2Scale outlines and thinking dominant

Idea 1 of 9

Think the dominant: put the ii away

When a ii-V such as C minor 7 to F7 comes up, the soloist leaves the minor 7 alone and plays the dominant’s scale over the whole space. The ii is already inside the V (it is the minor arpeggio on the dominant’s fifth), so nothing is lost: the changes get simpler and everything you know on the dominant, including its tritone, becomes available. Barry said Bird and Bud thought this way; comping can still use the ii.

Practise it: Rewrite the ii-Vs in a tune as dominants only, then play scale outlines and phrases on each dominant from the start of the ii.

Idea 2 of 9

The three scales for scale outlines

About 95 percent of Barry’s scale outlines use just three scales: the plain seven-note major scale, the plain dominant (mixolydian) scale, and minor 6 diminished for real minor. Diminished, whole-tone and tritone material are extra colour, not part of the outline. Even when the major and dominant scales share notes, you treat them as separate things because you do different things on each.

Practise it: Get the whole routine (scale up and down, thirds, triads, chords, pivots, half step below, important arpeggios, nap backs) on all three scale types.

Idea 3 of 9

Scale outlines

Barry maps a whole tune as a chain of default scales, one per chord stretch, each played in steady eighth notes up, down or up and down for exactly as long as the chord lasts, often turning ‘down to the third of’ the next chord. Playing the outline in time puts the sound of the changes in your ear, lets you feel how long one, two or four bars of a chord last, and already contains the voice leading into each new chord. Chris counts it among Barry’s greatest contributions: not an exercise to get past but the first step in soloing, the frame you then fill with puzzle pieces and substitutions such as tritones.

Practise it: Play the outline of a tune (blues, I Got Rhythm, How High the Moon, Cherokee) in time with the metronome on 2 and 4, slowly at first, before soloing on it. Then ask what you can do on each scale and build phrases that fill each stretch and connect to the next.

Idea 4 of 9

Up and down to the third of

A scale run is often ended not on its own tonic but on the third of the dominant that comes next, which is a half step away from a scale note. Landing on that third marks the chord change clearly in a single line. Barry uses it all through his scale outlines.

Practise it: Play the scale up and down and end on the third of the next dominant, in several places on the guitar, before building phrases on it.

Idea 5 of 9

A half-diminished means the dominant whose third it is

When a half-diminished chord leads to a dominant (the minor ii-V), Barry plays the dominant whose third is the half-diminished root, a minor third above the real dominant, coming down from its flat 7 and landing on the third of the real dominant. So A half-diminished to D7 becomes F7 down to F sharp, and B half-diminished to E7 becomes G7 running into E7. He does the same where a dominant goes home to a minor, which reduces the minor ii-V to one scale and a target note while adding the extra dominant’s material.

Practise it: For each minor ii-V, find the dominant a major third below the half-diminished root and run its scale down from the flat 7 to the third of the next dominant; drill it in the outlines of a minor blues and Giant Steps.

Idea 6 of 9

Feel how long each chord lasts

The same movement comes in different lengths: two beats each in a turnaround, a bar each in Confirmation or Yardbird Suite, two bars each in There Will Never Be Another You or Lady Bird. You have to feel the length so a phrase fits, and the scale calls change (up versus up and down) to match.

Practise it: Practise one movement at several lengths, first out of tempo to feel it, then in tempo.

Idea 7 of 9

1-2-3-5 on short chords

When a chord lasts only two beats, Barry plays the first, second, third and fifth degrees of its scale. It lets a scale outline keep up with fast-moving changes like Giant Steps, a cycle of dominants in fourths, or the Ladybird turnaround.

Practise it: Play 1-2-3-5 of each chord through Giant Steps, through F7, Bb7, Eb7, Ab7, Db7, Gb7, and through C, Eb7, Ab, Db7.

Idea 8 of 9

Hear the changes; know where you are

You must hear the chords in your head while you play, and your line should let a listener hear them too, so well you could play alone with no accompaniment. That means always knowing which bar and which beat you are on.

Idea 9 of 9

Anticipate the next chord

Barry often thinks ahead: he plays only a touch of one chord and moves straight to the next, or starts the next chord’s scale a beat or two before it arrives, and he often comes in on four or the ‘and’ of four, which sounds early but works. In his Giant Steps video this makes the tune feel as comfortable as a blues. Chris applies it anywhere, for example playing two notes of B flat at the start of rhythm changes while already thinking F7.

Practise it: Take a change you know and play only a little of the first chord before going into the next, then try thinking only the next chord. Also try entering on one, on four and on the ‘and’ of four.