FRo SCALES TO MUSIC Common Tones Ye don't have to play all the notes in each scale. An approach to improvisation that creates more space and less chromaticism is to look for common tones, or notes that belong to two or more consecutive chords. Look at the chords to Sam Rivers’ “Beatrice,” shown in figure 6-75. Can you spot a note that's common to every single scale in Sam's tune? There is one: C. Because Cis common to every chord in “Beatrice,” you can use that note as the glue that holds your solo together, giving it structure and beauty. igure 6-75 Fa bal FA craks D-7 eal BbA Eo A7alt D-7 G7 bald F-7 halt 155Cuarren Six Figure 6-76 shows a solo on "Beatrice." The note C, common to every scale in “Beatrice,” is played on every chord, in every bar. Note also the common use of the F major triad and F minor pentatonic scale. We'll cover pentatonic scales in Chapter 9. Figure 6-76 FA bald FA chal 6-7 hal F-7 chal 156Frou Scates ro Music Nene eeeen eel Play figure 6-77, the first four bars of Wayne Shorter’s “Fee-Fi-Fo-Fum."40 Seen for the first time, these changes can seem difficult even to experienced musicians. Not a l-V+l in sight, sudden shifts from melodic minor to diminished to major scale chords, root movement by minor 3rds (AbA to CbA to D7) make these four bars look more like a mine field than a chord progression. Ah, but there is a path through. 1 7H p7fs 6-7 Abs bab Gsus “4 Wayne Shorter, Speak No Evi, Blue Note, 1964. 157Carter Six Figure 6-78 G Dorian mode G-7 at Ab major scale aval) Ab Lydian mode da Cb major scale cbatta cb Lydian mode Let's focus on the three changes in the middle: G-7, AbA, and CbA. There are five scales that can be played over these three chords. Why the two extra scales? The two major 7th chords can be played with either the major scale or the Lydian scale. Figure 6-78 shows all five scales, ‘The scales shown for G-7 and AbA share five common tones, as shown in figure 6-79. These five otes just happen to be the Bb pentatonic scale: ‘We're beginning to find some structure. Two of the notes, Bb and F, also belong to the Ch Lydian mode, ‘one of the two scales shown that you can play on Cha. Figure 6-79 common to G-7 and Aba common to G-7, AbA, and a(t4) 158From Scates to Music EINES Figure 6-80 G-7 Figure 6-81 Abald by Now play figure 6-80, a lick which uses the ‘common tones described. Can you really keep track of all this when you play? You may not be able to do 0 at first, but as you internalize scale knowledge, you begin to see the inherent common tone possibilities in what may seem like “difficult” chord changes. bald Figure 6-81 is from Freddie Hubbard's solo on Harry Warren's “You're My Everything."4 All three notes shown—E, F, and G—are common tones that belong to the scales of D-7, Ba, and E7alt. Freddie plays only one other note, the C# on the Ba chord. E7alt “Freddie Hubbard, Hub Tones, Blue Note, 1962. 159Cuarrer Six ob7 eb7 7 q Freddie Hubbard also plays common tones on his solo on his blues “Hub Tones,”42 as shown in figure 6-82. All five notes are common to all the scales except the D natural on the Eb7 chord—a major’ ‘7th on a dominant 7th chord. By the time Freddie plays the D natural, your ear has been set up to accept this “outside” note. Freddie also plays common tones in his solo on “Dolphin Dance,”43 as shown in figure 6-83. Figure 6-83 Herbie Hancock's piano voicings simplified De, ce © iid ‘© Herbie Hancock, Maiden Voyage, Blue Note, 1965, 160MScates ro Music CSL Figure 6-84 Ron Carter Fisus Figure 6-85 Dfsus!9 One of Herbie Hancock's most beautiful solos is on his tune “Little One."#* Herbie plays a common In figure 6-84, all three notes (GI, Af, B) belong to both changes (Df sus'®, Ffsus). Where's the second, hidden sequence? Take a look at the order of the starting note of each triplet: At, Gf, Al, B, A¥, GE, Att, B, Af, Gl, Af, B (figure 6-85). These starting notes form another sequence hidden inside the first ‘one. Both sequences move scale-wise. Wid, tone sequence that is actually two sequences in one. 161Cuarrer Six Stretchin’ the Changes A you listen to master players and become more adept at “playin’ the changes,” you'll become increasingly aware of the elasticity of the duration of each chord. You can stretch or compress the pacing of the changes beyond their written length by varying the point at which you start to play a chord, or go onto the next one. Figure 6-86 shows Joe Henderson sequencing a three-note phrase upward through four changes ‘on Horace Silver's “Pretty Eyes."45 Note how Joe “stretches” the chords, anticipating the F-7 bar by ‘two beats in the GA bar, and extending it one beat longer into the Bb7alt bar. Figure 6-86 GA F-7 Bbalt Mulgrew Miler is a master at stretching changes. Figure 6-87 shows the lead sheet to Mulgrew’s “Wingspan.”46 Figure 6-88 shows Mulgrew’s solo on his tune. This example is an in-depth look at stretching , the changes as played by a master musician, The analysis between the staffs shows where Mulgrew stretches the changes by both anticipating and extending them, Note also where he reharmonizes the chords, plays sequences, goes outside, and more 45 Horace Silver, The Cape Verdean Blues, Blue Note, 1965, 4 Mulgrew Miler, Wingspan, Landmark, 1987. 162