Re: What's the relation****p between scales and chords?

On Feb 26, 2:57 am, Dylan <DDawso...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
> Hi, learning harmonica and trying to learn some background theory to
> help me play improvisationally. If I'm playing along to a blues song
> with a I IV V ****gression, what scale would I play with each chord?
>
> Kind regards
> Dylan

When my book, THE PIANO LESSONS BOOK by Neil Miller, first came out in
December, I made some very simple replies to relevant posts, such as
-- buy my book because the answers are there. I got some flack for
that from a regular poster here, and rightfully so. So now I post what
are sometimes enormously long replies. Well, this one is a real
challenge because the tables and graphics in THE PIANO LESSONS BOOK
really make the understanding easier.

So, here goes with an excerpt that will start you on your way:

THE PIANO LESSONS BOOK

THE OUTLINE OF MUSIC

CHORDS AND CHORD SYMBOLS

THE FAMILY OF CHORDS

Another notation, that can be very helpful in understanding how music
is constructed, uses Roman
Numerals from I to VII. The Roman Numerals indicate the step of the
scale from which you start
playing every other note to form the Triad, and add the same Extension
that regular chord symbols
use. So if the music is presently in the key of C ...
instead of writing Cmaj7 you would write Imaj7

Notice that if you take every other note in the C Scale starting on
the first note and collect 4 notes,
you get the notes of a Cmaj7 Chord.
And if you take every other note in the C Scale starting on the second
note and collect 4 notes, you
get the notes of a Dm7 Chord. Using the Numeral system ...
instead of writing Dm7 you would write IIm7
This system requires that you notate or are aware of the
chords' associated scale because the system is dependent
on the particular key the music is presently in.

The connection between scales and chords is
im****tant. As you have learned earlier, a melody uses
only the 7 notes of the scale presently employed in a
section of music. The chords a composer uses are also
limited to combinations of those same 7 notes.
The Family Of Chords is the group of 7 chords
generated by starting on each of the 7 notes of a scale,
and using every other note to form a chord. Each type of scale (such
as a major scale or a minor
scale) is formulated with half-steps, whole-steps, and sometimes 1 1/2-
steps occurring in the same
order. As you learned in the chapter "Scales And Key Signatures" ...
All major scales go: Whole Whole Half Whole Whole Whole Half
Therefore, the same chord function (major, minor, diminished,
augmented and any extensions)
will be generated for the same numerical starting point in every scale
of a particular type (Major Scale
or one of the Minor Scales), because the distances between the notes
of the chord will be the same.
For example, the I-Chord of every Major Scale is major, the II-Chord
of every Major Scale is
minor, etc.:

MAJOR SCALE CHORD FUNCTIONS

TRIADS C Major and 4-NOTE CHORDS C Major
I C Imaj7 Cmaj7
IIm Dm IIm7 Dm7
IIIm Em IIIm7 Em7
IV F IVmaj7 Fmaj7
V G V7 G7
VIm Am VIm7 Am7
VIIdim Bdim VIIm7b5 Bm7b5

In music analyses, minor triads are sometimes shown as lower case (ii)
instead of adding an "m."
To become really familiar with the family of chords for each key, take
each Major Scale and the
three types of Minor Scales and form the 7 Triads and 4-note Chords
each scale produces. At first,
play them with just the left hand (to give it more exercise) and name
the chords. The Major Scale and
its Relative Normal Minor have the same family of chords (just the
numbering ****fts) because they use
exactly the same notes. The Harmonic Minor Scale and the Melodic Minor
Scale will produce different
functions because of the raised 6th and/or 7th steps.

NORMAL MINOR SCALE CHORD FUNCTIONS
TRIADS A Normal Minor and 4-NOTE CHORDS A Normal Minor
Im Am Im7 Am7
IIdim Bdim IIm7b5 Bm7b5
III C IIImaj7 Cmaj7
IVm Dm IVm7 Dm7
Vm Em Vm7 Em7
VI F VImaj7 Fmaj7
VII G VII7 G7

HARMONIC MINOR SCALE CHORD FUNCTIONS
TRIADS A Harmonic Minor 4-NOTE CHORDS A Harmonic Minor
Im Am Im(maj7) Am(maj7)
IIdim Bdim IIm7b5 Bm7b5
IIIaug Caug IIIaug(maj7) Caug(maj7)
IVm Dm IVm7 Dm7
V E V7 E7
VI F VImaj7 Fmaj7
VIIdim G#dim VIIdim7 G#dim7

MELODIC MINOR SCALE CHORD FUNCTIONS
TRIADS A Melodic Minor 4-NOTE CHORDS A Melodic Minor
Im Am Im(maj7) Am(maj7)
IIm Bm IIm7 Bm7
IIIaug Caug IIIaug(maj7) Caug(maj7)
IV D IV7 D7
V E V7 E7
VIdim F#dim VIm7b5 F#m7b5
VIIdim G#dim VIIm7b5 G#m7b5

How serious a student do you have to be to undertake regularly
practicing all these chords in
every key? Very. The amateur who takes a weekly lesson and practices a
half-hour a day will find it
useful to traverse the sequence periodically for the sake of
understanding. Even one traversal in a
lifetime will make it easier for you to learn and perform music. You
now know about and have an
appreciation for the information some pianists intuitively understand
-- those who truly play by ear.
They know the scales and chords by their sound and required position
on the keyboard. Still, those of
us with ordinary minds can use intellectual information and hard work
to attain success as musicians.

Neil Miller, author of THE PIANO LESSONS BOOK
Enter in Amazon.com search: Neil Miller Piano Lessons Book