Bebop scales

The arithmetic of eight

Play a seven-note scale in continuous eighth notes and something awkward happens: because seven is odd and the bar is even, chord tones land on the beat in one bar and off the beat in the next. Add one chromatic note and the scale is eight notes long. Now it fits the bar exactly, and the chord tones land on the beat every time.

That is the whole idea. The added note is a rhythmic device, not a harmonic one — which is why it is always a passing note and never a place to stop.

Scale	Notes	Formula	Against the chord	Usage
G Mixolydian	G A B C D E F	1 2 3 4 5 6 b7	1 9 3 11 5 13 b7	Best choice
G Lydian dominant	G A B C# D E F	1 2 3 #4 5 6 b7	1 9 3 #11 5 13 b7	Common
G Dominant bebop	G A B C D E F F#	1 2 3 4 5 6 b7 7	1 9 3 11 5 13 b7 7	Common
G Major pentatonic	G A B D E	1 2 3 5 6	1 9 3 5 13	Common

The books behind this tool

Knowing which scale fits the chord is where the question starts, not where it ends. Tension and Resolution is about what the line does once the scale is decided: where it aims, and why it lands.

Start here Project 02 · Jazz guitar

Where the note goes

Dominant bebop adds a natural seventh between the ♭7 and the root, so a descending line runs 1 ♭7 7 6 5. Major bebop adds a ♯5 between the fifth and the sixth. Minor bebop adds a natural third between the ♭3 and the fourth, which is also the blues inflection, so the scale sounds like vocabulary rather than theory.

Scale	Notes	Formula	Against the chord	Usage
C Ionian	C D E F G A B	1 2 3 4 5 6 7	1 9 3 11 5 13 7	Best choice
C Lydian	C D E F# G A B	1 2 3 #4 5 6 7	1 9 3 #11 5 13 7	Common
C Major bebop	C D E F G G# A B	1 2 3 4 5 b13 6 7	1 9 3 11 5 b13 13 7	Common
C Major pentatonic	C D E G A	1 2 3 5 6	1 9 3 5 13	Common

Try it on your own chords

Open the scale finder →

Bebop scales

The arithmetic of eight

The books behind this tool

Tension and Resolution

Jazz Guitar Comping

Jazz Harmony

Where the note goes

Try it on your own chords

Pentatonic scales

The altered scale

100 jazz standards