How Scales Fit With Chords.
Looking for a simple way to find the right scale for the right chord? Mark Wingfield looks at the simple relationships between chords and scales.
It has been said that chords and scales are in essence the same thing, and in many ways they are. Its this idea that is they key to solving the question of what scale will fit with what chord.
So if you understand chords well enough (and they are in essence quite simple), you'll find that the scale is almost implicit from the chord. Let's look at chords then.
The main reason people find music theory in general, difficult to make sense of, is the fact that it is all based on certain basic terms or labels. If you know these the whole thing really is quite simple in concept. If you aren't familiar with the labels used to name everything (eg: the intervals), the concepts will seem confusing and hard to remember. The main labels or terms you have to know are the names of the intervals.
INTERVALS
All chords and scales are made out of intervals, Intervals are the basic building blocks of all music. In fact it could be said that apart from the rhythm, intervals are everything.
What is an interval? An interval is simply the distance between a root note and any other note.
There is ALWAYS a root note. It doesn't matter whether you know a dot about theory or even music, you unconsciously hear the root note of any chord. Even most young children if asked to sing a single note of their choice on hearing a chord - will sing the root note. There is a very simple mathematical relationship between the notes of a chord. Our brains are unconsciously trained to pick out the root note in this relationship.
So the bottom line is; any time you are playing anything, you and everybody else, will hear it referenced to the root note of the chord.
Just to cover ourselves from any clever clogs who might at this point be saying, 'Hey what about diminished and augmented chords'. Yes if a chord is strange enough, the root might be ambiguous. But how often do these chords come up in everyday playing situations (outside of jazz)? Rarely. If you find really complex unusual chords occurring in the music you want to solo or write melodies over, as a common occurrence, you still need to start from the basics. What we are presenting here is the basics. Once you've mastered this, you can move on to expand your knowledge if the music you play demands it. For most people however, what we explain here will cover the vast majority of playing situations.
So now that we know that an interval is the distance between a root note and any other note. There are 11 of them. And we know that everything (bar the rhythm) is made up of intervals, let's spell out what these intervals are.
R, b2, 2, b3, M3, 4, #4/b5, 5, #5/b6, 6, b7, M7, R
Each of the above intervals is a semi-tone further up from the root. M stands for Major, ie: Major 3rd
Notice that two of the intervals have two names ie: the #4 is also known as a b5 and the #5 is also called a b6. For everyday purposes, it really doesn't matter which you call them.
If we started on a C the notes would be as follows:
R, b2, 2, b3, 3, 4, #4, 5, #5, 6, b7, 7, R C, Db, D, Eb, E,, F, F#,, G, G#, A, Bb, B, C
We now recommend that you pick up your instrument and have a listen to each of the 11 intervals. Whatever your root note, and they are always there, in everything you play. So you might as well learn them! So to have a listen and look at the intervals on your instrument, you can of course choose any note as your root. But why not choose C it will make it easy to think about the first few times. So if C is your root, C#=b2, D=2, Eb=b3, E=M3, etc...
THE THREE FAMIIES
There are three main families of chords which account for 80 to 90% of the chords you'll find yourself playing over (This does not include jazz where more chord types can be involved, though the principals are the same).
Major R, M3, 5, (M7)
Minor R, b3, 5, (b7)
Dominant R, M3, 5, b7
So a Major chord consists of a Root a Major 3rd and a 5th. Notice we are using the odd numbered intervals to construct chords - this is how it works. If you add the extra interval of a Major 7 or (M7) the chord is still Major but you've extended or embellished it.
A minor chord is similar except it has a b3 instead of a M3. If you add the extra interval of a b7 you are again extending or embellishing the chord. You add a b7 to match the b3 in the minor chord, as you added a M7 to match the M3 in the Major chord.
The third and biggest family of chords is the dominant family. This can be thought of as a mixture between Major and minor. You start with a root Major 3rd and 5th but you add the b7 from the minor chord, thus giving you a whole new family of chords.
Now you understand basic chord theory.
WHAT ABOUT SCALES?
To explain this, we need to look a bit more at our three families of chords.
You can extend these chords further adding other notes to them.
R, b2, 2, b3, M3, 4, #4/b5, 5, #5/b6, 6, b7, M7, R
Major R, M3, 5, (M7), (2 = 9), (#4 = #11), (6)
Minor R, b3, 5, (b7), (2 = 9), (4 = 11), (6), (b6)
Dominant R, M3, 5, b7, (2 = 9), (4 = 11), (6 = 13), (b9), (#9), (#11), (b13)
Here we've added on some extra notes from the possible 11 intervals. Not all the intervals sound good added to all the chords. Tastes differ and you might disagree with some of the above. The intervals we've added sound good to most people. The ones we've left out sound bad to most. Unless you disagree, and we encourage you to try them out, we suggest you memorize the above.
MEMORIZING IS FINE
But, you really need to know what they sound like too. This just comes down to doing some ear training. So put the basic chords down on tape, play the added notes on top of them as you replay the tape, and learn the sounds. Or get a good teacher to help you train your ear. It takes some time, but training your ear pays off more than any other single thing you could put your time into on your instrument.
So you can see that (to most people's ears) you can add a 2nd (which is the same as a 9th for our purposes) to a Major chord. You can also add a #4th (same as an #11th). You can also add a 6th, but you might find this sounds better with only the root, M3 and 5th, not the other added notes.
with a minor chord you can add the 2nd (or 9th), the 4th (or 11th), and either the 6th or the b6th, but again probably with out all the other extended notes.
So a lot of the possible 11 intervals won't sound good (to most people), only the ones mentioned.
The dominant chord presents quite a different state of affairs. You can add 10 of the 11 intervals to a dominant chord, and at worst it will sound 'jazzy', but not 'out of key'. That's why this is the biggest family of chords.
Again we urge you to experiment with these and get to know their sounds (at least the ones you like).
NOW WE CAN TALK ABOUT SCALES
Once you understand which intervals can be added to the three families of chords, you also, without knowing it (perhaps) know what scales will fit over these chords.
Let's look at a Major chord with all its extensions again
Major R, M3, 5, (M7), (2 = 9), (#4 = #11), (6)
If we now think of the above intervals as a scale, we get a kind of Major scale known as the lydian mode.
ie: R, 2, M3, #4, 5, 6, M7 - same intervals as above.
This is the perfect (many would say) scale for a Major or extended Major chord. The normal Major scale is another option. The only difference between this and the lydian scale is that the normal Major has a normal 4th, not a #4th like the lydian.
Let's look at the extended minor chord.
Minor R, b3, 5, (b7), (2 = 9), (4 = 11), (6), (b6)
Here we have a choice of two types of 6th. If we choose the normal 6th we get a minor scale called the dorian mode.
ie: R, 2, b3, 4, 5, 6, b7
This is a nice (some would say jazzy) choice of scale for a minor chord.
Your other option is to use the b6 instead of the normal 6th. This gives you as minor scale known as the aeolian mode.
ie: R, 2, b3, 4, 5, b6, b7
A common choice for rock players as well as jazz.
Finally we'll look at the dominant chord. Now here you have a lot of possible extensions, and therefore a lot of possible scales will fit over the chord.
R, M3, 5 b7, (2 = 9), (4 = 11), (6 = 13), (b2 = b9), (#2 = #9), (#4 = #11), (b6 = b13)
The most obvious one just uses the notes in the basic chord plus the 2, 4 and 6 (not sharped or flattened).
ie: R, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, b7
This is known as the mixolydian mode (also known by some as the 'melodic rock scale', but its actually used in many styles of music).
It goes beyond the scope of this article to discuss all the other possible scales you could make out of all the extensions available on a dominant chord. Don't forget, there is the b2, #2 (same as a b3), the #4 and the b6. These may sound jazzy, but don't discount them if you're not a jazz player. They create some interesting moods. For example: the #2 is a strong bluesy sound (some would say it is THE blues note).
If some of these numbers are confusing you, don't forget, for our purposes here:
2 is the same as 9
4 is the same as 11
6 is the same as 13
A final note. If at this point, your still a little perplexed. Re-read the article. What might make things seem confusing, is just the constant reference to the numbered intervals: 2's, M3's, b7's etc... If you just memorize these (there are only 11) and what they are, the whole thing will look MUCH simpler. Music theory is in essence simple as long as you have memorised the labels used to describe everything (ie: the interval numbers).
Mark Wingfield
