Reddit mentions of Thesaurus Of Scales And Melodic Patterns (Text)

No one has mentioned Slonimsky's thesaurus of scales and melodic patterns yet. Despite the title, Slonimsky includes "master chords" that harmonize the scale patterns. Just about any library with a music literature section will stock this book. Or you could pick it up here.

First of all it's regimen, second of all what instrument do you play?

Also, that sounds like a good routine, to do something different I would suggest playing with a friend, trade fours, walk bass lines, pick each others' heads for licks and approaches to changes.

It sounds like you're pretty far advanced, have you ever checked out Nicolas Slonimsky's book? It's got a lot of great stuff in it. You didn't mention any books or classical pieces, etudes and such in your post, do you do any of that?

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Remember that the Mixolydian scale had a structure of Root, major 2, major 3, perfect 4, perfect 5, major 6, and minor 7.

If our root is G that would be G, A, B, C, D, E, F, (G).

If we are to arrange this as a chord (by skipping notes) we get:
Root, major 3, perfect 5, minor 7, major 9, perfect 11, major 13.

(Remember that a 2nd becomes a 9th in the higher octave, so major 2nd = major 9th. A 4th becomes an 11th in the higher octave, so perfect 4th = perfect 11th. A 6th becomes a 13th in the second octave so major 6th = major 13th).

So now we can see how and why modes are used.

If you stack a Mixolydian scale as a chord, you can see how the first three notes spell out a major triad. Therefore, the Mixolydian scale can be used over a major triad. e.g. play a G major triad with the left hand, and improvise with the G Mixolydian scale in the right hand.

If you stack a Mixolydian scale as a chord, you can see how the first four notes spell out a major triad with a minor seventh: in other words, a dominant seventh chord. i.e. G Mixolydian works over a G7 chord, because the notes in the chord are contained within the scale.

If you stack a Mixolydian scale as a chord, the fifth note is a major 9th. A dominant seventh chord + a major ninth is a dominant ninth chord (usually just called a ninth chord). i.e. G mixolyidian works over G9.

We can keep going but you probably get the idea. A scale will work over any chord that contains the notes in the scale.

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If you stack a major scale as chord you get:
Root, major 3, perfect 5, major 7th, major 9, pefect 11, major 13.

Note that both the major scale and the mixolydian scale contain a major triad as the first three notes. Therefore, both scales will "work" over a major triad (i.e. both G major and G mixolydian will work over a G major triad).

However, look at the 4th note you get when the major scale is stacked as a chord. It is a major seventh. Major triad + major 7th = Major ninth chord. Here's where the major scale and the mixolydian mode differ. The G Mixolydian scale will not work over a G major 9th chord, and the G major scale will not work over a G dominant ninth chord.

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How to know when to use which scale?

Remember that the mixolydian mode was built off of the 5th note of the major scale. e.g. G mixolydian is the fifth mode of C major. So in the key of C the chord built off of the fifth note (the "V" chord) will naturally take the Mixolydian scale built off of that note.

However, for practical purposes, there's no need to think of modes when playing key-center based music: if you're in the key of C, playing the C major scale over the C major chord (the I chord) and then playing G mixolydian over the G major chord (the V chord) means that you're just playing the same scale over both chords--it will give you a different perspective, but the notes will be the same.

The real benefit of modes is that it gives you tools to play over songs that aren't necessarily major/minor key based; i.e. songs that use non-functional harmony. Imagine a song with a chord progression of G7 to Bb7 throughout the tune. These two chords don't belong to any one key: this is a situation where you'd want to think modally, i.e. play G mixolydian over the G7 and switch to Bb Mixolydian over Bb7.

(Note that chord-scale theory is not an improvisation method*. Many students are misguided when they are taught to play x scale over x chord. Chord-scale theory let's you understand harmony, which notes are strongest or most stable against a particular chord how to add extensions. Learning improvisation is more about learning how to target chord tones on the strong beats, and embellishing a melody using mostly chromatic devices.)
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So I used the major scale and the Mixolydian mode as examples in this essay. Since there are seven notes in the major scale, each one of those notes can be thought of as the root of a different mode; each one will be distinct, and the fully extended chord will be different for each mode.

The seven modes of the C major scale are:

C Major scale (a.k.a. C Ionian): C D E F G A B (Root, Maj2, Maj3, P4, P5, Maj6, Maj7)
D Dorian: D E F G A B C (Root, Maj2, min3, P4, P5, Maj6, min7)
E Phyrigian: E F G A B C D (Root, min2, min3, P4, P5, min6, min7)
F Lydian: F G A B C D E (Root, Maj2, Maj3, P4, P5, Maj6, Maj7)
G Mixolydian: G A B C D E F (Root, Maj2, Maj3, P4, P5, Maj6, min7)
A Aeolian (a.k.a the Natural Minor Scale): A B C D E F G (Root, Maj2, min3, P4, P5, min6, min7)
B Locrian: B C D E F G A (Root, min2, min3, P4, diminished 5th, min6, min7)

We can say these seven modes are relative to each other, because they use the same set of notes. In other words, D dorian is relative to C major.

If we build each of those 7 scales on C, and look at their structure, we get:

C Lydian: C D E F# G A B (Root, Maj2, Maj3, Augmented 4th, P5, Maj6, Maj7)
C Major/Ionian: C D E F G A B (Root, Maj2, Maj3, P4, P5, Maj6, Maj7)
C Mixolydian: C D E F G A Bb (Root, Maj2, Maj3, P4, P5, Maj6, min7)
C Dorian: C D Eb F G A Bb (Root, Maj2, min3, P4, P5, Maj6, min7)
C Aeolian/Natural Minor: C D Eb F G Ab Bb (Root, Maj2, min3, P4, P5, min6, min7)
C Phrygian: C Db Eb F G Ab Bb (Root, min2, min3, P4, P5, min6, min7)
C Locrian: C Db Eb F Gb Ab Bb (Root, min2, min3, P4, diminished 5th, min6, min7)

We can say that these 7 modes are parallel to each other, because they are built on the same root*. In other words C Dorian is parallel to C major, while C Dorian is relative to Bb major. (Also, try to figure out why I listed them in that order!)

It's up to you to go through them. Just remember what the important information is:

• What is the interval structure of the mode, and how does it compare with the major scale built on the same root?
  
• What are the chords produced by the mode when you skip every other note? What is the triad, what is the seventh chord, and what are the extensions?
  
• Learn to sing each of the modes from memory; this is how you will learn the individual character of each.
  
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  Beyond the modes of the major scale, (and aside from the chromatic scale) you also have the seven modes of:
  
  
• The Melodic Minor scale (a.k.a. the jazz minor scale)
  
• The Harmonic Minor scale
  
• The Harmonic Major scale
  
• The Double Harmonic scale
  
  And there are the three symmetrical scales:
  
  
• The symmetrical diminished (only two different modes)
  
• The symmetrical augmented scale (only two different modes)
  
• The whole tone scale (only one mode)
  
  These scales pretty much cover every possible scale/chord. Some people may include pentatonic scales, but those are really just derivatives, created by leaving out a couple notes from the other scales.
  
  (For a more in-depth resource on the theory/philosophy behind scales, see:
  TheTonalCentre.org, and
  Slonimsky's Thesaurus Of Scales And Melodic Patterns)
  ***
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  The best general jazz chord-scale theory text I've seen (I've seen them all) is probably the Berklee book,
  Chord Scale Theory and Jazz Harmony;
  However, even better would be the Bert Ligon books, because they go into more detail about how to actually put it into practice:
  Connecting Chords with Linear Harmony
  Jazz Theory Resources Volume 1
  Jazz Theory Resources Volume 2
  Comprehensive Technique for Jazz Musicians
  

Brilliant piece, like a contemporary Bolero, but interesting. Hard as hell, too.

(Adams got all of those scale patterns from this book, hence the title.)

http://www.amazon.com/Thesaurus-Scales-Melodic-Patterns-Text/dp/082561449X

wow wut a super simple song

And there's also this: http://www.amazon.com/Thesaurus-Scales-Melodic-Patterns-Text/dp/082561449X

Do it!! And dude, high five for being a jazzer.

Composition resources... I have a few things that I enjoy using: The Thesaurus of Scales and Melodic Patterns (sidenote: the best shed dictionary ever), an orchestration book or wikipedia the instrument you're looking for a range on, IMSLP also known as "so that's how that works", and jazz theory/harmony... though I don't have a book to recommend on that one, as I learned it in a trial by fire sort of way. As far as notation software goes, I'm a big Finale junkie, though there's little advantage to Finale over Sibelius until you get to doing weird things with the software. I've heard some really good things about Reason, though haven't tried it personally because my computer doesn't spec for it. Since you're probably more theory minded, I'd suggest starting with jazz and reverse engineering yourself a tune/chart from a progression you like. It's sorta like writing a solo, but with an eraser. //rambling...


Theremin?! That's so awesome.


Yeah. I totally hear you on that one. I have like nothing to add to a discussion about some fancy new microphone or being in a cover band.

Are you familiar with Slonimsky's Thesaurus of Scales and Melodic Patterns? Check it out if not.