QUICKSTART Scale and Arpeggio Series

A scale is a collection of pitches a.k.a. notes, used for creating melodies, either pre composed or improvised on the spot. A scale is also used for the harmony – the chords. The melodies and chords create a tonality. The most common source for these melodies and chords is the Major scale. Also known as the Ionian scale or mode.

Wikipedia defines "Jazz" as a musical art form which originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States from a confluence of African and European music traditions. The style's West African pedigree is evident in its use of blue notes, improvisation, polyrhythms, syncopation, and the swung note.

A great deal of modern jazz harmony arises from the modes of the ascending form of the melodic minor scale, also known as the Jazz Melodic Minor Scale. This scale is essentially a diatonic major scale with a lowered third, for example C–D–E♭–F–G–A–B–C. As with any other scale, the modes are derived from playing the scale from different root notes, causing a series of jazz scales to emerge.

The QUICKSTART Rhythm Section CD contains 24 unique styles designed for contemporary lead guitar. Each track is devoted to a scale covered in the QUICKSTART Scale Fingerings series of books. There are four background tracks for each scale, featuring the chords of the scale. These tracks give you the opportunity to explore the sound of each scale in an improvisational setting.

The history of scale modes dates all the way back to the Greek philosopher Pythagoras (569BC- 475BC) who discovered the numerical ratios which determine the intervals of the musical scale.

The terms "scale" and "mode" are often used interchangeably, but strictly speaking, there is a significant difference between them in music theory. Although they may share the same set of notes, a scale and a mode or modal scale are not the same thing. It's important to note that a scale and a mode can contain the same notes.