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The Mighty Mixolydian Scale over A Blues

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So why do you want to use the mixolydian scale for blues?

Well, not that there’s anything wrong with the pentatonic scale, on the contrary, the pentatonic / blues scale is the most essential scale for blues music.

But if you want to take it a little further and jazz it up with some nice fresh sounding notes to expand your improvisation possibilities then the mixolydian scale is a great addition.

The mixolydian scale is one of the 7 modes derived from the major scale. It’s the fifth mode and contains a flat seventh compared to the major scale.

If you already know how to play a major scale you only have to lower the 7th degree by a half step and there’s your mixolydian scale.

Major scale = 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Mixolydian scale = 1 2 3 4 5 6 b7

Because the mixolydian scale contains a major 3rd and flat7 (b7) it’s perfectly fit to play over a dom7 chord. And as you might know, the dom7 chord is the main ingredient for blues music.

Now you know how the mixolydian scale is build up, you want to know how to combine mixolydian and pentatonic into your improvisation.Continue Reading

The Awesome Harmonic Minor Scale

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The harmonic minor scale is often used in neo-classical, gypsy and jazz music.

But also rock guitar players like to step outside of the pentatonic or minor scale now and then and add this kind of middle eastern sound to their solos to keep things interesting.

It really catches the ear of the listener because something different and exciting is happening. John Petrucci, Joe Satriani and Marty Friedman are good examples of guitar players who incorporate the harmonic minor tastefully into their solos.

If you’re ready to add some cool flavor to play over a minor chord or dominant seventh chord then let’s dive into it:

Formulas
The harmonic minor scale contains 7 notes. The scale formula = 1 2 b3 4 5 b6 7. So compared to the major scale (1 2 3 4 5 6 7) it’s got a minor third and a minor sixth.

The harmonic minor scale and the natural minor scale (1 2 b3 4 5 b6 b7) are pretty much the same expect the harmonic minor has raised it’s 7th by one semitone.

If you play an harmonic minor scale on a single string the pattern of whole and half steps are:
“whole, half, whole, whole, half, whole & a half, half”.
(half step = 1 fret, whole step = 2 frets, whole & a half = 3 frets)
So the formula in semitones = 2 1 2 2 1 3 1

 

 

Here’s how you play an A harmonic minor scale. The root note starting on the 6th string (Low E-string)

Here’s the harmonic minor scale starting on the 5th string (A-string): D harmonic minor scale.Continue Reading

5 Beautiful Ways to Play a II-V-I Jazz Chord Progression

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I just love figuring out different ways to play a jazz chord progression or just mixing up jazz chords with other styles of music.

It can add nice flavors to a song and give it some extra magic. It’s really fun to experiment with that.

Learning jazz expands your guitar vocabulary to a whole new level if you are ready for it.

In the meantime it’s just fun to play some beautiful jazz chord progressions and it will certainly contribute to your playing skills and creativity as well.

There are also more advanced II-V-I’s than the ones I show here but these are really nice to start out with and get your feet in the dirt. It can be a little bit overwhelming if you learn to play jazz chords and progressions for the first time, but after a few runs you’ll get the hang of it. You’ll be amazed!

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