Tag Archives: messiaen modes

Allan Holdsworth – What he plays in a solo

This Allan Holdsworth Solo Lesson takes a look at the scales and arpeggios he is using in a few phrases from the Sixteen Men Of Tain solo. I love Holdsworths playing and it is really interesting to try to figure out what is going on because his melodic language is pretty much unique. 

The video breaks down 4 phrases and talks about how they are constructed using different scales sounds such as Lydian Augmented and 2 different Messiaen Modes.

Of course this is an interpretation and an analysis based on what I know about him and what I think he is playing, but if you don’t agree then feel free to leave a comment!

The entire solo is transcribed here on the #11 channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJacBhd3-Kc (They are worth checking out if you are into jazz!)

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7 Jazz Scales for Cmaj7 – Vital Guide to Modern Jazz Guitar Sounds

 
What jazz scales you use over a chord tells you something about the sound of what you play in terms of extensions and alterations. In this video I am demonstrating the sound of 7 scales that you can put to use over a Cmaj7 type chord. Ranging from the good old major scale to a few atonal and more exotic scale choices. A big chunk of what is available in Jazz Theory I guess 🙂
 
For each scale I also give some suggestions for what arpeggios or pentatonic scales might be useful for that sound.
 

List of content:
0:08 Intro
1:32 Major Scale Improvisation
1:53 Major Scale, extensions and arpeggios
3:28 Lydian Improvisation
4:04 Lydian Scale, Target notes, extensions, pentatonic scales
5:18 Lydian #9 Improvisation
5:38 Lydian #9, sound, chord construction, arpeggios and triad pairs
7:55 Lydian Augmented Improvisation
8:24 Lydian Augmented Scale, Special Pentatonic, Cmaj7#5 and arpeggios
10:55 Don’t Study modes Rant!
12:18 Augmented Scale Solo
12:43 Augmented Scale, construction and Triad sets
15:53 Messiaen Mode Improvisation
16:26 Messiaen Mode: Construction, arpeggios, Minor Fragments
21:56 Lydian Augmented #9
22:38 How to find scales for a chord?
23:29 Lydian Augmented #9 – Arpeggios, triad pairs and ideas
25:48 Practicing using these scales – Target or Defining notes of the sound
27:27 Did I leave out any Scale options?