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How to Play Bebop Scales on Guitarhttp://jamieholroydguitar.com/how-to-play-bebop-scales-on-guitar

http://jamieholroydguitar.com/category/play-like-the-greats

When it comes to learning scales on the guitar, theres certainly no shortage with so many to learn, so

which ones do musicians actually use and incorporate into their playing that will make you a better jazz

guitarist?

Well theres no shortcut for knowing the major scale, its the most important scale for any musician to

learn because countless scales, modes, and shapes are derived from it, and its essential that a thorough

knowledge of this scale is established before working through this lesson.

This article will investigate the four common bebop scales and how you can incorporate them into your

guitar playing by creating bebop lines from them to use in improvisation.

Why use bebop scales? Using modes and major scales for playing over changes is great and you need to

be able to do it, but bebop scales give us some extra flavour that can be used to embellish the

fundamental scales.

For example if you used a major scale to improvise over a major chord only notes within that chord

harmony are produced which is great but bebop scales allow use add some extra notes that are not

diatonic within the scale which will be explored.

For each of the three main chord types (major, minor and dominant) there is a bebop scale that can be

used to achieve some of these crunchier sounds.

Bebop scales are 8 note scales so they fit the 4/4 time signature very well because when a bebop scale isplayed in eighth notes each chord tone lands on a downbeat, and the non-diatonic notes land on an

upbeat that creates tension and resolution.

Major Bebop Scale

The major bebop scale is just a regular C major scale but with an added b6th or #5th

used a passing note

to add crunch.

Major Bebop Scale Formula: R, 2, 3, 4, 5, b6, 6, 7

Major Bebop Scale in C: C, D, E, F, G, A, Ab, B, C.

The major bebop scale can be used over any major 7th

chord so 6, 6/9, major 9, major 7 and the many

variations.

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