Category archive: scales
- Three Octave Bebop Scale Runs
- Scalar Tetrachords
- 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 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 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.