Minor Chord Extensions
With
Ollie Weston
What's in the course
51 lessons (2h 9m) · 1 free
01. Introduction + leaving town demonstration
Free lesson3:02
02. The Blues Scale
2:48
03. Swing Quavers
1:42
04. Combing the Blues Scale and Swing Quavers
3:57
05. Playing through the Blues form using root notes
1:18
06. Writes Your Own Blues
0:59
07. Leaving Town Blues - Improvise
4:13
08. Improvisation recap
0:49
01. Introduction to Minor 7th Chords
3:32
02. Dorian Scale Workout
1:40
03. Minor 7th Chord Lick
2:22
04. Minor Pentatonic Patterns
3:51
05. Minor Pentatonic Workout
1:52
06. Pentatonic vs Blues Scale
1:59
07. So Far so Good - Introduction
1:09
08. So Far so Good - Head
1:37
09. Minor Chord Extensions
You are here2:45
10. Rhythmic Ideas
2:13
11. So Far so Good - Performance with Solo
3:50
01. Introduction to Modes
6:09
02. Diatonic Modes Exercise
4:04
03. Modes with a Static Root
1:58
04. Modes with Static Root Exercise
1:06
05. Modes with Static Root Recap
0:34
06. Phrase Exercise for Modes
1:07
07. Phrase Exercise for Modes (Demonstration)
1:29
08. Song Examples
1:56
09. First Impresssions - Chords and Harmony
4:06
10. First Impresssions - Performance
4:06
11. First Impresssions - Introduction and Analysis
3:30
Lesson transcript
Soloing Concepts in Dorian Modal Tunes
So, once you've played the head of the major seventh heaven, there's then space for soloing. I'm just going to introduce a few concepts for you to think about when you're soloing.
Exploring the Dorian Scale
In these modal tunes, where it's based on a Dorian scale, it's really nice to explore:
- Chord tones
- Passing notes
We've played them all very close together as a scale:
- Root
- Second
- Third
- Fourth
- Fifth
- Sixth
- Seventh
- Octave
Using Non-Chord Notes
What I want to do is focus on the non-chord notes, the passing notes: the second, fourth, and sixth, and I want to put them up an octave to create a little bit more space.
From the bottom, we're going to get the:
- Root
- Third
- Fifth
- Seventh
as per our usual minor seventh voicing.
But then I'm going to take:
- The second and instead of playing it here, I'll play it up an octave.
- Same thing with the fourth.
- Same thing with the sixth.
And I'll end up with this voicing:
We end up with all the notes of the mode sounding at the same time.
The Sound on Piano
On the piano, this chord will sound like this:
Being able to spread out your scale and shoot some notes up an octave really gives you those lovely, colorful, expressive notes at the top.
Melody Structure
I really like the G sharp. I often start my melody here. I also enjoy ending on the C sharp on the ninth.
- It's not a chord tone, but it's a really colorful, expressive-sounding note.
- It gives a little bit of ambiguity and mystery to my melody.
Bridge Melody
Notice how the bridge melody is exactly the same but an upper semitone. This is quite a popular pattern used by Miles Davis.
What I've already mentioned, but also check out John Coltrane's "Impressions."
51 lessons
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Meet your guru
Meet your guru
Since graduating from the Leeds College of Music (BA Hons) and the Guildhall School of Music (Post Graduate Diploma in Performance), Ollie has built a busy and varied career in music. As a saxophonist he has performed in live and studio settings with artists as diverse as Amy Winehouse, Tim Minchin, Bonobo, Frank Turner, the London Jazz Orchestra, the Hackney Colliery Band, the Ambient Jazz Ensemble and the Nelson Riddle Orchestra. He is also the co-leader of the jazz quartet 'Time Is Of The Essence', and composes and arranges material for this and other ensembles.
Ollie is active in music education, currently as course leader for the jazz department at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama (junior school), where he runs jazz ensembles, big band and theory classes. He has written a series of 'Exploring Jazz' books for Schott Music that are published worldwide and feature on exam syllabuses in the UK. Ollie has also run workshops for Oxford University, Pro Corda Strings and BABSWE, as well as the Guildhall School of Music summer schools.
In his Exploring Jazz Saxophone courses, Ollie takes you from getting started right through to soloing confidently over songs and chord sequences, building the improvising skills that put a real jazz player's vocabulary at your fingertips.
