Sam’s guide to starting Jazz

The very beginning:
Learn the blues scale in a key of your choice – C and A blues scales are good ones to start with, here are the notes for C and A blues scales:
A good set of chords to improvise with the A blues scale over:
‘House of the Rising Sun’

Am, C, D, F
Am, C, E7, E7
Am, C, D, F
Am, E7,Am, E7

Find songs you like (rock and pop songs tend to work better than Jazz songs at this stage, as do most blues songs) work out a blues scale that sounds right over it and just improvise with it – find melodic lines you like and remember them – they can become your blues licks!
This is an important stage in getting to learn how to improvise well, it can really help you get into it. I personally learnt blues scales to begin with by putting masking tape on the right keys of the piano and playing visually – on non, keyboard instruments this is not quite so easy – also even on a keyboard if you don’t own it then the person who does may not be happy with you putting masking tape all over it!
Moving on

Here is some information I will refer to:

I am aiming first to get across an impression of what a ‘key’ is to you. Above I have taken C major. In the key of C major:
· Every (diatonic – meaning not chromatic – meaning that the note that each chord has as its root comes from the scale of the key – ie here the diatonic notes are C D E F G A B C) chord in C major is formed from notes in C major only (none of the chords contain the notes – Db Eb Gb Ab or Bb!).
·The most fundamental chord to classical music is the ‘Triad’ here a note is taken (for example C) then the note 2 notes above it in the scale is taken (E) then the note 4 notes above it is taken (G) – The first note (C) is referred to as the ‘1st’ or ‘tonic’, the next note up (E) is called the ‘third’ and the next note up (G) is called the ‘fifth.’
· There are 3 different types of triads. These are the ‘major’ triad, the ‘minor’ triad, and the ‘diminished’ triad. Above I have written out every single ‘interval’ that there is available in Western Music. ‘Interval’ just means ‘the distance between two particular notes.’ A ‘major’ triad starting on for example C has a ‘major’ 3rd (E) and a ‘perfect’ 5th (G) (..taking C as the starting note). A ‘minor triad also starting on C has a ‘minor’ 3rd (Eb) and a perfect 5th (G). A diminished triad also starting on C has a ‘minor’ 3rd (Eb) and a ‘diminished’ 5th (Gb).
· In case you’re having problems applying this to major, minor and diminished chords starting on notes other than C, I should also mention ‘semitones’ and ‘tones.’ ‘Semitone’ is the name given to the distance between one note and that directly next to it (eg C- Db is a semitone), and ‘tone’ is the name given to the distance between one note and that 2 semitones away (eg C – D). A ‘major 3rd’ is a distance of 2 tones, a ‘minor 3rd’ is 1.5 tones, A ‘Perfect 5th’ is 3.5 tones, a ‘diminished 5th’ is 3 Tones. By counting the distance you could work out any other interval that you like in semitones and tones.

· If a chord is said to be major, minor or diminished it means that it is made from the notes of the major, minor or diminished triads. Things like ‘7’ ‘9’ ‘11’ etc which you find written after chords are called ‘extensions.’ These are extra notes which you add onto the basic triads. These are quite straightforward bearing in mind you know a few things. First of all if a chord has an m or a ‘-‘ after it (ie ‘Cm’ or ‘C-‘) then this means that the basic triad below is minor, and if a chord doesn’t have anything after it (ie ‘C’) then the basic triad is major. If the chord says ‘C6’ then you play C major and add in the note a major 6th above C, which is A. The chord is therefore from bottom to top: C E G A. If the chord says ‘C2’ (a chord you wouldn’t see that often) then you would play C Major and add in the note a major 2nd above C – ie: C D E G.

Ok, so that all makes sense – so here comes the anomaly… If you see a ‘7’ then you do not, as you might think, add the note a major 7th above the root note (ie C E G B), you actually add in the note a minor 7th above (ie C E G Bb). This makes what is called a ‘Dominant 7th’ chord. If you are wondering why it has this weird name it is because in classical music harmony the 7 notes in a key have the following names:
1 = Tonic
2= Supertonic
3 = Mediant
4 = Subdominant
5 = Dominant
6 = Submediant
7 = Leading Note

If you look at the 7th chords in the key of C major in the picture above, you will see that on the 5th of the chords the interval between the root note (G) and the 7th (F) is that of a minor 7th, yet the triad it is based on is major (ie G B D = G major, G B D F = G7). You will also see on the picture that next to the C and F chords is a funny looking triangle symbol… THIS means that the 7th is a major 7th above the root note (as you may have originally suspected ‘7’ might mean!). So when you see C then a little superscript triangle, you should know that it is at its basis a C major chord, with the note an interval of a major 7th above C added (ie C E G B). Both of these can be found on minor chords – so Cm7 is: C Eb G Bb, and Cm(maj7) is: C Eb G B.
So.. just to clarify:

· Cmaj 7 = C E G B
· C7 = C E G Bb
· Cm7 = C Eb G Bb
· Cm(maj 7) = C Eb G B

· Here is another related issue – if there are only 7 different diatonic notes in a key then how can there be extensions of ‘9’ and ‘11’ and ‘13’? This is demonstrated on the bottom part of the above picture. Continuing up from 7 you’ll see that 8 is the same as 1 an octave above it, 9 the same as 2, 10 the same as 3, 11 the same as 4 etc. What is being implied by calling the chord ‘9’ instead of ‘2’ is that you shouldn’t play the extension between the first and the third. The sound formed by this can be fairly ugly – I’ve referred to it as a ‘cluster.’ It is a sound that is sometimes used for effect, but when a chord has an extension of a 9th you shouldn’t play the note directly between the bass root note and the third if they are within the same octave (ie C D and E together within the same octave would give this effect). So if you see a ‘9’ chord you are thinking ‘C E G D’ as opposed to ‘C D E G’. The only circumstance in which you could space a ‘9’ chord ‘C D E G’ is if the bass C is at least an interval of a 9th below the D and the E.
‘6’ chords are used all the time and are fine. If you see a chord with the extension of a ‘13’ this is effectively short for ‘(b)7 + 13’ – so you would play both the 7th and the 13th. In this circumstance the note is called a 13th because a 6th would form a cluster between the 5th and the 7th in the chord!
· The extensions can be sharpened or flattened! So as an example C7(11) would be C E G Bb F, whereas C7(#11) is C E G Bb F#. Similarly core notes of the chord can be indicated as sharpened or flattened ie Cm7 = C Eb G Bb and Cm7(b5) = C Eb Gb Bb.
So.. just to clarify:

· Cmaj 7(9) = C E G B D
· C7(#11) = C E G Bb F#
· C13 = C E G Bb A
· Cm7(b5) = C Eb Gb Bb

As a final point… take another look at all the 7th chords in C major (in the picture above). They are labeled 1-7 but usually you will see them described in Roman Numerals (ie I-VII), except the Roman Numerals are given extra meaning by there capitilisation… Capital Numerals mean the chord is major, lower case numerals mean that the chord is minor and lower case numerals with a little circle symbol ‘o’ mean that the chord is diminished. A little circle symbol with a diagonal line through it ‘Ø’ means half diminished, which is the same as ‘m(7b5)’ , being at its basis a diminished chord but having a minor 7th at the top. ‘o7’ means ‘diminished 7th’ which is an odd name for the chord as what it is actually telling you to is play essentially ‘o6’ (the note you are adding to make the diminished chord a ‘diminished 7th’ is in fact a major 6th! C half diminished = C Eb Gb Bb, C diminished = C Eb Gb A.
All the 7th chords in a major key are:

Imaj 7, ii m7, iii m7, IVmaj 7, V7, vi m7, viiØ

There are 2 Major 7th chords, 3 Minor 7th chords, 1 Diminished 7th chord, and 1 Dominant 7th chord!

What you should do with all this

Learn all major 7ths, minor 7ths and dominant 7ths, by playing them as chromatic scales covering all the notes – ie play C major 7, then Db major 7 then D major 7 going up. Do this for all of them until you know them pretty well. The other good thing to do is to play chords off lead sheets. Try to play the chord in your left hand and the melody in your right hand. Try and keep the chords around the middle, just below the middle of the piano. This is useful for instrumentalists as well as piano players. Guitarists might want to do it on the guitar, though the piano gives a better visual idea of what is going on.


Try playing ‘How High The Moon’! – The chords are really standard for jazz, I’ll come back to why later.

Improvising Better!



We’ll start off with a question of what scale sounds good over any particular chord? For now I’ll ask you to forget about harmonic and melodic minor scales, and think only in terms of major scales. Take C major 7.. The chord notes are C E G B. Try playing C major scale over this. Notice that this sounds fine? None of the notes in the C major scale clash with the chord notes of C major 7 (take a look at the first example on the picture above). Ok so far so good – now take C7 – C E G Bb. If you play the C major scale over this the 7th (B natural) clashes with the 7th in the chord (B flat), so as a solution to this problem you can flatten the seventh of the scale, leaving it otherwise the same (look at the second and third examples in the picture). Now take Cm7 – C Eb G Bb, here both the Eb and the Bb of the chord clash with the E and B naturals in the scale – so you flatten E and B in the scale and the scale sounds fine! So now you have a scale that works fine over a major 7 (the major scale), a dominant 7th (the major scale with a b7) and a minor 7th (the major scale with a b3 and a b7). These scales have stupid names – 1) major scale = Ionian, 2) major scale with b7 = Mixolydian and 3) major scale with b3 + b7 = Dorian. I call the names stupid cause you could just as well call the scales ‘major’ ‘minor 7’ and ‘dominant 7’ to avoid confusion. However these ‘mode’ names are commonly used. The names came about because before the invention of notation by the monk Guido of Arezzo (and his early invention of ‘Doh Re Mi Fa So La Tee’ which was ‘Ut Re Mi Fa So La’ from the Vesper Hymn of John the Baptist which he set to music so that every new line stated a diatonic major note above the last – ‘Ut queant laxis, Resonare fibris, Mira gestorum, Famuli thorum, Solve polluti, Labrii reatum, (Sancte Johannes).’) Ancient Greeks had come up with the ‘mode system,’ ‘finding that if you played or sang notes in particular sequences up and down the steps, the combination of notes created certain moods (hence ‘modes’) or feelings’(Howard Goodall – ‘Big Bangs’). Anyway the names have been around for ages and aren’t going anywhere – so you could do with learning them. So… when you see a minor 7 – think ‘dorian, when you see a dominant 7th think ‘mixolydian’ and when you see a major 7th think ‘ionian.’

Now look at the ‘iim7, V7, I maj7’ phrase in C major. Playing over Dm7 you would flatten the 3rd and 7th of D major (F# and C# become F and C natural) and then you would be playing ‘D Dorian.’ Then playing over G7 you would flatten the 7th of G major (F# becomes F natural) and then you would be playing G mixolydian. Over C major 7 you would play C major (all three are demonstrated in the picture above)….. but hang on a second – D E F G A B C D (D Dorian), G A B C D E F G (G Mixolydian) and C D E F G A B C (C Ionian (/C major)) are all the same scale aren’t they? Basically yes, they have all come from C major, playing over a chord I ii iii IV V vi or viio chord in C major, you can play a C major scale! The scale has a different effect over each chord. From D to D over Dm7 the sound is of D Dorian and from G to G over G7 the sound is of G Mixolydian. Just to make a point at this stage – when trying to actually play the things it is a lot easier to think ‘I need to flatten the 7th of this scale because there is a 7th flattened in the chord I’m playing over’ than to think ‘ok now wait a minute if I’m playing C dominant 7th then the scale I should be playing over it is F major,’ – both of these thought processes would land you playing the same notes but the first is both a lot quicker and easier to think about on the spot, and it leaves you thinking about the actual chord you are playing over rather than just its related key.



Ok – the above picture shows all the possible modes in C major and the chords from which they derive. In a major key there are three minor 7 chords (iim7 iiim7 and vi m7) therefore there are three modes of a major key that will sound good over minor 7 chords – these are Dorian (ii m7), Phrygian (iii m7) and Aeolian (vi m7). There are two major 7 chords (I maj 7 and IV maj 7), therefore there are two modes of a major key that will sound good over major 7 chords – these are Ionian (I maj 7) and Lydian. There is one Dominant 7th chord (V7) therefore there is one mode of a major key that will sound good over Dominant 7th chords – this is Mixolydian (V7). There is one half diminished chord (viio), therefore there is one mode of a major key that will sound good over half diminished chords – this is Locrian (viio).

I bet you’re thinking this all looked a lot easier a minute ago when all you were doing was flattening the 7th if there was a flat 7th in the chord you were playing over, and flattening the 3rd as well if both 7 and 3 were flattened in the chord you were playing over. Well.. just because I’ve told you where the scales come from doesn’t make this any different! As a jazz player you will generally speaking be playing Ionian over major 7 chords (over C maj 7 would be – C D E F G A B C), Dorian over minor 7 chords (over C m7 would be C D Eb F G A Bb C), and Mixolydian over dominant 7 chords (over C7 would be C D E F G A Bb C). What the other modes offer is a range of alternative sounds you can use for effect. Here’s another way you can view them, listed from ‘lighter’ sounding to ‘darker’ sounding:





(N.B. The column on the right which you might not be able to read says ‘How Scale Differs from previous Mode’)
The Lightest sounding mode is Lydian – which is played over major 7th chords as an alternative to Ionian. It is the same as major scale but with a sharpened 4th (in C = C D E F# G A B C) – this is what gives it the ‘lightening’ effect. The modes get ‘darker’ from here via a series of flattenings – so here’s how we could view them:

· Lydian = 1 2 3 #4 5 6 7 - lighter alternative for maj 7
· Ionian = 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 - standard mode for maj 7
· Mixolydian = 1 2 3 4 5 6 b7 - standard mode for dom 7
· Dorian = 1 2 b3 4 5 6 b7 - standard mode for min 7
· Aeolian = 1 2 b3 4 5 b6 b7 - darker alternative for min 7
· Phrygian = 1 b2 b3 4 5 b6 b7 - much darker alt for min 7
· Locrian = 1 b2 b3 4 b5 b6 b7 - standard mode for half-dim

The reason that Locrian is the standard mode of the major scale for half-diminished chords is that it is the only one containing a b3 b5 and b7, the notes of the half-diminished chord! – So yet again this is the most obvious mode to play over the chord!
One point I hope to get across to you is that as long as you are playing the notes of the chord then the notes you play in between don’t really matter that much! They aren’t going to clash (generally speaking).


On Further – Chord Spacings

The chords I gave you earlier are all right and well and good (and you should know them this way!), but when it comes to playing them you really want to space them so that they sound better! On top of this those spacings do not take into account voice leading – which is important and I will make a point of going into.




The first thing on the picture is the chords as I have already shown you. The pattern is a ii V I – this is the most common pattern you will find in Jazz – it is everywhere (for example take a look at ‘How High The Moon’ earlier – Gmaj 7 then – Gm7 C7 Fmaj7 (ii V I in F) then Fm7 Bb7 Ebmaj7 (ii V I in Eb) …. You get the picture. Most Jazz standards have ii V I phrases this frequently).
Here’s an important piece of information – jazz players when comping (playing chords) add 9ths and other extensions freely whenever they feel like it. More often than not when a chord says ‘minor7’ a jazz player will play ‘minor 7(9)’, and when a chord says ‘7’ a jazz player will play ‘7(9add13).’ In the next example I have removed the root notes from the upper parts and have added 9ths to all of the chords. When you already have a root note in the bass, it sounds a bit dead having another one in the upper parts in the middle of the piano (where the impression left by notes is very strong), so you normally wouldn’t play one. With added 9ths the chords sound a lot more interesting!

Now for some voice leading… Voice leading refers to thinking of each note of a chord as being like a separate voice. Transition between chords sounds a lot better and smoother when each line doesn’t have to move too far to get to the next note. The root note of any chord is the most important note – but generally speaking this will be in the bass part. The most important parts when the root is already covered in the bass, are the 3rd and the 7th. In a ii V I phrase (such as the one in Bb covered above), the 3rd of chord ii becomes the 7th of chord V (Eb is both the 3rd of C minor and the 7th of F7) and the 7th of chord ii drops to the note a semitone below which is the third of chord V (Bb in Cm7 drops to A in F7). Then from chord V to I the third of chord V becomes the 7th of I (A is both the third of F7 and the 7th of Bb maj7) and the 7th of chord V drops a semitone to become the third of chord I (Eb drops to D). This is all demonstrated in the picture above. The third and 7th of the next chord are always nearby, whatever the chord is so it is usually possible to have pretty smooth voice leading throughout. Have a go at playing the whole of ‘How High the Moon’ with just bass in the left hand and 3rd and 7th in the right.
Once you have the 3rds and 7ths sorted try adding in other extensions in the shapes shown in the picture, there are 2 really good ways of spacing the chords. The reason for this is that there are 2 inversions of a third and a 7th possible (ie (1) 3rd on bottom, 7th on top, (2) 7th on bottom, 3rd on top). On the picture the 2 ways of playing a ii V I are shown on the second line – the first bar showing one inversion and the second bar showing the other. When your spacing starts with the third it is: 3rd 5th 7th 9th (ie in Cm7 = Eb G Bb D), and when your spacing starts with the seventh it is: 7th 9th 3rd 5th (ie in Cm7 = Bb D Eb G). You will see that the first one goes through the following transition:

· 3rd 5th 7th 9th (Cm7 = Eb G Bb D)
· 7th 9th 3rd 13th (F7 = Eb G A D)
· 3rd 5th 7th 9th (Bb maj7 = D F A C)

and the second one goes through this transition:

· 7th 9th 3rd 5th (Cm7 = Bb D Eb G)
· 3rd 13th 7th 9th (F7 = A D Eb G)
· 7th 9th 3rd 5th (Bb maj7 = A C D F)

Get used to playing ‘How High the Moon’ and other jazz songs using these shapes with good voice leading, this will get you used to playing them. You can also play ‘ii V I’s in all keys in both spacings so that you are prepared for them whenever they come. Alongside this it might be worth playing both of the shapes for specifically ‘7’ chords (ie 7th 9th 3rd 13th (F7 = Eb G A D), and 3rd 13th 7th 9th (F7 = A D Eb G)) in all keys as these feel quite strange to play until you are used to them! You should get used also to playing these shapes in the left hand – disregarding the bass note as this is the approach you would take playing with a bass player (who is already providing the bass!) when both playing melodies (jazz melodies are referred to as ‘the head’) and when improvising (playing ‘solos’) (Oo and incidentally every instrument in a jazz ensemble can be referred to as a horn – not just trumpet and saxophone!). Notice I have written out this approach at the end of the third line on the picture with a ‘ii V I’ lick to be played in the right hand with these type chords in the left hand (incidentally whenever you find a lick you like it is a good idea to learn it in all keys, so that whenever it comes into your head you can get it out onto your instrument with ease!).
When ‘comping’ (playing chords) whilst another soloist is soloing, you can take the Herbie Hancock approach and add degrees 1 and 5 (usually covering an octave – either 1 5 1 or 5 1 5) of the chord, above the type of shape we have just covered. The only time this doesn’t work is when you are playing a major 7 – this is because degree one clashes with degree 7! Instead play 9 and 5 (again covering an octave – either 9 5 9 or 5 9 5). Incidentally you can take this (9 5 9/ 5 9 5) approach to other chords as well if you think it sounds good! You might even sometimes find yourself playing 9 13 9 or 13 9 13 – but this would not sound good all the time, only really working for effect.

Now here’s for another type of comping – which is covered on the right hand side of the second line on the picture. It involves the use of your thumbs! Try playing again a ‘ii V I phrase’ but with just the bass, third and seventh notes – play the bass with one of your Left Hand fingers and choose to play either the third or the seventh with your left hand thumb. Then play either the third or the seventh (the other one from whichever you are already playing with your left hand thumb) with your right hand thumb! – now play the ii V I pattern with good voice leading only using the roots thirds and sevenths with the latter two played entirely by your thumbs. Try doing this with ‘How High the Moon’ and other Jazz Songs (‘Autumn Leaves’ would be a good one). Then try doing this but adding the tune in with your right hand fingers – this should sound pretty good! Now try instead, keeping the thumbs playing thirds and sevenths and the Left Hand fingers play the bass notes, using the right hand to play extensions above! You’ll see this is done on the picture! There are two ways to do this because again there are only two ways round the third and seventh can go. With the 7th in the left hand thumb and the 3rd in the right hand thumb – the extensions would go above as follows:



· LH = 1st 7th , RH = 3rd 5th 9th (Cm7: LH = C Bb, RH = Eb G D)
· LH = 1st 3rd , RH = 7th 9th 13th (F7: LH = F A, RH = Eb G D)
· LH = 1st 7th , RH = 3rd 5th 9th (Bb maj7: LH = Bb A, RH = D F C)

and for the 3rd in the left hand thumb and the 7th in the right hand thumb :

· LH = 1st 3rd , RH = 7th 9th 5th (Cm7: LH = C Eb, RH = Bb D G)
· LH = 1st 7th , RH = 3rd 13th 9th (F7: LH = F Eb, RH = A D G)
· LH = 1st 3rd , RH = 7th 9th 5th (Bb maj7: LH = Bb D, RH = A C F)

These are some great spacings that amongst other things allow you to play jazz piano as a solo, or bass-less accompaniment instrument. However they can also be used very effectively when playing with a band! All you need do is take out the bass note in your LH, leaving the shapes otherwise the same – and it will sound great!


Back to Soloing!

We have already established the importance of the third and the seventh degrees of chords. These notes are called ‘guide tones.’ The first and fifth can also to some degree be thought of as ‘guide tones,’ but the third and seventh are the most important guide tones. When playing solos you can take different approaches, and usually within the same solo you will have taken various approaches to soloing. One is a completely free scalic form of improvising – where you play ideas that enter your head using the modes/scales that work (ie sound good) but without it being that strongly based on the chords. Another is by emphasizing the guide tones of the chords you are playing over using arpeggios, or enclosures, or simply by (whilst playing scalically) playing them on strong beats and ending phrases with them. (N.B. Enclosures are when you play notes surrounding your target note before hitting the targed – ie you are ‘enclosing’ it! They can be diatonic or chromatic (for example say your target note is E over a chord of C major, diatonic could be: ‘D E F E’ or ‘F E D E’ or if you were thinking ‘Lydian’ then ‘D E F# E’ or ‘F# E D E.’ Whereas chromatic could be: ‘D# E F E’ or ‘F E D# E.’). You should try soloing over pieces picking out these techniques as practice!Note that you can treat good sounding notes like the 9th and the 13th in the same way!

As an end feature there are also modes of the Harmonic Minor and Melodic Minor Scale:
That’s a lot of different modes, some of them you may never ever use, and many of them you may find yourself playing by accident – take for example you are in this scenario... The chord you are playing over is ‘C7(#11),’ so you play C mixolydian but you sharpen the 11 (ie you play F# instead of F) as the 11 would clash with the chord whereas the #11 would not. By doing this you are already playing a ‘Lydian Dominant’ scale (mode 4 of melodic minor). You see how this works? The modes you are most likely to find yourself playing from this whole selection are the ‘Lydian Dominant’ (mode 4 of the melodic minor scale), the ‘Locrian(natural 6th)’(mode 2 of the Harmonic Minor), the ‘Phrygian Major’ (mode 5 of the harmonic minor) and the harmonic and melodic minor scales themselves. ‘Locrian(natural 6th)’ sounds good over diminished and half diminished chords and ‘Phrygian Major’ sounds good over V in a minor ii V i (ie iio V i )(N.B. Scalically here over the iio V i you are playing the harmonic minor scale of chord i and it is called ‘Locrian(natural 6th)’ over iio and ‘Phrygian Major’ over V. Don’t be phased by not knowing all of these modes inside out – as long as you know the ‘major’ ones you’ll be ok – though these minor ones can be useful.


Have fun with all that – I may add some more stuff at some point but that should keep you busy..

Sam