Scales that fit F/F#

[Jazzsax]

Hello Jazz mates, this is my first post here.
yesterday during a jazz duet gig (sax & piano) we picked new tunes to explore from the real book. among them was the tune "resolution" the first chord on the song was F/F# (alto sax key) the chord stayed for two bars the melody notes were: A G F, i had hard time figuring out what F# scale has a minor third, sharp fourth, major seventh & a flat 9th. so can you help me & name this scale(s)?
thank you in advance

[jazz oud]

Usually this indicates a diminished scale or something related.
(F# diminished: F# G# A B C D Eb F)
The melody G comes from a polytonal approach, of playing F major over the F# pedal (in this case you might ignore the existence of the F# and try to make F major, Lydian, Mixolydian, or Lydian b7 fit, emphasizing the shifting tonalities over a dissonant bass).

You could also just create a 6-note scale from the two triads F# and F: F# A Bb C C# F. This is suggestive of Bb harmonic minor (which could also work).

In cases like this, I would recommend playing through the chord progression on piano or guitar to get it in your ear and singing a scale over each chord to discover what you hear as being logical in the particular context.

[Jazzsax]

Thank you man! i will try all the possibilities & then use my ear to see what feels "right" during the progression.
do u play jazz on Oud? that's interesting, am from egypt, the land of Oud do u have links for your Jazz-Oud music?

[jazz oud]

Thanks, I hope it helps.
I don't play jazz standards on oud (I prefer guitar for that), but I write music with jazz and Arabic elements that I play oud on (I also play with groups doing traditional repertoire, Fairuz, Oum Kulthum, Farid, Asmahan etc.)
Did you grow up in Egypt? Pretty cool that you are playing jazz sax, pm me if you want to talk more. There's the guy that was in Oum Kulthum and Ahmed Fuad Hassan's group who was pretty great at doing Arabic music on sax.

I have a band called "Nashaz", you can find some videos on the youtubes:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vW9fa...feature=relmfu

or you can check out soundcloud:
http://soundcloud.com/jazzoud/

I also did some stuff with Ravish Momin's "Trio Tarana" and with another group of mine "Near East River Ensemble", both of which have stuff on youtube.

[Mike A]

Originally Posted by jazz oud

I have a band called "Nashaz", you can find some videos on the youtubes:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vW9fa...feature=relmfu

This is very cool. I hadn't heard an oud before. Very resonant. Nice playing and cool tune.

[jazz oud]

Thanks, Mike! Glad you like it.

[engelbach]

JO,

I don't recall you posting your tunes before.

Outstanding! I've never heard anything quite like it.

Why don't you post the links to your CDs? I just listened to clips from your In Praise of Shadows and am going to buy the mp3 download.

Cheers,
Jer

[engelbach]

Originally Posted by Jazzsax

Hello Jazz mates, this is my first post here.
yesterday during a jazz duet gig (sax & piano) we picked new tunes to explore from the real book. among them was the tune "resolution" the first chord on the song was F/F# (alto sax key) the chord stayed for two bars the melody notes were: A G F, i had hard time figuring out what F# scale has a minor third, sharp fourth, major seventh & a flat 9th. so can you help me & name this scale(s)?
thank you in advance

Possibly six-note scales over each chord, with the bass note as a pedal tone that doesn't have to be incorporated in each scale.

Concert Key in the Real Book, with bass note A:

Ab = Ab Bb C Eb F G
Bb = Bb C D F G A
Am = A B C D E G
D = D E F# G A C

The YouTube recordings of Manavishnu playing it are actually a half tone higher.

But I don't hear any improvising on the changes at all, so perhaps that's the wrong approach to this tune.

[jazzman1945]

Originally Posted by engelbach

JO,

I don't recall you posting your tunes before.

Outstanding! I've never heard anything quite like it.



Jer

Oh, yeah- You become " sutul" (effect of drugs ) just from sound of JO band ...

[jazzman1945]

Originally Posted by Jazzsax

Hello Jazz mates, this is my first post here.
yesterday during a jazz duet gig (sax & piano) we picked new tunes to explore from the real book. among them was the tune "resolution" the first chord on the song was F/F# (alto sax key) the chord stayed for two bars the melody notes were: A G F, i had hard time figuring out what F# scale has a minor third, sharp fourth, major seventh & a flat 9th. so can you help me & name this scale(s)?
thank you in advance

Sorry, but I just do not understand what You say! I took the record: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NK-ne6AxAYE
Here are the first two chords:

1st Chord

R.H.-

Gb
F
Db


L.H.-

C
Bb
Eb



2-nd Chord

R.H.-


C#
B

L.H.-

A
F#
E /(Bass A)

[michaelsorg]

"Resolution" is actually a very simple tune, and fun to improvise over. It's in concert A minor and really stays there, with varying degrees of tension and resolution. The first enigmatic chord Ab/A can also be seen as Fm7/A. Using F dorian here (in other words Ab Lydian) fits the melody and is just one note away from F melodic minor, or the E7 altered sound (E7#9#5b9b5). This creates a good deal of tension over the tonic bass, which is resolved in the Bb/A (release by retrogression through the cycle of 4ths/5ths). Very interesting, since the A Phrygian mode is created, usually a tense sound, but here the first level of resolution! Then over the A minor we can cancel another flat and we have A natural minor. The D/A gives us a nice lift from the Aeolian tension, and we could keep Dorian through that and the next Am chord. Now we progress to the flat side again, through Phrygian and back to the top with it's enigmatic polytonality. A great little tune with a very compelling melody!
Of course other scales could work, but I wouldn't advocate using a C# anywhere, since the tune is exclusively minor.