Mixolydian, whole-tone and chromatic scales

Music Lesson: Scales and Chords for Straight No Chaser

In this lesson, we're going to look at some of the scales that you could use in Straight, No Chaser.

Chords and Scales

• No Chasso or any blues in F:
  • Remember that in blues, the tonic chord is dominant.
  • For example, if it was a blues in C, you wouldn't play the C major chord; you'd have to play C7 and flatten the seventh in the scale as well.

Mixolydian Mode

• This scale has a name: it's called the Mixolydian mode.
  • Alternatively, think of it as a seventh scale or a dominant scale.
  • The only difference between Mixolydian scales and major scales is the flat 7.

Application in Blues in F

• Here's the Mixolydian scale on F.
  • On F7: same fingering as F major but with an E flat.
  • Notice I'm playing the chord on the one; this was a two-bar loop.
• Let's do a similar loop for B flat: 3, 4.
  • I chose to play a tritone there.
  • You could have played a chord instead.

Getting Fluent

• To become fluent with those scales, you need to learn them as scales in their own right:
  • B flat Mixolydian
  • C Mixolydian

Whole Tone Scales

However, Monk has a little trick that he uses all the time.

• It's a very recognizable part of his style: the use of whole tone scales.
  • For instance, on the C, instead of playing the Mixolydian scale, he might play this:

Scale Characteristics

• This scale has only six notes:
  • Three white notes and three black notes.
• If we did it on F, it would be like this:
  • That has four white notes and two black notes.

Application on B Flat

• B flat is the same as the previous scale.
• In fact, there are only two whole tone scales:
  • This C scale is the same as:
    • D scale
    • E scale
    • F sharp scale
    • A flat scale
    • B flat scale

So, you only need to learn two of them.

Solo Observation

When you listen to the solo that I do on the Straight, No Chaser track, you'll notice I play a scale pattern in the C7 bar featuring this whole tone scale.

Triad Pattern

• This is the pattern I play:
  • It's a triad pattern I'm using.
  • You'll see there's an augmented triad in there, they are all augmented triads.

Terminology

It's worth mentioning that terminology can be confusing.

• You need to know that:
  • Raised fifth, sharpened fifth, augmented fifth, they all mean the same thing.
  • In chord symbols, they may be expressed as:
    • Sharp 5
    • Plus 5
    • Or just have a plus sign (+).

Similarly, a flat five, diminished fifth, or lowered fifth also mean the same notes.

• For an F chord, if you want to play F7, flat five or diminished fifth would have a B in place of a C.

Chord Symbols

The chord symbol could be written as F7B or F7b5 in some situations.

• Either way, that's a whole tone type chord.
• So, whether you have sharp 5 or flat 5:
  • If you put both in these chords, the chord symbols imply the whole tone scale.

Implying Whole Tone Scale

• C7 could have:
  • If you're going to play sharp 5 or flat 5, that implies a whole tone scale.

Ending of the Piece

You'll notice the ending of the piece in the coda.

• I finish it like this:
  • There's your flat five chord.
  • The fill at the top is also whole tone, although it's up here.

Chromatic Scale

There's one more scale which is actually used in the melody of Straight, No Chaser, and that's a chromatic scale.

• This is also in the C7 bar.
• You probably know how to finger these already, but just in case, here's the normal fingering:
  • Use your thumb and third finger, and second finger on F.
  • If you have two white notes in succession, use the second finger.

Practicing

• Otherwise, just alternate thumb and third finger.
• Practice that up and down several octaves to become fluent with it.

Ready to Play

Okay, ready to play Straight, No Chaser!