Studies Books on scales and chords

[Chas]

Hello evdfy one, can anyone recommend any books on musical scales chords etc, I'm looking for a book which will explain and show me how to play major, minor ,diminished,sus,9th,11ths,13ths, you get the driff,I hope. And want them to show me in the scale of C then i can transpose them to other scales eg major 1 3 5 minor 1 flat 3rd 5 and so on so that i can learn all these in differnt scales. I hope you can understand what i meen. Take care be safe Charlie, stay cool keep it jazz

 

[Mark Hancock]

You might want to take a look at Patterns for Jazz, by Jerry Coker. I have the book but if you Google it you'll see you can get it as a pdf.

 

[Chas]

Nice one top man I will take a look cheers mark

 

[brianr]

You don’t say how long you have played, so only guessing at your current level.

But unless you are already fluent in all major scales and corresponding arpeggios, I would suggest forgetting about diminished, sus, etc etc

Patterns for jazz is a great way in, but very expensive. If available online...great. It is very thorough.

But you can do this yourself, which in many ways, is better.

Learn all major scales up and down

Then learn to go up one and down another. Initially seperate by a semi tone . Ie up C down C sharp, up D etc . But also down C , up C sharp, etc.

Then try a different interval between them. ie a tone. So up C down D etc. Down C, up D

Do the same with arpeggios. Learn them all individually, then go up and down same as scales. Different intervals between them.

That’s one thing. Next is to learn all triads within a major scale.
Become fluent at playing these.
So.. C maj, Dmin, E min, F maj, G maj, A min, Bminb5.

If you don’t und3stand that, then I’m certain that you should not be go8ng into the stuff you are talking about.

Maj scales and arpeggios within that, will get you very far, without the confusing nature of all the stuff.

Good luck.

 

[Colin the Bear]

Piano lessons are great for theory. Chords are like lego. Once you know how they work you can easily build them, so a theory book will help. It's much more useful to know how to construct a chord than to try to memorise them all with no understanding. We ain't guitarists.

 

[Zugzwang]

All Jamey Aebersold books have a “Scale syllabus” that also has the relevant chords listed, so if you can think digitally- 1 b3 5 etc it’s all there. There’s his free Jazz Handbook on pdf out there if you don’t want to buy one of his playalong books.

 

[Pete Effamy]

Then learn to go up one and down another. Initially seperate by a semi tone . Ie up C down C sharp, up D etc . But also down C , up C sharp, etc.

This isn’t the only way, and whilst some find this a good way others may prefer going around the cycle of 4ths/5ths - in that way you only change 1 note each time. With the start note moving further some find that part more confusing though.
The next way is to play all types of scale that start on a chosen note. In a certain order, 1 note only need be changed again for the most part.

Scale
C Major - C7 - Cm7 - Cm (maj7) eg
C Bb Eb. B

Whatever works for your own sense of logic

 

[Chas]

You might want to take a look at Patterns for Jazz, by Jerry Coker. I have the book but if you Google it you'll see you can get it as a pdf.

Thanks for advice mark charlie

 

[Chas]

Piano lessons are great for theory. Chords are like lego. Once you know how they work you can easily build them, so a theory book will help. It's much more useful to know how to construct a chord than to try to memorise them all with no understanding. We ain't guitarists.

thanks colin charlir

 

[Chas]

All Jamey Aebersold books have a “Scale syllabus” that also has the relevant chords listed, so if you can think digitally- 1 b3 5 etc it’s all there. There’s his free Jazz Handbook on pdf out there if you don’t want to buy one of his playalong books.

Thanks zugzwang charlie

 

[Pete Thomas]

All Jamey Aebersold books have a “Scale syllabus” that also has the relevant chords listed, so if you can think digitally- 1 b3 5 etc it’s all there. There’s his free Jazz Handbook on pdf out there if you don’t want to buy one of his playalong books.

I'm sorry to say I think a lot of Aebersold scale syllabus is wrong and confusing. There are much better methods...

 

[hedgehog]

I'm sorry to say I think a lot of Aebersold scale syllabus is wrong and confusing. There are much better methods...

The Café's twin site Taming The Saxophone obviously isn't a book but does cover much of what the OP requested...scales of all sorts, transposition, etc.

 

[Zugzwang]

I'm sorry to say I think a lot of Aebersold scale syllabus is wrong and confusing. There are much better methods...

... Do tell...
Sorry to if I'm forcing you to blow your own ..... ,(someone's got to do it) ....

but also "wrong and confusing"? Please say more.

(personally I think he's also un-listenable to, but far better musicians than me rate him, so who am I? etc)

 

[Pete Thomas]

... Do tell...
Sorry to if I'm forcing you to blow your own ..... ,(someone's got to do it) ....

OK, if you really insist 🙂

Vol 2 Beginners Impro

A theory book along with simple but interesting blues, ska and swing playalong tunes. Not heavy jazz theory, but useful for the beginner improviser

tamingthesaxophone.com

It was kind of a bit tongue in cheek, as Aebersold is more aimed mostly at jazz, this is impro in general, pop, blues ska...But it's more about a creative concept rather than just equating each chord to a mode or whatever.


Sorry, folks - he made me say it.

 

[Zugzwang]

... "wrong and confusing" was the bit I liked, was interested in, @Pete Thomas

 

[Pete Thomas]

... "wrong and confusing" was the bit I liked, was interested in, @Pete Thomas especially "wrong" ???

Yes. If someone says that the scale to "use" on G7 chord is a G mixolydian, that to me is wrong. A G mixolydian is a mode to be used when you have a composition in that mode.

Furthermore the notes G A B C D E F G may well fit when in the key of C (Dm7 G7 C) but not at all good if you are in C minor.

So I look at that whole chuck of chord sequence as a key centre:

Dm7 G7 C implies first of all the notes of a C scale over all three chords. not a separate scale fo each chord (D dorian, g mixolydian, C major)

Similarly Dm7b5, G7 C minor forst of all implies a scale of C minor over all three. (That becomes slightly more complex as you have a choice of different minor scales. My "go to" would probably be harmonic in many cases)

BUT we should always ideally think of scales as a collection of notes to choose from to make up melodies (so can be a scakle but could just bea phrase) , while knowing the actual chord tones and their tendences (e.g. in G7, the note B has a conventional tendency to want to resolve to a C)

In practice then:

If I have G7 to C I will take the G7, ie G B D F, and know those chord notes then fill in with the scale of C:
G A B C D E F G


If I have G7 to Cmin I will take the G7, ie G B D F, and know those chord notes then fill in with the scale of C minor:
G Ab B C D Eb F G

 

[Zugzwang]

Yes. If someone says that the scale to "use" on G7 chord is a G mixolydian, that to me is wrong. A G mixolydian is a mode to be used when you have a composition in that mode.
Furthermore the notes G A B C D E F G may well fit when in the key of C (Dm7 G7 C) but not at all good if you are in C minor.
So I look at that whole chuck of chord sequence as a key centre:
Dm7 G7 C implies first of all the notes of a C scale over all three chords. not a separate scale fo each chord (D dorian, g mixolydian, C major)
Similarly Dm7b5, G7 C minor forst of all implies a scale of C minor over all three. (That becomes slightly more complex as you have a choice of different minor scales. My "go to" would probably be harmonic in many cases)
BUT we should always ideally think of scales as a collection of notes to choose from to make up melodies (so can be a scakle but could just bea phrase) , while knowing the actual chord tones and their tendences (e.g. in G7, the note B has a conventional tendency to want to resolve to a C)
In practice then:
If I have G7 to C I will take the G7, ie G B D F, and know those chord notes then fill in with the scale of C:
G A B C D E F G
If I have G7 to Cmin I will take the G7, ie G B D F, and know those chord notes then fill in with the scale of C minor:
G Ab B C D Eb F G

Hurrah!

 

[Pete Thomas]

Afterthought:

But maybe my use of the word "wrong" was not absolutely correct. I mostly meant a "wrong" method as in I don't like it as opposed to always end up with "wrong" notes.