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Part 2 of the Improvisers Workout Program | Chord Tone and Scale Reps
In our last training session (click here to view Part 1) we downloaded and listened to Autumn Leaves, learned the melody, then practiced embellishing and filling in the holes around the melody while using our ears to guide us.
In this session we’re going engage our brain a bit and add scales and chord tones to our workout. This is an ideal opportunity to apply what you’ve learned in the Theory Dominatrix column.
Realize that learning to improvise is essentially learning a language. Chord tones and scales are the vowels and consonants that make up our musical alphabet. We combine vowels and consonants to form words. We then combine various words to form sentences – melodies are the words and sentences formed by chord tones and scales. But before we can speak, we must first learn our alphabet.
Click on the link below to download the figures, and then click on NEXT PAGE to continue.
Jazz_Gym_Figures_-_Oct07
FIGURE 1 shows you the chord progression and chord structures to the first 8 bars of Autumn Leaves. Here are some chord structure formula reminders; All minor-seventh chords are built (1 b3 5 b7), all dominant-seventh chords are (1 3 5 b7), all major-seventh chords are (1 3 5 7) and all minor-seven-flat 5 chords are (1 b3 b5 b7). I’ve provided some of the possible fingerings. These will work fine for now, but I would encourage you to explore other possibilities as well.
Your first assignment is to memorize these chord tones as notes and numbers. By that I mean, you need to know Cmin7 as “C is the 1 (or root), Eb is the b3 (or minor third), G is the 5 (or perfect fifth), Bb is the b7 (or minor seventh)”, plus you need to know the fingerings that match the notes. This information has to be internalized, so if you need to sing ’em and say ’em or make flash cards, then do it.
FIGURE 2 shows you the scales that match up with the chords for our progression. Except for the D and G Spanish-dominant scales, everything is a mode of the Bb major scale. Understanding this greatly simplifies our learning process. C Dorian is just a Bb major scale from C to C. F Mixolydian is just a Bb major scale from F to F. Once we’ve learned the Bb major scale then we’re _ of the way home. Now we only have the D and G Spanish Dominant scales (1 b2 3 4 5 b6 b7 8) to learn and we’re in good shape.
Your next assignment is to memorize the scales that fit our chords. Just like our first assignment, I want you to memorize these scales as letters and as numbers. I realize this seems like a lot of memorization, but it will be extremely useful with all of our future assignments.
The ideal way to practice these assignments is with a backing track. I’m providing a simple backing track you can practice with along with a demonstration of exactly what I want you to do, so go to www.youtube.com/user/toddjohnsonmusic and get to work.
In the next issue we’ll take a look at how to start turning our alphabet into some simple words and phrases. Have fun and play slow!
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Photo: Self-portrait by Melissa Auf Der Maur
Melissa Auf Der Maur is a Canadian bassist who played with Tinker, Hole, and The Smashing Pumpkins. She released her own work and is a photographer with photos published in Nylon, Bust, and National Geographic. She released her ‘90s Rock Memoir “Even The Good Girls Will Cry” on 17 March 2026.
KB: Did you always want to be a singer-musician growing up?
I’ve played music my whole life. In school, I played trumpet and sang in a children’s choir, so music was always within me. My mother was the first female disc jockey on the Montreal airwaves; her record collection played a huge role in my inspiration and love of music.
KB: When did you start playing bass, and why this instrument?
When I was 19, the early 90s music explosion began to percolate in tiny clubs around the world. I was lucky to be a ticket girl at Montreal’s underground music club. In one year, I saw Hole, Sonic Youth, Smashing Pumpkins, White Zombie, and The Breeders – all had female bass players. That’s when the seed was planted. By the age of 22, I was the bass player of Hole.
KB: Which brands of basses have you used in your career, and which one are you using now?
The first bass that I learned on was a vintage Squier Precision. Hole was sponsored by Fender guitars, so I upgraded to Fender Custom Shop Precisions. That is all I play, but I have a cool vintage 8-string Greco that I use on recordings to thicken up guitar parts.
KB: What equipment do you use or have you used with your basses?
Ampeg SVT amps and cabinets, a couple of Sans-Amp pedals, and that is it.
KB: How did you become a member of Hole, and what is your fondest memory of that time?
Billy Corgan of the Smashing Pumpkins was helping scout a replacement for (RIP) Kristen Pfaff, Hole’s bass player. My band, Tinker, opened for them on the Siamese Dream tour, so Billy had seen me play and could vouch for me. Courtney trusted her talented friend, and that was it. I initially said “no thank you” due to my commitment to my photographic studies and the drama and chaos surrounding the band during the “Live Through This” album release. Courtney took it as a good sign that I said no, so convinced me to reconsider, and soon after, I accepted their invitation, in the name of helping put females in the male-dominated landscape of rock music. My fondest memory is every show we played as a mostly female band, symbolizing what a woman could do in a rock band. Every show had a purpose: get more women to play music.
KB: You are a photographer as well. What makes a great picture? Do you shoot in color or b/w?
I started shooting photographs at age 15. Initially only shot black & white and worked in the art school darkroom. In university, I took a color photography course, and shifted mostly and forever to that, because it was easier to process film on the road when I joined a rock band. I experimented with many cameras, point and shoots, manual, polaroids, medium format, and vintage finds. The trick to a good photograph is to shoot many and all the time – the magic is in the edit and selection process.
KB: Are there artists you would love to collaborate with or wish you had?
??I’ve been lucky to collaborate with some of my favorite musicians in my career. I would still love to collaborate with a new generation heavy electronic artist on an analog bass, heavy electronic drums, and synths collaboration project. Take me out of my usual zone, merging the past and future: my love of 80s dark new wave and new artists exploring that genre. It was very futuristic back then, and we are now, after all, living in the future. I am in the mood to play bass to heavy beats I want to dance to.
KB: What are your 7 favorite bass lines in music across all genres? And why these 7?
“Mountain Song” – Jane’s Addiction (love a rambling, rolling bass line – feels like the ocean waves)
“Black Top – Helmet” (was the first bass line I taught myself)
“Gold Dust Woman” – Hole from “The Crow 2” Soundtrack (it was my first bass line contribution to the band)
“Get Ready” – The Temptations (Motown just feels so good, because of the bass)
“Lucretia My Reflection” – Sisters of Mercy (makes me want to hit the dance floor and play bass simultaneously)
“Be My Druidess” – Type O Negative (full chord bass playing at its best by iconic, demonic, Peter Steele, RIP)
“Romantic Rights” – Death from Above (1979 – unique distorted overdriven tone, combined dance rhythm and melodic intelligence, all in one shot – also! Shout out to a bass & drum only band, which is awesome, and we should have more of, but the bass player needs to be a killer to fill that role.
KB: What are you currently up to?
Releasing my ‘90s Rock Memoir “EVEN THE GOOD GIRLS WILL CRY”. Visceral healing process, it was to get it out of me and write it, but I suspect the real magic will begin by putting it into the world and reflecting with others on what the magic of the ‘90s was all about. Powerful music decade that carried us into what is now a brave new world of digital corporate weirdness – may the past shed a light on our future. That’s my hope for this book release and tour.
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