Between The Licks

View the video lesson (opens new page).

Jazz has a steep learning curve. You have to understand the theory behind music to really sound like the jazz greats. Today I'll talk a little about one of the many ways to look at jazz theory. We'll cover chord extensions, the major scale, major 7th chords and minor 7th chords. In fact, we'll only use three things today: C major scale (which we'll "split"), a C major 7th chord (Imaj7) and a D minor 7th chord (IIm7).

Thinking In Split Scales

One easy way to think of improvising over a Cmaj7 or Dm7 is with what I call a "split major scale". Its actually really simple and works exactly like an arpeggio. Let's start with a two octave C major scale:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
C D E F G A B C D E F G A B C

Now this time, let's play a "split scale". To do this, just play two octaves of a C major scale, skipping a tone each time, like this:

1 3 5 7 2 4 6 8
C E G B D F A C

Now we have the 1 3 5 7 of the first octave and the 2 4 6 8 of the second octave. If you take all 8 notes together as a whole, you can say we just played a Cmaj13 arpeggio.

Just so you know, a 2nd is the same as a 9th, a 4th is basically an 11th and a 6th is a 13th.

However, if you look a little closer at the split, you'll see two arpeggios: a Cmaj7 and a Dm7.

Cmaj7: C E G B
Dm7: D F A C

They are just stacked on each other. This is the lower level method I choose to think of extensions. This isn't necessarily the way you might want to think of target notes in a solo, your time may be much too limited. Let's think of them in a more helpful context.

As Extensions Over m7 Chords

Personally, this is my favorite way to think of improvisation over a m7 chord. Since we're already in C, let's just Dm7, just for simplicities' sake. We'll start with the Dm7 arpeggio:

D F A C

Now let's add some extensions via our split scale method:

2  4  6  1  3  5  7 (relative to C split scale)
1 b3  5 b7  2  4 b6 (relative to D)
D  F  A  C  E  G  B

Now we have what we can consider a Dm13 arpeggio, or let's just say Cmaj7 over a Dm chord. That's a lot easier to think of, isn't it? While we're at it, let's try two easy runs in two different positions

As Extensions Over Maj7 Chords

Conversely, we can use this split-scale method to find extensions over maj7 chords as well. All we have to do is revisit the first split-scale example:

1 3 5 7 2 4 6
C E G B D F A 

Just think of it as a Dm over a Cmaj7. This is naturally the opposite of what you did a second ago over a m7 chord. There are a lot of reciprocal harmonies in jazz (and music overall). Let's try two easy runs in two different positions.

Simplifying It

So what does thinking of huge, unwieldy chords in chunks do for us? Well, for one, you only really need to learn arpeggios of about 3-4 notes, and then how to string them together. Take the next two sentences to heart: We can string together a few notes into phrases and then string together those phrases into a solo. Just like we can string together a few letters into words and then string together those words into sentences.

Just like we did with a Imaj7 and IIm7, try this with the relative minor like Cmaj7 and Am7 or Imaj7 and VIm7. The chord tones overlap a little more, but it expands your vocabulary. Explore!

This ability to decouple arpeggios works great when it comes to jazz soloing. Make sure to practice maj7 and m7 arpeggios up and down the neck, in each position. And get some jam time in for goodness sake!

This site is FREE! If you enjoyed it, consider supporting the site by donating or by logging in to hide the ads.mfBeer Joomla! Plugin