IMPROVISATION - by Michael Furstner
Lesson 2 - IMPROVISATION ON THE MAJOR SCALE
_______________________________________________________________________________
CONTENTS
2-1. Scale-tone Triad Chords
2-2. The I - VIm - IIm - V Chord Progression
2-3. 'Hey There !'
2-4. Improvisation - Rhythm Patterns 6 to 10
2-5. 'Where's Woody ?'
2-6. The Woodshed
2-7. Major scale Ruler
2-8. Quiz 2 (and Answers to Quiz 1)
_______________________________________________________________________________
2-1. SCALE-TONE TRIAD CHORDS
Let us start with a look at the first 4 bars of the song for this lesson,
'Hey There !'.
The chords involved are :
C : C E G Am : A C E Dm : D F A and G : G B D
I have spelled out the chords tones for each chord underneath the melody line.
(Note that I have rearranged the chord tones for each chord so that these
'chord voicings' progress smoothly from chord to chord. Always keep large
skips in any chord progression to a minimum.)
C Am Dm G
-----------------------------------------------------------------
4 c c - c d c | c - c d | e e c A - d | c |
4 1 2 + 3 + 4 + | 1 2 + 3 + 4 | 1 2 3 + 4 + | 1 2 3 4 |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
| G | A | A | B |
| E | E | F | G |
| C | C | D | D |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
If you analyse the notes of the melody and all four chords, you will soon come
to the conclusion that they all belong to just one scale, the C major scale.
C major scale : C D E F G A B c
This is no coincidence. C, Am, Dm and G all are chords that can be formed using
notes from the C major scale only. They are so called 'scale-tone chords of the
C major scale.
C Dm G A
--------------------------------------------
| G A d e |
| E F B c |
| C D E F G A B |
--------------------------------------------
I IIm V VIm
By stacking three alternate notes of the C major scale on top of each other, 7
scale-tone chords can be formed. One on each note of the scale.
(DEMO 6)
C Dm Em F G A Bo
-------------------------------------------- C : C major triad
| G A B c d e f | Cm : C minor triad
| E F G A B c d | Co : C diminished triad
| C D E F G A B |
--------------------------------------------
I IIm IIIm IV V VIm VIIo
The same principle work for the major scale in every key.
The chord qualities remain the same for each scale note number.
I is always major IIm is always minor, VIIo is always diminished.
For the F major scale.
F Gm Am Bb C Dm Eo
--------------------------------------------
| C D E f g a bb |
| A Bb C D E f g |
| F G A Bb C D E |
--------------------------------------------
I IIm IIIm IV V VIm VIIo
______________________________________________________________________________
2-2. THE I - VIm - IIm - V CHORD PROGRESSION
When we arrange the four scale-tone chords
(DEMO 7)
C Dm G A
--------------------------------------------
| G A d e |
| E F B c |
| C D E F G A B |
--------------------------------------------
I IIm V VIm
in the order they feature in the song, we get :
C Am Dm G
I VIm IIm V
This is the famous I - VIm - IIm - V Chord progression.
It features in numerous songs.
Famous examples are :
Hearts and Soul - I Got Rhythm - Oleo - Anthropology - Blue Moon - Stormy
Weather - Since I fell for You - Perfidia.
J.S.Bach used it in his famous 'Prelude Nr.1' of his Album 1 for the Well
Tempered Clavier (with some variations in chord qualities), and so did George
Gershwin in 'I Got Rhythm'.
Other famous examples are 'Heart and Soul', 'Oleo', 'Anthropology', '.
Sometimes 4-note chords are used (I - VIm7 - IIm7 - V7) where all chord tones
still belong to the same major scale.
Sometimes mini modulations (to another key) are produced by making the VI or II
chord a dominant chord (VI7, II7).
A famous example of this occurs in J.S.Bach's Prelude Nr.1. His lengthy chord
progression includes C - Am7 - D7 - G (I - VIm7 - II7 - V).
The important thing to remember is that over the unaltered I - VIm - IIm - V
progression you can improvise using one and the same scale.
(DEMO 8)
C Am Dm G
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Melody | c c - c d c | c - c d | e e c A - d | c |
| 1 2 + 3 + 4 + | 1 2 + 3 + 4 | 1 2 3 + 4 + | 1 2 3 4 |
------------------------------------------------------------------------
| G | A | A | B |
Chords | E | E | F | G |
| C | C | D | D |
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Scale | C D E F G A B c | A B c d e f g a | D E F G A B c d | G A B c d e f g|
------------------------------------------------------------------------
_______________________________________________________________________________
2-3. HEY THERE !
'Hey There' uses the I - VIm - IIm - V chord progression for the entire song.
Most I-VI-II-V tunes use two chords in the bar : | C Am | Dm G | etc.
In 'Hey There' I have spread them out, 1 chord each bar, except one bar before
the end where I used 2 (Dm G) so that the song ends on the C chord.
The 'Hey There' format is different to that of 'A Happy Day' (in Lesson 1).
'Hey There' is only 16 bars long, half of the most common song length. But you
could repeat the melody, using perhaps a more elaborate backing (strings) the
second time.
There are quite a number of 16 bar songs.
Famous examples include Summertime, Doxy , St.Thomas, Careless Love, Cantaloupe
Island, Blue Bossa, Watermelon Man (a 16 bar blues) and many more.
The element of REPETITION features again strongly in 'Hey There'.
The format can best be described as A B A C.
In this case each section is only 4 bars long.
The first four bars represent the A-section, which is repeated in bars 9 to 12.
Bars 5 to 8 and bars 13 to 16 are both different and represent respectively a
B-section (NOT a bridge) and a C-section.
(DEMO 9)
HEY THERE !
(by Michael Furstner)
C Am Dm G
-----------------------------------------------------------------
4 c c - c d c | c - c d | e e c A - d | c |
4 1 2 + 3 + 4 + | 1 2 + 3 + 4 | 1 2 3 + 4 + | 1 2 3 4 |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
(1)
C Am Dm G
-------------------------------------------------------------------
| B B - G A B | B - A B | c A F - G | g f e d ||
| 1 2 + 3 + 4 + | 1 2 + 3 + 4 | 1 2 3 + 4 + | 1 2 3 + 4 + + ||
-----------------------------------------------------------|-------
(5) |_3_|
triplet
C Am Dm G
------------------------------------------------------------------
| c c - c d c | c - c d | e e c A - F | E F G |
| 1 2 + 3 + 4 + | 1 2 + 3 + 4 | 1 2 3 + 4 + | 1 2 3 + 4 + |
------------------------------------------------------------------
(9)
C Am Dm G C
------------------------------------------------------------------
| C A G E F G | c A G E G A | F A B G B c | ||
| 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + | 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + | 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + | 1 2 3 4 ||
------------------------------------------------------------------
(13)
Copyright 1997 Michael Furstner.
(Remember sustain each note until the next note or rest.)
_______________________________________________________________________________
2-4. IMPROVISATION
'Hey There' uses chords that are all scale-tone chords of the C major scale.
You can therefore improvise over this song using notes of the C major scale
throughout.
However it is still most important to keep track of the chord progression as
you improvise. This way you can emphasise important chord tones in the
improvised line. This brings the improvisation much more in focus as it
reflects the chord changes.
Also think about, and experiment with, tones that are common to two or more
chords.
Look for example at what is going on in the first 4 bars of the 'Hey There'
melody :
C Am Dm G
-----------------------------------------------------------------
4 c c - c d c | c - c d | e e c A - d | c |
4 1 2 + 3 + 4 + | 1 2 + 3 + 4 | 1 2 3 + 4 + | 1 2 3 4 |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
(1) (2) (3) (4)
The 'c' emphasised in bars 1 and 2 represents the root of the C chord then
becomes the 3rd of the A minor chord. This creates musical interest without
doing much with the melody at all.
The 'e' and 'c' in bar 3 extend the D minor chord from a triad (D F A) to a Dm9
chord (D F A c e).
The root 'd' at the end of bar 3 becomes the 5th of the G chord in bar 4.
So with just a few 'strategic' chord tones a whole story is created. Try to
work out yourself what happens in bars 5 to 9.
The above may illustrate to you how important chord knowledge and awareness of
the chord progression is (both in composition and improvisation).
PRACTICE
Practise 'Hey There' in the following ways (using the Play-a-Long Midi file
track) :
1. Play the melody until you can play it from memory.
(Keyboard and guitar players also learn to play the chords from memory.)
2. Play sustained chord ROOT TONES until you can play them from memory.
| C | A | D | G |
(1)
| C | A | D | G |
(5)
| C | A | D | G |
(9)
| C | A | D G | C ||
(12)
3. Play all chord tones in crotchets (1 beat notes).
A-section
-------------------------------------------------------
| C E G E | A c e c | D F A F | G B d B |
| 1 2 3 4 | 1 2 3 4 | 1 2 3 4 | 1 2 3 4 |
-------------------------------------------------------
(1)
| C E G E | A c e c | D F A F | G B d B |
(5)
| C E G E | A c e c | D F A F | G B d B |
(9)
| C E G E | A c e c | D F G B | C E G C |
(13)
4. Improvise over the song's chord progression using TONES of the C MAJOR SCALE
ONLY, but emphasise and sustain especially chord tones of the relevant chord.
To overcome the problem of getting lost in the song, start with using 2 bar
rhythm patterns.
Use those from Lesson 1.
Here are five more. You can split the patterns in 2 bar halves and use them on
their own or combine them with any other half.
(DEMO 10)
Pattern 6
----------------------------------------------------------------
| O O | O O | - O o o - O | |
| 1 2 + 3 + 4 + | 1 2 + 3 + 4 | 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + | 1 2 3 4 |
----------------------------------------------------------------
Pattern 7
----------------------------------------------------------------
| O o - o o O | o - | O o - o o O | |
| 1 2 + 3 + 4 + | 1 2 + 3 + 4 | 1 2 + 3 + 4 + | 1 2 3 4 |
----------------------------------------------------------------
Pattern 8
-----------------------------------------------------------------
| O o o - | O o o - O | O o o - | o o o O |
| 1 2 3 + 4 | 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 | 1 2 3 + 4 | 1 + 2 + 3 4 |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Pattern 9
-----------------------------------------------------------------
| o o o o - o o O | o o - O | o o o o - o o O | |
| 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + | 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + | 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + | 1 2 3 4 |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Pattern 10
-----------------------------------------------------------------
| O O o o o o | - o - o - | O O o o o O | |
| 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + | 1 + 2 + 3 4 | 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + | 1 2 3 4 |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Music notation for Rhythm Patterns 6-10
On DEMO 9 I first play the melody of 'Hey There !', and then one chorus
improvisation with scale-tones only, using Rhythm Pattern 8.
_______________________________________________________________________________
2-5. WHERE'S WOODY ?
Remember the famous cartoons of Woody the Woodpecker, and the signature tune
for it ?
'Where's Woody ?' uses the opening motif of it, almost that is. So naturally
one wonders : Where IS Woody ?
Where's Woody uses the same chord progression as 'Hey There !'.
Again a I - VIm - IIm - V progression, but this time in the key of F.
So go for it folks, find Woody, he's got to be SOMEWHERE !!!
_______________________________________________________________________________
2-6. THE WOODSHED.
Keep working on the major scale in all keys.
First priority are the major scales in A, D, G, C, F and Bb
Then add the others : Eb, Ab, Db, Gb, B, E
In addition to the scale exercise in Lesson 1, start practice on this combined
scale and chord routine :
(DEMO 11)
<----------------- play 2 times -------------------->
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
4 C D E F G A B c | d B G E C D E F | G A B c d B G E :|| C | ||
4 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + | 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + | 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + :|| 1 2 3 4|1 2 3 4||
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
<----- scale ----><-chord->
In words : play each scale up to the 9th and back down the major 9th chord
(four times in all), then sustain the tonic note for two bars. This gives you
time to think about the next scale / chord combination.
C major scale to the 9th : C D E F G A B c d
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Cmaj9 chord : C E G B d
1 3 5 7 9
Practise also the above exercise in reverse : major 9th chord up, then the
scale down.
<----------------- play 2 times -------------------->
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
4 C E G B d c B A | G F E D C E G B | d c B A G F E D :|| C | ||
4 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + | 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + | 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + :|| 1 2 3 4|1 2 3 4||
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
<-chord-><----- scale ----->
Good luck. See you next Lesson,
Michael.
_______________________________________________________________________________
2-7. MAJOR SCALE RULER
The Major scale Ruler is an easy to use device to help you find the notes of
the major scale and major 9th chord in any key.
Use the strips below to find the notes of the major scale in any key.
Align the Tonic note of the required major scale on the LETTER STRIP
with the '1' on the 'Major Scale' strip
LETTER STRIP
C# D# F# G# A# C# D# F# G# A# C#
C Db D Eb E F Gb G Ab A Bb B C Db D Eb E F Gb G Ab A Bb B C Db
| | | | | | | | |
| 2 | 4 | 6 | 8 |
1 3 5 7 9
MAJOR SCALE STRIP
For example, to find the A major scale and Amaj9 chord :
align A on the LETTER STRIP with 1 on the MAJOR SCALE STRIP
LETTER STRIP
C# D# F# G# A# C# D# F# G# A# C#
C Db D Eb E F Gb G Ab A Bb B C Db D Eb E F Gb G Ab A Bb B C Db
------->| | | | | | | | |
| 2 | 4 | 6 | 8 |
1 3 5 7 9
MAJOR SCALE STRIP
Now read the A major scale : A B C# D E F# G# A B
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
And the Amaj9 chord : A C# E G# B
1 3 5 7 9
_______________________________________________________________________________
2-8.QUIZ
A.
1. What is a scale-tone chords.
2. How many scale-tone (triad) chords are there in any major scale.
3. Can a major triad chord be a scale-tone chord of more then one major scale ?
If so : in how many ?
4. Can a minor triad chord be a scale-tone chord in more than one major scale ?
If so : how many ?
5. Is there a triad chord quality that belongs to one major scale only ?
6. Is there a triad chord quality that is NOT a scale-tone chord of the major
scale ?
B.
1. What is a major 9th chord.
2. Spell out the major 9th chord in A, D, G, C, F and Bb.
C.
Fill in the missing note(s) from these major 9th chords :
1. G ? D f a
2. F# A# ? e g#
3. Bb ? F A ?
4. D F# ? C# ?
5. Eb G ? ? f
D.
Place the following I - VIm - IIm - V chords in their proper order :
1. Gm - F - C - Dm
2. G - Dm - C - Am
3. F - Bb - Cm - Gm
4. Bm - D - A - Em
5. Ebm - Abm - Gb - Db
E.
Spell out all scale-tone triad chords(in ascending order) of the major scales
of G and Bb.
ANSWERS IN NEXT LESSON
--------------------------------------
Answers to Quiz 1
A.
1. What is improvisation ? - The instant creation of a melody.
2. What is Free Improvisation ?
Improvisation without a predetermined chord progression
3. What levels are there in a Jazz song ?
Three : Melody line - Chord progression - Scale progression
4. Name three ways of tone selection for improvisation.
Embellishment of the melody - using chord tones - using scale tones
5. Name two devices used in composition and improvisation,
discussed in this lesson.
Repetition - Rhythmic variation (alternating high and low activity)
B.
1. Of how many sections does A Happy Day consists,
and how long is each section ?
Four 8 bar sections
2. What types of repetition can you find in A Happy Day ?
a. repetition of a whole 8 bar section : A A A
b. repetition of a rhythm pattern :
bars 1 and 2 are the same as 3 and 4
bar 5 has the same rhythm as bar 6
bars 17 and 18 are the same as 19 and 20, and as 21 and 22,
and as 23 and 24
c. repetition of motif (contour shape) shifted in pitch :
___
/ | ________
bars 17 and 18 are the same shape as 21 and 22 \/ |/
___
/ |
bars 19 and 20 are the same shape as 23 and 24 / \________
bar 1 and 2 are about the same as bars 3 and 4
3. Give a definition of a major triad chord.
The tonic, 3rd, and 5th note of a major scale
Or the combination of a major 3rd and perfect 5th interval with
the same bottom (root) note
C.
1. How many occurrences of syncopation ('rhythmic surprise') are there in
the A-section of A Happy Day ?
Five in each A-section :
Bar number : 1 3 5 6 7
Beat 4+ 4+ 2+ 2+ 2+
2. How many occurrences of syncopation ('rhythmic surprise') are there in
the Bridge of A Happy Day ?
Eight in the Bridge :
Bar number : 17 19 21 23
Beat 2+ 4+ 2+ 4+ 2+ 4+ 2+ 4+
3. All the chords of 'A Happy Day' fit in the C major scale except the D7.
Two scales are therefore needed for improvisation :
the C major scale for C, F and G7
the G major scale for D7 (chord tones : D F# A C)
D.
1. Describe a major scale in terms of the order of tones and semitones.
The intervals (distances between notes) are :
C D E F G A B c
tone - tone - semitone - tone - tone - tone - semitone
2. Write out the major scales in the keys of Eb, Ab, Db, Gb, B, and E.
Eb major scale : Eb F G Ab Bb C D Eb
Ab major scale : Ab Bb C Db Eb F G Ab
Db major scale : Db Eb F Gb Ab Bb C Db
Gb major scale : Gb Ab Bb B Db Eb F Gb (the B is actually a Cb)
B major scale : B C# D# E F# G# A# B
E major scale : E F# G# A B C# D# E
3. Which Rhythm Patterns (1 to 5 in Chapt.1-6) contain syncopations ?
All except Pattern 1.
(See Blues Book Chapt.4 and 5 for Syncopation)
______________________________________________________________________________
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Copyright 1997 Michael Furstner. All rights reserved.
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