Bebop scales are a staple of jazz vocabulary. If you want to master the jazz language and become a better jazz improviser, you’ll need to practice bebop scales!
Luckily, we’ve prepared this primer on bebop scales, where they came from, and how to use them to enrich your jazz playing.
We’ll cover bebop scale variations like—
- The Major Bebop Scale
- The Dominant Bebop Scale
- The Minor Bebop Scale
- Dorian Bebop Scale
- Melodic Minor Bebop Scale
- Harmonic Minor Bebop Scale
- And others!
We’ll also discuss the characteristics that make bebop language unique and discuss several ways you can incorporate bebop vocabulary into your playing.
If you want to stop wasting time in the practice room and learn how to practice the things that will positively impact your growth as a jazz musician, then you should check out the Learn Jazz Standards Inner Circle.
We’ve got over a decade of incredible jazz resources, including masterclasses, workshops, various instrument-specific and instrument-agnostic courses, and tons of jazz standard deep dives to help you build your repertoire and master the jazz language!
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Table of Contents
Where do Bebop Scales Come From?
Jazz history has one foot firmly rooted in myth. Like any art form, there are fan-driven narratives and explanations for how features such as bebop vocabulary developed.
The concept of “Bebop” vocabulary wasn’t a codified and regulated feature of jazz during the Bebop era—the era that gave rise to Charlie Parker and Dizzie Gilepise.
There isn’t much evidence that “bebop scales” as a unique concept existed when Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Christian, Bud Powell, Thelonious Monk, and the other legendary musical pioneers were developing the distinctive style of jazz now called bebop.
It wasn’t until after the Bebop era that jazz musicians and historians looked back at the features and characteristics of the bebop style and decided to formalize them. Jazz pedagogues David Baker and Barry Harris are two musicians commonly credited with developing bebop scales as a formal concept.
Therefore, “Bebop scales” are a retroactive explanation for improvisational styles that grew organically from the bebop era. They explain the common melodic gestures that recur frequently in bebop melodies and solos.
However, this fact doesn’t make the bebop scale a less useful tool. Rather, it gives us a way of explaining why bebop sounds so cool!
What Are The Characteristics of the Bebop Style?
Apart from being fast and dominated by 8th-note-based phrases, the most iconic feature of bebop language is the use of non-diatonic, chromatic notes.
- Non-Diatonic: notes or chords not present in the key signature
- Chromatic: a series of notes half-steps apart from one another
Every note in the following example comes from the basic 7th chord shown. There is no chromaticism, and there are no non-diatonic tones:
Before looking at the next musical phrase, it’s important to outline the three main features of bebop language:
- Chromatic Passing Tones: A chromatic passing tone connects two diatonic notes a whole step apart, creating a chromatic phrase. (1) Diatonic tone – (2) Non-Diatonic tone – (3) Diatonic tone.
- Chromatic Approach Tones: Chromatic approach tones (1) precede a diatonic note or chord tone from a half step above or below. The non-diatonic (C#) precedes the diatonic note (D) in the following example.
- Enclosure Figures: Enclosure figures “enclose” a target note by first playing the surrounding notes (either a whole step or a half step away). These can be diatonic or non-diatonic. Also, it doesn’t matter whether you play the higher note or lower note first.You can play (B), then (D), (C), and you’ve enclosed the (C). Likewise, you can play a (Db), then (B), (C), and you’ve also enclosed the (C).In the following example, our target note is (E), so we precede it with an (Eb) and (F):
Now that we understand the three basic elements of bebop language let’s look at a larger musical phrase that uses all three:
- Chromatic passing tone (*)
- Chromatic approach tone (**)
- Enclosure Figure (***)
What Is The Bebop Scale In Music Theory?
Because bebop solos feature many chromatic, non-diatonic notes, jazz musicians created systematized bebop scales to make the concept more concrete when discussing and practicing them.
A basic definition of “bebop scale” is an octatonic scale (eight-note scale) that uses a strategically placed non-diatonic passing tone to help keep important chord tones on strong beats.
That bolded part is extremely important!
The function of adding an additional note to the scale is that the scale resets on the octave rather than one note ahead. Because bebop language relies heavily on 8th-note phrases, longer musical lines that last more than one measure are displaced by one 8th note when you use traditional scales (seven notes).
Think about it! In one 4/4 measure, there are eight potential 8th notes. With a seven-note scale, you return to the root on the (+) of beat four. This puts all your chord tones on upbeats in the next measure, which results in lines having less harmonic conviction. We want chord tones on the strong beats.
The additional note in bebop scales keeps chord tones on strong beats!
- Seven-note scales displace chord tones in the second measure:
- The bebop major scale keeps chord tones on strong beats in the second measure by adding a chromatic passing tone between the 5th (G) and the 6th (A) scale degree:
The function of bebop scales is even more apparent when playing descending lines. Bebop scales are mostly intended for descending musical phrases (though they also work in their ascending form).
Look how fast the chord tones fall out of step with the strong beats on a descending major scale—by the (+) of two, we are already out of step with the strong beats:
A chromatic passing note between the 6th and 5th helps us keep the chord tones on strong beats perpetually:
The key takeaway is that bebop scales are major, minor, and dominant scales with one or more added “passing tones,” which are chromatic and non-diatonic. Though you can play an ascending bebop scale, many sound best when descending.
How Many Bebop Scales Are There?
You can incorporate chromaticism into any scale. However, over the years, certain types of bebop scales have become canonized by musicians. Here are some bebop scales you need to know:
Major Bebop Scales
The major bebop scale is a major scale (Ionian mode) with a passing tone between the M6 and P5 scale degrees. In the key of C major, you’d add a G# (or Ab) as an additional scale tone (a chromatic or non-diatonic passing tone) between the 5th and 6th degrees of the scale (in this case, G and A).
In C, the major bebop scale is spelled:
- C-D-E-F-G-Ab-A♮-B-C
Bebop Dominant Scales
The dominant bebop scale is like the Mixolydian scale, except there is an added note between the root and the m7. Adding an M7 interval creates a nice chromatic line from the root to the m7. Dominant bebop scales work over V chords and secondary dominant chords.
Dominant bebop scales are also perfect for the blues! For more on the Mixolydian scale, check out the Mixolydian scale in all 12 keys on piano and guitar.
Minor Bebop Scales (Bebop Dorian Scale)
Bebop minor scales add a chromatic passing tone between the M3 and the P4. Yes, this means a major third over a minor chord, but only for a moment. If played correctly, the major third will occur on an upbeat and will sound more chromatic, moving from the m3 to the P4 rather than definitively major.
The bebop minor scale has the same sequence of notes as the bebop dominant scale, only it starts on the ii rather than the V.
Here is the bebop minor scale in A (ii):
- A-B-C-C#-D-E-#-G-A
Here is the dominant bebop scale in D (V):
- D-E-F#-G-A-B-C-C#-D
These sequences have the same notes; only one starts on A, and the other starts on D. This makes sense because a minor bebop scale is played over a ii chord, and a dominant bebop scale is played over a V chord.
In a ii-V-I sequence, you could play the minor bebop scale or the dominant bebop scale over the entire ii-V, and you’d be playing the same notes.
For more on the Dorian mode, check out our guide to Dorian mode on piano and guitar.
Bebop Harmonic Minor Scale (or Bebop Natural Minor Scale)
We can also add chromaticism to the harmonic minor scale and create the harmonic minor bebop scale.
Adding a minor seventh to the harmonic minor scale gives us a chromatic line from the root through the M7 and to the m7.
This bebop scale is also called the natural minor bebop scale because it is the 6th mode of the bebop major scale.
C bebop major scale:
- C-D-E-F-G-G#-A-B-C
A harmonic minor bebop scale (natural minor bebop scale)
- A-B-C-D-E-F-G-G#-A
For more on the harmonic minor scale, check out our article harmonic minor scale in 12 keys on piano and guitar.
Bebop Melodic Minor Scale
Let’s try turning the melodic minor scale into a bebop scale:
Like the bebop major scale, we can add a minor 6th interval between the P5 and the M6 to create a melodic minor bebop scale. This helps us add chromaticism when playing over non-diatonic harmony.
For more on the melodic minor scale, check out our guide to melodic minor and its modes.
How Do You Use Bebop Scales? (Any Scale Can Be Bebop-ified)
Any scale can make use of chromatic passing notes to incorporate chromaticism. However, you aren’t limited to the scales listed above. You can add more than one chromatic passing note into the scales you play to enhance the bebop sound in your playing.
Traditional bebop scales sound best when descending. However, you’ll likely be ascending, descending, and pivoting all around in the middle of a solo. This is where the creative use of chromaticism comes in handy.
Here is a ii-V-I line that adds chromatic passing tones to multiple points in the scale:
The basic scale is C Ionian, but we’ve added Ab, Bb, and Gb at different points in the line. This isn’t technically one of the canonized bebop scales, but you can’t say the line isn’t bebop.
For more information on the ii-V-I chord progression, check out our guide to ii-V-Is.
So what’s next?
- Practice and sing bebop scales in all twelve keys. Practice them in ascending and descending form, but with greater emphasis on descending form. Also, try playing them over the whole range of your instrument.
- Write a bebop contrafact using bebop scales.Write your own bebop head over existing jazz changes. Be sure to emphasize chromaticism in your composition.
- Invent II-V-I lines using bebop scales and practice them in all twelve keys. Write your own bebop lines and practice them. Just remember to keep chord tones (mostly) on the strong beats!
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