▪ All instruments and vocals are rhythmic at their core. Barry Harris once said that his best music comes from playing primarily through a rhythmic mindset (almost disregarding the harmony and melody — which became second nature to him — and concentrating on the rhythm).
▪ Major chords get their own major scales in improvisation.
▪ Dominant chords get their own dominant scales in improvisation.
▪ Chords diatonic to the major scale are used for improvisation in a major context. Chords diatonic to the dominant scale are used for improvisation in a dominant context.
▪ The root of the chord should almost always be lowest in the bass (or if not, it should resolve there) for structure, along with the shell voicing of choice.
▪ Finger positions: play what comes most natural to you. If that doesn’t work well, change finger positions.
▪ Scale of chords for melody: entire tunes can be played by using scales of chords — with the highest note in the RH being the highest note of the 6th chord or the highest note of the diminished chord.
▪ One of the 3 diminished chords is the diminished chord of the scale of chords. The other 2 are for movement.
▪ We can play a major chord on the 5th of any major chord (better to keep the root of the original chord in the bass). You can also play the scale of chords on the 5th scale degree with the original major (e.g: G6-dim-G6(1)-dim(1)… for C6).
▪ “A diminished scale” (also known as half-whole or whole-half scales – but should not be named this way because such a definition doesn’t explain their significance and fundamental logic). The scale consists of a diminished chord + the roots of the four dominants that come from it (which form another diminished chord). The diminished scale is used for improvisation, not runs and single-note lines. It is better to view it as two related diminished chords that go well together, from which we can choose different notes for improvisation.
▪ Dominant chords and their whole-tone scales: the whole tone scale of a dominant chord is the one that begins on its root (e.g: C7 with whole tone scale C-D-E-F#-Ab-Bb). You can play notes of the whole tone scale in one hand and the notes of the dominant chord in the other — as long as you treat this dominant as a V that needs to resolve to a I.
▪ ♯5 dominant chords and ♭5 dominant chords are not chords in the true sense of being intervals on a major or dominant scale. They should be viewed as being derived from the whole tone scale, and they too, like the whole tone scale, must be resolved to the respective I.
▪ The pentatonic major scale is best viewed as a pattern on the major scale. These intervals are prevalent in Western music and can be integrated into our Jazz tradition (sparingly).
▪ The pentatonic minor scale is very similar to the Blues scale, so it is best viewed in this context. It is prevalent in Western music and can be integrated into our Jazz tradition (sparingly).
▪ Suspended chords (sus): Suspended chords are in a dominant chord context. The essence of the sus move is 1+4 resolving to 1+3 (e.g: C+F resolving to C+E). The complete move is when we resolve the sus chord to the minor 6th on the 5th scale degree of the dominant chord while keeping the original root. E.g.: Bass: C. RH: B♭6, Gm6 (f moves to e). It creates suspense and release. It can be used in a ii-V-I.
▪ The great performers of Jazz Standards were heavily influenced by the Blues, and these influences can be felt in their performances to varying degrees.
▪ Blues, Soul, and Gospel music (all deeply related to Jazz) are dominant-centric.
▪ In Blues, Gospel, Soul: the I can be a major 6 chord.
▪ The Blues is intertwined melodically (not harmonically) in Jazz Standards.
▪ Blues scale moves (e.g. C,Eb,F,F#,G,Bb,C) can be integrated into all Jazz harmonic structures but should be used sparingly.
▪ Blue notes can be used in most situations, but they fit naturally around a dominant (V) and especially following a dominant part – leading to the I.
▪ 3-7-5 is a classic Blues move (e.g: B, F, D in the G7 scale). And try playing two of the notes together. Note: This is a melodic move for a dominant context, for decoration.