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The Altered Mode Introduction

The is an excellent way to gain access to all of altered tensions of a dominant chord. In fact, the altered scale contains every possible tone which is the b9, #9, #11 and #5 (or b13) – remember that the #5/b13 is the same note, but musicians use both names which can be confusing.

With all of these alterations, it’s no surprise that the altered mode is a tough one to visualise and memorise in all 12 keys.

Understanding how to resolve the Altered Tensions in the scale So now that we have a good understanding of the construction of the altered mode. Let’s explore how we can resolve the altered tensions in the scale.

This is perhaps the most valuable piece of information to take away from this lesson.

If we think back to the 251 progression, we know that the 7th of the chord always resolves down a half step to become the 3rd of the next chord. You can use this resolution in your lines to outline the chord change that is taking place, let’s look at a few examples.

In the same way that the 7th wants to resolve to 3rd in a 251, the alterations of the altered mode have strong resolution points that you can utilise in your improvised lines.

Remember that one of the hallmarks off jazz is the creation of tension and then resolution of tension and so having an understanding of how to resolve alterations is very important.

To demonstrate this let’s use a 5-1 progression in C- which is G7alt to the 1 chord C-

Here’s the G Altered mode, working from the bottom upwards, the first alteration is the b9.

In terms of the 1 chord, the b9 is a half step above the 5th of C. The fifth is a primary chord tone of C major and so moving from the b9 to the 5th creates a strong sense of resolution. This is the same in any key, the b9 of the 5 chord is half a step above the 5th of the 1 chord.

www.pianogroove.com Here is a very common altered scale patterns that uses this resolution. This exact pattern or slight variations of it can be heard in countless recordings so listen out for it. The #9 to b9 to #5 has a distinctive sound no matter what key you are playing in:

This altered lick starts on the #9 and then runs down the b9, #5, major 3 and then the #9 and b9 again before resolving into the 5 of the 1 chord.

This pattern also works well over major 251s, remember that you can substitute the altered mode over the 5 chord in any major 251 progression.

Another strong resolution point is into the 9 of the 1 chord.

The #11 and the #5 enclose the 9 of the 1 chord and so you can use each of these alterations to create a strong sense of resolution. We’ll look at an example in a moment.

In a minor 251, the #11 which can also resolve down a half step to the , however, the upwards resolution to the 9th is stronger and lands on a colourful extension.

Now lets talk about harmonising the scale:

You can get some very cool sounds out of the altered mode by harmonising each note of the scale with 7th chords.

www.pianogroove.com You should practice arpeggiating these 7th chords so that you are familiar with the shapes and sounds. Once you have done this you can try adding them to your line.

The maj7 #5 built off the major 3 is particularly useful. For G7alt this is a Bmaj7#5 chord.

Here’s a couple of examples. In the first one we play 3 descending over the 251:

In the next example we combine downwards and upwards arpeggios again using the Bmaj7#5 arpeggio over the G7alt chord:

As an exercise, transpose these lines into a few different keys.

The main benefit of harmonising the scale using 7th chords is that you can add more angular sounding intervals into your lines. Often when you are just thinking of the scale as a sequential set of notes, you tend to create linear lines that simply run up and down the scale.

Learning to combine arpeggios with step wise scale motion will allow you unlock much more interesting melodic contours within the altered mode.