Jazz Guitar Lesson 5: The Augmented Scale

A lesson on the construction, basic usage and relationships of augmented scales as they relate to commonplace major and minor chords. A great scale for "outside" sounding phrases.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• jazz
• guitar
• chromatic
• outside
• abstract
• improvisation
• music
• theory
• advanced

[lindseyblair]

I find it most useful to think of how I would use a melodic minor scale over whatever given chord ( Maj 7, Min 7, min 7 b5, 9th, altered 7th) and find the augmented chord that lives within that melodic minor scale. From there you can apply augmented scales on almost any chord. I like to use the major and minor triads that can be built from the augmented scale, there are 3 of each. Playing the scale step by step sounds too snake charmerish for my taste.

[geoffstockton]

@lindseyblair Wow, nice. Thank you, regarding the melodic minor relationship concept. That makes a lot of sense, indeed. As for the triad families within the symmetrical scales, I cover that in one of the videos I posted. It's gotta be lesson 6, 7, 8 somewhere around there. Thanks again for the awesomely useful feedback!

[thefunkyfreshjustus]

iif its not to much to ask could you draw up a scale pattern for this one that would help me out the most i think much appreciated

[geoffstockton]

@thefunkyfreshjustus I could but I wouldn't be doing you any favors. A big part of improvising on the guitar is being able to map out interval structures in the moment. The step pattern for this scale is a step and a half followed by a half step. That repeats every major third. If you're not experienced with mapping scales on the fretboard, I'd recommend printing out some fretboard diagrams and getting to work. Books full of these diagrams will do you no good unless you make them, yourself.

[duncanltootill]

your voice is grating

[geoffstockton]

@duncanltootill Sorry about that, dude. I'll try and work on that.

[sissilia]

Thanks Geoff, this is a great lesson.

I would also like to inform you that I eat my own poop.

Thanks again!

[BlikeNave]

YOU'RE THE MAN GEOFF

[gromshit101]

Really appreceate this

[jakesplosion111]

@BlikeNave ive understand now that comment was pretty old lol but thanks

[BlikeNave]

@Ollievarium Start with learning the major and minor chords, then the sevenths (stacking four notes from the scales). You'd end up with (in the key of C) C major 7, D minor 7, E minor 7, F major 7, G dominant 7, A minor 7, B half-diminished/minor 7 b5. If you learn those, then you will have a great scale-skeleton to fill in the rest of the modal notes on (like the naturally occuring Sharp 4 aka #11 in the lydian scale). So 7th chords, then modes is what I did. Youtube modes and 7th chord vids!

[BlikeNave]

@jakesplosion111 You're close. Augmented scale is not the same as Ionian augmented ("take the aolean mode of a major key and make the 7th sharp which is really making the 5th sharp of that original major key."). That major key is ionian (major) and if you sharp the fifth note then you while just have major scale with a sharp fifth which is different than the augmented scale (two augmented triads a half step apart, making a six note hexatonic scale). Geoff already responded to you as well.

[thefunkyfreshjustus]

gerrr i knew it wasn't going to be easy, i've just been trying to practice all the different scales lately like the pent, reverse pent, sustained, minor, diminished, and major scales i couldn't find any anywhere of the augmented