Scales/Swing Patterns

[OPBASSMAN1994]

Hey, could you tell me the general recipe for minor and major scales? In terms of notes. (Ex. I know that you could break a D major chord into a progression of D, A, D, F# on a 4 string bass, but I really have no clue how to construct a true Major scale based on D Major.) That would be extremely helpful, as I'm trying to expand my horizons beyond Geddy Lee, accidentals, triplets, etc.

I've been experimenting with some swing stuff (like a G, B, D, E, G progression), but I'd also like to know a bit more about that. Thanks.

[adamnitti]

sure-

the formula for a major scale looks like this (W=whole step and H=half step):

root-W-2nd-W-3rd-H-4th-W-5th-W-6th-W-7th-W-root

in other words, you have whole steps separating scale degrees 1 and 2, 2 and 3, 4 and 5, 5 and 6, and 6 and 7. similarly, you have half steps separating scale degrees 3 and 4, and 7 and the root. The major scale has the same formula regardless of what note it begins on. It is made up of a series of half step and whole step intervals described above. An interval is a distance between 2 notes. A half step interval is a 1 fret distance on your bass. A whole step interval is a 2 fret distance.

applied to the root, 'D', a one octave D major scale following this formula would look like this:

D - E - F# - G - A - B - C# - D

It is also helpful to recognize that each note in the scale corresponds to the respective degree of the scale. In other words, we assign a number to each individual note in the scale which represents its function. We refer to these numbers as scale degrees. Subsequently, a one octave major scale could be represented by the following scale degrees:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1
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EDIT:

TalkBass won't let me post any attachments above 150 KB, so if you PM me your email address I can send you an excerpt on scale construction taken from my "Jazz Improvisation 1" course on www.MusicDojo.com...