Dominant Bebop Scale

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This scale was used extensively by Charlie Parker, although there was no common name for it until educator David Baker popularized the term bebop scale. This scale is a mixolydian mode with an additional major seventh as a passing tone between the root and the minor seventh. This scale may be used over a dominant seventh chord with the same root as the scale. For example, C dominant bebop is used over C7. Here is an example from a Charlie Parker solo that demonstrates this technique:

[EXAMPLE]

This scale has two useful properties that make it preferable to the mixolydian mode for many improvisors. First, when played in descending eighth notes starting on the root, all of the chord tones fall on the beats:

[EXAMPLE]

Second, when played ascending, the major seventh acts as a leading tone to create smoother voice leading to the root of the scale:

[EXAMPLE]

Musicians tend to take advantage of these properties of the scale in the lines they create:

[EXAMPLE]

One may also use this scale over any of the other chords diatonic to the major key containing that dominant seventh chord. For example, C7 is diatonic to the key of F, so C dominant bebop can be used over any of the chords that are diatonic to the key of F. In particular, it can be used over the minor seventh ii chord Gm7, the major seventh I chord Fmaj7, or the half-diminished vii chord Em7b5:

[EXAMPLE]

Thus the dominant bebop scale can be used over all the four basic chord types: dominant, major, minor, and half-diminished. The most common use for the dominant bebop scale is to use the scale of the V chord over an entire major key ii-V-I progression:

[EXAMPLE]

The advantages of using this scale instead of the mixolydian mode over the V chord have already been discussed. It also provides advantages for the ii and I chords. This scale provides both the natural and raised fourths of the major chord and thus combines aspects of the major and lydian scales, which are two of the other popular scale choices for a major seventh chord:

[EXAMPLE]

Also, it provides both the minor and major thirds of the minor chord. The major third allows the minor ii chord to function as a secondary dominant, and it serves as a leading tone to the root of the V chord:

[EXAMPLE]

These extra color tones can make the dominant bebop scale a more interesting choice than the modes of the major scale over a ii-V-I progression. On the other hand, the dominant bebop scale is nothing but a particular way of adding passing tones to the modes of the major scale that happens to mimic the way Charlie Parker often played, so I suggest learning the major scale modes first and treating the bebop scales as variations on these.

Unlike the major scale discussed in the previous section and the melodic minor scale to be discussed later, the modes of the bebop scales do not tend to be discussed as such. Instead, we simply say that (for instance) the F bebop dominant scale is used over F7, Bbmaj7, Gm7, or Am7b5.

Copyright 2000 Outside Shore Music
Authored by Marc Sabatella

Dominant Bebop Scale