Bop scale

andyj

Could anyone enlighten me and tell me what makes up the bop scale?

brandoneon

If you know your modes, this description is helpful:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bebop_scale

djangology

it would be cool is someone could name some common Django melodies that have bop elements so that the rest of us would know how to find examples...

HCPhilly

There are a lot of examples in his solos. More on that in a minute.
The most common example is the passing tone of a natural 7th
on a dominant 7th chord, usually from the root of the chord to a Ma7
to a b 7. The intro to "I'll See U in My Dreams," would be one example.
Just before the rhythm kicks in Django plays F,E,Eb landing on D natural as the band plays Bb6. BTW, this is a very old and commonly used device, Louie Armstrong uses it, [the mixolydian Dom 7th version,
and also the major scale with a b6 passing tone.
In actual usage, [as opposed to the way that theory is taught],
a player might use a fragment of the scale, often with the chord tones. Another example in Django's plaing is in Minor Swing bar 13 of his 1st chorus,
notes are B F# - a G# e eb d -c . Here Django uses bmi7 - e7 in the 1st 3 notes, resolves the "a" to G#, [7th of Bmi to the 3rd of the e7th chord, a common bop device], then uses the chromatic passing tone of eb
to d, [7th of the dom. 7th chord]. There's really a lot going on with these few well placed notes, [kind of a premonition of the bop era]. The F#,
a G# bit is enclosure. The e-eb d - [c natural, in the next bar ], is something that Django used a lot, it ends on the interval of a minor 6th,
[+5 of the e7 chord], before resloving. In general the passing tones are a way to smooth out the scale, it helps to make the scale fit the chords, especially from the stand point of rhythm. The passing tones often fall on the weak beats,
[the + of 4 for example]. Django's instinctive placement of these passing tones are one of the reasons that his solos still sound great!
Bar 30 of Dinah, passing tone on D7, where Django paraphrases the melody
Incidentally, Nuages, of course uses passing tones all over.