5 Secrets for Mastering the Altered Scale

By Eric • Jazz Theory • PRO • Dominant • Scales

The dominant chord is one of the most versatile chords in the jazz repertoire, and it’s your best bet for adding harmonic tension and melodic interest to your lines. The only problem is that many players approach this sound with the same old scales and licks every time. And this can get pretty boring…

1. Introduction
2. Master the Basic Scale
3. Get Creative in the Practice Room
4. Altering the Dominant Chord
5. The Altered Scale and ii-V’s
6. Patterns and Common Language With the Altered Scale
7. Getting Beyond the Scale…

Top Tunes This Lesson Applies To:

If I Were a Bell

That’s why today we’re going to show you one of the most powerful techniques for playing V7 chords like a pro – the altered scale.

Transforming this often misunderstood scale from a mundane theory exercise into an invaluable melodic tool that you can start using in every solo.

Here are 5 Secrets to Mastering the Altered Scale…

#1) Master the basic scale

Screen Shot 2016 09 24 at 7.29.48 PM

If you ask a group of musicians about what to play over an altered dominant chord you’re likely to get a number of answers.

From melodic minor scales to diminished patterns, and even tritone substitutions…

But what you might not realize is that most of these altered approaches are describing the same scale.

Four names for the altered scale

That’s a lot of theory jargon. But at the end of the day, it’s just four different ways of looking at the this scale:

the altered scale

You can mentally approach this scale is a number of ways, but the sound of these 8 tones will be the same…

What matters is how you can access this sound on the fly in your solo. If you prefer to think of melodic minor – use that. If it’s the altered scale – use that. Just remember, in a solo you only have a split second to decide.

The altered scale is a great way to easily access all of the “Altered notes” of a V7 chord. For example, take the A altered scale over an A7 alt. chord:

chord tones in the altered scale

By using this scale you’ll highlight the b9, #9, b5 (tritone), b13, and b7 of the underlying dominant chord. As you practice this scale, make sure you know how and hear how each note relates to the underlying chord.

Step one is learning the altered scale in every key.

You can practice with a background track or even a drone tone sustaining the root. Listen for the unique quality of each chord tone (#9, b13, etc.) and how it sounds in relation to the bass note.

Practicing this way is a great Ear training exercise. And when it comes time to solo, your ears will guide you to these altered tones and allow you to incorporate them in your lines.

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