Chord-scale system

One chord scale option for a C augmented dominant

seventh chord (C E G♯ B♭ Play (help·info)) is the C
whole tone scale:[1] C D E F♯ G♯ A♯/B♭
Play (help·info)

The chord-scale system is a method of

matching, from a list of possible chords, a
list of possible scales.[2] The system has
been widely used since the 1970s and is
"generally accepted in the jazz world
today".[3]

However, the majority of older players

used the chord tone/chord arpeggio
method. The system is an example of the
difference between the treatment of
dissonance in jazz and classical harmony:
"Classical treats all notes that don't belong
to the chord...as potential dissonances to
be resolved...Non-classical harmony just
tells you which note in the scale to
[potentially] avoid..., meaning that all the
others are okay".[4]
The chord-scale system may be compared
with other common methods of
improvisation, first, the older traditional
chord tone/chord arpeggio method, and
where one scale on one root note is used
throughout all chords in a progression (for
example the blues scale on A for all
chords of the blues progression: A7 E7
D7). In contrast, in the chord-scale system,
a different scale is used for each chord in
the progression (for example Mixolydian
scales on A, E, and D for chords A7, E7,
and D7, respectively).[5] Improvisation
approaches may be mixed, such as using
"the blues approach" for a section of a
progression and using the chord-scale
system for the rest.[6]

Dominant seventh chord normally paired with

mixolydian scale,[5] the fifth mode of the major scale.

The scales commonly used today consist

of the seven modes of the diatonic scale,
the seven modes of the melodic minor
scale, the diminished scales, the whole-
tone scale, and pentatonic and bebop
scales.[7] In the example below featuring
C7#11 and C lydian dominant every note
of the scale may be considered a chord
tone[7] while in the example above
featuring A7 and A mixolydian the scale is
thought of as a 'filling in' of the steps that
are missing between members of the
chord.[5] Students now typically learn as
many as twenty-one scales, which may be
compared with the four scales commonly
used in jazz in the 1940s (major, minor,
mixolydian, and blues) and the two later
added by bebop (diminished and whole-
tone) to the tonal resources of jazz.[8]

The corresponding scale for the C7♯11 chord with

The corresponding scale for the C7♯11 chord, with
added 9th and 13th tensions, is C lydian dominant, the
fourth mode of the ascending melodic minor.[7]

Originating with George Russell's Lydian

Chromatic Concept of Tonal Organization
(1959),[8] the chord-scale system is now
the "most widely used method for teaching
jazz improvisation in college".[9] This
approach is found in instructional books
including Jerry Bergonzi's Inside
Improvisation series[10] and characterized
by the highly influential[9] Play-A-Long
series by Jamey Aebersold.[2] There are
differences of approach within the system.
For example, Russell associated the C
major chord with the lydian scale, while
teachers including John Mehegan, David
Baker, and Mark Levine teach the major
scale as the best match for a C major
chord.[8]

Miles Davis's Lydian Chromatic Concept-

influenced first modal jazz album Kind of
Blue, is often given as an example of
chord-scale relationships in practice.[11]

The chord-scale system provides

familiarity with typical chord progressions,
technical facility from practicing scales
and chord arpeggios, and generally
succeeds in reducing "clams", or notes
heard as mistakes (through providing note-
choice possibilities for the chords of
progressions), and building "chops", or
virtuosity.[12] Disadvantages include the
exclusion of non-chord tones
characteristic of bop and free styles, the
"in-between" sounds featured in the blues,
and consideration of directionality created
between the interaction of a solo and a
chord progression: "The disadvantages of
this system may become clear when
students begin to question why their own
playing does not sound like such
outstanding linear-oriented players as
Charlie Parker, Sonny Stitt or Johnny
Griffin (or, for that matter, the freer jazz
stylists)":[12]
The chord-scale method's
'vertical' approach...is 'static,'
offering little assistance in
generating musical direction
through the movement of
chords. Hence the importance of
knowing the older chord tone
approach. But...Swing- and bop-
era songforms operate
teleologically with regard to
harmony. Highly regarded
soloists in those styles typically
imply the movements of
chords...either by creating lines
 that voice-lead smoothly from
one chord to another or by
confounding the harmony pull
through anticipating or delaying
harmonic resolution.[13]

Essential considerations of a style such as

Charlie Parker's, including "rhythm, phrase
shape and length, dynamics, and tone
color," as well as "passing tones,
appoggiatura, and 'blue notes'" are
unaddressed.[13] This appears to have led
educators to emphasize a specific
repertoire of pieces most appropriate to
the chord-scale system, such as John
Coltrane's "Giant Steps", while excluding
others, such as Coltrane's later styles of
composition, and producing generations
of "pattern" players among college-
educated musicians.[13]

See also
Jazz chord
Jazz scale
Side-slipping

Further reading
Yamaguchi, Masaya. 2006. The
Complete Thesaurus of Musical Scales,
 revised edition. New York: Masaya
Music Services. ISBN 0-9676353-0-6.

Sources
1. Hatfield, Ken (2005). Jazz and the
Classical Guitar Theory and Applications,
p.121. ISBN 0-7866-7236-6.
2. Mervyn Cooke, David Horn (2003). The
Cambridge companion to jazz, p.266.
ISBN 0-521-66388-1.
3. Spitzer, Peter (2001). Jazz theory
handbook, p.115. ISBN 0-7866-5328-0.
4. Humphries, Carl (2002). The Piano
Handbook, p.126. ISBN 0-87930-727-7.
5. Reed, Scott (2002). Getting Into Guitar
Improvising, p.30. ISBN 0-7866-6247-6.
6. Reed (2002), p.32.
7. Spitzer (2001), p.43 and 115.
8. Cooke & Horn (2003), p.123.
9. Ake, David Andrew (2002). Jazz Cultures.
p.122. ISBN 0-520-22889-8.
10. "Jerry Bergonzi – books" . Advance
Music. Retrieved Jul 1, 2009.
11. Cooke & Horn (2003), p.192.
12. Cooke, Horn (2003), p.267.
13. Ake (2002), p.126.
Retrieved from
"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Chord-
scale_system&oldid=837525039"

Last edited 12 months ago by an an…

Content is available under CC BY-SA 3.0 unless

otherwise noted.