Scales training backing tracks

First the modal jazz question.

As I'm sure you know a mode is a scale centered around one of its notes. You can take a major scale and do the obvious thing - take the first degree of the scale as the tonal center. For instance, you could take the C major scale and use it to play in the key of C.

But you can also take any other degree of the scale and use that as the tonal center. Each degree of the major scale has a Greek name associated with it to name the mode, or modal scale that results. If you use a C major scale to play in C, that's the Ionian mode. Use the second degree as the tonal center (e.g., playing in D using the notes of C major scale), that's Dorian, and so on. This is stuff you can look up easily.

You can take any kind of scale and treat it modally, i.e. use it to play in the key of one of its scale degrees.

In jazz, players often use substitute scales, which work similarly to modes, but are applied to individual chords instead of to entire compositions. For instance, the most obvious scale to play a G7 chord is the C major scale.But any scale that contains the notes of that chord can also be used.

Modal jazz, at its simplest, focuses on modes of the major scale.

For instance, the tune "So What" (Miles Davis, Kind of Blue album) plays a melody on the D Dorian scale(parent scale: C major) , then goes up a semitone and plays the same melody using the Eb Dorian scale(parent scale: Db major), then goes back to D Dorian.

Another famous instance, from the same album, is the tune "All Blues." For the I chord it plays the G Mixolydian scale (fifth mode of the C major scale). But instead of going to the IV chord (C) it stays on G but changes mode, to the G Dorian mode (second mode of the F major scale). The ear hears this like a change to the IV chord, because if you took the G Mixolydian over a G bass and transposed it up a fourth(the IV chord in G), you'd have C bass and C Mixolydian - which is a mode of the F major scale - same parent scale as G Dorian.

Now, to make it more interesting to explore a scale, you could lay down a backing track consisting of a two-chord vamp that just cycles back and forth between two chords, and then play the scale over that, playing continuous up-and-down scale patterns but also making up lines, riffs, licks, and maybe exploring arpeggios.

For the I chord, you could alternate the I and the iiminor or Imaj7 and iimi7

For the II chord, you could alternate ii with I or with iii or V

and so on.

Ultimately, though, to get the scale really well learned you have to plow through all the boring repetitive stuff. If you don't, you will gravitate to what you find easy to hear and execute and will fail to learn the harder stuff, and this will limit your abilities.

A few suggestions:

Always play rhythmically. Emphasize either the beat or the afterbeat, and try playing with groove and swing, not just mechanically. Also, once you have the basic mechanics worked out, always try to play in strict tempo - set a metronome going and nail the beat at a steady tempo. As you gain in ease of execution and familiarity with the action pattern, increase the tempo in small increments.

Dont' just play the C scale from C to C and back. Play the scale both ascending and descending on EVERY note in the scale.

Find and play the six different pentatonic scales contained inside each major scale.

Don't just play the scale in ascending and descending seconds (C-D-E, etc.) . Also play it in thirds (C-E, D-F, etc.) and fourths. And learn the various little patterns that you can play on each ascending or descending scale degree (1-2-3, or 1-2-3-5, etc.) Play these patterns not only on each ascending scale degree, but also ascending and descnding by thirds and around the cycle of fourths within the scale. These will helps you use the scale in chord extensions and in chord progressions.

Play a series of exercises on a scale similar to the ones I'm describing here, and then after that, put on a backing track and make creative use of all the stuff you've just worked so hard to master. Challenge yourself while you do this, and you'll discover what needs more work in the exercises you just played.

I haven't explored a lot in the area of backing tracks for playing scales. One very comprehensive jazz method that has backing tracks for all 12 keys is Jim Grantham's workbook and series of CDs, with one CD for each key:

http://www.jazzmasterworkout.com/order.html

You could also use a program like Band-in-a-Box to generate your own accompaniments for exploring scales.

Hope this helps.

Wow! ta da!!! Just had another light go on!!! Thank you for the question and thank you more for the answer to the question........"Every Pentatonic Scale inside the Scale" WOW! Got my work cut out.....Tommy Hutch