Sussing Out

In his solo on “Oh Da Manitee,”  Ricky Peterson uses chord qualities that have become essential parts of the modern jazz lexicon: the dominant seventh sus and the dominant seventh altered chords. In order to navigate these types of changes over longer harmonic rhythms, you need to have some appropriate scale choices for each chord. By extracting the scales Ricky uses in his solo, along with some devices derived from these scales, you can incorporate these updated harmonies into your own playing.

Ex. 1. Over a dominant seventh sus chord, the Mixolydian scale is usually your No. 1 choice. Here’s a great way to jump-start ideas with scale tone chords (1a). Build seventh chords using each degree of C Mixolydian as the root of each chord. Scale tone seventh chords can be used melodically (1b), which Ricky does in his solo.

Ex. 2. Don’t be put off by the chord symbol of dominant seventh sus4b9 chords. It’s actually quite simple to play over, using the second mode of the melodic minor scale (2a), which is sometimes known by the descriptive moniker Dorian b2. Ricky’s left-hand voicing is a quartal structure using the b9, 5, and root (shown with an added root in the bass). In bars 9 and 10 in his solo, Ricky plays scale tone seventh chords (2b) drawn from this mode of the melodic minor scale; the first four notes make up an Fmaj7#5, which is a very cool sound.

Ex. 3. Worried about those dominant seventh altered chords in “Oh Da Manitee”? Don’t be. Since you played through Example 2, you already have the scale you need under your fingers: the melodic minor scale, seventh mode, also known as the altered scale, the diminished whole tone scale, and the super Locrian (3a). This mode of the melodic minor scale contains the following chord extensions for the dominant seventh chord: b9, #9, #11, b13. And guess what? You can build scale tone triads using this scale, too (3b).

All files performed by Scott Healy.