Scales Over Dominant Chords

There are a couple of scales that are considered in harmony with dominant chords—there are more options for scales in harmony for dominant chords than any other kind of chord. By scales in harmony, I mean scales that contain the dominant chord when the dominant chord is built off the root of the scale. It’s important to be cognizant of what sca... Read more 04 Aug 2020 - 6 minute read

Improvisation Idea #1: Flamenco Sketches

I got the idea for this improvisation exercise from a couple of songs. Throughout a portion of all three songs, the piano plays the same vamp. It’s a nice vamp, and I thought that it would be fun to improvise over it. So I did, and it is. You can play this entire vamp with your left hand while improvising over it with your right hand. I... Read more 31 Jul 2020 - 2 minute read

Tritone Substitution

Tritone substitution is an easy way to reharmonize a 2-5-1 progression. It’s also easy to pepper them throughout your playing outside of 2-5-1 progressions. They give a nice amount of clash to spice up your playing. The Basics In Practice The Theory Other Uses Final Note The Basics Let’s look at the 2-5-1 progression Dm7 - G7 - CM... Read more 21 Jul 2020 - 3 minute read

Barry Harris Sixth Diminished Scale

The Barry Harris sixth diminished scale is a useful system for harmonizing major and minor scales. You’ll find it extremely useful and a great addition to your repertoire. The concept that it’s built on—resolving diminished chords—is very prevalent in both jazz and classical playing. The System Finding the Diminished Chord Voicings ... Read more 17 Jul 2020 - 7 minute read

Reharmonizing 2-5-1s with Slash Chords

I was looking at a transcription of Bill Evan’s “Lucky To Be Me” from his album Everybody Digs Bill Evans when I came across a funny looking chord. The chord in question is the Em7b5#9 chord below and occurs around the 0:13 minute mark. The transcription (credits to RHTranscriptions) lists the chord as Em7b5#9, but it isn’t. Chords are mai... Read more 11 Jul 2020 - 1 minute read