The 3 Jazz Scales You Need To Know (in Order)

Scales are important in Jazz, but you don't need that many scales, and knowing 1000s of useless scales and modes without knowing how to make music with them is completely pointless. Here are the most important scales to learn.

The Most Important Scale For Jazz

The Biggest Misunderstanding About Jazz Chords

Jazz Scales! The 3 You Need to practice and How You apply them to Jazz Chords

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Content:
00:00 Scales Are Not Everything
00:29 #1 The Most Important Scale For Jazz
01:03 Something You Need To Learn For All Scales
02:50 No Modes?
03:48 #2 Minor Is Complicated (part 1)
05:59 #3 Minor Is Complicated (part2)
06:30 How Can You Leave Out Pentatonic Scales?
07:37 #4 Symmetrical Stuff (part 1)
09:52 #5 Symmetrical Shennanigans (part 2)
09:28 But Bebop Is About Scales?
09:52 #6 Symmetrical Shennanigans (part 3)
10:50 The Important Thing To Focus On!
11:06 Like the video? Check out my Patreon page!

My name is Jens Larsen, a Danish Jazz Guitarist and Educator. The videos on this channel will help you explore and enjoy Jazz. Some of them teach you how to play jazz guitar, but other videos focus on Music Theory, like Jazz Chords, or offer advice on practicing and learning Jazz on guitar or any other instrument.

The videos are mostly jazz guitar lessons, music theory, song analysis, and videos on jazz guitars.

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[JensLarsen]

Do you agree with the order of the scales? 🙂
The Biggest Misunderstanding About Jazz Chords

[WoodyGamesUK]

I completely agree with the video. I play the piano, and over the years I've realised that the most useful skills to play jazz (besides acquiring the jazz vocabulary by listening to a lot of jazz, which you need), are the basic harmonic skills that are used in any style: major scale, minor scale, and triads. You need to be able to play scales, broken scales, any major or minor triad, including inversions, like they are your multiplication tables. It should take no thinking. You need to be able to transpose a melody, do an improvised arrangement in any key without any preparation or memorisation beforehand.
You need to master these skills like a pro, even if you only play pop music. That will already cover 95% of jazz standards. Of course you can always adapt your major or minor scale by adding or altering notes when it's needed, but that will be a small step, if you master these basic skills. Then the rest is phrasing, which you do by acquiring some jazz vocabulary. You shouldn't get bogged down with complex theory, but you should master basic theory inside out.

[garethsigrist]

Jens, thank you for this lesson. I’m a new comer to the world of jazz guitar (being a predominantly self taught rock guitarist). I wanted to add a bit more harmonic variety to my improvisation and so I thought I’d look at trying to learn how Robben Ford uses the diminished scale for an “outside” sound but that didn’t work as I was hoping. I’ve been frustrated that despite learning the modes and targeting what I would call the flavour notes within the scale that it didn’t ever sound like jazz. This video hasn’t just explained why I went wrong, it’s given me directions to get where I want to go. All of your videos offer so much but this one was really illuminating, so thank you again. I really need to put my money where my mouth is and get on your Jazz Guitar Roadmap!

[joshuakrauskopf]

Jens,
Thank you for making so many not only informative, but also well edited videos. They all really come from the heart and I can hear that. Just wanna give thanks.

[HeinzDuschanek]

Again another great video, which gives material for endless practicing 😂

[nicolasrioscardona]

Beautiful guitar. I just purchased a Epiphone ES-339 and I love it.

[markrollinger]

Great video. Very clear & covers a lot of ground. The longer I play, 3rds & triads are a larger part of my playing. All part of finding your on voice on the instrument. Thanks!

[jamesmcloughlin]

This was an eye opener Jens, thanks very much 🙏

[JordanIs.Online]

Love this! I’ve spent so much time running through every major mode across multiple positions on the neck around the circle of fifths that it now haunts me!

I’ve been asking myself at what point does running scales become redundant? Think I’ve found my answer here so thank you! 😅

[BL]

I exclusively use the Enigmatic Ascending Scale in all my improvisations. It's all about phrasing and rhythm anyway.

[cbolt]

Saved this one for later... Thanks in advance Jens

[thedonbishop]

Congrats on 500, 000 subscribers Jens. Do you have any plans to make a special video as a celebration?😊🎉

[damonshanabarger]

7:21 Am7(add4, 11) Sometimes with a sharp 4

[robertritchie]

QUESTION: a lesson on how to tackle dominant seven chords. I cannot be the only one who struggles!

I am consuming your arpeggios approaches as much as I can, am blending these with scales and modes but the dominant 7 remains elusive.. You recently did a video on the 6-7 levels of the pentatonic scale, which was amazing. Now for the humble D7 please..

[gabek.]

Great video Jens! Would you recommend playing these scales 3 notes per string?

[serialhealer]

Jens can you talk about the concept of "playing what you hear"? I always hear jazz musicians talking about improvisation in those terms.

[BernovanSoest]

Hi Jens, Thanks for the video! However, not sure I follow. Could the 2-5-1 minor (B - E - Am) progression also be viewed as a 7-3-6 (C) major progression. And then still using the (C) major scale for soloing. I like the sound of the G# though ;-)

[merred]

The advantage of studying some basic general music theory is that the concept of a scale is clearly defined. In jazz the problem is that mostly one talks arbitrarily about scales without that. If you know what a scale really is, you won't fall into the trap of believing for instance that bebop scales are scales.

[tondroog]

Hello Jens, I bought a course from you, but I am learning the Mixolydian Ionian enz.... scales too, Is that wise? I have a book with the scales arpeggios and the chord that I use. Do you think I must continue with this?

[ThrowAway-hmgc]

hey jens, im a jazz pianist but recently bought a guitar to learn, how would you suggest i build up the technique on guitar to catch up to my theory knowledge from piano, so i can play the lines in my head fluently