iReal ProIMPROVISATION: MODES AND SCALES

JOHNATHON BOWER

Standards and Grade LevelGoals: Demonstrate use of correct scales while improvising over a chord progression.Standards: NAfME 3. Improvising melodies, variations, and accompaniments; 9-12.CT.1. Use digital resources (e.g., educational software, simulations, and models) Students: High school jazz band; 9- 12th grade. 16 students.

Scales versus Modes All modes are scales and all scales are modes.The modes used in basic jazz are the same as the church modes from the renaissance time period.Every Church mode is based of off the major scale or Ionian mode. All western music up until the 20th century is a product of the major scale.

The Church modesEach Church Mode has 7 pitches, plus an eighth that is repeated on top. Each pitch is considered a scale degree.Each church mode starts on a different scale degree of the Major scale or Ionian mode.In order of scale degrees starting at one the modes are as follows: Ionian, Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian, Mixolydian, Aeolian, and Locrian.Aeolian is also known as Natural minor.

Church Modes Continued…The other way of thinking about church modes has to do with raising and lowering certain pitches within the scale.For example to play a Lydian mode you can start on the fourth scale degree of a major scale or simply raise the fourth scale degree of any major scale.

Beginning to ImproviseEach mode goes along with a specific chord while improvising.Simply put chords are based off of scale degrees so it only takes knowing the degree of which a mode is based to play correctly.For example the 2nd scale degree in C major is a D minor chord, the mode that matches is the Dorian mode.

The progression we will be using is ii-V-I Scale Degrees are written in roman

numerals. (2-5-1).

Think of the chord progression as a paragraph and each chord as a sentence. This idea can be used to build musical phrases as a performer improvises a melody.The scales and their notes make up the performers vocabulary.

Using iReal Pro and Its ResourcesiReal Pro is a piece of software with recordings of several chord progressions.It is possible to change the key signature to gain practice in all 12 major and minor keys.In each recording it displays the scale(s) most commonly used with the chords.

Johnathon Bower is a Senior Music Education Student and an aspiring professional Trombonist. Music examples made in

Finale 2014.

Pictures are screenshots from the iReal Pro iPhone App.

Photo of myself is from an Eastern Michigan Jazz Band Performance with my mother.