Q: What are substitutions and how can I make use of them?A: The first answer is easy: a substitution is using one chord in the place of another.For example:We might assume that a C Major chord symbol (CMaj7 or C7) would imply a C major scale:C D E F G A B CBut what if we substituted a G major scale for the C major chord?This gives us:G A B C D E FGThere is only one note difference between them (F and F), but the result is two-fold:Since we have an Fin our substitution, when we play that on the C, it gives us the C Lydian mode. In jazz theory, a 11 is an available tension (or extension) on any major or dominant chord. Basically, if the scale has a major 3rd from the root, you can use a 11. This substitution gives us a harmonically richer sound without us even having to play a different scale (just change our root, and voil, we can still think of the major scale, but get to make use of the fancy 11 at the same time.

This technique also assists bass players in the quest to get away from root motion in our solos. Even though we are still playing over a C major chord, we can think G and our phrasing will sound different because we will be operating from a different place in the scale. We all have different shapes and patterns that we lean on when we play any given scale. When we keep our scale shape but shift our root we will likely adhere to our patterns, but now well be emphasizing different scale tones set against the actual chord that we are playing over.

The big thing to be aware of is this: regardless of what scale or tonality you are playing in your mind, in reality, you are still very much playing over that C major chord. This means that when you resolve to your mental root, you are not actually resolving to the root of the chord. The same holds true for every relationship in the scale. You always have to remain aware of how the note you are playing will act against the actual chord you are playing over and not just the chord or scale that you have in your head.When I first started working on playing through jazz changes, this was how I cheated real jazz harmony, which was still very much a mystery to me. I was only really comfortable with the major and minor scales, so I worked on ways to turn most any chord into a major or minor scale with varying degrees of success. Major and minor scales just dont cut it over many chord types in jazz music, no matter how hard you try.Ultimately, we must also explore melodic minor and harmonic minor if we really want to expand our vocabulary. That said, this isnt a bad place to start your explorations!How would one do this? I imagined that the modes were on a clock face and for every chord type, I simply had to rotate the face until it gave me the major or minor scale that I wanted to play.But keep this in mind: only some of these chord types will actually sound good when you do this. This was just the first step in my exploration. There are much hipper scales to use when making use of substitutions than I will list right here, but many of these are outside of the major scale harmony (i.e.: melodic and harmonic minor). This is just a way to start playing with the concept. I will give examples that draw upon all scale types for use over various chord types in my next installment.ChordOptions

CMaj7orC7:As in the example given above, the quick and easy substitution is to play the major scale from the 5th of the chord. This give you a 11 (G Major = C Lydian)

C7:You can play a Major scale from the 4th(C Mixolydian = F Ionian (or F Major)This means, however, that whenever you resolve to your substituted root (the F), you will be landing on a very ambiguous sounding note. This is why we have to remain aware of the chord we are actually playing over and how our note choices will ct against it.You can play a minor scale from the 5th(G minor gives you a C Dorian tonality. This means that you will be playing a 3 over the C7 chord. This usually works well enough, as it can sound bluesy. Often, the phrasing will make or break the line.You can play a Dorian scale from the 5th(C Mixolydian = G Dorian)

Cmin7orC-7:You can play a minor scale from the 5th(G Aeolian (minor) = C Dorian. This gives us a natural 6th on the Cmin7 chord which, is a common choice)You can play a major scale from the 7(BIonian (Major) = C Dorian. Just like the G minor scale, this gives us C Dorian with the natural 6th)

C7orC7(5):You can play the Major scale up a half-step from the root.Again, this means that you will want to be careful with the root of your substituted scale. There is no more dissonant a note to land on than the 2, unless done in the right way.My preferred choice (in major scale harmony) is to play Lydian from the 5G(or F) Lydian = C Locrian (7th mode of DMajor)

Note:Locrian was the scale of choice for quite some time over half-dim chords (-7(5)). This became less the norm in favor of the use of 6th mode of melodic minor (literally, a minor scale (aeolian) but with a 5. Often referred to as Locrian 2 as well.) The only real difference here is whether or not to use a 2 or natural 2 on the -7(5) chord. 2 preference = Locrian (7th mode of the major scale) and a natural 2nd = Locrian 2 (6th mode of melodic minor).From what I understand, Bill Evans made the use of a natural 2nd over this chord standard by virtue of the way he voiced minor ii-Vs. His natural 2nd over the ii-75 would resolve down a half-step to the 13 of his V79, and then down again to the natural 9 of his minor i-7 chord.If you dont know what Im talking about there, dont sweat it. Thats the kind of talk that freaked me out for years until I began to understand it. Just work in bite-sized chunks, and you will slowly begin to understand the verbiage. Dont let the words scare you, its all pretty easy to understand nice you have a grip on the fundamentals.All of that was to say that the most common substitution for this chord type is to play melodic minor from the 3. (C Locrian (with a natural 2nd) = Emelodic minor)This is quite a bit to start with and the best way to practice this stuff is to break out your Real Book and practice playing through tunes slowly.1. Practice playing your substituted scale in time over each relating chord change.When you see this:|| Dmin7 | G7 | CMaj7 | CMaj7 ||play this:|| Amin | Dmin | GMaj | GMaj ||or any kind of substitution that you want to try.Its pretty important that you explore this stuff with a playback of some kind or other musicians as you really need to hearhow it sounds. Just because it works in your head, doesnt mean that it will sound good in practice. For everything you find that works, youll discover two things that dont work as well. Keep a log of what substitutions sound good to you (Ill include mine here at the end of this column).Lets stop it here so you can all explore this stuff. Once you get the concept in your mind, its easy enough to start trying things, and then its just a matter of trial and error and keeping track of what you like.Here is my list of substitutions I keep on my computers desktop (yes, I keep it in a sticky on my desktop)Alternate harmony options:Keep in mind that I use symbols for chord symbols:= Major
= minorChordOptions

77 from the 5 (makes it Lydian)

7min penta from the 5mel min from the 5 (adds a 11)Dorian from the 5

-7-7 from the 57 form the 7

7Lydian from 5minor from the 7Mel min from the 3Mixo 6 from the 7 (5th mode Mel min)Harm min from the 7

SUS4minor Pentatonic from 5from 4

altMixo 2, 6 (harmonic min)down 3 and Mixo 6 (melodic min)1/2-wh from root, 3, 5 or 6

o7altered scale (of choice) from 7(diminished is alt dominant from the 9)wh-half sym dim

7 53rd deg of Harm min or mel minmixo 6 from the 3 (mel min)

-(7)Melodic OR Harmonic minmixo 6 from the 5 (mel min)mixo 2 6 from the 5 (harm min)

7(11)mel min from the 5Lydian Dominant (mel min)mixo 6 from the 2 (mel min)

7(5)Whole Tone

sus7(9)mel min from 7

Any extension immediately implies a 11

9 implies 9 and vice-versa

any chord with a 3rd can have a 11

If there is anything in there that you dont understand (like my shorthand), worry not. I will explain all of these options in the next installment!

In part 1 of this series, we were experimenting with using substitutions that allowed us to play familiar major and minor scale shapes over various basic chord types. Now, lets move on to melodic and harmonic minor mode choices.First, lets make sure that were all familiar with these two scales:Harmonic minor = Aeolian (natural minor) with a major 7thThats it. Just play a minor scale with a natural 7th and youll have the harmonic minor scale.This one alteration does, however, affect the various modes in pretty significant ways. Just because you have the major scale and its associated modes down pat does not mean that you will have the harmonic minor and associated modes down.Its still best to explore these modes one by one, and all over the fretboard.Melodic minor = Ionian (Major scale) with a 3Again, only one note difference between the two, but it makes a world of difference to the sound and usefulness of the inherent modes.Note:Many of you will be anxious to point out that the melodic minor scale is different ascending than it is descending. So far as its used in jazz music, this is nottrue. This is a classical music construct, and while I admit I dont know much about why, I can say for certain that when a jazz musician speaks of melodic minor or any mode contained therein, they are very much talking about this one scale. Major scale with a minor 3rd. Some also think of it as a minor scale with a natural 6th and 7th. Same thing.Now, I am going to give you my own methodology and my own path to discovery of what I jokingly call the adult chords:75, Alt, 75, diminished, etc. These are the chords that keep many a student bassist (and many pros) playing long tones and roots until they get to the next chord that they know how to navigate.I like to explain the path I took to understanding because the stock explanations out of many theory books just dont resonate with many students (including yours truly). The authors often get a little too proud of their own wordage and the simplicity of it gets lost. The more complicated it sounds, the more one can feel satisfaction at its understanding. I call BS here and try to make it sound as simple as it seems in my own mind.I am primarily speaking of the various concepts employed when I speak of its simplicity. It really is simple math and logic. The complexity comes in the employment of this stuff in a musical context. It requires that we spend hundreds to thousands of hours internalizing the different facets of jazz harmony on the instrument before it can become a natural part of how we actually make music. In short, many students stop where the real work begins that is in the repetition and exploration on the instrument and learning how this simple math and logic actually sounds amidst other musicians making music.This is all to say that, once you get the concept, it is very much up to you to work hard and methodically to explore what it all means in a musical context (off the page). We cant stop pushing before weve figured out how to make music with it. Knowing your scales and relationships is just the foundation from which the real work begins.With any given chord type, there will be any number of scaler options available to you. Much of it will essentially depend on your aural aesthetic (or how you think it sounds. Didnt I just say something about getting over-wordy?!). While many theory books will give you a list of rules, those rules are merely guidelines. I dont care what any book says, if I dont like the way X scale sounds over Y chord, Im not going to use it. Period.That said, never stop exploring. The reality is that your ears will never stop evolving as you study music. You will slowly start to hear denser harmonic content and alternate approaches in harmony and rhythm. Just because you dont like X scale now, doesnt mean that you wont begin to appreciate it later. Food for thought.When I use the words chord scale from this point on, I simply mean that the chord scale is the scale that is built from any chord type by using the chord tones and any available tensions. In simple terms, we discern what notes will constitute our 1 3 5 7 (chord tones), and then use a few basic rules to decide what we will use for our 2 4 6. Add them all together and you get 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 (in whatever form it takes): the chord scale.So, this was how I began exploring how to discern any given chord scale over any given chord.My first explorations into figuring out what chord scale to use for any chord type was to simply read the chord like a map.For example, C711:
I used logic to dictate that C7 is just a major chord and Id use a 2, 4 (11) and a 6. This gives us Lydian chord scale for that chord type.How about G7(5)?
I would think, okay, G7 just means to play Mixolydian from a G. Ill just sharp that 5 and get a G mixolydian 5 scale of G A B C DE F G.
This is almost correct. Ill explain why in a second.One more: G7(9, 5)
Okay, Mixolydian with those alterations = G AB C DE F G. Again, this is almost right. More on that very soon.This is a great way to start exploring scales built to suit any specific chord type and it will get you 90% of the way there. It certainly works in a pinch when you come across an unusual chord type that you havent explored. If nothing else, its the closest you can get without really exploring your different options or in real time, on a gig.Now, as I worked with chords in this way, I was always aware that not all of my self-built chord scales worked all that well, all of the time on the gig or in the shed. I eventually started asking around and picked up a few good rules to keep in mind for building your chord scale.You may have picked up on this at the end of my list of alternate harmony options from the end of Part 1 of this series.Any alteration of a tension immediately implies a 11

9 implies 9 and vice-versa

Any chord with a major 3rd (from the root) can have a 11

So, applying this logic to the examples I gave above changes a few things. Remember that G75?Now we also know that, because I have a 5, I can also use a 11. This gives us the whole tone scale (nothing but whole steps from root to root).G A B CDF G To anyone who noticed, Im not about to write an Eor F. Sorry to anyone whose sensibilities this offends. As a professional chart reader, I have come to strongly favor that which makes the reading and performing of the music on the chart easier over any strict classical ideals about notation that generally tend to wrinkle the brow of those actually performing the music.Indeed, this is what most composers are implying implicitly when they write this chord symbol. It is assumed that you will automatically think whole tone when you see a 75 chord symbol.Also, our G7(9, 5) becomes this when those rules are applied:G Ab AB CDE FNow, this is yet now step further down the road of the fluent jazz improvisor (after weve spent sufficient time with all of these scales and chords, of course).There are many additional assumptions about which chord scale an improvisor may choose based on the spelling of the chord. This is why every altered dominant chord isnt just called an 7 alt chord. There are implications about the chord scale you will choose depending on the spelling.Here is the important thing to remember: There is nocorrect answer, only that which sounds good or bad and that is quite subjective. I have scales that I prefer but that dont jive with jazz theory texts (preferring a 9 on -7(5) chords, for example). I believe that the bass guitar and the range it occupies lends it a bit of a handicap when it comes to certain harmonic devices. Certain things sound better played on instruments that are an octave or more up from our range. That is just a working hypothesis on my part but I love the way certain scales work and sound on the guitar or trumpet but have not enjoyed the sound as much on the bass. My ear is always evolving, though so that may very well change over time.The point is this: play what sounds good to you. Jazz theory is not jazz fact. The rules about available tensions, avoid notes, etc. are more of a guide, in my estimation. Helpful hints at what has worked for those that came before and analyzed what was being played. But jazz is not a static music and I have a scowl and a pithy, really dude?? for anyone that tells me that something is or isnt allowed in music. Its just a matter of what people are used to hearing and what you want to sound like. If you like it, do it. If people dont like it, thats up to them. They have an equal right to dislike what you play as you have to play, but its a two-way street.My only request is that you actually do the work required to make those decisions for yourself. I have come across many a student who never evolved beyond major scale harmony, not because they preferred the sound, but because it was a daunting task to take the next step and therefore, never took it.
My philosophy is, Im going to play until I cant play anymore and Id rather be better then than I am now. So lets see how far I can push it with the time I have! Why not, right? Keep exploringOkay, here is a basic guide for some chord types and the expectation of chord scale by many players.7 = Lydian7(5) = 3rd mode Melodic minor
I tend to play 5th mode from the major 3rd. i.e.: C7(5) = E Mixolydian 6Sus4 = Mixolydian
I tend to play Minor or Dorian from the 5thSus7(b9) = 2nd mode of Melodic Minor
I like the 5th mode of Melodic minor again here, played from the 4th, i.e.: CSus(9) = F Mixolydian 6-7(5) = 6th mode of Melodic Minor
This is the general assumption here (minor scale with a 5). I prefer playing Lydian from the 5 in a solo contextALT = Altered scale, aka super-locrian
This is the 7th mode of Melodic minor.diminished = Whole/half symmetrical diminished scale
(Whats that? just play alternating whole and half notes! i.e. C D DF FGA B C for a C dim7)-(7) = Melodic minor or Harmonic minor
Dealers choice. Super jazzers tend to play melodic minor75 = Whole-tone7(11) = Lydian Dominant
(4th mode of melodic minor. = Mixolydian scale with a 11)7(b9) = Half/whole symmetrical diminished scale
I prefer the 5th mode of Harmonic minor (Mixolydian with a 2 & 6)7(9) = Half/whole symmetrical diminished scale
I prefer to simply play minor unless its a very jazzy feel. Straight minor works best over bluesier feels in my mind, for this chord. Much depends on the context (style, general tonality of everything going on, etc).7(13) = 5th mode Melodic Minor (Mixolydian 6)Thats a pretty good working list to use as a starting point. Like Ive mentioned, my decisions will often change depending on the context of the chord within the song and what Im hearing at the moment. Again, these are guidelines, not rules.And, how does this relate to substitutions? With many of these chord scale preferences, I will not play the scale from root to root, as if I were practicing but rather skip around and blend different modes together depending on what my ear wants at that moment. I may operate from a diatonic mode from another place in the scale, or I may switch between harmonic and melodic minor modes to switch up the sound. It is all a part of some much deeper explorations that I hope you will undertake!For those that would like to dive a little deeper, with actual musical examples and exercises and with more care and time taken per topic, I would suggest a few books (one of them mine. Shameless plug.)