Think back to the first time you imrovised over a blues… what scale did you use?

You probably played the minor pentatonic over it even though the chords were all dominant chords. You improvised over a dominant chord with a scale that didnt have the notes of the chord in it and even more weird is the fact that it was a minor scale people played over a chord with a major third… but somehow it worked!

Ironically, this is where most people start improvising, then they move towards more “matching” scale choices. But this approach everyone started with is actually the gateway to quite an advanced concept I call “Non-Dominant Dominant Scales”

Note: This can be applied to every chord type using the same principles, but this is where I start people and its incredibly effective.

Think of this: When you see a dominant 7 chord, you know that you can play the mixolydian scale. It contains all the chordtones plus all the natural extensions; 9, 11, 13.

Then, when you become a more advanced player and start looking into Jazz or outside improvisation, you might discover that you can play the Altered scale over dominant chords too. This contains some of the chord tones but along with all of the altered extensions; b9 #9 #11 #b13

The thing that most people don’t realise is that if you can play the mixolydian scale and the altered scale over the dominant chord, then what that really means is you can play virtually any note over a dominant chord and it will have be justified as coming from one of those two scales.

Mixolydian: 1 2 3 4 5 6 b7

Aletered: 1 b2 b3 b4 b5 b6 b7

Put them together and you get: 1 b2 2 b3 3 4 b5 5 b6 6 b7

Thats 11 out of the 12 chromatic notes! It’s every note except the Major 7th.

This leads to an amazing realisation: Every scale and mode that you know (except those with a Major 7) are on the spectrum between mixolydian and altered. All of a sudden you can start repurposing the scales and modes you know for dominant chords.

Dorian, phrygian, aeolian, dorian b9 etc etc

Theyre all just different combinations of inside notes and altered notes. (John Stowell demos this beautifully in his melodic minor masterclass. I highly recommend checking that out)

Instead of treating Dorian as 1 2 b3 4 5 6 b7

Think of it as either dominant chordtones or extensions: 1 2 #2 4 5 6 b7

All of a sudden you can see that you don;t have the major third and that the b3 (now the #2) is an altered extension, so we have to handle it with care. We can now use that nore to create tension and resolution.

The other HUGE REALISATION is just because the scale doesn’ contain the chord tones, doesn’t mean it wont work! This is what I mean by “Non-dominant”. The scale doesn’t contain all the notes of a dominant arpeggio, but it still works on a dominant chord.

Thinking like this will help you…

1. Get new mileage out of all your existing scales and licks
2. Get access to new sounds easily
3. See every new scale you learn in a different way

So, here are my favourite Non-Dominant Dominant Chords written as  dominant sounds-

Major Scale Modes:

• Dorian – 1 9 #9 11 5 13 b7
• Phrygian – 1 b9 #9 11 5 b13 b7
• Aeolian – 1 9 #9 11 5 b13 b7
• Locrian – 1 b9 #9 11 b5 b13 b7

Melodic Minor Modes

• Dorian b9 – 1 b9 #9 11 5 13 b7
• Locrian nat2 – 1 b9 #9 11 b5 b13 b7
• Altered – 1 b9 #9 3 b5(or #11) b13 b7

Other Scales

• Wholetone Scale – 1 9 3 #11 b13 b7

You can also explore Harmonic Minor and Major Modes

So next time you’re soloing on a dominant chord and what some outside sounds, try some of these. Handle the altered notes with care and exploit their dissonant nature to create tension and resolution through your lines.