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TheAlteredModeIntroductionThealteredscaleisanexcellentwaytogainaccesstoallofalteredtensionsofadominantchord.Infact,thealteredscalecontainseverypossiblealteredchordtonewhichistheb9,#9,#11and#5(orb13)–rememberthatthe#5/b13isthesamenote,butjazzmusiciansusebothnameswhichcanbeconfusing.Withallofthesealterations,it’snosurprisethatthealteredmodeisatoughonetovisualiseandmemoriseinall12keys.
UnderstandinghowtoresolvetheAlteredTensionsinthescale
Sonowthatwehaveagoodunderstandingoftheconstructionofthealteredmode.Let’sexplorehowwecanresolvethealteredtensionsinthescale.Thisisperhapsthemostvaluablepieceofinformationtotakeawayfromthislesson.Ifwethinkbacktothe251progression,weknowthatthe7thofthechordalwaysresolvesdownahalfsteptobecomethe3rdofthenextchord.Youcanusethisresolutioninyourlinestooutlinethechordchangethatistakingplace,let’slookatafewexamples.Inthesamewaythatthe7thwantstoresolveto3rdina251,thealterationsofthealteredmodehavestrongresolutionpointsthatyoucanutiliseinyourimprovisedlines.Rememberthatoneofthehallmarksoffjazzisthecreationoftensionandthenresolutionoftensionandsohavinganunderstandingofhowtoresolvealterationsisveryimportant.Todemonstratethislet’susea5-1progressioninC-whichisG7alttothe1chordC-Here’stheGAlteredmode,workingfromthebottomupwards,thefirstalterationistheb9.
Intermsofthe1chord,theb9isahalfstepabovethe5thofC.ThefifthisaprimarychordtoneofCmajorandsomovingfromtheb9tothe5thcreatesastrongsenseofresolution.Thisisthesameinanykey,theb9ofthe5chordishalfastepabovethe5thofthe1chord.
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Hereisaverycommonalteredscalepatternsthatusesthisresolution.Thisexactpatternorslightvariationsofitcanbeheardincountlessrecordingssolistenoutforit.The#9tob9to#5hasadistinctivesoundnomatterwhatkeyyouareplayingin:
Thisalteredlickstartsonthe#9andthenrunsdowntheb9,#5,major3andthenthe#9andb9againbeforeresolvingintothe5ofthe1chord.
Thispatternalsoworkswellovermajor251s,rememberthatyoucansubstitutethealteredmodeoverthe5chordinanymajor251progression.
Anotherstrongresolutionpointisintothe9ofthe1chord.The#11andthe#5enclosethe9ofthe1chordandsoyoucanuseeachofthesealterationstocreateastrongsenseofresolution.We’lllookatanexampleinamoment.Inaminor251,the#11whichcanalsoresolvedownahalfsteptotheroot,however,theupwardsresolutiontothe9thisstrongerandlandsonacolourfulextension.
Nowletstalkaboutharmonisingthescale:Youcangetsomeverycoolsoundsoutofthealteredmodebyharmonisingeachnoteofthescalewith7thchords.
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Youshouldpracticearpeggiatingthese7thchordssothatyouarefamiliarwiththeshapesandsounds.Onceyouhavedonethisyoucantryaddingthemtoyourline.Themaj7#5arpeggiobuiltoffthemajor3isparticularlyuseful.ForG7altthisisaBmaj7#5chord.Here’sacoupleofexamples.Inthefirstoneweplay3descendingarpeggiosoverthe251:
InthenextexamplewecombinedownwardsandupwardsarpeggiosagainusingtheBmaj7#5arpeggioovertheG7altchord:
Asanexercise,transposetheselinesintoafewdifferentkeys.Themainbenefitofharmonisingthescaleusing7thchordsisthatyoucanaddmoreangularsoundingintervalsintoyourlines.Oftenwhenyouarejustthinkingofthescaleasasequentialsetofnotes,youtendtocreatelinearlinesthatsimplyrunupanddownthescale.Learningtocombinearpeggioswithstepwisescalemotionwillallowyouunlockmuchmoreinterestingmelodiccontourswithinthealteredmode.
