Chord scale theory is an easy refuge for the lazy and uninformed teacher. The chord scale system may be compared with other common methods of improvisation, first, the older traditional chord tone chord arpeggio method, and where one scale on one root note is used throughout all chords in a progression for example the blues scale on a for all chords of the blues progression. Nononsense guide to jazz harmony and beyond this post hopes to answer all basic questions relating to harmony and theory in one place. The tonal systems diatonic scale step harmonies are organized in a hierarchy which emphasizes fifthprogressions. Guitar chords chart for beginners free pdf download. Stepbystep online course watch whenever you have the time one time payment, lifetime access watch promo. The scale of each chord depends by the key in which it is. Chord worksheets 300 pdf printable music theory worksheets. Use them to find the right scales for soloing or to complete your melody, harmony or chord progression. Combining melody and harmony 91 the process 92 non chord tones 93 passing tone 94 neighbor tone 95 suspension 96. If wished, it is possible to choose, among them, the one that corresponds to the context in which the chord. Chord scale theory and linear harmony for guitar is a complete guide for the intermediate to advanced guitarist, including extensive fretboard diagrams of scales and arpeggios as well as thorough explanations of tertiary and quartal harmony.
Thus, i would recommend that you take a careful look at the way ive organized things here. Hey, all yall, i finally made a pdf ebook out of chordscale theory and linear harmony for guitar. The ultimate guide to piano harmony chord theory piano. Minor scale wh w h w w chord intervals harmonic intervals chord structure, inversion, alteration, and extension are described in intervals and distance from the root of the chord or lowest note for inversions. Songwriting with chord scale and static harmony youtube. The notes e and g provide harmony, and in a g7 g dominant 7th chord, the root g with each subsequent note in this case b, d and f provide the harmony. The third area where linear progressions are important is in the prolongation of the dominant chord. The chord scale theory and jazz harmony pdf jazz chord bible pdf. Connecting chords with linear harmony by bert ligon book. Chord harmonization over a scale is a fundamental tool to understand the correct use of harmony in a theme. This is a very misunderstood concept, and in this video i wanted. Theres a great deal of melodic and rhythmic motivic material to be mined in.
The book connecting chords with linear harmony was like the opening of the. Common melodic outlines 224 linear harmony 226 constructing the. Hi folks, probably like some of you i received a number of jazz related booksreferences. A chord scale contains not only the tones of the chord to which it is applied, but also the tensions. It is a concept that many hobbyists do not know, but they are doing it unconsciously when they are searching for a chord that sounds good over a certain progression. Triad chords seventh chords the relative minor three chord rock three major chords.
For teachers and students alike, this book will prove a valuable addition to any guitarists curriculum. The jazz chord scale handbook jazz guitar chord bible complete pdf the jazz piano book mark levine pdf. Scale degree refers to the position of a particular note on a scale relative to the tonic, the first and main note of the scale from which each octave is assumed to begin. Here we now discuss how to read and play those chord symbols. The chord scale theory states that, if the notes of a chord belong to a certain scale, this scale can be used for improvising on the chord. An agreement between melody and accompanying harmony giving the overall chord scale. Hookpad colors scale degrees 17 and the corresponding chords based on how each note pitch and chord root pitch relates to the major scale.
Lets say you played the first chords listed in chart 1, in the order that they were listed. This means that the c major scale can be used for improvising on em7. Creative tools for improvisation and composition in contemporary music. Linear progressions in static harmony can link successive tonic chords or link the tonic chord to an auxiliary chord involved in the static harmony, in which case the auxiliary chord behaves as a functional chord and is normally in root position. Closely related to the major bebop, we have the minor bebop scale. Oct 01, 2015 jazz harmony, as taught at the berklee college of music, is based on the socalled chord scale theory. Further, looking at your title minor scale chord substitution, taking c major notes, or modes, we could be in a minor, where, am is tonic dm is subdominant and em is dominant, as alluded to earlier. Although this books primary focus is on fournote chord voicings on the middle strings of the guitar, much of the knowledge conveyed here can be appreciated and used by all jazz musicians, not only guitarists. The ultimate guide to piano harmony chord theory piano lessons.
In choosing a specific chord scale for a type of chord, it helps to narrow down the important differences between each scale in the specific chord category. One of the many differences of the complete chord mastery course is the fact that tommaso shows you how to apply chords in real life playing situations, rather than leaving you with a whole bunch of theory, some fancy chord shapes, and absolutely no idea how to apply any of them to your everyday playing. Therefore, the combination of notes with their specific intervalsa chordcreates harmony. He is the author of several jazz theory books published by hal leonard such as connecting chords with linear harmony, comprehensive technique for jazz musicians. Open tunings allow one finger chords to be played with greater consonance than do other tunings, which use equal temperament, at the cost of increasing the dissonance in other chords. Aspects of harmonic progression theory in paul hindemiths. To breeze through chord theory, we need to name all the seven notes of the major scale in the following order. For example, they play the d dorian scale also on a dmin7 that belongs to bb key. The chord scale theory and jazz harmony pdf jazz chord.
I havent had a chance to go through this book yet but ive heard about it from a lot of different people. There are two guiding rules for selecting a chord scale combination called a chord scale fit for improvisation. It covers basic harmony as well as the complex harmonies used in jazz in a friendly easytofollow format. What learning how to harmonize a scale can do for you. However, the majority of older players used the chord tonechord arpeggio method. Mac scale pages mac the jazz theory book pdf espanol the alchemist pdf free. If youre thinking that you especially need these scales to play modern jazz compositions such as maiden voyage, dolphin dance, and naima, think again. The chordscale system looks at individual chords in isolation and allocates scales to each individual chord. Guitar chords chart ebook free printable pdf chords chart with finger positions, note names and intervals. Chord scales in jazz chord construction part i youtube. The choice of a particular scale will depend on the musical style and the performers will.
Dec 01, 2010 chord scale theory and linear harmony for guitar. For example, in the minor scale, scale degree 3 is a half step lower than scale degree 3 of the major scale, and so it is colored yellow and orange to indicate that its pitch is halfway between scale. You may find these playalongs useful for practicing bebop scales, licks or patterns. Jazz guitar chord theory in this tutorial ill teach you how guitar chords are built and how this translates to the guitar. Degrees are useful for indicating the size of intervals and chords, and whether they are major or minor. Getting started with 4part harmony some of you have already written chord progressions in a previous theory class. Music sounds a little empty if notes are only played one at a time. All the chords are built by harmonic superimposition of notes by third intervals above each scales degree. Creative tools for improvisation and composition in contemporary music jonathan jonnypac pac cantin guitarist composer artist. Connecting chords with linear harmony by bert ligon.
It sounds like a very technical idea, but basic harmonic analysis just means understanding how a chord is related to the key and to the other chords in a piece of music. Passing chords are used in both static and dynamic harmony. For example, if we are going from a c7 with an aeolian scale to an ab7 chord, the most likely choice would be an ab lydian b7 scale. Harmonizing a scale is the bedrock of chord theory. Basic guitar chords, keys, and scales december 30th, 2004 5 in the above chart, are listed what are called substitute chords.
Buy the bundle and get 3 ebooks for the price of 2. To find more books about bert ligon connecting chords with linear harmony, you can use related keywords. Pdf ebook version of chord scale theory and linear harmony. This can be such useful information that you will find many musicians who have not studied much music theory, and even some who dont read music, but who can tell you what the i one or the v five chord are in a certain. Dan music theory 101 cheat sheet from cheatography. Thus, the original supertonic d is now subdominant. Music notation and theory for intelligent beginners. Pdf ebook version of chord scale theory and linear harmony for. Complete book of harmony theory voicing ebook download.
The key concept is the most important base of musical harmony. Connecting chords with linear harmony book by bert ligon to learn genuine improvisation. The system has been widely used since the 1970s and is generally accepted in the jazz world today. If you want to make chords with exotic scales, than you should use the basic principle of deriving chords from scales take every other note. Basically, when we are choosing chord scales, we already know most of the notes in the scale. The chordscale system is a method of matching, from a list of possible chords, a list of possible scales. Playing more than one note at the same time is called harmony. This concept is important but i have realized that not many musicians have understood its importance. Notice bert ligon connecting chords with linear harmony. The jazz chordscale handbook jazz guitar chord bible complete pdf the jazz piano book mark levine pdf. In this weeks lesson, we looking at the static harmony of the i, ii, and vi chords found within a chord scale. Improvising on chords with chord scales means that a soloist can play.
Knowing how to harmonize a scale and really internalizing that knowledge will help you get better and help you understand why certain chords sound great when played together in a progression. The passing chords so formed are thus nonfunctional and the surrounding chords on which the movement starts and ends are functional chords. The material covered by the different topics is of varying levels of complexity and targets different audiences. Play the chord changes along with the jam track provided free for download on our website. A few years later, this approach started to become more codified in the chord scale theory taught by berklee and other places. All ebooks come as pdf files and can be easily read on any computer, tablet. Aug 22, 20 music harmony and theory is a fundamental basis to create and improvise music. It will change your approach to theory, chords, and the way you use them in your. Download pdf complete book of harmony theory voicing ebook. The book connecting chords with linear harmony was like the opening of the heavens for me. A gentle introduction to guitar chord theory a guide to understanding chord construction from the triad level all the way up to extended chords.
Jazz ascending melodic minor scale guitar fretboard patterns chart, key of a. Therefore, by improvising on a chord using a chord scale, the soloist will almost certainly play some chord tones and some of the more colorful notes tensions as well. The d minor chord can be replaced by the d minor 7th chord. The names of the scale degrees are in reference to their interval i. For example, the em7 chord is composed by notes e, g, b and d. A specific chord formula, common shapes, voicings, inversions, possible uses and substitutions. The passing chord is named by analogy with the passing note.
Since we know the scale will contain 1, 3, 5, and 7 of the chord, we need to determine which additional notes would be good choices for passing notes. Chord scale theory, the available scales for improvising on a given chord are all those containing the notes of the chord. Nb the way of indicating chords is a shorthand and as such requires you understand what is. Connecting chords with linear harmony ligon, bert on. Music notation and theory for intelligent beginners by jono kornfeld cover art by jason dullack. Have you ever wondered what those chord symbols really are. From scales to chords with printable pdf worksheets using prior knowledge of note names, intervals and scales to construct and understand chords if your students need to construct a chord from a standing start then all that is required is that they are able to easily identify the notes of the relevant major or minor scale. This makes it very easy for us to understand how chord theory works. Bird bebop progressions in xml format for mapping tonal harmony pro.
Reference for chordscale relationships, elaborations of static harmony. Pdf ebook version of chord scale theory and linear. Jazz harmony, as taught at the berklee college of music, is based on the socalled chord scale theory. In a previous minor scale lesson, we examined the minor scale closely. The pdf also contains rays worldfamous melody checklist.
Method and historical context jeffrey james mcfadden doctor of musical arts 2010 graduate department of music university of toronto abstract fretboard harmony is essential in any thorough approach to the education of classical guitarists yet no effective method or materials for teaching a course in. Aspects of harmonic progression theory in paul hindemiths craft of musical composition the problem of harmonic progression in posttonal music is among the most difficult to define. We have created this guitar chords chart that will help you learn new chords and play your. If youre a beginner, then first read hack music theory, part 1. Jul 06, 2010 this is first in a series of videos describing the berklee chord scale method and how it can apply to constructing chord voicings. Visit to buy chord scale theory and linear harmony for. A study of three basic outlines used in jazz improv and composition, based on a study of hundreds of examples from great.
Music theory how to make chords with foreignexotic scales. Nov 10, 2016 in this weeks lesson, we looking at the static harmony of the i, ii, and vi chords found within a chord scale. This advanced harmony and theory dvd will teach you some different guitar modes within the melodic minor scale the dimished scale. However, it is my experience that few students come to college with the ability to consistently whip off progressions correctly. It is the interaction between different notes played together that gives music its richness and color. How to start a phrase of improvisation from any starting point of the scale. Many of the documents on this page are in pdf format. Harmony is commonly thought of as the vertical aspect of music, but it should also be thought of as timesensitive since it is always heard and interpreted in linear motion. All we have to do is lower the 3rd note of the scale, so instead of c, d, and e, its going to become c, d, and eb. Basic music theory intermediate music theory this document advanced music theory this has been done for two reasons. It makes a lot of sense as it is based in the major scale, our good old friend.
Complete book of harmony theory voicing written by bret willmott and has been published by mel bay publications this book supported file pdf, txt, epub, kindle and other format this book has been release on 20110225 with music categories. It is much easier to understand chord scale theory than it is to apply it with musical results in an improvised solo. Almost chords but not quite posted on february 26, 20 by scott healy i started talking about linear harmony a while ago in lines intertwining with apologies to spinal tap, and a few other topdown posts, like melodic pedal points. In music chords are either used in masses, that is with manifold repetitions of one and the same intervalas is the case in compositions for. We do not need to know what key a particular chord is in, in order to choose a scale to play over that chord. When choosing the chord scale for each given chord, there are basically three. Connecting chords with linear harmony book by bert ligon to learn genuine. A lot of modern music theory focuses on the static relationship between scales and chords and how they can overlap into chordscales, but many graceful melodic.
The major scale, keys 33 scales using flats 34 scales using sharps 35 key signatures, the key 36. Creative tools for improvisation and composition in contemporary music is a guide to modern music theory as it relates directly to the guitar fretboard. Chord harmonization over major scales scaleschords. This tool will find the scales compatible with your inputs. Any scale that contains all the chord tones of a chord can be used for improvisation over that chord. Read connecting chords with linear harmony by bert ligon for free with a 30 day. A complimentary music theory overview for the guitarist, by steve ono. And these notes belong, among others, to the c major scale. Enter some of the notes you want or even a chord or two. Hookpad user guide songwriting software, music theory. We stacked third this can mean any kind of third, including major or minor. The size of one single file was too large for download 2. If you are looking for a handy guitar chords reference, youve come to the right place.
There are 3 notes left in the major scale that are. For the f major chord, you can substitute an f major 7th chord. Free stuff national jazz workshop a summer jazz camp at. Ebook excerpt this is a very comprehensive text that combines theory, harmony and voicing material with emphasis placed on voice leading. It often refers to whichever third would be normal when constrained by limits of the current key. Fortunately, the piano is a very visual instrument. A complimentary music theory overview for the guitarist. But that doesnt mean that we cannot use the c lydian mode over the cmaj7 chord.