Altered Harmony: Why and How (Jazz Guitar Lesson JA-025) How to Play

[tonogc]

Your videos are awesome, Justin! I've been taking personal lessons, but your videos on youtube really help me when I want to "go back" a bit. It would be really nice if you could send me a link or an e-mail with a couple of exercises that can help me improve my technique and speed! Been playing for six years, but I haven't progressed that much in the speed department. Thanks in advance and keep it up!

[FFPOfficialPage]

Okay what confused me is Where you wrote the notes of the G 7 chord And put G B D F. In G major shouldnt the F have been F#, Which specifies why you put an F as the Flat7 note. Pause the video at 8:24 and you'll see what i mean.

[Jefferson1276]

@FFPOfficialPage Justin is starting with G7 as the the 5th (Dominant) chord in the C Major scale. The notes in the C Major scale are C-D-E-F-G-A-B. The F# note would make the chord a major 7th, not dominant. Hope this helps.

[FFPOfficialPage]

@Jefferson1276

Alright, thanks.. didn't know he was playing in C.

[Leonard5555]

u lost me at that harmonic altered stuff

[DecemberSean]

We know you want your website & lessons deep and comprehensive.

But, that aside, do you use your own promises as motivation? Do you knowingly mention that on a video, thinking “then I’ll have to do it, because I said it” then ultimately the lessons get better, etc.

Or are you thinking only of the overall site and need absolutely no needed motivation?

Or maybe it’s something else? What motivates Justin on the little things?

Thanks - From all of us.

[DecemberSean]

Justin, here is an ODD question. I am a donator also :)

This must be 2 parts, sorry.

You’re a blessing to the music community and honestly, planet earth. There is no doubt in my mind your teaching has a huge trickle effect.

In many videos, you give great ‘side’ pointers & mention you will do another video on that subject, later. One thing I noticed, you actually do!! You keep your word!

My odd question is... What motivates you to do those secondary videos you promised?

And.........

[ZeppelinFloydRoses]

Okay so I went away and tested myself with E7.

Tell if this is correct.

E Altered Scale = E F G Ab Bb C D

F Melodic Minor = F G Ab Bb C D E

Please someone get back to me as soon as possible.

[tarconcontar]

@ZeppelinFloydRoses Yes/ Correct!

[rockabillylaker]

Hurt my brain a little. Kinda reminded me of 8th grade Algebra. The difference? This was fun to learn and more useful (to me) than Algebra. I'm slowly learning jazz and this was a great lesson. Thanks Justin.

[burger1113]

ooh I can tell you are a really good teacher... your students are very lucky. And WE are very lucky to have you teach us for free! lol

[puddleduck8051]

More useful stuff from Justin. He explains it in a way that's easy to understand instead of being showing off his knowledge. Best teacher ever.

[jltei]

Yes,and by harmonising the melodic minor and using as melodies arpeggios inter weaved+chord substitutions+cadences possibilities,you have the "total"system,ie can possibly play any of the 12 notes and link any chord with musical meaning in any circumstance.You can play tonal on modal or vice-versa.Then you think as a composer on harmonic masses all the time,no more partial concepts like modes,scales, and so on,everything is linked.As long as you can t see the whole,you don t see much unhappily!

[Pluckyxo]

I want to learn my 2-5-1 and ur lessons r cool but  my head hurts and I'd like to kick u in the shin

[consul1957]

Good stuff!

[Tomkay1081]

His theory book(PDF) is awesome. I'm about half way done. Very solid

[ayipbae]

great concepst, simple method n eazy to learning, thankz brader.. :-)

[thisisjustjeff]

I'd just like to ask one thing. On your last example, you used Ab7 and said that the corresponding melodic minor scale would be A. I understand why, but theory wise, we wouldn't call that A, right? From an Ab, we should say it in terms of B (Like, a Bbb, or B double flat), shouldn't we?

[JustinSandercoe]

@thisisjustjeff yeah, technically a Bbb. Or think of the Ab as G# then it'd be A MM

[BRoybal405]

Are the modes of Melodic Minor the same as Jazz Minor? The reason I ask is I thought the Altered scale was the 7th mode of Jazz Minor

[rillloudmother]

@BRoybal405 yes, jazz minor is more commonly referred to as melodic minor.

[verbotenco]

I read your bio and it seemed you have completed an incredible amount of musical achievements in the span of your entire career. How old are you man?

[andyreadman]

Fantastic lesson! Thanks!

[franksinbeans]

Good for you man, awesome work. I love that you care to actually help people understand this theory, good on ya. Thanks for this!

[ichi612]

you are a wonderful teacher i understand all thanks again mate

Cheers mate

[MisterSaxmeister]

Nice one Justin, but I do find it easier to think of this scale as a diminished wholetone scale, along the lines of the Jamie Aebersold scale syllabus! The first 4 tones are the diminished scale (starting with a semitone) the rest of the scale consists whole tones. This means that you can base the scale from the root of the chord without haveing to think in terms of the 7th. mode of the parent scale which makes rhings easier. There is always another way of looking at things!

[EighteenHertz]

Okay, so help me out here... I do not know much music theory, yet I love jazzy stuff, so I decided to learn a lot of music theory about it. When you talk about, for example, the flat 7. Does that indicate an interval of 7 notes from the root note (the G)?

If so then I think I'm starting to get it. Great video! Very well explained.

[Jdudeo]

@EighteenHertz flat 7 is another way of saying minor 7, you can think of a dominant 7th chord either as a major 7 chord with the 7th lowered a half step (making it a minor 7), or a minor 7th chord with the 3rd raised a half step (making it a major 3rd). Since a major 7th is a semi tone lower than the root, a flat 7 is a whole tone lower, hope that helps

[EighteenHertz]

@Jdudeo Thanks :), I've done a lot of research and I'm starting to understand it... memorize it is another story though! It's a lot to soak up.

[Jdudeo]

@EighteenHertz well as he said, it's just the 7th mode of melodic minor so learn your melodic minor then you'll be able to use it, melodic minor is just a major scale with a flat 3

[roccckkerrr]

@mightywarriorx so if you're ever playing along and a G7b9#5 gets in your way you know to play Ab melodic minor over it.

[mightywarriorx]

I got all of this. But what's the point of it?

[dreadnought45]

What's the proper fingering for this scale?

[Vinc90]

Great lesson and very easy to understand!!! Thanks

[IronPump89]

Very nice lesson.

Do you know any songs containing melodies in melodic minor? or altered scale?

thanks

[mfbown]

At 2:53 don't you mean #5#9? You say b9.

[gregoryusa1]

Miles Davis was not a Julliard grad. He left within a year for he realized the real education was happening live on 52nd St.

[jemjoesatch]

my god its like advanced space mechanics

[foxybrown2]

BY the way Great teaching. Oh yea what do you think about Julliard VS Berkley

academics and where did you go to school?

[ppingpoong]

that was really helpful! cheers dude!

[DesPondent100]

Resolving to C as the one chord?

[EpictheEpicest]

I respect all those players who stick to their theory, but I just can't do it. I love music theory on a whole, but all this stuff just gives me a head trip. I just try to use different chord inversions and what-not to make something interesting, there's still a lot I don't know by traditionally studying theory, and doing it traditional definitely helps, but I did do piano for 7 years, so that also translates a bit to what I do. So my advice is to play by ear and practice a lot, theory also helps

[lazur1]

@Epic: Theory's just an explanation of why something sounds good. All good players play by ear, the better ones just have better ears, usually from studying theory, but not always: If you first copy players you admire & later use the concepts you've discovered in their music to play original music, you've learned practical theory.

[foxybrown2]

@lazur1 AND THAT IS THE ANSWER! some people do it the other way but I think the way you said is better

[GtrDudeL]

love it - great lesson justin!!! keep 'em coming!

[nittynitnitty]

you sound like your from london!

[rouenea]

this was an easy lesson, it makes perfect sense.

[aiwoavril]

superb!!!

[BeatBay]

perfect lesson. you cant make it better

[ericrob2112]

wes montgomery kno all of those things even if he dosent read music he kno all of is scales. i am sure of that... cant sound like wes if you dont learn melodic minor s mode.

[JoeGrahamMO]

@ericrob2112 You cant sound like Wes period.

[trcain1964]

Great Job! You are are a good teacher.

[rafikimetalperu]

i really admire you dude you always try to teach to everybody your knowledge your great :D

[rillloudmother]

this is way over complicated. god i would never tell anyone to think of the 3rd of a G7 as a Cb, that's just wrong.

[Fiarzen]

very helpful Justin, thanks :)

[themayking666]

your accent makes this video the most comprehensible of all the jazz alt theory vids on utube :)

[egoran181]

Of course he did, dear Spidrmage They were playing and practising hell of the time and through practising and playing there were making theory and foundation of jazz guitar.Do not tell me you can play jazz and classic by ear.Best regards

[dexarouskies]

it scares me that I understand this.

[ViaOSCard]

Don't wanna be the nasty geek here.. but Ab7 altered is actually the 7th mode of Bbb (double flat) melodic minor and not A melodic minor.. personally I wouldn't mind.. but I know a couple of fellas who would take it really hard..

[AaronQ1222]

One way to think about the altered scale is the intervallic relationship between the notes of the scale with the tonic, which when you analyze it, would be: 1 - b2 - b3 - b4 - b5 - b6 - b7, which resembles the locrian mode, except now the fourth is altered, making it a diminished fourth, hence "super locrian". The idea is to memorize the specific alterations of all the different modes; melodic minor or otherwise, so you know what chord is appropriate for whatever scale you're playing.

[pudicio]

I think it's awesome how you can see you're a creative person by the way you're writing everything down, using different symbols and writing styles all the time :) It's like improvising :)

[BlikeNave]

Sickkkkk

[jimbang]

most great jazz players know their thoery but since they are so well versed in it they tend to "forget" it when they play.Its imposible to say that the jazz greats dont know their theory-how do they play guitar that good without even knowing anything(doesnt make sense).Anyways this is a great lesson justin-very well delivered,simple to understand.

[stumpie0789]

THESE ADVERTISEMENTS ARE obsurd! YOUTUBE! WAY TO SELL OUT!

[MarcBurnsThatBarn]

Thx so much.......it helps a lot!

[taylorsashawood]

A flat... Melodic Minor....... (so austin powers)

[Leonard5555]

what does he mean by "functioning"?

[he2he]

Didn't he explain that in the previous video called "Functioning & Static Chords"

[axiluss]

@Leonard5555 check the ja-024 video, he explains it. in a nutshell - a dominant chords that resolves to a major chord, which makes a V7 - Imaj7 movement.

[pmasta333]

that made a lot of sense to me, great for 251s, your doing a good deed to guitar players everywhere by actually explaining how it works thoroughly. I had the altered scale down but i was having trouble making chord progs to go with it. (But duh 251) had the same trouble when i learned dorian, then i noticed D dorian shares the notes of Cmaj and then i thought 251 oh duh

[ChrisSchoonover1]

I like how these ideas make writing more systematic to me. Since I just learned what exact notes to alter, it makes experimenting and composing so much easier.

[guillaumiel]

thank you very much for this lesson . it's easy to understand with you. With a little demo how to use this scale on guitar was better.

[Konrad111111]

great lesson! really helps me learning the altered mode!!

YOU ROCK!! ;)

[illdoitagain]

You are a wonderful teacher, all the pieces are there! I've been using these chords for some time but always struggled with the theory. your perspective on this topic is easy to follow and immediately useful. 5 stars!

[kkanishev]

Typo on your site:

"The Altered Scale is the 7th mode of the melodic !!monir!! scale."

[WhattafkDawg]

wow... you are anwsering to comments... thats really awesome...

you can say that im huge fan of your's and your music i wanna thank you for your lessons... they are just perfect. i've been playing guitar a little over year and im doing some super progress(thanks to your lessons) so yeah... hopfully ill be doing my own music soon. thank you a lot. :)

[spidrmage]

was wes montgomery thinking of all these theory things when he played? i dont think so.

[JustinSandercoe]

Maybe not Wes, I'm not sure, not read enough... but most of the jazz cats know their theory REALLY well - many of the greatest, like Miles Davis, were Julliard grads!

I know great jazz players who know theory, and great players that don't. Either transcribe your ass off or learn theory. Or even better... do both!

[dmnxCGi]

Great stuff here Justin :), I've just recently discovered your videos, but I already learned things in short time.

Got a question, being a rock based player as much as I love jazz in all forms my final goal is to get into rock fusion (gambale, greg howe, govan) type of playing. I know these players are solid in their music theory too. What are the key differences to focus into? and will you ever go into covering fusion? fusion comping or lines. I found that fusion lessons are rare.

[rillloudmother]

@JustinSandercoe wes may not have known all the names for things but that MF knew the sounds which is all that matters.

[shanebai]

@JustinSandercoe miles davis left juliard after a year, but ya he did know his stuff anyway, moreso by ear i believe

[lazur1]

@shanebai A year of theory at Juliard is a LOT of theory, especially for serious players who practice every available minute to find practical uses for that knowledge. Add in what Miles gleaned from Charlie Parker & other greats: He was ready to continue studies on his own! I received more practical ear-training my 1st 40 mins w/Prof Dodds at Chicago Musical College than in all the years up to that point, (or since). There's nothing like a great teacher putting the pressure on.

[Benniethebassist]

@JustinSandercoe David dropped out of Julliard after semester one if i remember correctly.

[EduardoAllo]

anyway, the question about if Wes Montgomery was thinking of theory when he played, is a nonsense...did he use altered scales? YES.. so he was thinking about them... I can learn a major scale, in two ways: just playin´it, or playin´it and learning that its name is "major scale"...and the best and fastest way to learn, teach and speak with other people is learning the names of the things...but it doesn´t mean that if you don´t "name" the things you don´t "know theory"..Thanx for your cool videos

[rillloudmother]

@JustinSandercoe Wes might not have known the theory terms, but he definitely knew the sounds of altered dominants [ie. 4 on 6].

Miles attended Julliard but did not graduate, and they definitely were not teaching harmony in this fashion at Julliard during his time there.

[axiluss]

@spidrmage wes is told to had learned guitar out of charlie christian's records (well, he sounds like he had), who learned his theory pretty well, since christian is considered one of those who 'invented' bebop. wes couldnt read music, that's well known, but you can learn and use your theory without reading sheet music. and after a couple (houndred? thousand?) of hours you start to really 'feel it'. trane once said 'learn the changes then forget them' ;)

[spidrmage]

@axiluss good advice. i'll keep it in consideration. thanks

[Fitzliputzli23]

@spidrmage

It is like learning a foreign language. First you NEED to learn grammar. Once you got it down you start talking freely WITHOUT thinking of grammar all the time. But still you follow the grammatical rules unconsciously. Concerning Wes: Yes, he did exactly what is described here: Over dominant chords he played melodic minor starting one semi step up the root.

People who play brilliant jazz without theory only by using their feeling and intuition are like Nessy: They do not exist.

[rafikimetalperu]

@spidrmage yeah he know bout it

[jazzadellic]

@spidrmage you have no way of knowing what someone was thinking. In my experience, most jazz musicians know and use theory extensively. A good jazz musician knows how to balance what they know with what they hear, you can't just do it "by ear" 100% of the time, nor can you just use logic to construct your solos.

[lazur1]

@spi: Play like Wes without studying theory? More power to you! If not, it doesn't matter how -he- did it, but how can -you- do it. No good player thinks this stuff while -playing-: It's while -practicing-. Think about it while playing?: you didn't practice enough. Wes practiced a -lot-. It doesn't matter what he, (or you), -call(ed) the scales, chords, notes, etc. What matters is that you find them, & drill them in every possibility you can imagine.

[nomirran]

@spidrmage This is the beauty of jazz theory. It is one thing to make the intellectual link between what one understands to be music theory when one plays, and the more intuitive understanding that is created through much practice, playing, and creative inspiration. In order to be able to play these ideas (not to say always, I know musicians who have no understanding of music theory yet utilize these techniques) one needs much practice, so that it comes naturally.

[puddleduck8051]

@spidrmage Probably not, but I'm sure he learnt it at some stage. Or maybe he didn't? Who cares! It's useful stuff.

[catfishmudflap]

Justin is great.

[SnoozeIRTL]

Excellent way of explaining this. I have limited understanding of theory, and I understood it well. Maybe because I was playing it out on my piano while you named it off. Guitar would confuse the crap out of me.

[CIRCLEofLINKS]

▲¤Æ•¦°

[alfonzie]

lol my brain hurts

[Barefoot67]

thanks Justin, that was cool!

[DuskY1991]

I love this kind of theory, great explanation, Justin!

[imlaycitybob]

I love this stuff!

[DEFkon001]

Thanks Justin. I think I got my head wrapped around this in the first go... and I'm far from the brightest bulb in the bin! Cheers for laying it down plain and simple. Now for the practical application ... erm hopefully - JA 26?

[sugyantchettri]

this is just what i d been looing for..u r the best jazz teacher.

[diiddoo]

i think i developed a slight sesure watching this. your the man, man..

[steveo27545]

Great job Justin.thanks again for sharing your talent.

Looking forward to hearing your album

[MnM3k3]

I love this!!! I miss taking music theory :(

Got it on the first try, good job sir!

[strabbs1]

my problem with all this is not understanding it, which i do perfectly (i hope) but how do i apply this to my playing to help me solo. improvise?

[bloodypeasant13]

My guess (no expert on this) but as Justin said at the end, if you can learn the melodic minor scale pattern for the parent of the altered chords you are soloing over you can play that scale and fit right in.

For example if you were soloing over a G7 altered you would solo over the melodic minor pattern in the key of Ab (with emphasis placed on the G I guess)

Please someone correct me if I'm wrong :D

[ajfx]

you have thats right! Emily relmer used this scaled over any and all domiants chords

[Julien1345]

You're right but you should i think at least beginn or end the note on G so it gets the altered Scale otherwise youre playing in another mode. But it is right and makes it pretty simple if you think of it like a melodic minor scale, it has the same notes.

[TheEarlOfDublin]

the chord is going to determine the tonality not the scale you are playing so it doesn't matter.

[Julien1345]

This is i think the half true. If you play without chords you can hear the modality because of the roots you are playing. If you improvise without chords you can hear the certain mode because of the note you end on or beginn with. Otherwise it would sound like tensioned which wouldnt be realeased. Image you play B Locrian mode over a C major Chord

it would sound really tensioned because you would play B, D,F often on the strong beats which are tension notes , so the mode is really important.

[spoddie]

Why would you be playing a C major chord if you wanted a Locrian mode sound? Playing the Ionian root chord ie C major in this case, destroys the modal sound - you would have to play something like Csus4 or better just avoid C.

[Julien1345]

I never said that i wanted a Locrian sound, i just said the mode is important, it has to macht the chords, it would sound awfull if you would play B Lociran over a C Major Chord of course.

[spoddie]

You're not expessing yourself very well, I can't work out what you mean.

You don't have to play the root note to make the mode, in fact you can omit it completely. Modern music is based on harmony and it's the characteristic notes that make it sound modal, eg in Dorian the flat 3rd and flat 7th, otherwise you're playing music from the 10th century - which is actually what a lot of bedroom guitarists do.

[Julien1345]

Yeah youre right it is the characteristics intervalls that make it sound modal but if you dont play the root it has no point to relate to. In Dorian it wouldnt be the flat 3rd and the flat 7th cause this would be the same as Aolian. In Dorian it would be 3rd and major 6th otherwise it would sound aolian.

the flat 3rd relates to the root and so does the major 6th so it is important to play the root,flat 3rd and major 6th to get Dorian feeling.

[spoddie]

I was relating the Dorian to the major, hence ignoring the major 6th. You're right, comparing it to the minor is correct.

But my point is harmony. If you play the C major scale over the chords Dmin7 and F7 or just a bass, you've got Dorian mode.

[Julien1345]

Wouldnt it be Lydian if you play C major over F7??

Yeah it would be Dorian over Dmin7, but usually you want to end your melody on strong notes like the root or fifth of the chord so there is no tension. Harmony and Melody need each other you couldnt play B Locrian over Dmin7 cause the B is an unstable note for the Dmin7 chord.

I think it is just a miissunderstanding we both mean basically the same ( at least i hope so ^^)

[spoddie]

Sorry, I'm making technical mistakes, I meant Fmaj7 but I was wrong anyway. This all is easy when I'm sitting at a piano! and Youtube is not really a good way to discuss anything.

If you play a chord progression Dm Em G you create a Dorian sound, using a C major scale over that will enhance the Dorian sound,if you do it correctly of course. My context is the entire song, not just chords or scales. To my ears playing a scale without proper harmony support you're not really playing Dorian mode.

[spoddie]

I really don't like this idea of playing scales with just a metronome, I don't think it's an appropriate approach to teaching this stuff.

[madeinph]

get a degree in music first before making a stupid statement

[spoddie]

madeinph, I'm half way though my second music degree, a masters this time.

How many do you have?

[SangreViVa]

Hey spoddie, could you explain what you mean in a video? I'm not following you. Thanks.

[spoddie]

yeah, I was thinking of doing exactly that.

[GoodGawd]

Hey thats your first 10min + vid :D

[creation4use]

my brain just farted... i think this is too much for a guy who only knows how to play power chords.. i wish i could do half of this man...

[wch4o]

great Justin. only that C flat ( Cb) is a bit weird.

[spoddie]

Not for a piano player. When you get more than 5 sharps or flats then you get those weird notes but they actually word quite well, probably because scale practice is so thoroughly drilled into piano students. Cb is introduced in Gb (6flats).

[itsalldownhillfromno]

wow it all makes perfect sense! thats why i love your vids!

[quetzel1]

could you write it down in a staff please.

i don´t understand so much english spoken

thank you very much.

[DanielDavisMusic]

!!!

[cryman89]

I'm a music minor at GWU and you make this shit easier to follow than my professors do

[chillichomper]

Your explanation was great. It may help if you # the notes in a key at R, 2,3 ,4,5,6,7

So the chord become R, 3, b7

then the altered is R, b2,#2, 3, b5, #5, b7

voila. I dunno it works for me to not refer to a specific key and make it generic.

[mhandel]

Cool lesson, Justin! You didn't quite make my ears bleed or anything, since I already understand my share of theory and jazz. Speaking of which, I really dig the two lessons on that subject! Maybe next time you can go over some common combinations of altered and extended chord shapes (a dominant 7 b9 I find resolves very nicely to a minor 9, for instance). I appreciated the bit on the melodic minor modes, further explanation of that scale and it's modes would be appreciated as well! Cheers, Mike

[JustinSandercoe]

Hi Mike - check todays uploads - exactly that!! ha ha

more on Melodic minor and modes coming soon!

[doctorrockerr]

dude your a monster!

i love music theory, this is just one more thing to add to my bag o' knowledge

[Orionsglare]

nice work man, you really putting  some good effort in all this.

nicely explained and much appreciated

cheers:)

[gundaetiapo]

Should have said "relative key" rather than "parent key", so the viewers will get the right terminology.

[tserhey]

Justin said "parent scale", not "key". Relative keys refer to relative minors and majors. When you're talking about modes, parent scale is the right term.

[sethsword11206]

nvm...got it...it is based round the major scale of the root note right?

[sethsword11206]

wat are 7's, 5's, and 9's?!?

i kno the chords....seven chords, add9 chords etc.

are they seperate things entirely?

[gremlin2022]

I think the best thing about this lesson is that I now know that the Altered scales are the equivalente to the melodic minors of the 2nd note in the scale. Since I already know how the melodic minor scale works I can now use it in a whole new way for my playing XD Thanx dude

[DaShortyJ]

my music theory isnt too great but i surprisingly understood everything..great lesson justin!

[Dannicthemanic]

Yay, I enjoy complicated music theory! It's the mathematician in me.

[g3rman045]

your a genious

[KeithRogersGuitar]

Brilliant method of teaching. Made a very complicated thing a lotttttttt easier to understand for me. Many thanks. =)

[rhythmPhil]

I'm glad you're making more advanced lessons again

[MikeMarino]

wow, this is a bit complicated. Will have to spend some time on this

[Testacabeza]

Justin, this lessson is pure gold. Thank you very much.

[niqbal81]

love your lessons. very systematic and really made it easier to understand and it does make sense .. i can only say to a certain degree because i am still at an intermediate level.