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TheAlteredModeIntroduction
Thealteredscaleisanexcellentwaytogainaccesstoallofalteredtensionsofadominant
chord.Infact,thealteredscalecontainseverypossiblealteredchordtonewhichistheb9,
#9,#11and#5(orb13)–rememberthatthe#5/b13isthesamenote,butjazzmusicians
usebothnameswhichcanbeconfusing.
Withallofthesealterations,it’snosurprisethatthealteredmodeisatoughonetovisualise
andmemoriseinall12keys.
UnderstandinghowtoresolvetheAlteredTensionsinthescale
Sonowthatwehaveagoodunderstandingoftheconstructionofthealteredmode.Let’s
explorehowwecanresolvethealteredtensionsinthescale.
Thisisperhapsthemostvaluablepieceofinformationtotakeawayfromthislesson.
Ifwethinkbacktothe251progression,weknowthatthe7thofthechordalwaysresolves
downahalfsteptobecomethe3rdofthenextchord.Youcanusethisresolutioninyour
linestooutlinethechordchangethatistakingplace,let’slookatafewexamples.
Inthesamewaythatthe7thwantstoresolveto3rdina251,thealterationsofthealtered
modehavestrongresolutionpointsthatyoucanutiliseinyourimprovisedlines.
Rememberthatoneofthehallmarksoffjazzisthecreationoftensionandthenresolution
oftensionandsohavinganunderstandingofhowtoresolvealterationsisveryimportant.
Todemonstratethislet’susea5-1progressioninC-whichisG7alttothe1chordC-
Here’stheGAlteredmode,workingfromthebottomupwards,thefirstalterationistheb9.
Intermsofthe1chord,theb9isahalfstepabovethe5thofC.Thefifthisaprimarychord
toneofCmajorandsomovingfromtheb9tothe5thcreatesastrongsenseofresolution.
Thisisthesameinanykey,theb9ofthe5chordishalfastepabovethe5thofthe1chord.
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Hereisaverycommonalteredscalepatternsthatusesthisresolution.Thisexactpatternor
slightvariationsofitcanbeheardincountlessrecordingssolistenoutforit.The#9tob9to
#5hasadistinctivesoundnomatterwhatkeyyouareplayingin:
Thisalteredlickstartsonthe#9andthenrunsdowntheb9,#5,major3andthenthe#9
andb9againbeforeresolvingintothe5ofthe1chord.
Thispatternalsoworkswellovermajor251s,rememberthatyoucansubstitutethealtered
modeoverthe5chordinanymajor251progression.
Anotherstrongresolutionpointisintothe9ofthe1chord.
The#11andthe#5enclosethe9ofthe1chordandsoyoucanuseeachofthese
alterationstocreateastrongsenseofresolution.We’lllookatanexampleinamoment.
Inaminor251,the#11whichcanalsoresolvedownahalfsteptotheroot,however,the
upwardsresolutiontothe9thisstrongerandlandsonacolourfulextension.
Nowletstalkaboutharmonisingthescale:
Youcangetsomeverycoolsoundsoutofthealteredmodebyharmonisingeachnoteofthe
scalewith7thchords.
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Youshouldpracticearpeggiatingthese7thchordssothatyouarefamiliarwiththeshapes
andsounds.Onceyouhavedonethisyoucantryaddingthemtoyourline.
Themaj7#5arpeggiobuiltoffthemajor3isparticularlyuseful.ForG7altthisisaBmaj7#5
chord.
Here’sacoupleofexamples.Inthefirstoneweplay3descendingarpeggiosoverthe251:
Inthenextexamplewecombinedownwardsandupwardsarpeggiosagainusingthe
Bmaj7#5arpeggioovertheG7altchord:
Asanexercise,transposetheselinesintoafewdifferentkeys.
Themainbenefitofharmonisingthescaleusing7thchordsisthatyoucanaddmoreangular
soundingintervalsintoyourlines.Oftenwhenyouarejustthinkingofthescaleasa
sequentialsetofnotes,youtendtocreatelinearlinesthatsimplyrunupanddownthe
scale.
Learningtocombinearpeggioswithstepwisescalemotionwillallowyouunlockmuchmore
interestingmelodiccontourswithinthealteredmode.