Latest
Scales and Modes with Joshua Barnhart: 23 Most Common Jazz Chords
Meet Joshua Barnhart –
Very recently I complied a list of the 23 most common Jazz chords.
Maj6 Maj7 Maj9 Maj#11 Maj13
Min6 Min7 Min9 Min11 Minmaj7
Dom7 Domb9 and/or b13 Dom9 Dom#9 Dom#11 Domb13 Dom13
min7b5
7Sus4
Alt(b9#9#11b13)
Dim7
Aug7 Augmaj7
Now there are oodles of scales you could use, and generally depending on the context of each chord, i.e. what chord did you come from what chord are you going to and what the melody at that point is, will tell you what scale you should or shouldn’t use, and all those things should be considered before you commit to a scale.
Ok so with all that in mind lets dig a bit deeper. Chord symbols are meant to be as accurate and concise as possible. But there are some things that are meant to be implied when you use or read these symbols. When you see a symbol like Maj9, the 9 implies all the chord tones below it, which would be a major 7th. So when you se Maj#11, the 9th and 7th are implied. So if you’re using a Maj13 chord in any other context than Imaj13, you could be talking about an all out Lydian voicing which would imply 1 3 5 7 9 #11 and 13. In that voicing your allowing all of what are called available tensions to be implied. That’s when chord scale context becomes really important to understand.
Out of the 23 chords listed above a few of them listed have very specific scales that are designated to them.
Maj#11 – Lydian
Minmaj7 – Melodic Minor
Domb9 and/or b13 – 5th degree of Harmonic Minor Myxob9b13
Dom#9 – Altered or Symmetrical Dominant
Dom#11 – Lydian Dominant
Domb13 – 5th degree of Melodic Minor myxob13
min7b5 – 6th degree of Melodic Minor Locrian nat9
7Sus4 – Myxo or Dorian
Altb9#9#11b13 – Altered or Symmetrical Dominant Half Whole
Dim7 – Symmetrical Diminished Whole Half
Aug7 – Whole Tone
Augmaj7 – 3rd degree of Melodic Minor Lydian Augmented.
If you’re ever not sure a general rule of thumb is as follows:
Available tensions are 1 whole step above a chord tone.
Now with that said there are exceptions to dominant chords. Clearly a b9 isn’t not a whole step above the root. That’s because dominant chords are part of the tensions and release system in a cadencies pattern. They have harsh tones that are meant to be resolved.
With all that said there are other options that you can play over every chord. Such as pentatonic, hexatonics, and the blues scale patterns. They, including other scales, can be implied over the top of these chords while starting on various positions, chord tones and tensions. But all of those different patterns are based on the chord scales. So learn you chord scale and chisel away what you feel I useful for your situation.
Check out our top 10 favorite basses on Instagram this week…
Click to follow Bass Musician on Instagram @bassmusicianmag
FEATURED @murraykuun_guitars @ja.guitars @combe_luthier @overloadguitars @kevinhidebass @franz.bassguitars @indra_guitars @petercrowdesign @baboomin_bass @jcrluthier
Check out our top 10 favorite basses on Instagram this week…
Click to follow Bass Musician on Instagram @bassmusicianmag
FEATURED @sandbergguitars @benevolent_basses @rayriendeau @olintobass @wonkorbasses @bite.guitars @adamovicbasses @maruszczyk_instruments @skervesenguitars @ramabass.ok
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.
Visit online:
Official Website
Facebook
Instagram
YouTube
Spotify
Check out our top 10 favorite basses on Instagram this week…
Click to follow Bass Musician on Instagram @bassmusicianmag
FEATURED @marleaux_bassguitars @jonesbasses @elegeecustom @vlcekbasses @stradiluthier @bassviolinshop @overloadguitars @sadowskybasses @ramabass.ok @alpherinstruments
Check out our top 10 favorite basses on Instagram this week…
Click to follow Bass Musician on Instagram @bassmusicianmag
FEATURED @zonguitars @spaltinstruments @custom_painter @foderaguitar @chris_seldon_guitars @faivy @rayriendeau @baard_guitars @phdbassguitars @shukerbassguitars
Nathan East, Echoes of a Lineage – April/May 2026 Issue
Gear Review: Italia Leather Straps
New Album: Oteil Burbridge & Lamar Williams, The Offering
Interview With Bassist Tom Doyle
Interview With Bassist Alex Blake
Feb 16 Edition – This Week’s Top 10 Basses on Instagram
Feb 23 Edition – This Week’s Top 10 Basses on Instagram
Mar 2 Edition – This Week’s Top 10 Basses on Instagram
Mar 9 Edition – This Week’s Top 10 Basses on Instagram