So when I'm choosing which scale to play over any chord type, there's a simple rule
which I like to follow. I'm going to call it the chordal tones plus
whole step technique. Here's how it works. Let's say we have a C major
7 chord in the chord sheet, and we're going to start by putting the chordal tones in our scale, so that's the root, the third,
the fifth, and the seventh. All of these have to be in our scale to agree with the chord that's also being played at the same time. So C, E, G, and B. And then we're going to add a whole step above the root, third, and fifth. Whole step up from C gives you D. Whole step up from E gives you F sharp, the sharp four. Whole step up from G gives you A. And then you have B and C,
we already know those notes. So which scale do we end up
playing over a C major 7 chord? (plays C Lydian scale) This is called C Lydian scale, and this is the scale
that I most often play over major 7 chords. So now let's apply this
to another type of chord. Let's say we have a C
minor 7 in the chord sheet. Which notes am I going to
end up playing in my scale? Well, we start with the chordal tones. C, E flat, the third, G, the fifth, and B flat, the minor seventh. So our scale has to have
these chordal tones. Now let's add a whole step to
the root, third, and fifth. C up a whole step gives us D. E flat up a whole step gives us F. G up a whole step gives us A. And then we already have
the B flat and the root. (plays C Dorian scale) And can you tell me which scale this is? (improvises in C Dorian) This is C Dorian scale. It's basically a minor scale,
but with a major sixth. And this is the scale that I most often play
over minor 7 chords. Let's take another example. Let's say we have a C dominant
7 chord in the chord sheet. Which scale are we
going to end up playing? Chordal tones first. Root, major third, fifth, minor seventh. And now we're going to add a whole step to the root, third, and fifth. C up a whole step gives us D. E up a whole step gives us F sharp. This is that nice sharp 11
over the dominant 7 chord. This is going to sound nice and jazzy. G up a whole step gives us A. And then we have B flat and C. (plays C Lydian Dominant scale) Do you know which scale this is called? Well this is called C
Lydian Dominant scale. It's the Lydian scale up to the fifth, (plays bottom part of C Lydian scale) and then it's the dominant scale, which is also known as
the Mixolydian scale, from the fifth up to the root. (plays upper part of C Mixolydian scale) And this is a very nice scale. This is a very jazz scale. You won't really encounter this scale in any other genre of
music other than jazz. And this is one of the scales which I often play over dominant 7 chords. (plays C Lydian Dominant scale) (Latin jazz) So you might think that
using such a simple rule would create scales which sound bland and, as my friend Ray Huckell
would say, vanilla. However, that's not the case at all. Each of these four scales that are generated from these chord types, when you follow this rule, are very sophisticated-sounding scales. We have the Lydian scale. (plays C Lydian scale) That is a nice scale, always sounds good. We have the Dorian scale. (plays C Dorian scale) And again, that's an unusual scale. It's not a standard major or minor scale. Then we have the Lydian Dominant scale. This is a very
sophisticated-sounding scale. (plays C Lydian Dominant scale) So I don't want you to think that this is just a simple
trick for beginners. This is actually what I
do about 70% of the time when I'm playing, and certainly, if I don't have any better ideas for a scale that I want to play, then I will always resort to this rule, which I call the chordal
tones plus whole step rule. (Latin jazz) So just to end this video, let's try going through a jazz standard. We're gonna go through Misty,
the beginning of Misty, and we're gonna try generating scales using this rule to go
with each of the chords. ("Misty" by Hoagy Carmichael) The song starts on an
E flat major 7 chord. Which scale would we play
if we were playing a solo? Chordal tones first. E flat, G, B flat, D. These have to be in place. Now let's add a whole
step to E flat gives us F. G gives us A. B flat gives us C. And then we have D and E flat. So that is E flat Lydian
scale to start with. (improvises on E flat Lydian scale) That sounds great. Next chord is a B flat minor 7 chord. Which scale shall we play? Chordal tones first. B flat, D flat, F, and A flat. And then we're going to add a whole step to B flat gives us C. D flat gives us E flat. And F gives us G. So that's B flat Dorian scale. (improvises on B flat Dorian scale) Next chord is an E flat dominant 7 chord. Which scale shall we play? Chordal tones first. E flat, G, B flat, and D flat. And then add a whole step gives us F, A, and then B flat up a
whole step gives us C. And we end up playing E
flat Lydian Dominant scale. (plays E flat Lydian Dominant scale) And then one final chord for this lesson. It goes to A flat major 7. Which scale shall we play? Chordal tones first. A flat, C, E flat, and G, the root, third, fifth, and seventh. And then we're going to add a whole step to these three notes. Gives us B flat, D, and F. And we end up playing A flat Lydian scale. (plays A flat Lydian scale) So I suggest that you go through one of your favorite jazz standards and practice using this technique. And the first few times you do it, you'll be figuring out
the scales from scratch. However, fairly quickly,
you'll start just remembering that every time you see a major 7 chord, that means you play the Lydian scale, and every time you see a minor 7 chord you play the Dorian scale. The dominant 7 chords, you
play the Lydian Dominant scale. And occasionally, when you get
these minor 7 flat 5 chords, you play the Half-Diminished scale. (plays C Half-Diminished scale) (camera shutter clicks) (improvises on "Misty"
by Hoagy Carmichael) And apart form that, I've put some other
links below this video, to some of my other
jazz piano sheet music. You can download them all for free.
