- Diatonic Mode Cycles
- Three Octave Bebop Scale Runs
- Generated Collections
- Understanding Key Signatures
- Scalar Tetrachords
- Visualizing the Diatonic Ic Vector
- Dominant 7b5 and the Diminished, Altered, and Wholetone Scales
Key signatures are a fundamental part of tonal music, and are typically taught in early stages of learning music theory. However, the manner in which they are normally taught obscures some important aspects of diatonic collections, which this article will seek to illuminate.
This brief article demonstrates how to leverage scalar tetrachords to construct a useful fingering pattern for three-octave runs of the bebop scale. The article includes a PDF of practice materials.
A generated collection is formed by repeatedly adding a single interval, termed the generator. These collections include some of the most important collections used in jazz and tonal music generally.
Key signatures are a fundamental part of tonal music, and are typically taught in early stages of learning music theory. However, the manner in which they are normally taught—through rote memorization—obscures some important aspects of diatonic collections, which this article will seek to illuminate.
A scalar tetrachord is an ordered four-pitch set with scale-like construction. These tetrachords can be thought of as scale fragments, or, conversely, as the building blocks for scales. Developing instant recall of them is extremely useful for playing long scales across the length of the fingerboard, and also for arbitrarily shifting from one scale to another, mid-stream.
The diatonic collection has the deep scale property: each element in its ic vector is unique. By looking at the collection as a 'stack of fourths,' we can easily visualize how and why each ic is unique.
The dominant 7b5 tetrachord {0, 4, 6, 10} is a subset of the diminished, altered, and wholetone scales. We can use this to develop a useful fingering pattern for all three scales.