G0: to neantrample6 penformed,simplygoto TrackI on the cD. The


approach is muchthesameasit wasfor[hemajorchordfamilysection
inllnit ]ire.Wtpn
you'refeadyt0 beginto experiment
withyourownimprovisations,
useTrack 8,whichomrts
myguitar.

6:OnMinor
Example (Em7)
Chords
@ @
UnitSix
UNIT SEVEN
Ghords
Seuenth
llominant

0n anystationary
00llllllill TIll Gll0B0S: dominant7th chord,the playernry
applU minor[entat0nics builtuponthe2nd,5th'and8thdegEes0ftheMixolydian
modeanddominem ?thpentatonicsbuiltup0ntherootandzndd8grtes'

use:
ouerA7(91
lor example,
I minor 5th 7th R 9rh 4th
Fentatonic E G A B D

[f minor 6rh H 9th 3r"d 5rh


pe atonic FI A B E

B minor grh 4rh 5rh 6th R


pentatonic B D E F* A

A dom.7th R 9rh 3rd 5th 7rh


pentatonic A B E G

B dom.7th 9rh 3rd b5rh 6rh R


nentatonic B Cil DI FI A

OOMIITAIIT
7THGIIOBOS

dominant7th chofd,whichis not goingto rcsolvet0 eithera I maiofona


Fora stationany
i minorchod, the cofnectmodeto useis Mixolydian. However, in my minor{Dorian) ori-
I wouldemploy
entation, theDorianm0debuilt up0n the 5th degree 0f the Mixolydian
mode
Inthe example to thisas E Dorian
of A9, the 5th degreeis E, so I wouldbe relating

Looking at the pentatonicoptions,the dominant 7th pentatonic


builtuponthe nootoffers
onlyonecolortone,the gth.Theminorpentatonic builtuponthe sth degreeextends the
'l
hanmony fufihenby havingthe 9th andaddingthe 4th 0r 1th lthe suspension]ln some
R&Bandgospelmusic,as wellas jazz,whichhasbeeninfluenced by thosegenfes'the
minorpentatonic builtuponthe 6th degreeoffersa bluesiness in a most subtleway.
Obviously youc0uldemploy theA bluesscaleif that'swhatyouheard.Finally,the dominant
7th pentatonic builtuponthe znd degreeextendsthe hanmony the furthestas it intf0duces
the{4 on15to thecolot" scheme. Sometimes, if them00dsrikes,I justplaythebluesscale
onewholestep abovethe ro0t t0 accenlualethis feeling.In Immple7, youwouldwantto
listento h s 23-24 and2t-30.
UnitSeven

7IH EIIOBI|
OOMINANT CHABT
RE]EBTIIIET

CHOBO MilU0R Millt0B Millt0R 00M.,Tll D0M.7il1


Pflitl.tSrht PHIT.tSrhl PtlIT.l2ndl pEtul.rH PEllT.I2ndl

C7 G A D C D

Db7 Bb Eb Db t

D7 A D E D E

Eb7 Bb C F Eb F

E7 B a{ F+ E Fil

F7 C D G F G

F+7
/Gb7 CVDb D{iEb G*/A, F*lcb G*/Ab

G7 D E A G A

Eb F Bb Alb Bb

A7 E T{ B A B

Bb7 F G C Bb C

87 Etl
GI B Cil

playTraek
I penformed,
USINGTHEGll:to h..r"Example I ontheCD.whenvou're
pentatonics
readyto usethesuggested whatyouhear,useTracl10.
andbeginto expefience

/-ctr\ //d'\
Example (A7)
7thGhords
7: 0n Dominant | ll'Dx I lll'd I
\L./ \10-,/
A7(9)

(1sttime only)
UnitSeven
UNIT EIGHT
Minor7tb5lor Half-diminshed
Ghords

anvminon7tb5](akahalFdimin-
MIil0nt$5t or llltf-0liltllllSHlll Cll0RltS:0n
the ployefnayappf rninorpentltooics
ishedchond) builtuponthem3rd,4th,0r
?thdegreesof the Locrian modeandthedominant 7thpentatonicbuiltuponthe
6thdegree.

overAmTlbEl
Ior erample, use:

E minor m3rd b3 6rh 7rh 2nd


pentatonic C .D F G Bb
ll minor 4rh 6th 7tn R m3rd
pentatonic D F G A C
S minor 7th 2nd m3rd 4tn 6rh
pentaionic G Bb C D F
t dom,7ih 6rh 7th B m3rd b3
pentatonic F G A C c,

Mril0R
r(b5tclt0B0s
Theminor7(b5l tonhalf-diminished 7th chondlcan apoearto be andevensoundlikea
stranger
t0 the diat0nicscale,butit is, in fact,the scaledegree0f themajon7th andsug-
geststhe Locfianmode,whichis oneof the sevendiatonicmodes.In my orientation, I
cho0set0 viewthis as the Donian mode,a minonSrd tm3rdlabovethe r00i. So,herein
ourexample ofAm7{b51, I wouldthink0f thisas C Dorian! As it turnsout,myfavonile
mlnol
pentatonict0 use 0venm7tb5lchordsis built from the min0n3rd as well,C mnor
pentatonic.

noteis the minorpentatonic


0f special builtfnomthe 7th degfee.Forouf example chofd,
thatwouldbeG minorpentatonic. Wefeweto lookat thelong-range function
of them7tbSl,
we wouldseeit as thefifst pertof a iimTtb5J So,a fullyrea-
- VTtalt.l- im7 prognession.
izedcadence in this kevwouldbecome AmTtb5l DTtalt.l- Gm7.Often,in bluesgroups
andiazz-Oriented biuesgroupsflikethe classrc organtrio:organ-guitardrums),you'llhear
the soloistsplaying thnoughthis entifebluescadence usingthe bluesscaleof the fooi.
Here,the G bluesscale,whichcloselyresembles our G minorpentatonic, becomes our
option0fch0ice. F0rthesesamereasons, thisis thewayinwhichthispentatonic cans0und
goodovera m7(b5lchordwhenit is isolated andnot functioningas a part 0f a cadential
progression.
UnitEi

CHANI
BETIITIIGT
MIIIOR'tbst CHOBI|

GHORII MIITOB MIIIOR MIITOR DOM. 'TH


Pt T.lmgrdl pt r. I4rhl PEitr.lTrhl PEltT.t6rhl

CmTtbSl E9 F a2 Ab

ubm/ tbSl E/Fb A

Dm7{b5l F G C Bb

EbmTtb5) Db B

Em7(b5l G A D C

Fm/ tbcJ Ab Bb EO Db

F*m7tb5l/Gbm7(b5l NBbb B/Cb cl f0 D

Gm7tb5] Bb C F Eb

AbmT(b5l B/Cb Db E

AmTtb5l C D G F

BFmTtb5l D' Eb Ab

Bm7{b5l D E A G

8, plavTrack
ofIxample
version
U$llUGTHEGll:to ttar therecofded 1l' when
uselracl12.
t0 improvise,
feelfeady

8:onm7(bs)chords
@ @
UnitEi
UNIT
Altered
NINE
0ominant
7thGhords

AITERIDDoMlilAilI7THGH0[0S:0nalmostanyaltereddominant7th chofd,the
playern8yapplyminorFentatodcs
builtuponthef9 or 7thdegrees
ofthealtered
dominantscale[SuperLocnian
mode]anddominanttth pentatonics
builtuponthe
bEor15.

lor erample
oler G7[alt,luse:

[b minor *s b5 7th b9
Ientatonic EO Gb Ab Bb Db
Eb don. lth 7rh b9 3rd
pentatonic Gb Ab Bb Ub Fb

Abdom.7th 7th R {9 b5
Ientatonic Ab DO C Eb Gb
Ithef options:

bb mtnoT 7th b9 *9 I4thI


penrarcnrc Bb Db Eb F Ab

nlltBE000M[uAtuT
TTltclt0[0s
As I initially
learnedit, the corrcctscalet0 applyto anyalteneddominant 7th chordis the
altereddominant scale,whichis madeup of: root [R],b9,f9, 3rd, b5,ilS,7th. lt contains
allfounof the possible altenedtonestbs,*5, b9,f9]. Withtoday's modernimprovising sys
temsandstrategies, manyplayerschooseto callthesesamepitchesthe SuperLocrian
mode.0thers,likeme,enduprelating to thisproblem bythinkingof it ss themel0dic minor
scaleonehalfstepabove ther00t.S0,intheexample 0f C7{alt.l,youmightchoose to think
of this as Dbmelodic minonlf you'rehaving a problemseeingthis,justspellout allihree
scales[modes]andyoushouldfindthat theyhavethe samenotes,thoughsomemaybe
enharmonically spelled.

Galtered R b9 *9 3rd b5 il5 7th


dominant C Db Eb t Gb cf Bb

Dbmelodic C Db Eb rb Gb Ab Bb
minor

Theuseof the altereddominant scalemightonlybe problematicwhenyouareconfronted


witha dominant 7th chordwiththenatunal1Sth,whichalsocontains alterations.
Usingthe
example chordof C7[alt.],theformI amspeaking of wouldbeC13tb9l.Whenyouarefaced
witha 13{b9lchod,this is oneof the fewtimeswhenthe half-tone/whole-tonediminished
scalelfnomthe root]shouldbe usedsinceit givesyouboththe natural6th/13thandthe b9.

0f the founpentatonics otfened,


the onebuiltuponthe 19 is the onlyonethat contains all
founaltened tones[b5,$5,b9,*9] and,for obvious reasons,it shouldbe oneof yourfirst
andbestchoices. I believethatyou'llalsofindthe iwo dominant 7th pentaionicsbuiltup
from the b5 andthe [5 to be veryusefulsincelhey containthree0f the four alteredtones
each.0flenwe heanplayers employa Phrygian soundoverthe altereddominant 7th chord
by simplyplayingthe Dorianmodeonewholestepbelowthe root.Here,overa C7[alt.]
chord,BbDorianwouldbe played andwouldgiveyouthe C Phrygian mode.

Galtered
dominant C Eb E Bb
Bb0orian/ C Db Eb 4th 5rh Ab o0
GPhrygian IF] IG]
UnitNine
F'f th0seofyouwitha background inclassicalmusic
hafmonyandtheory,
whatreallytakes
place whenyouemploy thisdevice is thecreation
ofa plagal
cadence,
sometimesreferned
to as the "Amen"cadence, lv-l and/orlvll.Usingthe example
chordas partof a full
cadence,youcouldderivesomething likethis:

Gml GTlaliererll- ImaiT


G Dorian C alteneddominant F majon/Lydian
Gml BbnllE lmajl
G Donian ub uoflan F maiorAydian

Breaking it downinthismanner foranalysis


makes sense,butyourearsandmusicalsen_
sibilities
mustmaketherealchoices. Carryingthisoutevenfunther byusingtheminor
pentatonic builiuponthe7thdegrce, presentedasan0pti0n, youcouldusetheBbminon
pentatonic. lt offerc,to myears,onepnoblemnote_the4th,thesuspension_which, when
playedagainst analtered dominant7thchord,
doesn0tcreate enoughtension,
andthe4th
canaciually soundlikea wrongnote.However, if youskiflfuly yourwayamundtnat
wonk-
onenote,thisminorpentatonjc cansoundfine.

unlikethepreceding chor"d
families addnessed in llnitsE-9,to sustain analtened dominant
7thchond for a prolongedamount of time,twot0 threeminutes, is justnotpractical or
realistic
Doing s0wourd seniousry testsomeofmyfundamentar berief;aboutthemake-up
of goodmusic. Thatis to say,in themaking of goodmusic, lll youcan,tneally iusthave
everything
sound consonant; otheMise, it willgetvery,veny boring. Likewise,l2l youcan,t
havealltensionbecause thatcanbecome justastedious. so,aswithmany thingsInrife,
onemustachieve a balance,
leading t0 thecneation oftension andthenitseventual nelease
uponresolution.Allgneatmusichastheseelements intheifownpadicular balance.

During myimpnovised example, lrack13,'Frontier Justjce,'andtheplay_along, Irackll,


thatfollows, youaregiven eightbafsof ounexample chord,C7talt.j,
which thenresolves
to six[6) different chordalafeas.Thisgivesyoutheopp'ftunity to createpentatonic rines
overvarious altered dominant sonorities, supplied bythestning pads,andthenyouare
asked to res'lvethoselinesto different hanmonic areas.Those areasincrude boththe
expected andtheunexpected. Theexpected aferesolutionsto FmajTtg),thelmajTchord,
seeninthe3rdending, andto Fmg,theimgch.fd,seeninthe4thending, youilso must
negotiate a resoluti.n t0 a Bmajgchordinthe2ndending, whichmeans thecTtalt.lhas
functioned as if it werethe ,5 substitute for Gb7(alt.l.Hereyoushouldlistencarefully
because thefg [D*/Eb] is sustained andsimpry becomes the3d tD#rofBmaj7. Then there
aredeceptive or falsecadences based uponthesamekindof c0mm0n tonevoice_leading.
Fonexample, because wemighthaveEblDlontop of withintheC70glvoicing, that note
thenbecomes the9thof Dbmaj9, seeninthe1stending. Thatsamenotebecomes thebth
ofanAbm9chond, seeninthesthending 0fthechaft.Finally, inthe6thending, it becomes
themajof7th of anEmajgchond. I felt it wouldmakethingimorejntefesting if I sentyou
t0 theseharmonic areas, andagain, I feelthatha ngeightbansoftheprulonged tension
is really
morethanenough to accomplish getting these.new,,sounds iny.unearsandunder
younfingens. Youmightfindit instructive to listent0 iusthowI usedtheLt minorpentatonrc
.vef the c7falt] chordandhowthat samemin.npentatonic thensounded beautifur over
theBmaig.chond {thefeasD{minorpentatonicl; oven theEmajg chofdtagain asa D{minor
pentatonicl; andfinally .vertheArmgchordtthtstimeplayed asanEbminorpentatonic).
TheEbminon.pentatonic cansimply bemoved up a wholjstept0 F minorpentatontc t0
nesolve beautifullyt0 theDbmaig chord;upa halfstepto E minofpentatonic to nesolve to
theFmaj9 chord; andagain upa simple whole stepto Fminorpentatonic t0 resolve to Fmg,
Giveall0ftheseoptions a try whenyoubegin younimpnovisations.
UnitNine
Another device I likeverymuchwhenplaying someof thepeniatonics against thistype0f
altereddominant 7th chordis to include the majon3rd as well.
In my performed exemple,
youwillhearthaton occasion I haveusedan E!,When are you listeningto the recorded
example, Track13, payspecialattentionto thoseeight-bafsections that pnecede the
BmajTchord[2ndending), the Fm7chord[4th ending], andlaterthe EmajT chord t6th
ending).Youshould alsobeableto heanthattheEq,thatappeared priofio thatlastreso-
lutionwaspartof a Gbdominant 7th pentatonic, you
andwhen dothis,theEhtFb)is sim-
plya built-incomponent of thatpentatonic. Therefore,it'sg0ingto bethercnaturally. Fof
me,I likeit bestwhenI canusea littlecn0ss-play between the Ebsandthe Els sinceit
makesthedifference between thetwomuchmoTepronounced. Though onealmostnever
seesanaltened dominant 7th chot'd for as longas eightbars,whenyouemploy theEh,il
cansoundasthough youareplaying thebluesoventhisaltened chordal sound. And,to my
wayof thinking, this is always a goodthinglGiveit a try whenyouplayoverTrack 14 and
seewhatyouthink.Always keepin mindiustwhereyouareeventually headed fortheres-
olution!

AtIrntDD0ililllAllT7ilt GllonoREttntilcfcHlBr

cH0Bll MIilONPEilI. lt0M.trh ltoM.trh MINOR


til9l DHII.tb5t PEilT.
t{5t PENT.I7th1

C7(alt.) a0 Gb Ab Bb
Dbtalt.l G A
Dtalt,) F Ab Bb C
Ebtalt,l A B Db
Etalt.l G Bb C D
Ftalt.l Ab B cil EO

F*talt.l/Gb(alt.l NBbb c D Et ro

Gtalt.l Bb D' Eb F
Abtalt.) Blcb D E
Atalt.l C E' F G
Bb(alt.l Db E F{ Ab
Btalt.) D F G A
UnitNine
USIIUG THEGll: tntniscase,youwitthean
myimpfovisarion
overrhechor"d changes
andtheformfrom[xample I byplaying
Track
13,Whenyou'rereadyt0 try to improvise
youwould
0verthisexencise, play
simply Track
!4,
Example
9: Frontier deFrontera)/Gt\
Justice(Justicia rrd
/c\
t I (tFcr l
C7(alt.) \19,/ \!1/

Mode/Scale Options:
C altered dominanU
Db melodic minor
(c, Db,Eb,E,Gt,At,Br)
PentatgnicOptionsi
ELminor pentatonic
(Eb,G', A', Bt, D4
Gl dominant7th pentatonic
(Gb,Ab,Bb,Dt, Ft)
A, domlnant7th pentatonic
(Ar,Br,c, Et,Gr)

l.
ormaiz(B)

Modey'Scale
Options:
DbmajorAdian
(Db,Er, F, GtG, At, Bb,C)
PentalonicOptions:
F minor pentatonic
(E Ab,Bb,C, E')
C minor pentatonic
(c, Eb,F,G, B')
B, minor penlatonic
(B', Dt, El, E Ab)

am"iz(g)

B maior/Lydian
(B, Ct, D[, EiE{,Fi, c{, AD
PentatonicOptions:
Dl minor pentatonic
(D$,F[, Gt,A{, CD
A{ minor pentatonic
(Al,cl, Dl,E+,
cD
Gf minor pentatonic
(Gl,B, C{,Dl, FD
UnitNine
F maiT

Mode/ScaleOptionsr
F maior/Lydian
(F,G,A, BrB, C, D, E)
PentatonicOptions:
A minor pentatonlc
(A,C, D, E, G)
E minor pentatonlc
(E,G,A, B, D)
D minor pentatonic
(D,F,G,A, C)

Fm7(e
)

Mode/ScaleOptio||si
F Dorian
(E G,At, Bt, C, D, Eb)
PentatonlcOplions:
F minor pentatonic
(F,At, Bb,C, Et)
C minor pentatonic
(c, Er, F, G, Bb)
G minor pentatonic
(G, Bt, C, D, F)
Bbdominant 7th pentaionic
(Bb,c, D, F,Ab)

ModerscaleOptions:
A! Dorlan
(At, Bb,ct, Db,El, F, Gb)
Pentatonlc Options:
At mlnor penlatonic
(At, cb, Dt, E , Gb)
E, minor pentatonic
(E , Gt, At, Bt, Dt)
Bbminor pentatonlc
(Bb,Dt, E , F,At)
Dbdominant 7lh peniatonlc
(Db,Eb,F,Ab,Ct)

16.
EmajT(3

Mode/ScaleOptions:
E maror/Lydian
(E, Ff, G{,Al/A,B, C{, Dl)
PentatonicOptions:
Gl minor pentatonlc
(G$,B, Cl, D*,Ft)
IX minor pentatonic
(D{,Ff, Gl, Al, CD
Cl mlnor pentatonic
UNIT TEN
Pentatonic
lmprouising |luerCadences

Pentatonic
lmprouising
for iimT-Ultalt.l-lmai7-lUlltalt.D
Forthose0f youmostinierestedin applying theseconceptsto jazzandjazz-related music,
therecan be littledoubtthat learning t0 negotiatecadences t0 bothmaiofandminon
chordswillserveas the bestpnoofof the usefulness in "real"music.By,,neal"
of pentatonics
music,or "neal"tunes,I am refenningto standafdsbothfromthe w0fldof po0ularmusic
andthe |azzwonldas well. l've pfesentedthe examplesso that they functionwithinthe
samekey[Bt]sinceBbmajorandG minorarerelatives of oneanothen andhavethe same
keysignatufes.I havegoneto greatlengthsto presentthesematerialsso that, at leastin
thiskey,allof youroptionsappeafnightbefone you.

Finstyouanegiventhe chordprognession as it appeans on the play-along CD.Belowthe


progression, each0f the chondswithinits chordfamilyis presentedin its owncompaft_
ment.Belowthe chordname,I haveattemptedt0 nemind youof the ,,formula,, for whichthe
minoranddominant 7th pentatonics couldbe applied withineachchordfamily. Then,below
that,eachpossibility is provided
in detaij.Thenotesthatsoundwithineachminonanddom-
inant7th pentatonic aregiven, andjustabove themis thescaledegfeetheywouldpnoduce
nelativeto the rootof the chord.lf yourecall,in earlierchapters I triedto presentmyper-
sonalchoicesfor the bestsounding pentatonics pef chofdfamilywith someallowances for
the style of music.As a reminderof the pentatonics that I felt containeda questionable
note,I haveplacedthatscaledegreewithinbrackets tt l). lt is my h0pethat if something
djdsoundstnange t0 youreans,thatthesebracketed notesmighthelpexplain thatfeeling.
Then,in the end,youwouldhaveto decideif that padiculafpentatonic is everappropriate
for youruse-the wayyouhearthingsl

Thereis a senseto this kindof presentation that you couldmix-and-match youroptions,


choosingoneboxin a columnandthenjumping overt0 anyboxin the nextcolumn. There
wouldbe nothing wrongwithsuchan approach, because jn the endVoufearwouldbethe
bestiudgeof whatis musical andeffective.
If youtry thisout,andI thinkyoushould, tnyt0
fingereachpentatonicinthe sameposition,of as closeto it as youcanc0nstruct it. lf thjs
causesdiffrculty
whenplaying alongwiththe CD,thentry to breakit down,fingering the
peniatonicsas slowlyas needed untjlyouhavecreateda senseof melodic flow.
Howmanytimeshaveyoulistenedt0 oneof yourfavoriteimpr0visers andheardthemplay
a motif{a phfase,a lick,etc,landthentheyseemt0 playit up ondowna halfstep?Was
thatlusta device, something theylearned froma recordor fnoma frjend? 0r is it possible
thata l0gical harmonic principle
wasbeingemployed? Well,pnobably allof thesecasesare
tfue in degnees, but lw0uldliketo believe
thatyou'llcomet0 feelas I dothatthe latteris
rcallythe case.Thereere soundhanmonic pnincjples
at playwhenthlsdeviceis employed
pnopenly. lf youcanunderstand thisandseethatthereis an almostmathematical logicat
play,thenlearnt0 employihe conceptovercadences t0 maionandminonchords_it will
broaden younappfoach to playingon standandsas wellas yourfreerplaying over pedals
andvamps.Let'stakea lookat some0f the concepts that couldbe applted,

T0illustnatethis point,I havea particularfavoritepentatonic strategythat is drawndirectly


fromthe boxes.I'veusedthis oneexample in my pnivate teaching as wellas at all of my
clinics,seminars, andmasterclEsses. lt involves,in my opinion, the mostcolorful options
ovefeach0f the threechords.I choseG minorpentatonic tthemlnofpentatonic builtfrom
the srh) t0 playoverthe Cm7chord;At minorpentatonjc {themjn0rpentatonic builtupon
the {9 to playoverthe FTtalt.lchond; andA minonpentatonic ttheminonpentat0nic built
fr"0mthe majorTthJto playovefthe BrmaJT chond.S0, if youbreakdownthe movement,
youafe goingfromG minofpentatonic uponehalfstepto A, minorpentatonic andthenup
onehalfstepto an A minorpentatonic. lf thisprogression wast0 loopitselfaroundagain
byadding a VlTtalt.ichond[thatbeingGTlalt.]inthiskeyl,thenyouwouldsimplygo upyet
anothen halfstep,applying BLminofpentatonic. So,youhavejust goneup wjth parallel
minofpentatonics andstillplayed thf0ughwhathasto be considered the mostbasicand
impodantpnogression in Westernmusic.Forsome,this canbe the m0stdifficulthurdle
t0 crosswhenleaming to playthr"oughchanges.
UnitTen

Evenif y'u chosen.t t0 Dlavthr.ughthewnitten


examples,
try usingthe G min0fpentatonic
fingering
rharfeets
themolt.orio,tunr.
to.vo,_,,
.ri
overthe Cm7 chordjthen movl
oi.u'J#lii,rg, anwhing,y'uhear
y.re$ $;t,;#ff H:1"i1'Hil'iilxi ::jlil:J;J;ffi J;:J:illff
ifii?ilffi..'#ili,.ii,i,:.?T,il',ll;JJil;.,?.J:
guitar|vetriedto givemywfittenexampres
simpriclty
whirestiriottering
a sense
development
of anideathrough of the
thechanges.
Give,theexamples a try andthenmapoutsomepentatonic
tooktkerhey'dsoundgood,one-s chojces homthe boxesthst
thai might.r, dr.r* iri.f,1lliieringprobtems at the
'utset.Perhaps try listeninq
t0 D min.fpentatonicovertheCm7chofd,E,pentat.nic over
the FTtalt.ltjustbe carefulwith th.eBui,andif,r. n*t O.*. . i.ir *.0 ,o the D
pentatonic,
thisrjmeoverBbma17. minon
Allyouvehadm O"L -how
g. ;p on;;atfstepandrhenback
downonehalfstep.lt lookssjmpleenough onpaper,but doesit soundt0 yo[?

l,ffi''inT';ffi ::#fiil,ii:Jiil'
pnacrrce
andexperimentation
regrmen.
Hi.::T?::';ni,:iiTT: l,Ti:::
Intryingto offercor...r.rp,r. thatkeepthelet_
penrar.nic
over "'J,'#
tef nsmesof the pentatonics
rn,i
a
c,z.n,,.0,
ir,!f:;:iT1,:',]I
;[t Ai,','#n:'Jri
andthenD min'f pentatonic'ver theBtmajTcnoro.onie vouveoec*ioeo
Eli:nn3JJ:
goodsoundandinteresting thatthisoffersa
rineafshapes, irv rt.riirg ;r'-D' ri# pentatonic
thefrvebasicfrngering
positions in each0f
andthenmovethemiver to *,, .to..rt andmostr'gicar
rrngering
f'r theD, dominant7th pentatonicscare. with . totoicoic.ntr.trd workspent
0nthisaspect, it should
bea far lessfrighteningprrprJ io u..lie onceforeign
nant7th pentatonic. domi_

WhenI wasintnoducing theoriqins0fthe,mjnof pentatonic,


mighthavealready I pointed
outthatsomeof you
learnedrhiJbd rhoughrot ir.. tf',.,rf.iii. ma'1lrpenmtonrc
3rd,srh,and6rh).lf youhaveretained-this tn, ano,
ori,n*li.n,lrr'..r'riiif .pp,vr andcreare
someothefrineafrerationships
withgreatprcxjmityfu. ri.rpr., iilou wereto tnint
mrnorpentatonicasitsrelative ot e
majof,Btmajor peniatonic, and'then piaymatovertheCm7
chord,as,youm.vedro neg'tiarerheFTtat;.1 chordusirigifr. S;#*,
youwoutd seethatyouareonlvooing 7rhpenrat'nic,
upbyonehaffstepagar.;iv; jt a try.Howabout
thinkingof C minorpentabonic
is itsretative
rn.ior,tlrniior"prntiion,.,unothenplaying
ir ovefrheCm7chord? Then,as*re rzar I cnorifi;;;,;Jili;";rmpry
Et minorpentatonic. rry prayins
the
Hereyou'vejust gonefrom the majorpentatonic
pentatonic0fthesametonalcentenSoundieasy_now to the minor
s.a fro*ii*rrO.f perhaps it won,t
sound asgoodasjt looks to beeasy.
Before wecontinue anddiscussthe0ptions forcadences
y.u mustarways resolvingto a minorchordlim7],
rcmember tharuirtuatyat options
.." poJii.""n . ulrart.rchordwhen
it res.lvesroa maiorchordtmaiTl-'rorl optionr
.orr'o-ol,
iriirr. ir"*o *rinanr scare,
which hasrhesamenotesaslal thesup.r't_oc.an moJ,;il;i;;;;,r* nores as*l
themelodic mjnorscaleonehalfstepabovethe noot;f4l th;
J^ni.'f,.0 scale:halfstep
alrernaring
fnomrhenoor;llf tm wf'rof._tone,c.f.,'ii,,n.
burtt upon
"aT-whote :req Dorian mode
the7thdegree oftheV7chord producinga pfl.vgi.n
sibleto iusrplaythemaiorscateofthe lmqTcf.l.,,"0 ,or;,lil ,nd it,s pos-
also
inr.Jffirn*t i.g'nV"uavoidplaying
themajor7th degree overtheVlTl
overthe
GTrartrih;:
Ao;,;#;:';l,,lilli.i,,1Ti,.lil;f,j;iiL,j..;il,X
usins
rheo'ino'.
p.ntiioni.i,.,.,r.'..*i,.,
p'nogressio
i.iliilTli'J;i:^liJitvsimPry
I alsohastento addthat beinqableto play
throughcadences
usingthesetechniques
nor.necessarjly and
5.:tll=.y,ll rheir make,y-oua greatjazzptayenJazzlorienteotinesrhrough
ownshapes andlinear
metojic,onti6rruti.nr.
lgurn,
:TT::-i,lr:
musrcarstyreor genne, tjkeanyorher
iazzhasitsownlanguage,
andto .6.tty,.[. .o"rrtnrngsound like
speakrhetanguageproperty.
Essentially.
ti,ut
tungr.g,
f.z.^z-l::,must
lwentreth h;. developed
inthe
centuny,andmost0f jt, as i[ hasbeenpassedalong,
coirestromthe bjgband
efa andtaterthe smallerbebopandhandbopgroups
lftancelts tf]ut..ri. on,ilng durrngthe late
UnitTen
'40s
and'50s,andwhichcontinue
t0 thisda\/.
lf yOuare alreadya flUentjazZplaye4rhese
penraronic
sysrems
wiil,
wirhour
question,addanangular quality
to yourlines,andtheywillhelpremove.s0me tracesot the
scale-oriented
quality
t0 th'se samerinesif that is 0neof yourmajorserf-cfiticisms.
rf you
comefroma rock,blues,or iazz-rock fusionbackground andhavea deepdesireto feelmore
at easein handling
thesekindsof pnogressions with0utsounding t00jazzy,
thenthesecon_
ceptsshouldkeepyoucloseenough to younrockandbluesrootswhilesupplyjng thetools
fonplayingovermoTes0phjsticated chordchanges.
Beyond the recordedexampres pfesented in this b00k,if youwouldliker0 srent0 an
extended imprcvisation usingthesepentatonics overthe doubre timefeerrExampre r0-Jt,
then you wouldfirst g0 ro Track15 fnomcD #2, the REoclr, in c0irTtMp0RARy
cH0B0
l0lAlllCIPTS.
Thispaftjculaf improvisation, overa classicturnarcund, alsorepnesents how
I approach creating tensionandrerease byventuring outsidethe m.re c0nsonant aspects
of the chordchanges. Because thetextune is so open{rememben thereis 0ntva bassand
percussion sccompanimentl, don'tbe fooledbysome0f the lines,whichmtgntseemt0 be
"out"sounding. Manysuchrinesare actualyjustthosethat havebecome perfectry normal
to my eanswhencreatingcadences fromanyaltereddominani7th to bothm6jonandminor
chords.However, everything, "in"0f "out,"is donewitha linearpurpose as the linesseeka
gnaceful resolutionThefundamentars 0f this appfoach t0 improvising are addressed in
gneatdetailin llnit 13 of this publication.
what I improvised on the afirementioned Track
15 becamethe shellfor my tune,"Chananga Si Si.',whichwas latenreconded by the
Garibbean JazzProjecton llllw ll0Bll0 s tconcordpicantel.Thecompletereadsheetscan
be accessedbyvisitingthe rHA 's mn lg 2 pageat www.stevekhar.c0m/k0rnerz.htm.

PtlllTAT0NlC ltGt0B: iimT_ Uttatt.l_ tmaiT_ IUt att.tl


lMPR0U|S

l;ml tttalt.l Bbmajl Gttalt.l


usemrnorpentatonic useminonpentatonic useminoTpentatonic useminorpentatonic
builtfnomRoot,2nd, builtfrom fg anddomi-builtffom3fd, majTth,builtffom{g anddomi-
6ndSthandthedomi- n6nt7th pentatonic and6th nant7th pentatonics
nant7thpentatonic builtfrom b5 6nd{5 builtfuomt5 andf5
builtfromthe4th
Cminorlent. Al minor
pent. Dminorpent. Bbminorpent.
R mSrd4th 5th 7th {9 b5 *5 rrh bs 3nd5th 6thmaiTgth {s b5 *5 7rh t9
c 2b t G Bb Ab cb ob Eb Eb l | T GA C Bb0b rt f Ab
Dminorpent. B don.7thpent. pert.
A minor llbdom.lth pent.
grh4th 5th 6rh B b5 f5 7th b9 3rd maiTgth3rd #4 6th b5 $5 tth bg 3rd
llf GA C BC* 0* tf r AC ll E O 0brb tAbEb
I minorlent. Dbdon.7thlcnt. Gminorpcnt. Ib dom.lth pent.
5rhtth B grh 4th il5 rth B ilg b5 6thlRl gth3rd sth $5 7th B d9 b5
GBb C 0 t 0b t, tArCt GB' C Il T tbr G Bb lt,
; dom.lth pent.
4th 5th 6th B m3nd
rG AC jb
UnitTen

/6\ /6-\
Example Examples
iim-V-l
10:Pentatonic {}d ) t}d I
1!!,/ \Y
Ex.104
Cm7 F7 (alt) BbmajT

(G mi.pent") (Abmi. pent.) (A mi. pent.)

F7 (alt) BbmaiT
11 l1 34331

Er.10C
Cm7 F7 (alt) BbmajT

F7 (alt.) BbmajT

(D mi.pent.) (Dbdom.7thpent.) (D mi.pent.)


UnitTen

Ex.10E Cm7 F7 (alt.)

(D mi.pent.) (D, dom.7th pent.) (D mi.pent.)

Ex.10F
Cm7 F7 (alt.)

Ex.10c
Cm7 F7 (alt.) BbmajT

(G mi.pent.) (B dom.7thpent.) (A mi.pent.)

Ex.10H
Cm7 F7 (alt.)

(F dom.7thpent.) (Dt dom.Zthpent.)

!|Jfll!"Tl! gDiTo,hear.rxamptes.toFl00
performed,
ptay
Track
18.wharyouwitl
nearrsthateachexampre,
a four-bar
phrase, is performedtwicebefore I moved 0nt0 the
nextone.whenyou. feelreadyt0 try playing
alongwithttreexampteslourserf 0r justwant
using,
thesenewconceprs, playalongwithfracfft. it yoriarefeadyro impro_
l_.-1,p-rl:.
vrseoverthe fullchordprogression that_addsthtVlTtah.lchord, thenusetrack21,which
is n0wtitled,"sorrvrotion."
"charanga c.c."presentsther*. r,'.r*." ,n.tenges
double-time. onryin
T0improvise overthis,useTrack p2.
40
UnitTen
/?\
SolMotionIii-V7(alt.)-l-Vl7(alt,)]
101: tTndt,
\4/
Cm7 F7(alt) BbmajT G7 (alt)

Mode/ScaleOptions: Modelscaleoplions: Mode/ScaleOptions: Mode/ScaleOptions:

C Dorian/FMixolydian F altereddominanv Bt maior/Lydian G altereddomlnanu


(c, D, Eb,F, G,A, Bt) Gbmelodicminor (Bb,c, D, EtE, F, G,A) Abmelodicminor
(F,cr, Ab,A, B/Ct,C{/Dt,Eb) (G,Ar, B!, B, Dt, Eb,F)
PentatonicOptions: PentatonlcOptions:
F half-tone/whole-tone C harmonicminor
G minor pentatonic diminishedscale D minor pentatonlc (c, D, Er, E G,At, B)
(c, Bb,c, D, F) (F,Gt, At, A, B, C, D, Et) (D,F,G,A, C)
PentatonicOptions:
C mlnor penlatonlc F whole.tone scale A minor pentatonic
(c, Et, F,G, Bt) (F,G, A, B, C{, Er) (A,C, D, E, G) Bt minor pentatonic
D minor pentatonic G minor pentatonic (Bt, Db,Eb,E Ab)
(D,F,G,A, C) PentatonicOptions: (G,Bt, C, D, F) Dbdominant7lh pentatonic
F dominant7th pentatonic Abminor pentatonic (Db,E , F,Ab,Cb)
(F,G, A, C, Et) (At, cr, Db,Eb,Gb) Ebdominant7lh pentaionic
B dominant7th pentatonic (Eb,F, G, Br, Db)
(8, Cl, Dl, F*,A)
D! dominant7th pentatonic
(Dt, Et, F,At, cb)

10J:Charanga
Example C.C.
[ii-V7(alt')-Fvl7(alt.)]
@)
cm7 v F7

C Dorian/FMixolydian F altereddominanv
(c, D, E , F, G,A, Bt) Gbmelodicminor
(E Gr,Ab,A, B/Cr,CVD',Et)
PenlatonicOptions: F half-ton/whole.tone
G minor pentatonic diminishedscale
(G, Bb,C, D, F) (F,Gb,At, A, B, C, D, Et)
C mlnor penlatonlc F whole-tonescale
(c,E,EG,Bl) (E G,A, B, C$,Eb)
D minor pentatonic PentatonicOptions:
(D,F,G,A, C)
F dominant7th pentatonic Abminor pentatgnic
(F,G, A, C, Eb) (Ab,ct, Dr, Et, Gt)
B dominant7ih pentatonic
(8, C*, D*,Fl, A)
Dt dominani7th penlatonic
(Dt, Et, F,Ab,Ct)

BbmajT G7 (alt)

l|ode/ScaleOptions: Mod/ScaleOptions:

Bbmaio/Lydian G altereddominanv
(Bb,c, D, EtE, F,G, A) Ai melodicminor
(c, Ab,Bt, B, Dr, Eb,F)
PentatonicOptlons: C harmonicminor
O minor peniatonlc (c, D, Et, F,G,Ab,B)
(D,F,G,A, C)
PentatonicOptions:
A minol pentatonic
(A,C, D, E, G) Bbminor pentatonic
G minor pentalonic (Bb,Dt, Er, t Ab)
(G,B', C, D, F) Dbdomlnant7th pentatonic
(Db,
Er,F,Ar,c,)
Ebdomlnant7th pentatonic
(Et,F,G, 8,, Dr)
I UNIT ELEVEN
Pentatonic
lmprouising
iimltbEl-Ullalt.l-iml

AsI triedto pointoutinthepriorchapter,


youcanuseallofyourscale options
whennego-
tiatinga cadenceto a majorchor"d.
However,
whenthe nesolution
of the caoencets ro a
minon chord,someoftheseoptions areiustnotgoing
t0 sound
as900d. Withthisinmind,
youn optionsmightnowbethefollowing:
lll thealtered
dominant
scale.
whichhasthesamenotesas:
I2l theSuper
Locnian
mode,
stillthesamenotesas:
l3l themelodic
minorscaleonehalfstepabove
ther00t:
l4l theharmonic
minorscale0ftheim7chord;
I5l theD0dan
modebuiltfnomthe7thdegree
oftheV7[alt.]
chord.
Thereason lwouldnotrecommend playing thediminshed scaleovera V7 {alt.lchofdthat
is headedtowands a im7is that,0n its 7th degrce,it is producingthenatufal13tht6th
degreel,which could
rubagainst thebbor [5 weretheyto beusedbyanaccompanist, but
thatnoteis alsowhatwouldbethemajor3|d 0fthenextchond youarcmoving towand and
thatchond is a minorchordlSo,youwould havet0 beverycareful in using
thediminished
scale,
Theuseofthewhole-tone scalepnesents otherproblems since its2nddegree tsthe
gth,which
natural couldfubagainsithebSor {9 if theywerepresent intheVTtalt.lchord
Again,youwouldhveto exenclse
structure. greatcare.Though I'vementioned thisin the
earlier
section dealingwiththem7{b5l chordfamily, it beansnepeating thatyoucanplay
blues-based materialbuilt frcm the root of the im7 chordthfoughthe entire
progression.
iimTtbb)-V7talt.l-im7 Intheexample, youwould iustplayGblues linesacross
theentinepnogression.
Herc'smysuggesti0n forthebestplaceto startwhencommitting youfselfto thediscipline
ofusing 0nlypentatonicswhileplayingthroughthesecadences. Keepinmindthatwhen you
afe neally playing
withothefmusicians, youwouldprobably notplaysomething so regi-
mented andwould beusingallof yourlinearoptions. Those options, intheend,should be
solelybased uponwhatyoureallyheanl Tonegotiate them7tb5l*V7talt.l chords, I would
always beginby usingthetwo bestsounding or can't-miss pentatonic choices! Forthe
m7{b51, I wouldstantby usingthe minorpentatonic builtfrcmthe m3rd,andfor the
VTtalt.lchordI wouldusetheminon pentatonicbuiltfnom the{9. Intheexample, usingthe
keyof Gminor,try usingC minorpentatonic overtheAmTtb5lchordandFmin0fpentatonic
overtheD7[alt.] chord.Asyouarrive at theim7chord, alloftheoptions willsound g00d,
s0try to choose onethathappens to fingerneafestto whercyouare0nthefingenboard.
Themoreyouputthist0 use,themone thefingerboad 0ftheguitar willbegin t0 lookmuch
morelikewhatthekeyboard looksliketo a pianist.Thenesultis thatyourplaying willtake
ona gneater economy 0fmovement andyourimprovisations willbemuchmoreefficient and
theneforc moremelodic.Again,takesomechances byforcing younselfto putihe dominant
7thpentatonic to usewhenevef youcanbecause it willaddmuchmofecolorto yours0l0s.
Though lrack1l pnovides youwiththechance to playoverthebasiciimTtbs)-V7talt.l-im7
prognession, I alsoprovided oneexample whichaddssomevarietyandhelpstunnaround
this simplecadence. Youcanviewtheseextended cadences in Example12 whene it
becomes a little16-bar tune,whichI havetitled"Clane asDay." ln thefourthbarof each
four-barphrase, I havegiven youa slightlydiffenentchallenge.ln ban4, webegin bystay-
ingon our im7chord.In ban8, we go up to a BbmT-Eb7 movement. Tonegotiate this
change, simplybeginbytryingto useBbminorpentat0nic, onF minorpentatonic, always
twoof youreasiest andbestoptions. Then,in bar12,youaregiven a CTtg)chord, and
though thebassnoteis changing, youarereallynemaining in thesamemode,G Dorian.
Thatis to say,youdon'thaveto change anything youaredoingeventhoughihe chordis
"changing"below.Finally, in bars15-16,youseethat youaregiven,fontwo beatseach,
Gm7-C7for a barandthenFm7-Bb7 for a banDuringthat lastbaf,simplytry to useF
minon pentatonic or C minorpentatonic andseehowthosesounds work.Thegreatthing
aboutusingtheC minorpentatonic ls thatit canbecontinued fighi intoharI of thepro-
gressjon oven theAm7tb5] chordbecause it is yourbestsounding option!This,of course,
givesthepotential for greatmelodic continuity.
UnitEleven

pEllIlT0NlC t0n: iim?lr5l-Utlalt.l-im?


lMPB0UIS|lllG
lmTlb5l 07lalt.l Em7 I0ptional
Ghangesl
usemrnon pentatonrcs
useminor pentatonic useminon pentatonrcsBLmT-Eb7
builtfrcmm3rd,4th, builtfrom#9;andthe buihfromRoot,2nd,and cilst
7th;andthedominantdominant 7thpentatonics
Sth;andthedominant tm7-Bl7
7th pentatonic
built builtfrom bband{5 7thpentatonic built
fromthe6th fnom the4th

t minor
nent. I mirorpent, Gminorpent.
m3rdb56th7th9th fs t5 il5 trh b9 R m3rdlth5th ?th
C EbT6Bb t Ab8b G tb G BbG l| T

0 minorpent. Abdom.7thpent. Aminorlenl.


ttth 6thlth tm 3rd !5 iln tth b9 3rd 3rh 4rh5thErh B
ll l G I G NbBbGEIGb I Glt E I
I minorpent, Bbdom.7thnent. 0 minorpent.
trh gthmSrd4th
srh *5 7rh n *g b5 5th 7th R gth 4th
G 0b G 0 I BbG I T A b 1l ]GAC

t dom.tth pent. Cdom.7thpent.


6th tth n m3rdb5 4th 5th6th Rm3rd
T B A G Eb C l|E GBb

USlltlG llll Gll: Toheantxamplesltl-0 performed, playTnacll7. Whatvouwill


phrase,
e fout'-bar
againhearis thateachexample, is performedtwicebeforeI moved on
to thenextone.Whenyoufeelreadyto try playingtheseexamples younself0r iustwant
to improviseusingthesenewconcepts,playalongwithlrack18.Toheanmyimpnovised
pieceoverthechanges beenprovided
you've within Example 12' playTract19.Toprac-
ovenihesechanges,
ticeimprovising usethelracl 20 play-along

E,D 5 t" t/.

0 gin.l lon rnd int b JerFMichsl;0l0r' Gtulr t0 Ste{ear a gift lor a po.rihlelonli0ol cor.ir 1900.
't8.
Iftit lrauin! i. IlniDircrnt ol f0lon't p.it ing for lh. Gorer0t rts t !e ltt ll tron
UnitEleven
Example
11:Pentatonic
iimT(b5)-V-im (inGm)/c-\
Examples I Iird( J
/r^
[ ]'rc* ,
\lt-l \19.,/
Ex.l1A
Am7(b5) D7(att.)

(C mi.pent.) (F mi.pent.) (G mi.pent.)

D7(alt.)

(C mi.pent.) (A mi.pent.)

(D mi.pent.) (Abdom.7th pent.) (G mi.pent.)

( F d o m .7 t h p e n t . ) (Bbdom.7thpent.) (D mi.pent.)

(F dom.7thpent.) (Bbdom.7th pent.) (C dom.7th pent.)


Example
12:Clare
asDay[iim7(bsfV-i(in
Gm)]
@ @ UnitEleven
Am7(b5) D7(alt.) Gm7

Mode/Scale
Options: Mode/ScaleOptions: Mode/ScaleOptions:
A Locrian/CDorian D altereddominanv G Dorian
(c, D, Eb,F,G,A, Bb) Ebmelodlcminor (G,A, Bb,C, D, E, F)
(D, Eb,F, F[/Gt,Ab,Bt, C)
PentatonicOptions: G harmonicminor PentatonicOptlons:
C minor pentatonic (D,Eb,Ff, G,A, Bb,C) G minor pentalonic
(c, Et, F, G, B!) PentatonicOptions: (G,Bb,C, D, F)
D minor pentatonic D minor pentatonic
F minor pentatonic
(D,E G,A, C) (F,Ab,Bt, C, Er) (D, F, G,A, C)
G minor pentatonic Al dominant7th pentatonic A minor pentatonic
(G, Bb,C, D, F) (Ab,Bb,c, Eb,cb) (A,C, D, E, G)
F dominant7|h pentatonic Bbdominant7th pentatonic C dominant7th pentatonic
{F,G,A, C, Er) (Bb,c, D, F,Ar) (c, D, E, G, Bt)
A m7(b5) D7(alt.) Gm7

Mode/Scale
Options: Modey'Scale
Options: Mode/ScaleOptions: Modey'Scale
Options:
A Locrian/CDorian D altereddominanu G Dorian BbDorian
(c, D, Er, F,G,A, Bt) Ebmelodicminor (G,A, Br,C, D, E, F) (B',C, Dt, El, E G,Ab)
(D,Eb,F, FyGr,Ar, Bb,C)
PentatonicOptions: PentatonicOptions: PentatonlcOptions:
G harmonicminor
C minor pentatonic (D,Eb,Ft, G,A, Bt, C) G minor pentatonic Bt mingr pentatonic
(c, Eb,F,G, Bb) (G,Br,C, D, F) (Bb,Dr, E', F,A')
D minor pentatonlc PentatonlcOpiions:
D minor pentatonic F minor pentatonic
(0, F,G,A, C) F minor pentatonic (D,t G,A, C) (F,Ab,Bb,C, Eb)
G minor pentatonic (E Ar, Br,C, Et) A minor pentatonic C minor pentatonic
(G,Br,C, D, F) Abdominant7th pentatonic (A,C, D, E, G) (c, Fr, F,G, Bb)
F dominant7th pentatonic (Ab,Bt, c, E,, Gt) C dominant7th pentalonic Ebdominant7th pentatonic
(F,G,A, C, Et) Bbdominant7|h pentatonic (c, D, E, G, Br) (Er,E G, Bb,Db)
(Bb,c, D, F,At)
Am7(b5) D7(alt.) L7ml

Mode/ScaleOptionsi Mode/ScaleOptions: Mode/ScaleOptions:


A Locrian/CDorian D altereddominaov G Dorian
(c, D, Et, F,G,A, Bt) Ebmelodicmlnor (G,A, Bt,C, D, E, F)
(D, Eb,F, Fvcb,At, Bt, C)
PentatonicOptions: G harmonicminor PentatonicOptions:
C minor pentatonic (D,Et, Fl, G,A, Br,C) G minor pentatonic
(c, Eb,E G, Bt) PentatonicOptions: (G,Br,C, D, F)
D minor pentatonic D minor pentatonic
(D,F,G,A, C) F mlnor pentatonic (D,F, G,A, C)
(F,Ar, Br, C, Eb)
G minor pentatonic A minor pentatonic
Al dominant7th pentatonic
(G,Br,C, D, F) (Ar,Bb,c, Et, Gb) (A,C, D, E, G)
F dominant7th pentatonic Bt dominanl7th pentatonic C dominant7th pentatonic
(E G,A, C, Et) (Bb,c, D, F,Ab) (c, D, E, G, Br)

Am7(b5) D7(alt.) Gm7 C7 Fml 867

Mode/Scale Options: Modey'Scale


Oplions: Modey'Scale
Options: Mode/Scale
Options:
A Locrian/C Oorian D altereddgminanv G Dorian F Dorian
(c, D, Er, F,G, A, Bt) Ebmelodicminol (G,A, Bb,C, D, E, F) (E G,Ab,B', C, D, E')
(D,Eb,E FVG',At, Bt, C)
PentatonicOplions: G harmonicminot PentalonicOptions: PentalonicOptions:
C minor pentatonic (D,Eb,F{,c, A, Bt, C) G minor pentatonic F minor pentatonic
(c, E , F, G, Bt) PentatonicOptions: (G,Bb,C, D, F) (F,At, Bb,C, Eb)
D minor pentatonic D minor pentatonic C minor pentatonic
F minor pentatonic
(D,F,G, A, C) (F,Ab,Bb,C, Eb) (D,E G,A, C) (c, Eb,E G, Bb)
G minor pentatonic Al dominant7th pentatonic A minor pentatonic G minor penlatonic
(G,Bb,C, D, F) (Ab,Bb,c, Eb,cr) (A,C, D, E, G) (G,Bb,C, D, F)
F dominanl7th pentatonic Bbdominant7th pentatonic C dominant7lh pentatonic Bbdominant7th pentatonic
(F,G,A, C, Er) (Br,c, D, F,At) {c, D, E, G, Bb) (Br,c, D,F,Ar)
UNIT TWELVE Exercises
in Sequence
Pentatonics

andmusical
Oneof the most important,useful, devices yourimprov-
indeveloping
skillsis takingan ideaandexpanding
isati0nal uponit forwhatDouldbea brieftimeor what
mightevenbecome the"theme" of anentiresoloon anygivennight.Thefoll0wingseries0f
exercises,whichappean overcadencesto bothmajorandminor,arepresented inthefonm
musicalideasthat movethfoughthe changes
of sequential whiletnavelingup the finger-
board.Noticethat the first examples use the thrce ascendingminorpentatonics. In
Examplesl3u and l4B-ll, I haveattemptedto forceyou t0 use the dominant7th
pental,onic
s0 that it willbecomelessandlessof a stranger

im7progression,
overthe iimT(b5l-V7(alr.l
offened
Forthe examples I'veiakena different
nhythmic and
appnoach put intouse sixteenth-note Like
subdivisions. the eighth-note ideas
presented,
yOucanseeihat the sequenceis as mucha sequence
nhythmic as il is a piich-
ontente00ne.

USING TllE G0: tract 15 beginswith Examples t0A-D'To hearExamples 13A-0,go


past Examples 104-0 {1:04 into the trackl;youwill heara four-barvampfollowedby
Examples l3A-0 tExamples13E-Jarc not included Again'youwillhear
on the necording).
that eachfouf-barexamplewas performedtwicebeforeI movedon t0 the nextone.When
youfeelreadyto try playingthe examples or just wantto imprcvise
younself usingthese
newconcepts, playalongwithTrack16.

13:Pentatonic
Example (ii-V-l)
Sequences
@ @
Ex.13A
Cm7 F7 (alt.) BbmajT

Ex.138
F7
lalt.) 4

(A mi.pent.)
UnitTwelve
Ex.13C
F7(alt.)
Cm7

(G mi. pent.) (Abmi. pent.) (A mi. pent.)

EI.13D
F7 (alt) BbmajT
Cm7 143
4

(G mi. pent.) (Abmi. pent.) (A mi. pent.)

F7(alt.)

(G mi. pent.) (Abmi. pent.) (A mi. pent.)

F7(alt.) BbmajT

(D mi.pent.) (Dbdom.7thpent.) (D mi.pent.)


UnitTwelve
Ex.13G
Cm7

(Dt dom.7thpent.) (D mi.pent.)


(D mi.pent.)

Ex.13H
um/ F7 (alt.)

(Dbdom.7thpent.) (D mi.pent.)
(D mi.pent.)

Ex.131
Cm7 F7 (alt.) BbmajT

(Dbdom.7thpent.) (D mi.pent.)
(Dmi.pent.)

Ex.13J
Cm7

(Dbdom.7thpent.) (Dmi.pent.)
(D mi.pent.)
UnitTwelve
114-0.Tohear[xamples 144-140go
usllllG IHt Glt: tract fi besinswirhEmmples by
vamp
tlA-D (1:04intothe track],youwi||hear"a four-bar fo|lowed
oastExamlles
whenyoufeelneady yourself'
ihe examples
to try playing 0f iust t0
want
[i.iGi'll-0.
improvise playalongwithTracllS'
usingthesenewconcepts,

14:Pentatonic
Erample (iim7bs-V-i) @
Sequences @
Gm7
4

(F mi. pent.) (G mi.pent.)


(C mi. pent.)

Ex.148
D7(alt.) Gm7
Am7(b5) 4
1 331 2

(Bbdom.7th pent.) (A mi. pent.)


(C mi. pent.)

Ex.14C
A m7(b5) D7(alt.)
1 14

(C mi. pent.) (Abdom.7th Pent.) (C mi. pent.)

Ex.14D
Am7(b5)
4

(F mi.pent.) (G mi.pent.)
(F dom.7th Pent.)
ut\il Intnttrtrt\
Pentatonics
Around
and0utside
theGonsonant

Thoughthe pniorbookis deuotedto chords,somewhere


towadrheendof
thatspectrumshouldbea sensibilityaboutth0sechords andtheparttheyplaywhenlines
reachoutside
thetnaditionalboundariesof scalesandmodes. Inthisonesection dedicat-
edto theshape ofyourlines,I offermyanalysisforventuring
beyond thetfadjttonal_the
consonant-when approaching anyofthethreemainchordfamilies: dominant,minor, and
majorThistopjccouldcertainlybethewo|kof another bookentirely.However,sinceI am
oftenaskedaboutthis,andsincethepentatonics canplaysuchanimportant rote,I want_
edto include
a discussionofthetopicin thisbook.I havedecidedto confinethisdiscus-
sron,however,
to onlythe domjnant 7th chordfamily,My hopeis that the suggestions
denivedfrommyworkwillgiveyouthecourage to explone
theseharmonic concepts.
Fonthepurpose of thisstudy,wewillbeginbyusingG7as ourcenter, ourhomebaseso
!o speak.Taken at facevalue,the modemostllkelyt0 be associatedwth dominant 7th
chofdstfeateddiatonicallyis theMixolydian
mode;its sevennotesin thiskeyafeawould

I be G,A, B, C, D, E, andF As jt's known


tonesin .uf well-tempered
theharmony,
andcommonly accepted, theneareonlytwelve
system.sincethemodegivesussevenofthosepitches
weareleftwithlustfivemoretonest0 examine.
within
lf youwerct0 addintothis
mixthelanguage oftheblues, out"commonground,
wecouldaddthebluenotesj$2nd0f
b3rdandtheb5.Intheareaof theG7,ourexample tonalcenter,wewouldbespeaking of
BbandDf. S0,withthisnoti0naccepted, wehavenowusednine0f thetwetve tones.
Whatnowfemains wouldbetheAbtthebgl;D* trhe{Sl; andF$tthemaiTthl.Inthewonld
of iazz,thesoundsof thetg andthe{5 arenotallthatforeign
to ourears.Inthepopulaf
music0f the post-Beatlesera,suchsounds anereadilyfoundin the mustcof artistslike
SteelyDan,Sting,andmanyothersioonumerous t0 mention.So,couldthesepitches neaf
ly bethatout0r thatwrong? 0nlythemajTthtF*lseemst0 beoutof placehene.
Perhaps whatmakessomething soundoutsidewouldbe the gnouping of the notesin a
phrasemone thananyoneisolated pitch.I believe
thattheconcept shouldnevefbeabout
playingsomething s0outrcgeous thatyoudrawtoomuchattention t0 it. Whatevef youplay
should functionwithinthenatunal flowof yourimprovisation andthe musicas a whole.
Sometimes making toomuchofonediss0nant notecanreallybehea|dandfeltaslustplain
irritatingmorethanbeing"farout"or evenintefesting sounding.During whatI suppose
couldbe calledtheir greatmiddleyearsof reconding, the mid_,60s, MilesDavis
tColumbia/Sony MusiclandJohnC0ltrane {lmpulse!}impr"ovised,
at times,ovefoneisolat_
edchordchange. lf yougobackto theserecondings and,whileyou,ne listening,
analyze the
ton8lcentersandchordfamily;then,whenyouhearanypitcvnoteto whichyouhavean
emotional response, stopthercconding, locatethatnote,andseehowit doesondoesnot
fit withinthe fmmework 0f yourinitialmodalanalysis, onceyouhavelabeled its scale
degree felative
to thefoot,try to transcdbe thefewpitchesthatprecede onfollowit. These
pitches togethermightsuggest a thoughtor hanmonic processbeingemployed byoneof
thesegneat mastens. Thislustmightgiveyoua keyt0 whatkind0f n0teypjtches andlines
lou heaf.
Inanypnofession,yourimaginationis of vitalimportance.
Let,saccept,
fontheouroose of
thisdiscussion,
thatmuchoftheoutside hanmonic worldhassomekind0fdominant func-
tronbecause wearetryingto createthetension thatmustbereleased.Thenwiththedom_
inant7th chordfamily,
we mightimagine that,overa pedal{inthiscasea G pedal),
we
couldcneate tension
byintrcducing theVTtalt.l chordsoundsof D7talt,l.
Inthediagram,
outsideoufhomebasebox,I havewnjtten outallthepossibleD7altenations
fonthecrc,
ationofthistension.
Basically,
all of theseoptions
can,in pant,be derived
fnomthe altered dominantscale
lSupenLomian mode0r melodicminorscale
a halfstepabove thercotofthedominant].
In
ounexamplehere,thatwould betheEbmelodic minon tEb,F,Gb,At, Bb,C,andD).Inany
case,theseven tonesareexactly
thesame, justat timesenharmonicallv
spelled.
Fnom mylistening,
especially
to ColtraneandMcCoy Tynen,oursametwobasjcpentatonic
scaleformations
wefevitalt0 theirwork0fthatpefiod-theminofpentat0nic
tFloot,
m3rd,
4th,5th,bTthlandwhatl'vecometo label asthedominant7thpentatonic
tRoot,Znd,3rd,
sth,bTth).
Myownformulas fof crcating
thealtered
sounds,usingthesetwopentatonic
untt Intrteen
wouldbeto applyminonpentatonics
fonmations, builtfnomthefg andthe 7th degrees and
the dominant builtfnomthe b5 and{5 S0,relative
7th pentatonics t0 D as our we
noot,
couldapplyF minofpentat0nicithe {91;C minorpentatonic ttheTthl; Ab dominant7th
pentatonic
tiheb5l;andB! dominant 7th pentaionlc
[fie {5]

the lines0n the provided


Following chaft,Example 15, youcanseethat, in somecases'I
havesimplyextended ihese gfoupings
pentatonic into seven-tone
theirfullyrealized m0des.
F minorpentatonichas become F Dorian,and C minof peniatonichas become C Dorian
Howdo youbestventureinto this without
anea feelingas though you are forcingsomething
to happ;n?Peftapsyouare tfyingt0 makesomething happenthat is iust not neadyt0 hap-
pen?Again,a simplJconcept wonks best.I suggestusing the common tonesas a musical
urindowfromwhicht0 ententhis outef harmonic world. Tnyplaying these andseeingjusl
howihev soundto you.

Onebasic analyticalfirst step wouldbe to iust find the commontonesbetweenihe G


Mixolydian modl andthe D altereddominant scale.At a glance,thosetoneswouldbe D.
f, ani C. Then,try examiningthe bluenoies,andBblA*becomes an opiion Now,try t0
impnovise an ideathat focuses0n one0f thosepitches Attempt usethat pitch/noteas
t0
a oivotintothe D7 altercdd0minantareaeventhoughG is still yourharmoniccenter-your
p.d.l ton.. Seehowthis soundst0 youlNext,tfy to crcatea smallmoiifusingjust the
notesD, F,andC; perhaps makeit easien
doingthiswillactually to tfavelt0 otherareas0f
implied harmony. Inthereconded example, Tracl23,youcanheafthatthiswaswhatI tried
to do withina verybriefamountof time.

Next,y0UcouIdextend thisp|tocess aIIthepossibilities.


expIored
Untilyou,Ve ThisDould take
quiteiometime.Just be patientwithallthe aspects,and take
simply your timelI alsosug-
gesi the usageof srnallmotih from
derived playing
chromaticuppenand lower neighborc
io the modalor blues-basedtonesandhearwheretheycouldtakeyou

Anothen0ptionfor experimentation overan extendedvampis t0 imaginethat the G7 chord


couldbe goingt0 a c majoror c minorchord.lt couldevenbe a b5 substitute for a Db7
andbe he;deafor a GbmajT or Gbm7.Thekeyto this is that it's all functioning
really as a
falsecadence because it willneven nesolve,
actually but for the sake of everything
analysis
to therightof homebaseis the0lteration of G altereddominant 7th,whichgivesyoumany
morepoiential alteredandoutsideoptions.I reallyhopethis will helpyouget started,so
it becomes a poin!0f depafture. Again,my improvised example intended
was to be a com-
positeof some0f the suggested techniques.

what I havebeenpresenting thusfar in thisunitis reallythe simpleinse|ltion of onechord


change where it exist
doesn't in the wfitten music Howeven, with your imagination, youcan
t.kr ihi. ida. severalstepsfurtherandput into use a seniesof chordchangesthat could
eithentakeyoufnomharmonicPointAt0PointBorfrcmPointAbacktoPoint
instance. hefein ourexample we arejustvamping on a G pedal,whichwe anesaylngls a
GTchord.But,instead0fiustthinkingofgoingtoanouterareaofDTtaltl'wh
inserteda b5 substituteii-v with yourlinesandalludedt0 EbmT-Ab7? What if youwenta
stepfufther and placed,
in ffont of that chondchange, another" ii-V, Fm7-Bb7? Youwould
thenhaveFm7-Bb7 -Ebn7-Ab7, alltwo beatseach before landing back at G7 0nyoumight
want t0 g0 the other way anoundby playinglinesthat suggested8bm-Eb7-Ebm7-Ab7 '
again,eaih chondchangewould probably be played for"two beats before fesolving t0 G7.
Youcouldalsotakethisverysameideaanduseonlyaltereddominant 7th chords,making
it a V-of-vsiruarion.Thiswouldlooklike EbTtalt.l-ALTtalt.land back t0 G7,or it couldbe
extended and
to FTtali.)-BbTtalt.l-EbTtalt.l-Ab7(alt.) back to G7. The key thingto remem-
these chord changes-but only because you
ber is that youare playing linesthat suggest
heanthemwkh younimagination, andthe will of your line directs you in such a way Try
theseveryideasusingyourpentat0nics andsee what it sounds like Neven forget that in
thisareaof making music,anything is possible
because your imagination is king!

51
lftancelts
UnitThinteen
plav
impr'visati.n'
USltllcTHEGll:Ton.u.mvexample 23'First'',ouwillheal
Track
t0 00 as
thatwe werein the areaof G7'WhatI thenattempled
that I sougntto establish in the
in.-hp..tit*i* developed wasto go to several.0f theseouterareas'suggested
as my windows t0 movet0 andfrom the tonalcen-
o.lr t5",'rl^s thenotesC D and! t0 lmpmvlslng'
withthis pafticular
approach
rer of G. Whenyoufeelreadyto experiment
youcould alsog0t0 the B[Ut [D ffom G0ITITEMP0BABYGlloBoKHANGEpTS
uselrack 24.But
and26'Thiswillgiveyoutwodiffercnt
f6' 20=, feelsandtempos
..0 tf.v.i.g -iri' Tracks

15:Around
Example theGonsonant
andOutside @ @

imTtcmll
GaltereddominanU
Abmelodicminot
U7[alt.l Eb,F)
rG,Ab,Bb,B/cb,Db,
Charmonicminor
IC,D.Eb,N G,Ab,B]
IlTtalt.l
0 altereddominanv
ninor
[b melodic GaltereddoninanU
ID,E', F,FVG',Ai, Bb,C] Abmelodicminor
(G,Ab.Bb,B/C',Db,E', F]

Bl minorpentatonic
0theroFtions: tt I iuTtalt.l (Bb,D,, Eb,F,Ab]
t minorFentatonic
(F,A,, Bb,C, Eb]
0 hrlf-tone/whole'tone
diminished
iD, E #A
E , , F
scale

0 whole-tonc
, b ,A , B , C ] G7 0bdominant

tb dominant
7th Pentatonic
tD', Eb,F,Ab,Cb]
lth Pentatonic
IEb,F,G, 8,, Db]
IO,E,F+,G*,AI,C] Fr
GqH:8Idd:P,
.--- f minorPentatonic BlueNotes IBbl tDbl 0theroptiotls:
(EAb,8,, C,E'
Ghalf-tone,/whole'tone
.-- GminorPentatonic diminished scale
tC,Eb,F,G,Bb] i G ,A b ,B b ,B , C { ,D , E ,F ]
Abdominant tth Pentatonic 0 nelodicminor Gwhole-tone
(Ab,Bb,C,Eb,G' t G ,A , B , C * , D , E , F ] I G ,A , B , C { ,D { ,F ]
Bbdorninanttth Pentatoric
IB',C, D, Ab]
F,
7th Pentatonic
A dominant
IA,B, CI,E,G]

IullModes:

L-;-- t Dorian/E
Phrygian
i IE G,A,,Bb,C,D,E'
L-- GDorian ([lagalcadence!
IC,D,Eb,F,G,A, Bb]
UNITFOURTEE Pentatonic
Stretch
Fingerings

IhOugh I WaS n0t bleSSed wirhparricutafty targehandsor spindtyfingefs,I fett


that it wasessential that | offenan alternative
t0 the basjcpentatonic
fingeringsthatalign
themselves t0 the moneelementary Duringthe early,70s,
conceptof one-finger-per-fret,
just aftef I hadmovedto NewYorkandbegant0 takestudents,a youngguitaristwalked,
in andshowedme somepentatonic finger"ings
that seemedto be of his own invention,
because he hada hugeset 0f handsandcouldplayacrossanyonestringwithease.Since
thatiime,I haveperiodically madethe effontt0 learnt0 plyljkethis,buttherearefinger
ingspnesented hercthat I simplycannotplayin the lowerpositions becausethe stretches
between the fingersare simplyt00 grcat.S0,for thoseof youwithsmallhands,don,tbe
discour"6ged. Tryt0 playwhatyoucanplaycomfortably; andwiththosefingeringsthatseem
t0 havet00 greata gap,try to alterone0f thosetonest0 anothen correctmodalnote.The
followingis an example of howl'vetfiedto solvethis kindof problem.

Noticein our example of G7, looking 7th pentat0nic


at the dominant fingenings,at least
oncein each0f the fivefingerings a linebeginswiththe third:B. Thismeansthat across
that stfingas B goesto D andthengoest0 E eachone0f thoseintervals is a minor3rd
andwill havetwo frets betweeneachnote.lt's a hugestnetchfr0myounfirst fingerto youf
pinkyto coverallof it. Fonmeto makeuseof thisin a realplaying situation,
I wouldchange
eachB to a C s0, for that moment,I am usinga finger"ing for onestringdefivedfromthe
minon7th pentatonic fingering. Intheend,youwouldwantto d0 something likethist0 keep
y0uflinesfnomsounding too homogeneous.

Here'sanexplanati0nof myhanmonic thinking as it relatesto thispresentation.l'vechosen


the dominant7th chondas the staftingpoint.As I havestatedthroughout this text, I have
adopteda minororientation [usingthe Dorianmodeandthe melodic minorscales) t0 iust
ab0uteverything ldo as it appliesto improvising. Wherea dominant 7th chordis con
cerned,if youweret0 start building up the hafmony in thirdsfromthe 5th degnee, you
wouldautomaticallybe addingvirtually all the consonant colontonesr7th, gth, 11th,and
1Sth.S0,in ounexample of G7,if I leavethe bassnote,the r"oottRl,t0 the bassistand
playeitherDm7t9lchordsor lineswith a Dm7 tDorianlorientation, I wouldalneadv be
extendingthe soundof the existingharmony.

Thisis whyeachsectionbegins withthed0minant 7th pentatoniclinesandis thenfollowed


bythe m7 linesderivedfrcmthe ii chordof the majorkeyonbuiltfromthe bth degreeof
the lvlixolydian
mode.Again,if ourexampleis a G7chord,we aneinthe keyof C majoland
the ii chordwouldbe Dm7.G7wouldproduce mode,andDm7wouldpro
theG lVlixolydian
ducetheD Dorianmode.And,sincetheyarcinthesamekey,theystillhavethesameseven
notes,justdifferent
startingpointsso thatthe crucialhalfstepsfallin different
places.
Inthisapplication,byusingtheD min0fpentatonic overtheG7,theonlynoteyou'readding
t0 the G dominant 7th pentatonicis C [the4th of 1'lth].lt neplaces the B, the Brdof the
chofd,andseruesto createa moreopensenseof hanmony. In the finalgrouping present-
ed,whatI'veofferedis nota pentatonic scale;at times,it'sneally likeplaying the Lydianf7
scaleacrcssthe stfings,whichin my 0 entationis likeplaying the melodic minor.In this
case,thatwouldbe D melodic minor[D,E,F,G,A, B, CfJ.In other" words,the G Lydian b7
scaleis the sameas D melodicminor.Now,the C, whichwas introduced withthe minor
pentatonic,becomesC* (thebsl andfuftherservest0 extendthe hanmony. As youbecome
moreandmorccomfortable withthetechnical aspects0f thisconcept bornof anexercise,
try thento putit t0 usein thecontextof themusicyouhavebeenplaying. Seeif it cantnuly
workfof you.Thisconcept becomes a way0f takingthe ordinany aspectsof the pentaton,
ics andturningthemintosomething extraordinary whileagainteaching y0urearsto heaf
thingsthnough yourhands.Just giveit a try andseehowit sounds to you.
UnitFounteen

lxample16:PentatonicStretch
fingerings
lThreeacrossa stringl

a-
Dom.7th(131s)
UnitFourteen
Don.Tlh(9

oon.7lh(V)
UnitFounteen
USINGTHEGll: nese examples wene notperformed, sowhenyoufeellikepracticing
to somethingrhythmicandwitha tonalcenter,uselrack24' Howevef, youcanalsouse
Tracts20 and26 fnomthe BUIECllthat comeswilhthe prionbook,G0ilTEMp0BABYGH0R0
AllofthesetracksuseGasthetonalcenter,
lolAIlGEpTS. whichis asit should
bebecause
theexamples withG7asthebasichafmonic
wereallwritten anea.

16:Pentatonic
Example Stretch exercises
Fingering @
Ex.16A

(G mi. pent.)

Ex.168

(C dom.7th pent.)
UNIT FIFTETN
Exercises
String-SkipPing

pentatonic style0f impfovising is noi


As statgd hefofe, playing in a one-dimensional
is unique
Remembef
toundtikea-"1a2.'plaver' that the language of iazz
;;;.;;;;.6, However' because
fn*ori.tto tp..n tf,atlanguage youmustmasterthenuances
fluenily'
lor mode-orientedJ c'ncept' the lines
il;;f ;; nlginto imp.ouit.tnoma icile-oriented
similafinchanactenThe notes tend t0 be grouped together closely'
il6;ffi;t;lltoo weareadding
.n-.-r.iJ*io. i*t*allic leapsByadding pentatonicconcepts to ourplaying'
spacebetween tirenotesThis, in part' is because we arc now employrng
;;;;;;li,
fivenotesinstead of sevenl
of someof thespecial qualities in thewaythe
Thisis wherewe cannowtakeadvantage a seriesot
layoutontheingerboar"d of the designed
guibar'.l've
notesof thepentatonics
;;;pi, ;r;':;;; usinsa string-skippins-discipline t0 hishlisht ':f9:r",ltt*t' iumpsand
Fofthepunposes
to yourdexterity. ofempl6ylng theseconcepis'
.iro to g*. ur . atallenge prcsression
as tiev mishtbe usedoverboththe iimT-vTtalt l-lmai
I;;il;;;;p1..
ii.ijiturrigl.uiTl andrheiimTtb5l-V7tatt.]-im7 pnsression IAmTtb5l-D7talt.l-Gm7l.

allusea stneam 0f consecutive running eighth-notes'


Fofthe mostpart,theseexamples
improviseusing this concept What I am feallyhop-
butthisis nothowyouwouldnofmally
thesepentatonics, youwillbe ableto develop yourownrelationship
ingi, tf,rt, byusing -pluy 'romance'
unychord familyThat you create withthesenoies
*itn t..n ^.tL yo, ouur.
youthoo., to play,
and when you choose to ql9Y.1! lt shouldneverbe
iim .tr..tt prc-
"ri.t such as this one! With the examples
iliJ;;;.;;;ilse voumishrhaveleafned, and
.;rt.d, ;. ;;. usually alternatingbetweentheD-st ngandB-stfingandtheG-string
this concept to include sounds cneated
i-rt.ins. i; **H .rrt.inly *int t0 extend
[*.rn rf.,.lowE-string andtheD-stning aswellastheA-stringandtheG-slringlchose
io t .p tf.rusounds onthehigherstrings- sothatthe noteswouldspeakwellwhenplayed
against theplay-along CD.

Theothertechnical aspect I'vetriedto adhefet0 asa discipline is t0 keepthesuccessive


hsethefonthefinserboard as.ispossible' s0thatthesounds alisn
;;;;;;ir;;;;ir;e 'looxiofhowtheyane'played. your guitan fingenboard
ir..r.ir.r *i6rtr,. Again, in concept,
should resemble theway a tyboand mighilo;k6o tpianist. lt wouldmakeyourfingefboard
seem,at times,to be verycompact, ;akingyourmovements conciselt shouldteelas
youriingers at alltimes'andthatradical' 0f dra-
;h*;; #;o,,. arefight'underneath be found
Perhaps, time'suchmovements
over" would
r.Ui .t**a.tt areriotrequined.
to bemostlyunnecessary.

,15 space
fout"-bar
uslluc IHE Gltt Examptes 17A-DappeafonTrack aftcrthe second
134-0wereperformed you
(2:16intotherfackl.Again, will
;#il.-11 il.fr* Examp'les
eiamplewasperformed twicebefofeI movedonto thenextone'
f'ru. tf,.t Lu.nfour-ban uslng
t0 try playing
the yourself
examples just
ot" want to imprcvlse
Whenyoufeelneady
thesenewconcepts, playalongwithlrack 16'
UnitFifteen
/ct\ /G\
17:String-Skipping
Example (ii-V-l)t | I i l t l t l d r l
Exercises
\!./ \T-l
Ex.17A
Cm7 F7 (alt.)

(G mi.pent.) (Abmi. pent.)

BbmajT

JJ'-

(A mi. pent.) (Dl dom.7th pent.) (D mi.pent.)

Ex.17C
Cm7 F7(alt.) BbmajTj

(G mi. pent.) (B dom.7th pent.) (A mi. pent.)

Ex.17D cm7 F7(alt.)

(G mi.pent.) (Abmi.pent.)
UnitFifteen
usllIG THEGD: rxampbo onTrack
rgHt appear vamp
17afterrhefour"-bar that{Dllows
whenyoufeelready
1{l-0 t2:25intothetnackl.
tramples to try playing
the examples
orjustwantto improvise
younself play
thesenewconcepts, along
using with 18'
Track

18:String-Skipping
Example (iim7(b5Fv-i)
Exercises @ @
Ex.18A
Am7(b5) D7(alt.) Gm7
11

(F dom.7th Pent.) (F mi. pent.) (D mi. pent.)

Ex.t8B
Am7(b5) D7(alt)
131

(C mi. pent-)
(C mi. pent.) (Bt dom.7th Pent.)

Ex.18C Gm7
Am7(b5) D7(alt.) 341

(Abdom-7th Pent.) (A mi. pent.)


(G mi. pent.)

Ex.180 Gm7
Am7(b5) D7 (alt)

(Bbdom.7th Pent.) (D mi.pent.)


UNIT SIXTEEN
Effect
Ihe lloubled-Note
ofthepentatonic
What could be considereda by-product we
fingedngs
stretch
examined in Unit15 is whatI callthe doubled-note that,as guitarists,
effect.I believe this
is 0uf meLhod of approximating soundsthat mightbe mostass0ciated with saxophonists
andtrumpetplayers.Duning the course0f an impfovisation, this effectgetsput to use
whena playenis ridingonenote oversevenalbars with accentsandallowingthe nhylhm
sectionto reallyintensifythe feelingunderneath. Whenthis effectis notated,we usually
usethe plussign[+] above the altennatingnotes;oneof themwouldbe heardas sounding
justslightlydifferent.
Onwoodwind [saxophones andflutes)andbrass(tnumpet andtr0m-
bonelinstruments, as withthe guitan,the effectis accomplished by playing
the samenote
withan altefnate fingefing.

Forguitanists, this effectis mosteasilyaccomplished by playing the samenoteon both


yourB stringandG string.Forexample,playthe noteD on yourB stringwithyounfirst fin-
ger on the 3rd fr"et,andthen reachout with yourpinkyor third fingerandplaythe noteD
on younG string.Oncethis is underyourfingerscomfoftably, thesenotes
try alternating
whiiebuilding up velocity.With this safelyundenstood, then try adding the bluenoteof
DblC{,whichwouldappear 0n the 6th fret of yourG string [one fret belowthe D you had
been playingl.Thisshouldadd some bluesiness to what you had just played

BVusingthe stretchfingeningsacToss several sets0f strings,youroppoftunities fof put-


lf youl00kat m0stof the
tingthiseffectintousearc increased. fingerings offened,youcan
cleanlyseethat the noteuponwhichyouendon anyconsecutive string becomes the firct
noteon the nextstring,bothascending anddescending As you learnto playthese kinds
withgreaterspeed,the effectof lhe doubled
of finger"ings notebecomes incneasingly sub-
giveit a tfy!
tle, Please

Etfect
19:Doubled-Note
Example
D MinorPentatonic
UNITSEVENTE
Uelocig
Exencise
Euefygenefationof playefs hassome
pneoccupari0n
withvirtuosrtv,
rhedevet-
opment0f grcaten facility-theabilityto execute
musical
ideaswithspeed,complete fluid-
ity,andconfidence. Therefore,the followingexamplesanesuggesti0nsfonsomeverybasic
velocityexencisesto aidin the development of yourspeedandfacility.
Executing
runsand
flurriesof noteswithgoodtimeandspeedcanbeveryimpfessive-but neverlosesight0f
howmuchmoreeffectivetheyaneif youcanendwith a beautifulsounding note.
Toconserve spacebecause of the tab f0rmat,many0f the exencise
suggesti0nsare offened
in partialform, leavingthemto be completedby you,Also,theyaneofferedonlyin oneof
the fivepositions.So,this is wherethe sincety andwillof youreffortsis goingt0 come
intoplay.lt willnotserveyouwellt0 bea "master" in onlyoneposition.
Youmustmakethe
effontt0 takethe basicconceptffom onepositionandthenapplyit to the otherfounlf you
makethat etfoft,youwill,withoutquestion,be faf the betterfonit.

It is alsocrucialt0 makethe effortnot onlyto learnandmasterall thjngsrelatedt0 the


usageandemployment of the minorpentatonicbut alsoto applythe sameeffoftsto the
dominant 7lh pentatonic. ln addition
t0 theseessentials,
the bluesscaleshouldbe exam-
inedandapplied so that it mightbe connectedto bothof our mainpentatonics. Whilethis
bookstfivest0 pfovideyouwith an angulan optiont0 yourimprovisedlines,it is alsomy
goalto bringyouclosen to the earthiness andsoulfulnessof the blueslanguage. please
don'tlosesiqhtof this.

of Sixlllotes(Ascending
Ill Groupings and0escendingl
Youmayaheady beveryfamilian withfingeringthe minorpentatonics because of ourexpe-
niences in nock,heavymetal,andiazz-rock fusion,but if thjs matenialis newt0 you,I've
triedto pTesent somevenysimpleandfundamental velocityexerciseslintendedto devel0p
speedandfacility) withboththe minoranddominant 7th pentatonics. Theexamples ane
presented usingonlythe first positi0ntthe positionloweston the neckj,so if youbecome
inspiredto do so, expand eachonet0 the otherfourpositions as theywenepnesented in
Unit1.

20:G MinorPentatonic
Erample

EI.2OA
F

etc.

Er.208
lv

etc.
UnitSeventeen
Ex.20C

Ex.20D

7thPentatonic
21:C Dominant
Example
UnitSeventeen

Line/Pattern
22:Classic

(G mi.pent.)

(C dom.7th Pent.)
UnitSeventeen
onTwoStrings
and0escending
I2l Ascending
Thefollowing exencisesaTepnesented so that youwill neverlosesightof the horizonial
aspectsof the guitaf(playing presented
up anddownthe neckl.l\ilost0f the matenials in
this bookput t0 use the appnoach,
veftical playingacrossthe strings,sinceit offefsthe
mosteconomv of motion,In the coufseof realimprovising,however,yourlinesare going
to takeyou 0n s0me unexpected journeysand you must be pneparedfonthat as well ll's
the principle
of the music playing
youas opposed to youplayingthe music.

Theseexamples anepresented usingonlythe G stringandB stringfonsimplicity's sake,


but as we ascendor descend we
the fingerboard, pass throughall fivepentatonic finger-
ingsfor boththe minoranddominant 7th f0rms.Theseall couldbe playedby usingaltef-
natepicking techniquesfor a monemachine guntype0f attack0f byonlylightlystfikingthe
first n0teon eachsiringandplaying the secondnoteas a hammer-on, whichwouldgivea
decidedlV m0relegat0feeling io yourlines.

Descending:
Ex.23C

Ex.23D
UnitSeventeen
SixStrings
llotesAcross
I3l Sixteenth
lf youjustcan'tgetenough practicing,
ofdisciplined thisexercise willbepeffect foryoult
moves thrcugh
sequentially thefivenotesofthepentatonic and foncesyou t0 thal
negotiate
sequence acnossallsixguitar You
strings. can probably gain the most from thisbyshift-
inotheaccentsfrumthedownbeats ofeachquarternotet0 any0fthesixteenthnotesthatfollow

Velocity
24:MinorPentaionic
Example Notes
in Sixteenth
Ex.24A

(G mi. pent.)

7thVelocity
Dominant Notes
in Sixteenth
Ex.24B

(C dom.7th pent.)
UnitSeventeen
7th
I4l llominant
Thisis a special that,for thepurpose
seriesof exercises of pfesenting
as muchmaterial
as possiblein thisbook,spanonlythetoptwothree-stfing groupings0f theguitanlf you
wantto pursue youcouldexpand
thisfunther, theexercise playing
to include acrossyourA
through G stningsand, your
finally, lowE thrcugh D strings.
is usingone0f thepitches
ideat0 explore
Oneinteresting as a pivottoneandthenrotat-
ingthepentatonics
aroundthatpitch.Forexample,if youwefeto lookat thefirstC7posi-
tionpnesented,
youwouldgo downfromBb-G-E-C andthenBt again.But if youwentfrom
wouldhaveoutlinedthe upperextensions
Bb-Ab-Fb-Db-Cb, of a Gbgchord.lf youthentnied
to gofromBF-A!-F-D-Candback, wouldhaveoutlineda Bb9.Again,givethis ideaa try
you
andseewhatyoucomeupwith.
However, the realissuehercis that a dominant 7th chod is almostalways coming ft"om
somewhere-a iimTor ll7 chord-andis headed somewhere as well-a lmajTor im7.lf
youre-examine howthedominant 7thpentatonic is usedoveraltereddominant 7thchords,
youwouldrecallthatit couldeitherbetheb5or *5 ofthatroot.So,aswe'reusingC dom-
inant7thoentatonic asourexample, whichmeans
it wouldbe!5 of GblF*7(ah.l, it is head-
edtoward a BmaiT or Bm7.lt would alsobethei5 of ETtalt.],whichmeans it is headed
t0 AmaiTor Am7.So,whenpraciicing thesevelocity iust imagine
studies, that youare
headed t0 oneofthoseareasandmake thepr0per Rememben,
resolutions. if thepossibil-
itiesdo not immediately cometo mind,makethe effortandwriteoutyourowncharts.
That'sthebestwavto learn,

Velocity
7thPentatonic
25:Dominant
Example Study

(C dom.7th pent.)
UnitSeventee
Minorpentatonic
I5l Gombinations: rth pentat'nic
andDominant
As I mentioned
in theIntnoduction,
I usedto spendhourslisteningto MccoyTyner,s
whenhewaspant0f Johncoltrane's solos
greatquartetfromthemid-'-60s. I wasfascinated by
howhewourdintenmingre thetwopentatonicswithinhisrines.Thefolowing exampresare
forhowyoumightbegin
iust.suggestions to exploretheusage ofboththeminoranddom_
Inan[/m pentat.nics inc.mbination
s0thattheydontarways functionasseparate entities
withinyourlines.Youcancertainry
hea.thesedevices anoconriguratio; intheguitarrines
-Mahavishnu
of JohnMclaughlin whenheperformed andrccofded withhis orchestnaand
latefwithShakti.
USlltlG IHE GD: Sincea rhe prcsented vetocityexamplesuse etrhenG minor
pentatonic
and/orC dominant 7th pentatonic,
youshould playthemovera C pedalona G
pedalt0 getthefullestsenseof howtheysoundin context.
do,useTnacts2 or 24.

Example
26:Combinations: 7thpentatonics
,/G-\ //6t\
MinorandDominant
fvw
UNIT EIGHTEEN Ghanges
0ver"$tandard"
lmprouising

when you are presented witha newpieceof musicandyouaretoldthat some-


youwillhavei0 takea solo,first try to geta bfiefoverview
wherewiihintheco;position
asa whole.
ofthecomposition Lookarthesimple things:

ll Howlongis ifl HowmanY


Pages?
anddoesthatmattei?
2l ls it in anykindol a ley ll||./akeysignature!,
tecti0nsdocsit Gontain?
3l Howmany
4l WheredoesyoursoloaPPeaP
youmustplag?
5l Arethereanl melodies
onceyouhaveanswered thesebasicquestions io youfsatisfaction, takea longeflookat
youn soloseciion. Depending upon justhow many chords you will have to negotiate,youmay
.u.n *.nt to doa more detailed analysisby wdting down some helpful hintson younpaN
lf therearea lot of chonds, this canneally speedup the pnocess of beingableto hcar
through thcchanges sooner. First takea look at each individual chord andassignit a mode
or rcil. nat, bJsedupon the lettername and chord color"tthe chord familyof thercotl
lf youwantto takethatevenfurther, convert some of them lo either the Dofianmode0f
thl melodic minonscalesince you have altered your ofientation s0 that lust aboutevery-
thingisthought 0finminor. Thishas proved t0 be simple and successfulJor me. withlhose
,t.pi tuk n,lo . stepfurthen andaddin all of the minor and dominant 7th pentatonicpos-
Once
sibilities. that'sdone, lookthrough thefelati.nships ofthe chords to one anotherand
try t0 prepafeyourself !o hearthroughthem by looking for common tones and common
pentatonii relationships,which canreallyhelpandcankeepyounimprovisations closeto a
'blues-based
sound andfeeling. Withthesesuggestions now in hand' we will soontake a
cl0sefanalyticallookat thefourimprovised tunes shown in Immples 27, 30, 31, and32
andviewtheirlinear andpentalonic possibilities.

Inprevious chapters,wetookanin-depth lookat themostimpontant chofdfamilies andthe


possibilitiesfor pentatonicimpnovising.Thisincluded lookingat thealtened d0minant 7th
chordandhowit res0|ves to anynumber of chonda| destinations' Fina||y,Weexamined
cadences to both maion and minor.lna sense,you shouldbe pnepafed i0 atiack mostmusi-
calsituationsWiththesenewimprovisationaItooIs.WhiIepreparingthemateria|sfonthis
book,my publishen andI thoughtit wasimportant to cneatea woft that is inclusive and
shut out anyplayer or anygenre. Though I am known as a iazzmusician and jazz
doesnoi
guitast, I didn'twantthat designation to makemusicians ffomthewonlds of nock,pop'
6lues,H&8,hip-hop, andcountry musicfeelthattheneis nothing usefulherefonthemThe
difficultthingwith any publication
is space-iust how much information canfit in anyone
book.lusedfive piecesof music, includingtwo blues progressions, s0 as nott0 excluoe
anyone andyetoffertheharmonic complexitiesto jazz
challenge players of alllevelsaswell
I hopeI succeeded in accomplishing thisgoal.

Themusical examples andthecorfesponding trackshomtheplay-along CDareintended


t0 pfovideyouwiththeskillst0 makeanyimprovising situation easierwhat
considerably
you'regoing to seeinalltheexamples is whatlwoulddo if lwere problems
having under-
juit howto approach
stanOirig 'ver whichI
a progression might to
have For
s010. I
clarity
havego-ne intogrcatefdetailthanI wouldhavefor justmyself.I hope
thatyourbeing able
to viewthisprocess willenableyouto dothesamething0f something t0 helpyour-
similar
self.
WhenI amfinsthanded anynewpieceofmusicor toldthatwemightbeplaying a standafd
0f somesort, if it's something|,m Unfami|iar
total|y with,| often Write
neat|y out everwhing
againfor myself. In a what
sense, I'mdoing is a
cneating worksheetvery muchlike whatl've
dine for you,at leastin pant,in eachof the following examples Underneath eachof the
chordchanges,lwniieouta|lmyimpr"ovisingpossibi|ities.First'Ia|waysbeginbymaking
certainthai the corrcctmodeonscalec'rresp.ndswiththe chordsymb.l.Whaty.u
shouldremember fromthis bookandfromG0tllItMPof,ABY is that,gen-
ClloR0KIIAIIGEPTS
erallyspeaking, I convefteverything,withfewexceptions, t0 minonl thenuseeitherthe
unirEi
Dorianmodeor the melodic minorscale.However, I alwaysfirst labelthe modein terms
0f howit appliesto the root name0f the chofd lt is alwaysimportantto first underctand
ihesenelationships beforeconverting any0f them t0 your ownsystem0f musicalonganiza
pentatonic justbelow,usually
possibilities tny-
iion.oncethat is done,lthen list all 0f my
ingt0 go in orderof the onesthat I feelmightsound best'
under-
Thenextandfinalstepis to beginto seethe piece0f musicas a wholeWe wantto
howtheymovein andout of oneanother In doing this
standthe flow0f the chot"dchanges,
pa|t 0f my preparotion, I first lookt0 seejust whatthe common toncsare' if any' between
ihe mode/scale I am in and the next 6ne because the comm6n tones willgivecontinuity t0
disc0nnected Fr"om a rhythmic perspective ' this will
the linesandkeepthemfromsounding
your" lines to sound as if they were flowing orer the bar lines and not being
enable
as if eachindividual chordchange wasopenating withinits ownsmall harmon-
approac'hed
performing a solo fof Steely Dan many years ago'Donald Fagen offered
ior. wf,if. lwas
"somecriticismbysaying: "Steve, the solosoundskindof boxey "
to me At that time' I had
before,andin truth, I haven'theardit since But I have come
neverheardthis expnession
to understand exactlywhat he meant He was askingme t0 llal overlhe har lines and
them as if theywereeachin individual han-
throughthe changesnathenthan apprcaching
getting familiar and comfontable with the tune and its
monic-boxes.ThoughI was iust
hisdirection wasvery helpful sometimes when pneparing to solo ovef somethlng
changes,
l,ven-ever seenbefore,I will evengo so far as to useas manyas fivecoloredhighlightel
the common
markingpensto maketheseharmonicimagesevenmonevisualby coloringin
all the various pentatonic options l'vecreated'
mn... bn., I d0 this, I thenlookthrough
questions: lll are there any pentatonics thal
searching t0 answera couple0f fundamenial
the next? And l2l Efe therc,any pentatonics that
staythe;ame from onechordchangeto
from each othef? When we were examin-
are onlya halfstep,or evena wholestep away
ingp"niatoni.trprouising0uerGadences in llnits11 and12, I wouldhavemadetheseexact
sa'mesuggestions. So,in a sense,evenif lhis is all newmaterialt0 you'by nowyoushould
be a bit morefamilianwith someof theseoptions
examples.
Now,lel'stakea lookat the musical

DEilZAt6il
Thisexample, whichemploys thesimplemovement ff0mmai01t0 backagain'is
min!^r-and
Veryimpo|tant.WhatwearedoinghereinthispoftionofPlllTAl0l||GKH
*orfh.nOl"hunawithallyoumighthavegainedfromyourwonkinlln
COnffUpORlRV Ctt0nD aboutjusthowfan-feaching
ffiilletp$. lf youaresrillwondering
thistypeof exercisecanbefor yourabilityt0 betterheafyour rcvisitthat
impnovisations'
chaptenfrcmtheearlierbook.
sincethisis thefirstsongexample here,I havetakenstepsto prepaneyouforimpr0vis'
ingovensuchchofdalmovements,movementsthatoccu|"incount|es
trim *re popandiazzrepertoireBeloweachchordchange' youwillseeyoufmodaloplions
andyourpentatonic pnesented
0ptions The
clearly. punpose is theamount
to alleviate 0f ini-
tiui ir,rti;]s youmighthavet0 do andto enableyou to begin t0 improvise without,
freely
per"haps, whyyourplaying
exactly
frillyunderitanding sounds sogood-whichis somethlng
Voumustatlemptio explore andunderctand from thispointforwa|d
UnitEi
27,playlracl
ovenErample
USIIUGlllt Gll: Whenyouwantto heafmyimprovisation
25.Whenyou areready
to try improvising
overthis progression,
sample use
lracl26.
/6-\ /6\
Example27:Denzal6n
\E \!)l
AmajT(9)

Mode/scale Options:
A malorrLydian
(A, B, Cl, D/D*,E, F{, Gl}
Pentatonic Optlons:
C{ minor Pentatonlc
(cl, E, Ffi,Gl, B)
G, minor pentatonic
(Gl, B, C{, Dl, FD
Fl minor pentatonic
(Ff,A, B, Cl, E)

Am7(9)

Mode/ScaleOptiona:
A Dorlan
(A, B, C, D, E, Fl, G)
Ponlatonic Opllona:
A minor pentatonic
(A,C, D, E, G)
B minor pgntalonlc
(B, D, E, Fl, A)
E minor pentatonic
(E, G, A, B, D)
D domlnant 7th pentatonic
(D,E, Fl, A, C)

IfiA1AIMO
Thisexamole offersa simplebutterrificw0*outoverdominant7thch0fds. Thoughit'snot
a blues,it's closeenough to providea challenge for playens
0f all stylesbecause the
changesfallin aninterestingmanner. youonlyhaveto dealwiththe17andlV7
Essentially,
chords,andthisis wh6tkeepsit relatedto thebluesfueling.
lf youviewyour17 tF7)chordas the modebaseduponthe Poot,youwouldhaveF
youwouldsimplychange
andthenasthat chofdmovesto the lV7 tBbTJ'
Mixolydian, the
modalreference tndoings0,
to F Dorian. you've
simply one
changed note,'Ahasbecome
'Ab.'Other
thanstayingthesame,whatcouldbemoresimple?
Oneplaceto beginin improvingyourabilityto heafthe usage0f pentatonics
8s they
"extend" wouldbe t0 simplyapplythe minorpenttonic
the harmony fbaseduponthe ii
intothefollowing:
7th chord.Thissimplytranslats
chordlfor eachdominant
pentatonic,
useCmtii-type]
I1l for F7 [V-type) and

t2t for Bb7tv-typeluseFmtii-typelpentatonic,


in thesameposition
Whendoingthis,try t0 keepbolhpentatonics 0ntheguitanlt willbe
thebestthinginthe long tenm, you
giving thesense of what
hearing fightbeneath
is really
your fingenswithoutunnecessary movementlf you studiedC0ilftMP0BARY GH0R0
I(HNICIPTS,thiswillallsound because
familiar we were iimT
applying voicingsabovethe
rootof theV7 to cneate morelushandextended With
harmonies. youf lines,it canand
should thesamething.
beabsolutelv
ln examining thepentatonic I alsoseethateachchodalareaofferstheuse
possibilities,
of bothGminorandC minofpentatonic, soyouwouldwanti0 wonktheusage0fthesepen-
tatonicsintoyoufimpnovising!0 see whattheysoundlike l alsoseethat,if youwere
jusr
to useD minorpentatonicovertheF7chord,youcouldthengodowna wholestepanduse
theCminorpentatonic overtheB!7 chofd.lt'sa simplemovementthatwouldaddanangu-
larqualityt0 youn andgiveyouaneasy
soloing movementmakeasthesethings
physical to
layoutonthefingefboard, Ina sense,it'sasif youn areyetagain
fingers yourears
teaching
howto hearthrough thechanges.
lf youwantor needto hearmyperformed goto CD#2, theBE0G0'fromCllORo
example,
KHAIIGTPTSandlistento lrack13.
USIIUGTHE Gll: Thoughthisis a tnackthatwasusedin thepnior"
book,theblanktrack
format.
herein an abbreviated
aoDears To play using
along the concepts suggestedIn
28,
fxample play
lrack27.

26'116.1.rto
Example @)
F7

F Mixolydiar/CDorian Bl MixolydiarvFDorlan
(F,G,A, Bt, C, D, Et) (Br,c, D, Et, E G,At)

PentatonicOplions: PentatonicOptions:

C minor pentatonic F minor pentatonic


(c, Et, t G, Bt) (F,Ab,Bb,C, Eb)
G minor pentalonic C minor pentatonic
(G,Bt, C, D, F) (c, Et, F,G, Bb)
D minor pentatonic G minor pentatonic
(D,F,G,A, C) (G,Bt, C, D, F)
F dominant7th pentatonic Bbdominanl7th pentatonlc
(E G,A, C, Eb) (Bl, c, D, F,Ar)
G dominant7th Peniatonic C dominant7th penlatonic
(G,A, B, D, F) (c, D, E, G, Bb)

Bt Mixolydian/FDorian F MixolydiarvcDorian
(Bt, c, D, Et, F,G, Ab) (F,G, A, Bb,C, D, Eb)

PentatonicOptions: PentatonicOptions:

F minor pentatonic C minor pentatonic


(F,At, Bb,c, Et) (c, Et, F, G, Bb)
C minor pentatonic G mlnor pentatonic
(c, Eb,E G, B') (G,Bt, C, D, F)
G minor pentatonic D minor pentatonic
(G,Br,C, D, F) (D, F,G, A, C)
Bbdominant7th Pentatonic F dominant7th pentatonic
(Bb,c, D, F,Ab) (F,G,A, C, Et)
C dominant7th pentatonic G dominant7ih Pentatonic
(c, D, E, G, Br) (G,A, B, D, F)
0l TJAllttBluesin Gl
A SHA0E
Thisis thefirst of two example bluesprognessions,andit is intended to be themoresim-
pleof thetwo.Essentially, withonlythreedominant
you'redealing 7th chordal areasotfer-
ingyou plenty0f time t0 exploreeachchord change Much 0f what I mentioned in the priof
eximple,"Khalatmo," holdstnuehereas well'sincethe relationship fromG7 t0 C7 is the
sameas it is from F7 t0 Bb7.You arejust movingthe ideas up a wh0le step

yourabilityto hearthe usage0f thesepentat0nics,


Tobeginexpanding whichwill extend
simplyapplythe
youTsenseof hanmony, minor pentatonic
0f the ii fnr
chord eachdominant
Thissimplytranslates
7th chond. intothe following:

pentatonic
useDmtii-typel
lll ForGTtV+ypel.
pentatonic
useGm{ii-type)
t2l ForCTtV-typel,
pentatonic
useAm[ii-type]
l3l ForDTtV-type),

Whendoingthis,try to keepallthreepentatonics in thesamep0sition0nthe guitar'lt will


what
the senseof hearing
be the besithingin the longtefm, giving is reallyrightbeneath
yourfingerswithoutunnecessary movement.

Though youdo not havet0 observe the following theonies to s0undgood,heTearc s0me
addittnil ideasV'u can expl.re. Since bar 4 is one of the m.st crucialbarsin anyblues
progression, it offers great possibillties,fon it is the ban where yourl7 chOrd tfulybecomes
a dominant 7th chord as it pushes towards a rcsolution t0 the lv7 chord. so, t0 increase
thetensionin y0uf lines,try elther0f the two following ideas: lll simply use the G altered
d0minant scaletAbmelodic minor t0 somel t0 cfeate the harmonic tension that would then
upon resolution, and l2l play the Donisn mode (At Dofianl one halfstep
be rcleased JUSI
you
abovewhere anetGTl or the Mixolydian mode [Db Mixolydian] a halfstep ab0ve whene
youare headedtC7).By doingthis, youcfeatea circumstance whercbyyourlinescan
nesolve easily,almosteffortlessly, one halfstep downward. This is a device ottenassoclat-
ed withthe greatsaxophonlst John Coltfane ln the tune that f0llows this example though
it'sa bluesin Bb,thisver"y ideais actually wfitten into the changes at har 4' Here, howev-
en,as in mostcases,it is not.And it actually makes the shape and thnust of your lineseven
moreimportani because the needfof resoluti0n is greater.

lf you'remaking youwillnoticethatif youusetheAb


a carefulstudyof all0f these0ptions,
m;l.dicmin.r,-itwillhaveallthe "c'rnect" n.tes Butif you'reemployingAbDorian, the dif-
fefence 0f having theGboccuris huge-it wouldbeconsidered a "wrong"
n0te by m0stpeO-
plebecause themaior7th tF*],whichdoesnotexistin any
it iJactually fnrm of a G7chordl
However', rf it'stuckedwithinyourline,it canpassbyalmostunnoticed S0,be carefulwith
it andwhereit fallsrhythmically.

USING IHE GII: Thistrackwas alsousedin the prionb00k;the blanktrackappears


format.Toplayalong,usingthe D0ncepts
here,againin a moreabbreviated In
suggested
Example29, useTracl28.
UnitErghteen
29:A Shade
Example ofTjade opt.
l G 7( a l t . ) l

Mode/Scale
Opiions: Mode/ScaleOptions: Mode/ScaleOptions:
G Mixolydian/DDorian G altereddominanu At Dolian/DtMixolydian
(G,A, B, C, D, E, F) Abmelodicminor (Ar,Bt,cr, Dt, Eb,F,lcbl)
D', E', F)
(G,At, Bt, B/CL, PentatonicOptions:
PenlatonicOptions:
PeniatonicOptions: ALminor pentatonic
D minor pentatonic
(D,F,G,A, C) Bbminor pentatonic (At,ct, Dt, Eb,IGbl)
A minor pentatonic (Bb,Dr, Eb,F,Ab) Ebminor pentatonic
(A,C, D, E, G) Dbdominant7th pentaionic (Et,lGLl,Ab,Bb,Dh)
E minor peniatonic (Db,Et, E Ab,C') Bt minor pentalonic
(E,G,A, B, D) Et dominant7th pentatonic (Bb,Dt, Er, F,Ab)
G dominant7th pentatonic (Et,F,G, Bb,Db) Dt dominanl7th pentatonic
(G,A, B, D, F) (Dr,Et, F,A', Cb)
A dominant7th pentatonic
(A,B, Ct, E, G)

Options:
Mode/Scale Mode/ScaleOptions:

C Mixolydian/GDorian G Mixolydian/DDorian
(c, D, E, F,G,A, Bb) (G,A, B, C, D, E, F)

PentatonicOptions: PentatonicOptions:
'
G minor pentatonic D minor pentatonic
(G,Bb,C, D, F) (D,E G,A, C)
D minorpentatonic A minor pentatonic
(D,E G,A, C) (A,C, D, E, G)
A minor pentatonic E minor pentatonic
(A,C, D, E, G) (E,G,A, B, D)
C dominant7th pentatonic G dominant7th pentatonic
(c, D, E, G, Bb) (G,A, B, D, F)
D dominant7th pentatonic A dominant7th pentatonic
(D,E, F[,A, C) (A,B, Ct, E, G)

D7

Mode/ScaleOptions: Mode/ScaleOptions:
Options:
Mode/Scale
C Mixolydian/GDorian G Mixolydian/DDorian
D MixolydiarvADorian
(c, D, E, E G,A, Bb) (G,A, B, C, D, E, F)
(D,E, F$,G,A, B, C)
PentatonicOptions: PentatonicOptions:
PentatonicOpiions:
G minor pentatonic D minor pentatonic
A minor pentatonic
(G,B', C, D, F) (D,E G,A, C)
(A,C, D, E, G)
D minor peniaionic A minor pentatonic
E minor pentatonic
(D,F,G,A, C) (A,C, D, E, G)
(E,G,A, B, D)
A minor pentatonic E minor pentatonic
B minorpentatonic
{A,C, D, E, G) (E,G,A, B, D)
(8, D, E, Ft,A)
C dominant7th pentatonic G dominant7th pentatonic
D dominant7th pentatonic
(c, D, E, G, Bb) (G,A, B, D, F)
(D,E, Fl,A, C)
D dominani7th penlatonic A dominant7th pentatonic
E dominant7th pentatonic
(D,E, Fl,A, C) (A,B, Cl, E, G)
(E,F$,G{,B, D)
;
(Blues
MAIIBUMPYUIIIE in Bbl
Thisis thesecond 0fthetwobluestracksto bepresented heneAnd'intruth'aswasmen-
tion.JOuring ofthepfiortune,theonlyrcaldiffenence'
tt'. discusslon othefthanthatthis
writteninto
iimT-ll7tBmt-E7lis actually
p".r l. . O"lrtt-itgU,is tf'at tf'e il substitute
ihechanges at barA.Remember thatE7is theb5substitu[efof Bt7.So'inbar4, youwill
withtwobeatseachfor Bm7andET Since thebass
no* r.r if'ut rf',.barhasbeendivided
youshould heara great and
difference, I've
everlthing suggest-
i, ,.ting tL..r changes,
edthaty:oumightchoose to playwillhave grcaierhanmonicclariiy

spoifor explonation in a bluessuchasthisis bar8' Depending upon


intefesiing
'h*;;r;;;;;;.,
Another
youcouldobviouslv stavnightwherevou.are' in thiscase on a Bb7
y6ucouldalsotaketheapproach 0f ihinking about where you are headed
;;;i. il*.t fon
anatnen aCiust your lines accordingly. By iirat t mean thatin-thisbluesweaneheaded
whatis theV7 of the V chord? The answer
theV7chord,F7.So,youcouldsaytb younself, lines
a CTialt.i chord of some sont.'So, one idea youmighttry wguld bet0 insent
nereis is
thatyouareapproaching lhisbafasa V7 ofV7' even th0ugh no one else
thatindicate the
at thatmJment. 0r, youmighttry this: We're appr6aching
lo'kingat it in thisfashion
fi tvTl cfrora from the mode of the iimT chord in thatkeyanea'lhat is t0 say'C Dorian'
o r C m T N o w ' y o u ' d a s k , W h a t i s t h e V T c h o r d o f C m T ? | t ' s G 7 ( a |cho' t']'So,youa|somighttry
.lit;; t0 theV7 of the iimT Onplav-along Track 30,duning thefirstthree
il;;;.; hereis
youcanbestexperiment withthisdeviceBecause thetexture
rrset.i tfit blues, klndof
padsfor chondal suppoft,it crcatesa lot of space for this
,. rp*, *itf, nostring -what
.*pr-rin'unrution See happens. lf you'ne havingpfoblems underctanding yourwhat
I offerior CTtaltl onGTtaltl onothersample tunes'and
opiion.tigl''t 0., usetheoptions put
writeinthoseoptions' Thisis thepenfect moment to thatwonk
il-r; L.."; t. actually ideaslikethisrequifes
irethod to use!Theotherkeyihingt0 nemember is thatemploying
tneuseof yourhanmonic imagination, youhaveto begin to learn. io hearlines'linesthat
hafmonic areasevenif iheydon'texistaspantofthech.ndchanges, onthe
indicate centain
chordchange inthiscase
lf vouwantor needto hearanother performed example, 9ot0 80#2,theBto G0,andlis-
i.l . ririrrr. rnoughfor clt0 l KHAGEpIS, rhe rune was ritted"sticeville," ir is essen-
piece if music. Youwillnotice that I did no! have the bass playing thesub-
;iU;h;;.
at har4. However, youcanhearthat I alluded t0 ii'.the Bm7-E7 change'
stitutechanges howI
ar9 able t0 heaf
*it"f',t\/ fi.... O*|. thecourseof thislongimpnovisation' Vou glso
lineconfigurations that aresometimes outside of the expected consonanr
iit<eto Lmptoy
n.rron1i, ilrt'tf',av.r, .-l*.y. headed towardsa resolution at somepoint'Theseareprin-
ciples thatwereaddressed thoroughly inUnit13'

USIIUBTHE GD: Tohearmyimprovisation ovefthis particulaf typeof bluesprognes-


to improvise usingtheconcepts fnomEramnle 30'
sron,ptavfracfZS.Whenyoufeelneady
olavTrack 30.
30:MadBumPYv',,t
Example @ @
\4/ \9/
6Vt

OPtlons:
Modey'Scale
B Dorian
Bt Mixolydian/FDorian (8, Cl, D, E, Ff, Gt, A)
(Bt, c, D, E , n G,At)
Pentaionic Options:
PentatonicOptlons:
B minor pentalonlc
F minor Peniatonic (B, D, E, Fl, A)
(F,At, Bt, c, E ) Fl minor pentatonic
C minor pentatonic (Fl, A, B, cl, E)
(c, Et, F,G, Bb) Ci minor Pentatonic
G minor Pentatonic (c*, E, Fl, Gl, B)
(G,Bt, c, D, F) E domlnant7th Pentatonic
Bbdominant7th Pentatonic (E,Fl, Gl, B, D)
(Bt, c, D, F,Ab)
C dominant 7th Pentatonic
(c, D, E, G, Bb)

OPtions:
Mode/Scale
BbMixolydlan/FDorlan
Ebtilixolydian/BbDorian (Bt, c, D, Eb,F,G, At)
(Eb,F, G,At, Bb,c, Dt)
Pentatonic Optlons:
PentatonicOptions:
F minor Pentatonic
Bi minor Pentatonic (F,Ab,Bb,c, E )
(Bl, Dt, Eb,F,At) C minor Pentatonic
F minor Peniatonic (c, E , F, G, Bt)
(F,Ab,Bt, c, E ) G mlnor pentatonic
C minor Pentatonic (G,Br, C, D, D
(c, E , F, G, Bt) Bbdominant 7ih Pentatonic
E! domlnant7th Pentatonic (Bt, c, D, F,Ab)
(Et, F, G, Bb,D4 C dominant Ah Pentatonic
F domlnant7th Pentatonic (c, D, E, G, Bb)
(F,G, A, C, Er)

Mode/ScaleOPtions:
Bt Mixolydian/FDorian
F MlxotydiarvcDorlan
(Bb,c, D, E , F, G,Ab)
(F,G, A, Bt, C, D, Et)
PentatonicOptions:
Pentatonic Options:
F minor pentatonic
C minor Penlatonic
(F,At, Bt, c, E )
(c, Er,F,G,Br)
C mlnor Penlatonic
G minor Pentatonic
(c, Et, t G, Bb)
(G,Bt, c, D, F)
G minor pentatonic
D minor pentatonic
(G, Bt, C, D, F)
(D,F,G, A, C)
Bbdominani7th Penlatonic
F domlnant 7th Pentaionic
(Bb,c, D, F,At)
(F,G,A, C, Eb)
C dominani7th Pentatonic
C dominani7th Pentatonlc
(c. D, E, G, Bb) (c, D, E, G, Bb)
BIGIOYAK
someof youwillrecognize this pieceas the changes well-known
to a relstively Brazilian
standard. l'vechosen it for the bookbecause of its compact fonm,only16 bans, andit
offersthe chanceto explorethrce differentareasof maior7 chords and also a full
tumaround
l-Vltalt.)-iim7-V7talt.l progression.Withinthoselastfounbars, you could even
sayyouareusingyounknowledge of a VTjm anda V7-lmaj,sinceETtalt l resolves to
Am7,andofcourieD7[alt.]resolves to GmaiT at thetopofthetuneThough this is a topic
bettercovered in depthin snothefbook,try to keepin mindthat,as an improvisen, you
wouldhaveallofyourlinearoptions lvhenanaltereddominant
available 7thchordresolves
to maionButwhenanaltereddominant 7th chordresolves youhavefuwer,but
to minon,
veryclear,options. Whenimprovising andfocusing iust 0n yourpentatonic possibilities'
findthat,fof themostpart,anyquestionable
you;ll noteshavebeensimplylefioutofthese
iive-notesFuctures. Shoutd youhaveremaining questions, pleasercfunbackto UnitI'
whichdealtwiihy0uroptions in greatdeplh.
at the harmonic
lf youlookcarefully movement of thefirst fourbrs,you'llseethatthis
samemovement is repeatedtwice, each timegoing downbya wholestep:fromG maior
t0 F majorandfromF maiorto Eb maior'Andif you're looking themove-
to reallysimplify
mentin total,it's almostas if the progression were moving downward in half steps:
GmaiT-Gb Mixolydian-Fmaj7-E Mixolydian{bmaj7-t Mixolydian.lf youexploreall of your
modilandthenpentatonic possibilities you
carcfully, willfindmany relationships
interesting
thatexist,andexistonlya wholestepapart.
USIIUGIHE Glt: Tolistento myperformed pla1t
overthesechanges,
impnovisation lracl
!1. Whenyoufeelreadyto createyourownsolos,uselreck32'

Example3l:BigKayak
@ @
G majT

Mode/ScaleOptions Mode/scale Optlons:

G Lydian/Gmaior Dt Dorlan
(G,A, B, C/Cl,D, E, Fl) (Db,Et, Fr, Gt, At, Bb,ct)

Pentatonlc Optlona: Pentatonic Optlons:

B minor pentatonlc Dt mlnor pentatonic


(8, D, E, F{,A) (Db,Fl, Gb,At, cr)
Fl minor penlatonlc El mlnor pentatonic
(Fl, A, B, Cl, E) (Eb,cb, Al, Bl, Db)
E mlnor pentatonic At mlnor pentatonic
(E, G,A, B, D) (Ab,
cb,Dr,Er,Gt)
Gl dominant7th Pentatonlc
(Gb,Al, Bl, Db,F )
F LydiarvFmajor
B Dorian
(E G,A, Bb/B,
C, D, E) (B,CC,D, E, F$,c[, A)
PentatonicOptionsi
PentatonicOptions:
A minor pentatgnic
B minor pentatonic
(A,C, D, E, c)
(B,D, E, Ff,A)
E minor pentatonic
C{ minor pentatonic
(E,G,A, B, D)
(cf, E, F{, Gf, B)
D minor pentatonic
F{ minor pentatonic
(D,F,c, A, C)
(F{,A, B, C{, E)
E dominant7th penlalonic
(E,F{,cf, B, D)

Mode/ScaleOptions:
E, Lydian/Etmajor
A Dorian D altereddominanU
(Eb,F, G,AtA, Bt, C, D)
(A,B, C, D, E, F{,c) Ebmelodicminor
PentatonicOptions: (D, Eb,F, Ft/ct, Ab,Bb,C)
PentatonicOptions:
G minor pentatonic PentatonicOptions:
A minor pentatonic
(G,Bb,C, D, F)
(A,C, D, E, c) F minor pentatonic
D minor pentatonic
B minor pentatonic (F,Ab,Bb,C, Er)
(D,E G,A, C)
(8, D, E, F{,A) Abdominant7th pentatonic
C minor pentatonic
E minor pentatonic (Ab,Bt, c, Er,ct)
(c, Et, F,c, Bt)
(E,c, A, B, D) Bt dominant7th pentatonic
D dominant7th pentatonic (Bb,c, D, F,At)
(D,E, Fi,A, C)
GmajT(Bm7) E7(alt.) Am7 D7(alt.)

Mode/Scale
Options Mode/Scale
Options: Mod/Scale
Options: Mode/ScaleOptions:
G major E altereddominanU A Dorian D altereddominanvEtmelodicminor
(G,A, B, C, D, E, F') F melodicminor (4, B, C, D, E, Ff, c) (D,Eb,E FVc',At, Bt, C)
PentatonicOptions: (E,F,c, cf/At,Br,C, D) D 1/2-tone/whole-tone
PentatonicOptions: diminishedscare
A harmonicminor (D, Eb,F, Ff, At, A, Br, C)
B minor pentatonic
(E.F,Gi,A, B, C, D) A minor pentatonic D whole-tonescale
(8, D, E, Fl,A)
F{ minor pentatonic PentatonicOptionsl {A,C, D, E, c) (D,E, Ft,A', Bb,C)
B minor pentatonic PentatonicOptions:
(F[,A, B, Ct, E) G minor pentatonic (8, D, E, Ft,A)
E minor pentatonic (G,Bt, C, D, F) F minor pentatonic
E minor pentatonic
(E,c, A, B, D) B, dominant7th pentatonic (F,Ab,Bb,C, Er)
(E,G,A, B, D)
(Br,c, D, F,A4 Abdominant7th pentatonic
D dominant7th pentatonic (Ar,Br,C, Eb,ct)
C dominant7th pentatonic (D,E, Fd,A, C)
(c, D, E, c, Bb) Bbdominant7th pentatonic
(B',C, D, F,At)
OFF
THEPATH
Thisjs our last"standand," andjt is anothersimple16_bar
chordprogression that is easy
to leafnyet .ffers slightrydifferentcha enges.Thistrme
we'nefundarientetyin the key0f
F ma1or.WharI tikeab.urrhisruneis thaiin the firsrfou;ba;slo;;a-ve
a tormorerime
t0 explorethe ljneafsoundsovena major7th chordon wfricf,you
canemployeithenthe
Lydianrnode0f themajorscale{lonian model.Bars5_ggiveyouanoiitersnotat tfret_VtZ-
iimT-V7,pnogression andyoucanneverpractice.norg;'ou."ihl.
;rolnession. Thenyou
* .,rf"d.d rimeroptayovefAbDorian,
harsi'_12,nrio.. i.ir"rningto u .ua.nr.
:j?qy:i
F which
I Tljql becomes a quicker
andmone compressed turnaround accomplished
bars.lS-16-as in
opposedt0 whatyounegotiated
inharsE_g.tif a lreaictrattenge
ailof thiswithinonecompact to haue
tune.
I lnir Finhtoon

USItUGIHE Gll: Tolistento mvperformed


impnovisation playTracl
overthesechanges,
useTrack3{.
33.Whenyou'rereadyto dosomeimprovising,

the"th @
Example32:Off @
FmajT

F Lydiary'Fmaior A minor pentatonic


(F,G, A, Brl8, C, D, E) (A,C, D, E, G)
E minor pentatonic
(E,G,A, B, D)
D mingr pentatonic
(D,E G,A, C)

D7 (alt)

D altereddominanu F minor pentatonic


E, melodicminor (F,At, Br, C, Er)
(D, Et, F, F*/Gr,At, Br, c) Abdominant7th Pentatonic
G harmonicminor (At, Bt, c, E , Gb)
(0, Er,Fl, G,A, Bt, c) Bt dominant7th Pentaionic
(Bb,c, D, F,At)

Gm7 c7

Mode/scaleoptions:
G Dorlan G minor pentatonlc
(G,A, Bb,C, D, E, F) (G,Bb,C, D, F)
A minor pentatonic
(A,C, D, E, G)
D minor penlatonic
(D,F,G, A, C)
C dominant7th pentatonic
(c, D, E, G, Bl)
UnitEighteen

At Dorian A, minor pentatonic


{Ab,Bb,cb, Dt, Et, F, Gb) (At,cb,Dt, Et,G!)
B, minor pentatonic
(Bb,DL,Er,E Ab)
Et minor pentatonic
(Eb,Gb,Ab,Bb,Dt)
Dbdominant7th pentatonic
(Dr,Er,F,Ab,Cr)

trm/ C7 (alt)

Mod/Scale
Options PentatonicOptions: Mode/Scale
Options: PenlatonicOptions:
G Dorian G minor pentatonic C altereddominanu Ebminor pentatonic
(G,A, Bt, C, D, E, F) (G,Br,C, D, F) D, melodicminor (Et,GbAr, Bb,Db)
A minor pentatonic (c, Dr,Eb,E/Fb, Gb,Ab,Bt) G, dominant7th pentatonic
(A,C, D, E, G) C half-lone/whole"tone (GbAb,Bt, Db,Fb)
D minor penlatonic diminishedscale Abdominant7th pentatonic
(D,E G,A, C) (At,Bt,c, Eb,Gt)
{c, Db,Eb,E, Fl, G,A, Bb)
C dominant7th pentatonic C whole-tonescale
(c, D, E, G, Bb) (c, D, E, F{,Ab,Bt)

F majT D7 (alt.) Gm7 C7 (alt.)

Mode/ScaleOptions: Mode/Scale
Options: Mode/Scale
Options Mode/ScaleOptions:
F major D altereddominant/ G Dorian C altereddominanu
(F,G,A, Br,C, D, E) E, melodicminor (G,A, Bb,C, D, E, F) Dbmelodicminor
(D,Et, F,FVGb, Ab,Bt, C) (c, Dt, Et, E/Ft,Gt,Ab,Bt)
PenlalonicOptions: PentatonicOptionsi
G harmonicminor C halt-tone^^rhole-tone
A minor penlatonic (D,El',Fl, G,A, Bt, C) G minor pentatonic diminishedscale
{A,C, D, E, G) (G,Br,C, D, F) (c, Dt, Eb,E, F{,G,A, Bt)
PentatonicOptions:
D minorpentatonic A minor pentatonic C whole-tonescale
(D,F,G,A, C) F minorpentatonic (A,C, D, E, G) (c, D, E, F*,Ab,Bb)
(F,Ar, Bb,C, Er) D minor pgntatonic
A, dominanl7th pentatonic PentatonicOptions:
(D,F,G,A, C)
(At,Bt,c, Et,Gb) C dominant7th pentatonic Ebminor pentatonic
B, dominant7lh pentatonic (c, D, E, G, Bb) (Et,Gt,At, Bb,Db)
(Br,C, D, I Ab) Gbdominant7th pentalonic
(GtAt, Bt, Dt, F,)
At dominant7th pentatonic
(Ab,Bt, c, Et,Gt)
Discognaphy
Khan
Steve
TIGHTRl|PE Columbia
JC34857 1977
Sony
SRCS9386IJapanl 1998
Tltt Butt MAil JC35539
Columbia 137g
SRCS9387lJapanl
Sony 19S8
ARR0lllls Columbia
JC36129 1979
Sony
SRCS9545tJapanJ 1999
IHTBTSIl|FSTIUIIilNil Columbia
JC36406 1980
TltI c0rlrcfl0r[ Columbia
CK57907 19S4
Becordings
featuring Bnecken,
Randy l\,4ichael
Brecken,
DavidSanborn, Will
DonGnolnick,
Lee,Steve
Gadd, MikeMainieni,
andothers.
AlIUTMUTIIIFORYA Columbia
JC35349 1578
Livereconding StevewithfellowCBSAll-Stars
featufing BillyCobham,
Alphonso
Johnson,
TomScott,anda veryyounglVlarkSoskinlkeyboards).

tul0IlltGI Arista/Novus
AM3023 1S81
HCA,4'lovus
3074-2-N 19S0
Polydor"
POCJ-1892
lJapani 1991
guitanreconding.
Soloacoustic

IYIWIIilISS Antilles
422-848-821 1981
Polydor
P0CJ-1893
IJapanl
BIADES PassportJazzPJ88001 1382
iIII|DEBil
TIMES PolydorPOCJ-1
894 tJapanJ
cAsA
t0c0 422-848-822
Antilles 1S83
PolydorPOCJ-1
895lJapanJ
recordings
SteveKhanand Eyewitness featuring
Anthony SteveJordan,
Jackson, and
lVlanolo
Badrena.
HH.PilIG
HA|U0 Polydor lJapanl
P0CJ-1896 1987
a "bestof'nec0ding
Essentially featuring fromEYEWITNESS,
selections M0DERN
TIMES,CASA10C0,andEVIDENCE plusthfeenewtracksfeaturingCliffordCafter,Bill
Evans,
Caf6, andChnis
NeilJason, Panken
l0GAlG010n Denon
33CY-'1840 1987
Duoreconding
withRobMounsey andSteve
onkeyboands guitars,
onlyonacoustic
puBuc
AcGEss GHPGRD-959S 1989
Polydor
J00J-20364
IJapanl
recording
SteveKhanandEyewitness featuning
Anthony DaveWeckl,and
Jackson,
ManoloBadnena.

lffs c[]t Tllls P0CJ-1060


Polydor tJapanl 1991
BluemoonR279163
Tnio withFlonCanter
recordino [acoustic
bass]andAl Foster
ldrums].
lttADiltl|E Polvdon
P0CJ-1
115 lJaoanl 1992
B l u e m o oRn2 7 9 1 7 9
featuning
Triowith RonCafterandAl F0stenPlusthreetfackswith Eyewitness Anthony
Jackson. DennisChambers.andlVlanolo
Badrena.

cB0ssrNGS Verve lJapanl


P0CJ-1217 1994
y'erveForecast314 523 269-2

recordingfeatudngAnthonyJackson,DennisChambers,
SteveKhanandEyewitness
andMichael
ManoloBadrena, Bnecken
Steve
Khan
Discograp
OOIMYMIIIITAT DanContemporary
TKCB-71
108tJapanl 1Sg7
Evidence
ECD22197-2
FeaturingJohnPatitucci
[acoustic
bass], (dnums),
JackDeJohnette andBobbv
Allende.
lrlarc0uifrones, percussion.
DonAlias.andCaf60nvanious
YOU
IRTIITRT SIAIVSMD-5OOO4 19S8
Duorecordlng
withFobMounsey onkeyboards guestMarc.0uifrones
andspecial on
Latinpencussion
whereSteveis onlyfeatured quitar.
onacoustic
itfl|f [0ntz0ils Concofd
Picante
CCD-4878-2 4000
Carjbbean
JazzProject
neconding
featuring
Steve6longside
co-leadens
DaveSamuels
{vibes
andmarimbalandDave
Valentin
{flutel.
pARAlS0 picanre
C0ncofd CCD-4g46_2 p001
Second
recording Jazzproject
bytheCanibbean featurejng
Khan,
Samuels,
andValentin.

SPtGIAI.
PRl|JEGTS
TIIAI'S I ltEt it0w - A lrib e to Thetoniors
Tllt WAY Monk
A&l\4FecordsCD6600 1S84
Track: a duetwithsteery
"Beflections," DansDonard
Fagen
featufing guitan
steveonac.ustic
G0MII0GIflltR- GuitarTrihute
to rheBeatter
NYCRecondsNYC6004-2 1993
Track: Youlllfithout
"lllfithin Y.u/Blue
JayWay,"whichfeatures
StevewithMarcJohnson,
PeterErskine, andNanaVasconcelos.
JTZITOTHTIIIIORII| BlueNoreCDP7243I 32127-2 1995
'The
Track: Christmas Ullaltr,"
whichfeatunes theBnecken
Bros.andSteveKhan.
lTBI IIIEI- I Trihute
W0UlDll'T to Brianltitson
BlueNoteCDP7243I33052-2 1Sg7
Tracki
"llon'tworryBaby
IllloIe Preocupes
lIena!,"whichfeatures
stevewithR0blvlounsey,
Rub6nRodriguez,MarcQuifrones,papopepin,
andGabrjela Andens.

ilrr u,[sM0tIIe0MIEy
cUtInRfou0 Gopam-Enterprises
pAIMARTIII00UITAR The[artyyears
S010S: Warner
BTos.
Publications
STtUt
l(llAlll
andIYIWITIIISS
S0f,GB00V Warner
Bros.Publications
SU|TAR
W0Bt(Slt0pslntt$
c0ilTtMP0RABY
e[0R0t([AitctPrs Warner
Bros.Publications
ASA PR||IIUGEB
IUO'|lR IIIERl|All Larny Conyell/ AfisraAB4.156 1977
Steve Khan Bl\4cB19D-4702S 19BB
slrprT BillConnons EvidenceECD22080-p l SBb
nEnr0 BineliLagrene BlueNoreCDp-7-49016-21gg7
nflEr ff;AtBS BifeliLagrene BlueNoreCDP-7-90967-2 .1SBB
NIT IT ruGt l\4ikeStern Attanric
7-81840-2 19BB
5; lvlikeStenn 7 -82027
Atlantic -Z 1gB9
ilnsu Eliane Etias BlueNoreCDp-7_96146_2 1gs2
runxl Eliane Elias BlueNoteCDp-7 -89544-2 1s93
'82 Sterewith Anthony andManoloBrdrena'
Jackson
Ey."lt""* ,lt ded lines liceat the Pit ln[, Iokyo,Japanin
"*rdittS
UIULJHAPH
A specialissueof Japan'sJazzLife magazine featufedthe p2 All_llmeGreatestJazz
Gurtarists.0f c0urse,legends likeCharlieChristian, DlangoReinhardt, Wes Montgomery,
KennyBurrell,andJim Haljweneincluded alongside morerecentgiantsGeorge Benson,-
PatJ\lantino LarryCoryell, andJohnl\,4cLaughlin. Listedamongst hiscOntemporaries
JohnAbercrombie, Patl\,4etheny, J'hn Sc.field,l\,4ike
Stern,sndBillFnisellwasSteve
Khan-a testameni to a lafgebody0f wofkthat nowspansm0feth6n30 years.lt'shard
to believethisdreambeganat a ratheflateage,withWesl\4ontgomery heldas the
m0delto whicht0 aspine. Steveadmitsthat,whenhewasa teenager, I was6 terfible
drummerwrthno musical training.I haddeveloped a lovefor the guitalandwhenI was
19, I switched instruments. I dectded I wouldnot makethe samemistakes I hadmade
withthe drums,s0 | studiedhardin college aiongwithtakingpfivatelessons fromRon
Anth0ny." Duringtheseyears,Khanalwaysfoundhjmselfin fastc0mpany, andfromsuch
situati'nshe learned, developed, andsurvived.Bythe timehe graduated fromUCLAin
'1969,
he felt readyto makethe moveto NewyorkCity.

Ffomthisp0intforuard,muchof Steve's cafeefis welldocumented.ln 1g74.he oer-


formedin oneof ihe first contemporary
jazzguitarduoswithLarryCofyell. Duningthts
sameperiod, he became a keymemberof the Brecker BfothersBand.Hisfifst re-ordings
as a ieaderwere tnioof wellreceived
albumsfof Columbia Recofds titledTightrpe
tl977), TheBlueMant19781,andArr,ws r1g7g).These.ecordings featured rvrichael
andRandyBreckelDavidSanbofn, D'n Grolnick,
Will Lee,SteveG;dd,N,4ikeN/lainiefi,
andothers.ln 1994,SonyMusic/Columbta neleaseda CDcompilation drawnfr0mthese
thfee LPstitled Thecollecti1n.

ln'1980,Steverecofded a bfillianis.lo ac.usticguitaralbun,Evidence, whichpaidtfib


utet0 hrseafliestiazzinspirati.ns andservedto establish himas one0f the areatinten-
preters0fthe musicof Thelonious l\,40nk.Between 1gg1 and.1g95,he workedand
rec'rdedsteadilywithhisquaftet,Eyewitness, whichincrudedAnth0ny Jacks0n, lvlanol0
Badrena, andSteveJordan.Together theymadethreerecordings: Eyiwitness l1gg1),
M)dernTimes,tslades i19B2l,and CasaLocot1993).Duringt gg4, StevejoinedSteely
Dan'sDonaldFagent0 intenpfetThelonious lVonk's,,Reflecfions,
for the Thait's
tn, Wuyt
FeelNowrecording, whrchwasa tfibuteto MonkandhiscOmposjtjons. WhenEyewitness
needed a break,KhanjoinedJoeZawlnul's WeatheflJpdate for its oneand0niytour In
1986.Thiswasfollowed byan innovattve duetrecording withkeyboardist Robl\,4ounsey.
TheGnammy-nominated CDwastilled LlcalCollr andwasreleased in 1g87.ln 1Sgg,
Eyewitness wasnesuTTected, withDaveWecklfeplacing SteveJordanfof the publi,
Access{199O)CD.Sincethattime,Stevehasaddedtwo groundbneaking stratght_ahead
jazzrecordingsfeaturingRonCaftef andAl Foster:Let,sCall This
andHeadlinewere
re easedin 1991 and1992,respective y. In .1gg4,Stevefoundhtmself backin the com
panyof Anthony Jackson ndManoloBadrena, addingDennisChambers andN/ichael
Brecker for Crcssings,whichis dedicated t0 the memOry of Steve,s latefather,lyficist
SammyCahn.

[/Orerecently, Stevehasc0ntributed hista]entst0 several specialprojects.


Hisunique
medley 0f two George Harrison tunesgracedMikelVlainieri,sNyCBec0fdsCome
Together; A GuitarTributet0 the Beatles.HereStevewas accompanied by Marc
Johnson, PeterErckine, andNanaVasconceJos. Special Olympicsandthe holiday
season
bnought stevetogether withthe BreckefBnothefs f.r a sarsastyrernterpnetation
of his
lafhersofe Christmas 'The
song, ChnistmasWaltz,', whichappeared on theCDJazzto
the w'rld ln 1996steveteamedwithArgentine v.caristGabrielaAnders,BobMounsev.
andNewYor.k Sas All Stafs Rub6nRodriguez, Marc Guifrones,
and papopeoin_to
'D.n't
contribute W.nry Baby"{'No TepreocupesNena\ to Wouldn'tlt ge ivlre,a tribute
: o B r i a nW l s o n .

Becorded in 1996,GatMy MentalbfOught StevetogetherfOrthe firsttimewlthJohn


Feti!cc/ 0n acoustc bassandJackDeJohnette on drums.TheCDonceagainfoundhtm
-s "g hrsuniquep ayingandarnang ng perspectives
to interpfetthe worksof Wayne
S'o.ter OfnetteColeman, LeelVorgan, EddieHarris,andstandards by Rodgers &
'1a-.nerste n as weI as steve'sfatherwithJimmyvanHeusen. Theratterrs a stunninq
, :eau[rturende.ngof the Sinatfac]asslc"TheLastDance., Onfourof thee ghttrack;
Biography
thetrio is ioinedat timesbypercussionists
BobbyAllende, [,4arc andDonAlias.
Ouiflones,
Braziiianpercussionist Caf6lendshisspecial
talentsto Steve'sromantic
iounneythr0ugh
"l HaveDreamed." Theintensity brcughtto thesesessions
andcreatlvity sh0wed Steve's
unfaltening desifet0 meetnewchalienges andexplorethem.Thesequalitiespromptthe
ffequentmentioning of hisnameduringdlscussions
0f contemporaryjazzguitar.

'1997 t0 recordYouAre Here.Nearlya decadehad


ln Stevereunitedwith Roblvlounsey
passedsincethe release of L1calCjlor,andthe duowaseagerio gel backat it again.
As wlththe previous CD,whenthesetwo talented musicians gettogether, the music
tendst0 defycategorization. Butthe newrecording seemed to sit somewhere between a
contemporany version of LatinjazzandWorldl\4usic iazz. Also,tn keepingwith their pre-
viouswork,Steveis againheafdonlyon acoustic guitars,reminding us that he is one0f
the instrument's m0stunique stylists,playingmelodies 6ndsoloswitha touch6ndphras-
ingall hisown.Onebrand-new d mension for YouAre Herewasthe presence 0f Latin
percussion virtuosol\,4arcOulRones. l\,4ancbroughthisspiriiandpowerto signature
Khan-lVlounsey c0mp0sitions like"Clafouti,"
"Platanos Maduros," and"Peanut Soup."
Feleased in September of 1998,the necording leftlittledoubtthai SteveandBobafe
blazing a trailof theirownwhilepresenting musicwithbroadappeal.

InAugustof 1998,StevetouredJapanss partof DaveSamuels' "Tnibute to CalTlader"


Group.Apartfrcmthetnemendous reaction the gfoup received, the tour was to have
morefar-reaching consequences sinceit was here that plans wene made for Dave
Steve,
Samuels, andDaveValentin to become the co-leadens of the rejormed Canibbean Jazz
Pnoiect.Aftersomeisolated toundatesin early1999 for the group,SteveandDave
Samuels wereaskedto appear0n DaveValentin's first fecofding for Concord Records.
Uponhearing thosepefformances, Concond president JohnBurkeskedt0 signthe
Caribbean JazzProjectto hislabelas well.As a nesultof thesechance evenls,the
group'sfinstrecording withthe newline-up lwhichthenjncluded JohnBenitez, bass;
RichieFlor"es,congast andRobertVilera,timbalesl wastitledNewHorizons andreleased
on Concord Picante duringFebnuary 2000. lt features three0f Steve's c0mp0sitions,
including"Descarga Canel6n,""Charanga Si,Si,"and"Safe andSound[Sanoy Salvo)."
Sinceits inception,the grouphastouredtirelessly in Europe, SouthandCentral Amefica,
andthe U.S.Aprilof 2001 sawthe release of the Caribbean JazzProject's second CD,
Paraiso.LIkeits predecessor, it featufedthfee newcompositions ft"omSteve:";C6-ni-mo!"
"ElTacafio,"and"Maluco." Already considered a classicin the Latinjazzgenre,the
recording features RubdnRodriguez on bass,Luisito0uinten0 andDafnisPrietoshaning
timbalkit duties,andthe bnilliant RichieFloreson congas. Thisverypopular group
returned to Europe sevenaltimesin 2001, as wellas m0fetouning aroundthe U.S.In
January 2002,citingcreative differences, Steveleftthe gnoup t0 pursueotherinterests.

Throughout his longanddistinguished Stevehaslenthistalentsto recofdings


career, by
suchdiverse 6r'tistsas lvlilesDavis,SteelyDan,JamesBrown,ArethaFnanklin, 0uincy
Jones,EddiePalmieri, Freddie Hubbad,the Brecker Brcthens,StepsAhead,andmany
otherstoo numerous t0 list.Hehaselsoproduced recordingsfor fellowguitanists
Larry
MikeStern,BireliLagnene,
Coryell, andBillConnors, as wellas pianistElianeElias.ln
addition,he has published four highlyregardedb00ks:WesMontgoneryGuitarFolto;Pat
Martino:TheEa y Years;GuitarWorkshopSeries:SteveKhan[whichneallyfunctlonsas
an Eyewitness songbooU, andthe influential
C1ntemporary ChordKhancepts. Stevehas
alsobecome oneof the mostin-demand musicclinicians
andteachers whilecontinuing to
penfonm in clubsandconcerthallsthroughout the U.S.,CentralandSouthAmerica,
Eunooe,andJaoan.
Sterecaughtfive at the pit fnn, Tolyo,JaD.. in ,82 while r{'rcording
Modem fines.
I uiewfro[ Stere,s
pempectiue
as[yewitncss
pe"lorr..t th" lit tn,L;G;;;ffi
::t
l,
illnlllllllttl
g 1 79 0 7 5 7 " 9 91 1 70 "
t

ZR
i .{r-*-a
al
E N T A T O NKI H C A N C E P iTsSt h e n a t u r act o n t i n u a t i o n
a n d c o m p l e t i oon f t h e p r o c e s sS t e v eb e g a ni n h i s
1{ book Contemporory ChordKhancepts. In this new
b o o l <S, t e v es h a r e sh i s u n i q u ea p p r o a ctho i m p r o v t s -
,t i n g .A n d a t t h o u g hS t e v et r a c e st h e r o o t so f h i s

v u n i q u ei m p r o v i s i n" gK h a n c e p t sb "a c kt o h i s e a r l y
f a s c i n a t i own i t h i a z zl e g e n dM c C o yT y n e rt,h e s e

K " K h a n c e p t sa "r ef o r g u i t a r i s tosf a [ [ g e n r e s - r o c k ,


L a t i n ,f u n k ,c o u n t r yi ,a z z ,a n da l t e r n a t i v e .

\; l n t h i s b o o k ,S t e v et a k e sa p o t e n t i a t tvye r yc o m p l e x
s u b j e c t - t h ec r e a t i o no f n e w ,d i f f e r e n ta, n d c r e a t i v e
\
m e l o d i e s - a n sd h o w sy o u h o w u s i n gt w o v e r y
s i m p l ea , n d v e r yg u i t a r i s t ipce n t a t o n iscc a l e sy, o u
c a nu n t e a s h a n i n e x h a u s t i bsl eu p p l yo f n e w c o l o r s
a n d i d e a sY . o uw i l l l e a r nt o e x t e n dy o u r s e n s eo f
h a r m o na y n d c h o r dt o n e sa s y o u s u p e r i m p o st hee s e
p e n t a t o n iscc a t e sc, r e a t i n gb e a u t i f um
l elodies
incorporatin i ngt e r e s t i negx t e n s i o nasn d c o l o rt o n e s '

A C Dc o n t a i n i ntgh e m u s i ce x a m p t e sp ,l u sn u m e r o u s
p l a y - a l o ntgr a c k sf o r y o u t o u s ea s y o u p r a c t i c e
han has had an a n d h o n ey o u ri m p r o v i s a t i o ns ak Ii [ [ sa, c c o m p a n i e s
and diverse
expansive t h i sb o o k .
r . a r e e ra s a e r r i t a r i s t A
. s
a s o t o a r t i s t ,S t e v eh a s r e l e a s e d
r 5 s o l o r e c o r d i n gp r o j e c t sS . ince W i t h t h i s b o o k , a n d i t s c o m p a n i o nv o l u m e
h i s f i r s t r e c o r d i n g fso r C o l u m b i a Contemporory ChordKhoncepts, SteveKhanhas pre-
R e c o r d isn t 9 7 7 , S t e v eh a s s e n t e dt h e g u i t a rc o m m u n i tw y ith one of the most
e s t a b l i s h ehdi m s e l fa s a t r u l Y c a r e f u [ [ [ya i d - o u ta n d c r e a t i v ea p p r o a c h etso g u i t a r
l n d i v i d u aaI n d i m p o r t a n vt o i c e
p e r f o r m a n ceev e rp u b t i s h e d .
n g u i t a r .H i s u n i q u ea p p r o a c h
n g u i t a rc a n b e h e a r do n
" e c o r d i n gbsy s u c h d i v e r s e
. : r ' t i s tas s M i l e sD a v i s ,S t e e t y
l a n , J a m e sB r o w n ,Q u i n c YJ o n e s ,
a n d t h e B r e c k eB r r o t h e r st,o
l a m e a f e w . M o s t r e c e n t t Yi n, a
s p e c i a iI s s u eo f J a p a n ' lsa z z L i f e
m a g a z i n eS, t e v ew a s s e t e c t e da s
one of lheirzz Att-Time Greatest
Guitarists.

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