So you've learnt your scales, you have good rhythm and you're been playing a few licks here and there. Now it's time to put the theory into practice. This improvisation MP3 uses the D Major & B Minor scales with a definite Jazz flavour to it. So get your George Benson fingers ready and see what you can do with this backing track.
Audio
Track Name: Bensoonal
Chord Progression
|D Maj7 |Bm7 |Em7 |A7 |
|D Maj7 |Bm7 |Em7 |A7 |
|F#m7 |Bm7 |F#m7 |Bm7 |
|F#m7 |Bm7 |C |G/B |
|A |A7 |
Scales
Use the D Major Pentatonic Scale...
R = Lowest Root Note
r = root note (other)
---|-o-|---|---|-r-|---
---|-o-|---|---|-o-|---
---|-r-|---|-o-|---|---
---|-o-|---|-o-|---|---
---|-o-|---|-o-|---|---
---|-o-|---|---|-R-|---
R --> starts on the 10th fret (D Major Pentatonic)
...or the D Major Scale
---|-o-|-r-|---|---|---
---|---|-o-|---|-o-|---
---|-o-|---|-o-|-o-|---
---|-o-|---|-o-|-r-|---
---|-o-|-o-|---|-o-|---
---|---|-R-|---|-o-|---
R --> starts on the 10th fret (D Major)
...or the B Minor Scale (Relative Minor)
---|---|---|-r-|---|-o-|-o-|---|---
---|---|---|-o-|-o-|---|-o-|---|---
---|---|-o-|-o-|---|-o-|---|---|---
---|-o-|---|-o-|---|-r-|---|---|---
---|-o-|---|-o-|---|-o-|---|---|---
---|-o-|---|-R-|---|-o-|---|---|---
R --> starts on the 7th fret (B Minor)
Scale: D Major
1 - [T] - 2 - [T] - 3 - <S> - 4 - [T] - 5 - [T] - 6 - [T] - 7 - <S> - 8
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 |
| G | A | B | C# | D | E | F# | G |
Scale: B Minor
1 - [T] - 2 - <S> - 3 - [T] - 4 - [T] - 5 - <S> - 6 - [T] - 7 - [T] - 8
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 |
| B | C# | D | E | F# | G | A | B |
Chord Key Relation (Common chords used in this key)
|
Degree
Formula |
Chords
|
Chord
Formula * |
Chord
Notes * |
Progression
Chords |
Chord
Formula ** |
Chord
Notes ** |
|
1st Major
|
D Major
|
1-3-5
|
D-F#-G
|
D Maj7
|
1-3-5-7
|
D-F#-G-C#
|
|
2nd Minor
|
E Minor
|
1-3b-5
|
E-G-B
|
Em7
|
1-3b-5-7b
|
E-G-B-D
|
|
3rd Minor
|
F# Minor
|
1-3b-5
|
F#-A-C#
|
F#m7
|
1-3b-5-7b
|
F#-A-C#-E
|
|
4th Major
|
G Major
|
1-3-5
|
G-B-D
|
--
|
--
|
--
|
|
5th Major
|
A Major
|
1-3-5
|
A-C#-E
|
A7
|
1-3-5-7b
|
A-C#-E-G
|
|
6th Minor
|
B Minor
|
1-3b-5
|
B-D-F#
|
Bm7
|
1-3b-5-7b
|
B-D-F#-A
|
|
7th Diminished
|
C# Diminished
|
1-3b-5b
|
C#-E-G
|
--
|
--
|
--
|
|
8th Octave
|
D Major
|
1-3-5
|
D-F#-G
|
D Maj7
|
1-3-5-7
|
D-F#-G-C#
|
|
--
|
--
|
--
|
--
|
C Major
|
1-3-5
|
C-E-G
|
Above Table Glossary
Degree Formula - This is a formula that work out the chords used in any key
Chords - These are the common chords used in the key of D Major
Chord Formula * - This is the formula that creates chords, 1-3-5 representing the 1st, 3rd & 5th notes of any 8 note Major Scale
Chord Notes * - These are the notes created from the previous column, Chord Formula
Progression Chords - These are the chords used in the song
Chord Formula ** - This is the formula that creates the chords in the previous column
Chord Notes ** - These are the notes created from the previous column, Chord Formula
So you've learnt your scales, you have good rhythm and you're been playing a few licks here and there. Now it's time to put the theory into practice. This improvisation MP3 uses the D Major & B Minor scales with a definite Jazz flavour to it. So get your George Benson fingers ready and see what you can do with this backing track.