Author archive: Chester Jankowski
- Three Octave Bebop Scale Runs
- Generated Collections
- Understanding Key Signatures
- Dominant 7b5 and the Diminished, Altered, and Wholetone Scales
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.
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.