Music Lesson: Chords and Scales

So far, we've looked at major, dominant, and minor seventh chords. I would say these account for probably about 80% of the chords you're likely to find in most jazz standards.

We've also explored the related scales of these chords:

• Major scale
• Mixolydian scale
• Dorian scale

Daily Practice Routine

Now, I'd like you to make a habit of playing the chords in the left hand and the scales in the right hand, maybe on a different note every day.

Starting with C

This is basically revision.

• Major seventh in the left hand
• Major scale in the right

Let's play each scale twice and play the chord on the first beat of the bar. This is also about getting used to where the "one" is. We'll do this with the metronome:

1, 2. Let's play swing quavers. 3, 4.

That didn't take very long, did it? But remember, don't just do it in C, choose a different note every day. This can be part of your warm-up.

Example in G

If you were to do it in G, you'd need to start with the G major scale. Loop it like that so it's in four, four time:

• Flatten the seventh, both hands
• Then the minor seventh
• The minor third

Smooth Transitions

Make sure you can change smoothly from one chord to the next and from one scale to the next. Both hands should match.

• If you play swing quavers, you can also do it in straight quavers.
• But it's good to include some swing quavers and try different tempos.

Maybe that was a bit fast in some of the keys, so you might have to think about the fingering.

Broaden Your Practice

This is a really good reason to do this in all 12 keys eventually, but one a day is fine. In a fortnight, it will give you plenty of time to cover them all if you do one a day.

Looking Ahead

The last thing we're going to look at briefly is the next part of the course where we will expand the number of chords we use to include half diminished chords and diminished chords.

Let's go back from the top:

• C major 7
• Flatten the 7th: C7
• Flatten the 3rd: C minor 7

Diminished Chords

Now, if you flatten the 5th, that gives you C minor 7, flat 5, otherwise known as C half diminished. We haven't had that chord in this chapter; we've only encountered diminished triads.

The diminished seventh chord will be the next one, which includes an A on top. So that's got a flat five and a diminished seventh.

Summary of Seventh Chords

There are three types of seventh:

• Major
• Flattened
• Diminished

The diminished seventh is actually the same note as the sixth. This is why the previous chord is called half diminished, it doesn't have a diminished seventh, just a flattened seventh.

Practice in Different Keys

Get used to playing those chords in different keys with different starting notes.

• If you did them in G in the left hand, you could try playing all five chords:

  • G major 7
  • G 7
  • G minor 7
  • G half diminished
  • G diminished

There you go. There's your warm-up for the day!