The Most Useful Scale in Modern Jazz

[@MyJ2B]

Agree 100% that this is the "GOTO" scale for many jazz improvisation challenges. It took me a long while to apply it to a wide variety of chord progression situations "on the spot" instinctively. The trick is to see the chord name and automatically visualize where the nearest (potential) start note of the melodic mode is located. Easier said than done. Thank you.

[@RichieZellon]

Absolutely, thanks!

[@tenbroeck1958]

I purchased this and it is like an entire sub-category of Bebop soloing! The gift that keeps giving

[@mikeranfft6361]

Great lesson. thank you! Neat explanation of lines with retrograde playing. Your solos on SBS and GFI using MM scales are sublime! I have to transcribe some of that Stella solo you did around the 4 minute mark, it's JAZZ!!

[@RichieZellon]

🙏Thanks, much appreciated!

[@christophersinisi1109]

AWESOME free lesson!!! Thank you Richie for sharing this lesson. You THE man!!!

[@RichieZellon]

My pleasure, glad you enjoyed it!

[@BJ-fj6jw]

WOW! How confidently he expounds truth. You just know he knows that he knows. I like him.

[@notablemusician]

Nice thinking and explanation. I play intuitively but love having things put academically.

[@morganwellsmusic]

WOAH! this is a heck of a trick, man. I'm really excited to try this out :-)

[@diegoesandi]

Another brick and that wall m, the modern jazz, and so clear and applicable. thanks Richie

[@RichieZellon]

Thanks, glad to be of help!

[@seri1897]

Thanks Richie for super lesson.i m lucky that i have done all the shapes of melodic minor without being lazy🤪 Now I think i m ready for this to unfold.excited!!

[@jazzey69]

This scale is used by the late great Larry Coryell R.I.P. Listen to his recordings and you can heard it right of the bat...:-) Thank you...:-)

[@GeorgeGrosman]

Loved Larry - a true prince among men and a fabulous player. I studied with him for a bit and we became friends here in Orlando. Always loads of fun. Larry loved telling stories almost as much as he liked playing. RIP Larry Coryell

[@Domingojazz]

I have the three DVD course of Larry Coryell where he teaches this technique and many others.

[@jazzey69]

@@Domingojazz I will take a look..thank you ...be well...:-)

[@sergequirion3829]

Thanks Richie, plus add melodic triad diatonic arpeggio, plus in 3-4-5-6-7, Man need a other life.

[@jamessidney2851]

You know that common progression where you begin on a minor triad and then the root descends in half steps till the chord becomes a minor 6th chord? (In walked bud, sentimental mood, funny valentine, etc). Well, I remember the lightbulb moment I discovered I could use just one melodic minor scale to blow over all of that harmony from start to finish. It was like BOOM! And it is still my go-to option when I need to relax on that part of a tune.

[@fouroutoffour]

Very interesting. The last example over Ipanema was ear-opening. Thanks Richie!

[@RichieZellon]

My pleasure!

[@faisletoismeme]

Another fantastic lesson.

[@jonathanlechman]

Bravo Maestro! Thanks Richie! Makes perfect sense. I concur.

[@stevenribler9743]

Enlightening lesson - thank you 🙏

[@RichieZellon]

Thanks Steven, glad you enjoyed it!

[@stevenribler9743]

@@RichieZellon your a very good teacher :)

[@masallamusica8879]

Excellent content!!!!

[@cassios.5697]

Nice lesson! Thank you very much! Uaauu!

[@mainsblanches8793]

beautiful guitar!!...

[@chechedelacruz4549]

I like that super melodic

[@kitwarren2493]

Had no idea the melodic minor was so versatile - nice to have in the bag especially for fast tunes where I still find targeting specific chord tones difficult in songs with super fast changes. Is there any chance you could do a video on how to solo over the 200bpm+ standards a la Charlie Parker? Is it really just a matter of getting so comfortable with the composite fingerings that you can highlight the changes even if every chord only gets 2 beats or do you target the scale of whatever the implied 1 chord of the moment might be? Sorry for the long and possibly unintelligible question and apologies if you've already covered it and I've failed to find it. Thank you for all the amazing lessons!

[@RichieZellon]

Thanks Kit! There really isn't a "one size fits all" answer to soloing over 200bpm on standards. It's all dependent on many variables...the type of harmony, what improvisational approach you use, fingerings, technique, etc. The bottom line is that there is absolutely no time to think at that tempo. Everything must be ingrained to the point that muscle memory takes place and your ears take over. This is something that takes time and usually happens by practicing over tunes slow at first with a backing track or metronome, and gradually picking up the pace over time until you reach the desired tempo.

[@kitwarren2493]

@@RichieZellon That makes a lot of sense - nice to be assured that it’s too fast for even the most experienced musicians to think at that pace! Excited to work on what you’ve described here. Thank you so much for your thoughtful and insightful reply!

[@lacloche649]

Thanks a lot Richie 🙂!

[@jamescopeland5358]

Always useful Richie thx

[@stevenribler9743]

Enlightening

[@robertgreen3702]

Great lesson thanks!7👍🎸

[@mahendurrjraoo8112]

Thanks sir

[@scottbaekeland9750]

Good work.

[@dennischurgovich1904]

Great video. Will take me awhile to digest all this. How would the harmonic minor work?

[@RichieZellon]

Thanks Dennis! Unfortunately this only applies to the melodic minor. I will do a video on the harmonic minor and its modes sometime soon.

[@michaelstevens8]

Hello from Kansas City, Missouri. Great Video as always Richie. A similar concept is that a Harmonic Minor Scale can be used for all 3 chords of a Minor 2-5-1. In other words, C Harmonic Minor for Dmi7 flat 5 -G7 Alt.- Cmi7. You wouldn't want to do this with EVERY Minor 2-5-1, but it is one more tool for the tool box. Also I Love that Jim Hall Sadowsky. That's what I like to call Lobster Dipped In Butter Tone. Thanks.

[@alejandroc8466]

I am wondering why you have stressed not to think in scales, but this video is all about thinking about a scale. Please explain.

[@RichieZellon]

The scale is like the music alphabet. You don't recite the alphabet when you talk but instead use its components as part of words. Likewise, when we improvise, we don't want to recite the scale per se. We want to use it as a building block to imply the harmony. For example in an arpeggio instead of constantly up or down in stepwise motion. I hope this somehow answers your question...

[@randolphcohen6522]

Astounding. So interesting to listen to it applied to a standard. Thanks Richie.

[@RichieZellon]

Thanks Randy!

[@spartacusjonesmusic]

Cool. I dug it.

[@Danumurti18]

Awesome

[@KennyCapo]

Hello I have been just getting into some lydian chromatic studies and I am just looking for a clear explanation on where the parent scale starts when thinking based off a chord for example what would be the parent scale for a Dmaj and a Dmin.. Would it be C Lydian ? Thank you!

[@RichieZellon]

Check out my video on the Lydian Chromatic kzbin.info/www/bejne/ppuzpZ-grb6FoKc

[@sixmillionaccountssilenced6721]

7:40? I don't understand. Lydian Augmented over I Maj7 or any Maj7? That scale has #4, #5 and 13. If I play it over Maj7 I get #4, 5, #5, 13. That's 4 semitones in a row. I don't think it works. Shouldn't it be Maj7#5 (#11 and 13) instead? Or do I have to remove 5th from the the Maj7 chord?

[@RichieZellon]

It's a maj7 with a #5. You won't be able to play the #5 , 13 and the #11at the same time on guitar. Not physically possible! Is that what you mean when you say you don't think it works? Or are you referring to the sound of the chord?

[@archinsoni1254]

Why is F melodic minor working or being used over Fm7 . They have different notes. Also by that example what other scales can we use over chords that don't share all the notes in common.

[@RichieZellon]

Can you tell me where on the video so I can know the context?

[@archinsoni1254]

Okay so at 3:00 we see the use of F mel minor over Fm7 which is not incorporated in the scale. Also also we see C mel minor over Ebmaj7. A major 7 chord is not incorporated in a mel minor. This is what confuses me. Why are these scales working over these chords.

[@RichieZellon]

@@archinsoni1254 The F mel minor works over the Fm7 in this case, because I am using the E natural as an approach tone to the F or root and not as a diatonic scale degree or chord tone. This doesn't work if you sit on that E and don't resolve it. But that is the case for any non-diatonic note! As far as the C mel min over Ebmaj7, that is very common. It's an Ebmaj7#5 . The C mel min is simply the mother scale of its corresponding lydian augmented mode. Like Miles said..."there are no wrong notes"...you just have to know how to resolve them properly. 🙂

[@shaolin1derpalm]

Good lesson. My brain likes formulas lol

[@bassmonk2920]

Where did you get the hat...

[@ViolaoDeLuizMarcos]

Where is the pdf?

[@randyhetlage9202]

yup.

[@luketaper9401]

I thought it said 'SCALE MODEL' Me and my 1/72 spitfire will buzz off (ro-o-a-a-r-r-r rat-a-tat etc etc)

[@d.l.loonabide9981]

I think I'm starting to understand how lounge lizards got so scaly.

[@RichieZellon]

:)

[@markdeffebach8112]

chromatic covers everything

[@ozwzrd]

Don't forget the wage scale...

[@RichieZellon]

:) Especially in these times!

[@d.l.loonabide9981]

That'd be minor pentatonic.

[@dat219]

Good n funny

[@Kyrelel]

Even by jazz standards, that sounds nasty

[@RichieZellon]

Really? I guess we must have different definitions for a jazz standard...So Miles, Coltrane, Charlie Parker must sound nasty to you...

[@RobertDraycott]

It is great to see prison inmates doing such great work. Nice uniform!

[@hycus4292]

Sorry, for me it's like "Formula music", not really melodic in the original sense

[@RichieZellon]

I understand what you're saying but the bottom line is that it's what you make it...this is just theory which is not meant to be used mindlessly. Everything in music can be reduced to a formula in order to understand how it works and is applied. That said, it's each individuals responsibility to combine the notes in creative ways that sound pleasing to him/her. That's why 2 great musicians who use the same formula won't sound alike!

[@hycus4292]

​@@RichieZellon Richie, I fully agree with you but my lifelong search for all these formulas is not successful so far because I can not apply them in a musical sense;-)

[@hycus4292]

The emphasis is on MODERN jazz, and what is about old fashioned jazz ?

[@RichieZellon]

Usually what is referred to as modern jazz starts with bebop...so do you mean dixieland and swing? Honestly I don't know of a single scale you can use over the type of chord changes that are associated with those styles. If you start using the melodic minor super-impositions, it will stop sounding like what you expect to hear as dixieland or swing.

[@stevenribler9743]

Enlightening