I tend to look at scales as a palette of colors. I believe there is a particular scale or group of scales that fit over a particular chord and are related to that chord in the same way as the arpeggio. Finding the scale for a chord can often be as easy as using your ear to derive the 7th, 9th, 11th and 13th. Some or all of these may be altered on a particular chord. If the chord has plenty of alterations, much of the work is done for you.
For example, C7#5#9#11
OK, let's see...You have C E G and Bb (that makes up the C7 part. But wait...It says #5 so that means C E G# Bb.
Now let's see...The #9 and #11 would be D# and F#.
Let's sort what we have so far:
C D# E F# G [no sixth] Bb
Now you can see that the only note you need is the 13th (6th). In this case we can either use the natural 13th or re-examine the chord as a C7b13#9#11 in which case we would have:
C D# E F# G Ab Bb
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Just as two artists can make a rendition of the same scene with a totally different palette of colors, two improvisers can approach a given chord with different chord-scale or tonal approaches.
The other thing that is hugely important is the function of the chord in the progression.
For example, C13b9#11 in this progression:
: Dm7 C13b9#11 : Cm7 F7 |
is very different than this:
: Ebm7 Ab7 : C13b9#11 Dbmaj7 :
You might be able to derive the same chord scale from the chord and even play over it the same but they have different functions in each progression which an experienced improviser will take into account.
A simpler example of this is the chord progression:
:Fmaj7 Bb7 : Am7 Dm7 : Gm7 C7 :
In this chord progression, you would not necessarily sound "wrong" if you used Bb over the Am7 whereas the Bb might stand out as more dissonant in this progression:
: Am7 D7b9 : Gmaj7 :
Make sense?
Jaz
For example, C7#5#9#11
OK, let's see...You have C E G and Bb (that makes up the C7 part. But wait...It says #5 so that means C E G# Bb.
Now let's see...The #9 and #11 would be D# and F#.
Let's sort what we have so far:
C D# E F# G [no sixth] Bb
Now you can see that the only note you need is the 13th (6th). In this case we can either use the natural 13th or re-examine the chord as a C7b13#9#11 in which case we would have:
C D# E F# G Ab Bb
----------------------------------------
Just as two artists can make a rendition of the same scene with a totally different palette of colors, two improvisers can approach a given chord with different chord-scale or tonal approaches.
The other thing that is hugely important is the function of the chord in the progression.
For example, C13b9#11 in this progression:
: Dm7 C13b9#11 : Cm7 F7 |
is very different than this:
: Ebm7 Ab7 : C13b9#11 Dbmaj7 :
You might be able to derive the same chord scale from the chord and even play over it the same but they have different functions in each progression which an experienced improviser will take into account.
A simpler example of this is the chord progression:
:Fmaj7 Bb7 : Am7 Dm7 : Gm7 C7 :
In this chord progression, you would not necessarily sound "wrong" if you used Bb over the Am7 whereas the Bb might stand out as more dissonant in this progression:
: Am7 D7b9 : Gmaj7 :
Make sense?
Jaz