I’ve been coaching some of the best musicians and I’ve been learning exactly what makes them tick. I’m working on revealing everything you should know. But before I do that, I could use your help.

I want to hear what you really need to know right now that can make the biggest difference in the quality of your musicianship. Exactly what challenges you’re facing, what information would be most valuable to you, and what’s been hardest for you to overcome.

Here’s the deal: if you give me a few moments of your time and input, I’ll gratefully give you a FREE gift. I’ll share some never released patterns that the greatest soloists use to burn on the bandstand. Some real head turners! It’s my way of saying, “Thanks” for contributing.

All I need to know is: what do you want to know most about improving your musicianship? It could be anything at all… even if you think it’s silly.

Just answer the survey questions (many of them are simple and easy multiple choice) and type your most important questions in the little boxes below… ask me whatever question will help you the most and I’ll make sure to include it in the near future.

By the way, these free patterns are only for the first 100 people who respond… so please answer all the questions right now and then click on the “Here Are My Questions!” button.

Thanks so very much for your input, I really appreciate it!

Your privacy always comes first and your email address is never shared with anyone ever.

If you can keep the key signatures straight as you play this, then you’re definitely ready to move on to something more challenging.

And hopefully, if you’ve been following this series, you can imagine phrases that aren’t confined to the tonic key.

That was the purpose of this series on playing outside. To stretch your ear and technique beyond conventional tonality. I hope you’ve enjoyed the exercise.

Download the full pattern:
Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 15

Table of contents for Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale

1. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 1
2. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 2
3. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 3
4. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 4
5. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 5
6. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 6
7. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 7
8. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 8
9. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 9
10. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 10
11. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 11
12. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 12
13. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 13
14. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 14

Now this pattern is the exact opposite of the twelfth dominant 7 pentatonic scale pattern. Every other note is transposed into the “outside key” but this pattern begins in the outside key and is a full bar long.

Download the full pattern:
Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 14

Table of contents for Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale

1. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 1
2. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 2
3. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 3
4. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 4
5. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 5
6. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 6
7. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 7
8. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 8
9. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 9
10. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 10
11. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 11
12. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 12
13. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 13
14. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 14

This pattern is almost the exact opposite of the previous dominant 7 pentatonic pattern. Every other note is transposed into the “outside key” but this pattern begins in the outside key and is only two beats.

Download the full pattern:
Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 13

Table of contents for Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale

1. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 1
2. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 2
3. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 3
4. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 4
5. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 5
6. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 6
7. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 7
8. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 8
9. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 9
10. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 10
11. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 11
12. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 12
13. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 13
14. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 14

This dominant 7 pentatonic pattern is super squiggly. Every other note is transposed into the “outside key” for superior in-the-moment transposition skills.

As always, don’t just memorize this pattern technically. After you have your technique down and can play it relatively fast, focus on your mind and how it understands the theory logically as you play.

Download the full pattern:
Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 12

Table of contents for Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale

1. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 1
2. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 2
3. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 3
4. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 4
5. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 5
6. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 6
7. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 7
8. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 8
9. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 9
10. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 10
11. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 11
12. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 12
13. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 13
14. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 14

The primary purpose of this dominant 7 pentatonic pattern is to force you to transpose keys a number of times during the bar. If you keep your wits about you as you play this pattern and don’t just memorize it without giving it any thought, you’ll start to become extremely comfortable moving between two keys at will. This pattern changes keys 5 times within a single bar.

Download the full pattern:
Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 11

Table of contents for Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale

1. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 1
2. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 2
3. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 3
4. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 4
5. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 5
6. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 6
7. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 7
8. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 8
9. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 9
10. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 10
11. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 11
12. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 12
13. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 13
14. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 14

This dominant 7 pentatonic pattern sandwiches the tonic key with two full beats of the “outside” key on either side. It starts in the transposed key, moves to the tonic key, and finishes in the transposed key.

What I like about this pattern is how the “outside” key flows over the bar into the next pattern. This gives you some experience of playing with tension not only by mode, but also by meter.

Download the full pattern:
Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 10

Table of contents for Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale

1. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 1
2. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 2
3. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 3
4. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 4
5. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 5
6. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 6
7. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 7
8. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 8
9. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 9
10. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 10
11. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 11
12. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 12
13. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 13
14. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 14

This dominant 7 pentatonic pattern spends a full beat in the original key, modulates to the “outside” key for two full beats, and then returns to the original key for the final beat.

You can play around with this pattern and find some useful alternatives. Try pushing the pattern back a beat so it starts on beat 2 and notice how it feels different. Or you can pull the pattern forward so it starts on beat 4 of the bar. Obviously, you can do this with all of the previous patterns to experiment and come up with unique and interesting twists.

Download the full pattern:
Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 9

Table of contents for Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale

1. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 1
2. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 2
3. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 3
4. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 4
5. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 5
6. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 6
7. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 7
8. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 8
9. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 9
10. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 10
11. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 11
12. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 12
13. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 13
14. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 14

Similar to dominant 7 pentatonic pattern 3, just by playing around with two different scales, we can invoke many more different keys and harmonic shapes. This is the first pattern to start in the “outside” key.

Download the full pattern:
Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 8

Table of contents for Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale

1. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 1
2. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 2
3. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 3
4. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 4
5. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 5
6. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 6
7. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 7
8. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 8
9. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 9
10. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 10
11. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 11
12. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 12
13. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 13
14. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 14

This dominant 7 pentatonic pattern gets challenging again. Like the previous pattern, it spends more time in the “outside” key. Only the first and fifth notes are in the original key. This means that you have to switch keys a total of three times during the entire eight-note phrase.

A useful exercise is to take a single bar of this pattern, find the next bar that continues the scale, and put them together to create a two-bar phrase. It would like something like this: Bar 1 + Bar 5, Bar 2 + Bar 6, and so on.

Download the full pattern:
Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 7

Table of contents for Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale

1. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 1
2. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 2
3. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 3
4. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 4
5. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 5
6. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 6
7. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 7
8. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 8
9. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 9
10. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 10
11. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 11
12. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 12
13. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 13
14. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 14

This dominant 7 pentatonic pattern spends more time in the “outside” key. Only the first full beat of each phrase is in the original key. Without looking at this pattern, can you play it? You should be getting more comfortable switching keys. Even if it doesn’t feel completely natural, you might be able to imagine what the following pattern will sound like.

And that’s key to getting the most out of these patterns. It’s not just a technical exercise, but an exercise in expanding your sense of harmony.

Download the full pattern:
Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 6

Table of contents for Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale

1. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 1
2. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 2
3. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 3
4. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 4
5. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 5
6. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 6
7. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 7
8. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 8
9. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 9
10. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 10
11. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 11
12. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 12
13. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 13
14. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 14

This dominant 7 pentatonic pattern gets tougher again. It has four notes in C and four notes in D flat but they are all spread throughout the bar.

Again, this pattern helps you to get comfortable transposing quickly. And all of these patterns get your ear comfortable with hearing a number of different sounds: the dominant 7 pentatonic scale, the juxtaposition of two neighboring scales, the polytonal sound of consistently playing “outside” the key, and with some of the patterns, the sound of quickly changing melodic motion.

So think of these patterns as tools to increase your musical vocabulary, improve and challenge your ear, and to practice technical peak performance.

Download the full pattern:
Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 5

Table of contents for Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale

1. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 1
2. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 2
3. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 3
4. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 4
5. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 5
6. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 6
7. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 7
8. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 8
9. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 9
10. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 10
11. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 11
12. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 12
13. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 13
14. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 14

This pattern should be easier than the previous dominant 7 scale pattern. The transposition doesn’t split the bar so you only have to think about transposing once during the full pattern.

The rewarding function of this pattern is that you can use it as a preparation to go deeper into the transposed key. While the pattern drops back down to the original key at the beginning of each bar, in a practical application, you can remain in the transposed key. So it can be used as a fresh twist in your solos because you’re beginning to play outside the original key on beat 4, which will provide tension not only tonally, but with the meter as well.

Download the full pattern:
Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 4

Table of contents for Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale

1. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 1
2. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 2
3. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 3
4. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 4
5. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 5
6. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 6
7. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 7
8. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 8
9. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 9
10. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 10
11. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 11
12. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 12
13. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 13
14. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 14

This dominant 7 pentatonic pattern is similar to the previous pattern. It still moves up a half step for a total of 2 notes in an eight note pattern. But this time, the transposed notes are the fifth and eighth notes in the sequence. This means that you have to transpose up a half-step twice during the pattern, rather than just once.

If you’re paying attention, you’ll notice that this pattern creates shapes that invoke other keys than just C and D flat. For instance in bar 2, the transposed pattern invokes an E minor arpeggio with a Major 7th leading tone. There are other nice little sonic easter eggs in there if you go searching.

Download the full pattern:
Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 3

Table of contents for Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale

1. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 1
2. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 2
3. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 3
4. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 4
5. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 5
6. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 6
7. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 7
8. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 8
9. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 9
10. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 10
11. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 11
12. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 12
13. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 13
14. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 14

If Pattern 1 seemed easy to you, I guarantee you’ll find this next one more challenging.

Last time, we simply took a four-note pattern and transposed it up a half step for the second half of the bar. This time, we’re using a full eight-note pattern and transposing only the fifth and sixth notes up a half-step.

The purpose of this pattern is to make you comfortable switching between modes for just one beat. Some of the sequences will be easier for you than others. Just practice slowly until you can play it in all keys at a fast speed and wrap your head around what you’re playing in real time.

Download the full pattern:
Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 2

Table of contents for Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale

1. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 1
2. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 2
3. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 3
4. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 4
5. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 5
6. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 6
7. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 7
8. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 8
9. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 9
10. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 10
11. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 11
12. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 12
13. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 13
14. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 14

A favorite scale of jazz saxophonist, John Coltrane, is the Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale.

During the 60’s, Trane, and other avant-garde musicians like Ornette Coleman, created a unique style of “playing outside” the chord changes. Often, this sound was created by playing a half-step above the tonic mode.

While it’s easy to play in D flat over the key of C, these masters of tension and release would weave in and out of the tonic as if they were tearing harmony apart and rebuilding it.

This series of patterns is designed to make you comfortable switching between two modes a half-step apart. We’ll start simple and get more complex as we go.

This particular four-note pattern changes modes every two beats. Obviously, you would want to practice this in all keys.

Download the full pattern:
Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 1

Taking a look at the C major scale, you can see that each note has a relative degree of stability or instability. We also call this consonance and dissonance. Traditionally, the rules of counterpoint dictate that the unison, third, fifth, sixth, and octave are consonances. The unison, fifth, and octave are perfect consonances while the sixth and third are imperfect consonances. The second, fourth, diminished fifth, tritone, and seventh are called dissonances.

It’s important to note that dissonance doesn’t mean being wrong or bad. Dissonance simply indicates an increase in musical tension.

So a diagram of the C major scale, showing the relative degree of stability to instability, would look like this:

How can you use this as a composer?

Think of where you want to take the listener. A melody is like a roller coaster. It goes up, it goes down. It builds tension and releases tension. The final release doesn’t come until the ride is over and you are still again. Your job as a melody writer is to take your listener on a journey, weaving through tension and release just like that roller coaster ride.

A very practical way to illustrate this is to look at the end of melodic phrases. Perhaps your entire melody has 8 melodic phrases. It would make sense to increase tension in the first few phrases by ending on relatively unstable tones. Then you can resolve it, but not completely, on the fourth phrase. Increase the tension again, and then release it completely on the last phrase by ending on the first or fifth scale degree.

This is also a great strategy for improvisation. If you’ve got 32 bars to solo, don’t resolve until the very end. Or, depending on the section that follows, you may want to increase the tension during the entire solo so that the following section can provide the release.

We just looked at how to use tension and release on an entire melody by choosing stable and unstable tones for the endings of melodic phrases. You can also look at the individual melodic phrases and determine the motion between tension and release you would like the listener to feel within each phrase. You can zoom in and out as far as you need to help you create the desired effect.

Obviously, tension and release are created by a combination of factors, like rhythm, harmony, motion, and so on. I’ve only discussed one aspect of tension and release in melody so far. Here’s the bottom line, whenever you need to make a melodic choice, ask yourself, “What level of stability or instability am I trying to create?” Then make the appropriate choice.

“On this experimental record, I’ve been trying to explore more jazz harmonies. The thing is — and I’m gonna piss off a lot of people here — the II-V-I hits my barf button like nothing else. It’s the most horrible cadence in the known universe, so I’ve been looking at jazz that takes off in other directions.”
- BT, music producer

Now I respect everyone’s right to have a musical opinion. But I bring this up to warn people against forming strong negative opinions (aka limiting beliefs) about something as basic as the fundamentals of music.

I respect BT as a musician. He puts out great music. But his comment is the equivalent of Michael Jordan saying that lay ups make him want to puke. Better yet, it’s like Arnold Schwarzenegger saying that biceps are a terrible thing. Maybe the reason BT makes such good music is because of his strong opinions. I don’t know. But I do know that the average musician is going to need as many choices as possible in their musical lives. Why limit yourself?

Do what you need to make the basics interesting for you. Just don’t close the doors on a boundless library of musical experience.

Basically, you just copy the text files to your iPod’s notes folder and copy the MP3s to your music library. Then, in the iPod’s notes menu, you navigate to the main iTheory note and you can test intervals, scales, chords, and absolute pitch.

I think I’m going to hack into mine and personalize it a bit more. It’s really cool how you can reference audio in a note. I wish I knew before that you can do that. My mind is racing with ideas to use this trick.