If it helps anybody: In Berklee's Chord-Scale Theory (probably the most used jazz theory methodology) we refer to this as Lydian Dominant. The term lydian, in a practical sense, just refers to a raised 4th scale degree or a #11 when used as a tertian extension. So in this case it's just C Mixolydian (Dominant) with a raised 4; F becomes F#. C D E F# G A Bb C The cool thing about this is that it gives you interesting tension that leads to cool resolution points. For example, the most functional use of this is in a secondary dominant. V/V or in the key of C, a D7 chord. This happens in a variety of contexts but in classical music this would resolve to G (or G7), in jazz usually to a Dm7 (as part of a ii - V/ Dm7 - G7). The F# provides a chromatic resolution to either G or F natural giving you an interesting tension that wasn't previously there. It's just a way to reinforce a chord change. Remember, we call them "changes" because it's the things that change that are important. Another common scenario; this note is the first note that hints at a tritone substitution. In a ii-V, If you sub the V for a tritone away, your roots will move in half steps. This is overly-simplified but the F# gives you a great resolution if C7(#11) (Lydian Dominant) is the V7 in your home key of F. For melodic usage in solos, try considering this very Herbie Hancock like approach: Building a Major7(#5) chord off of the b7 in whatever chord you are in. So over C7(#11); play Bbmaj7(#5) or Bb D F# A. Try arpeggiating that and getting used to that color. Also as a note, the association with C Lydian Dominant and G Melodic Minor is basically an altered variation of a ii-V relationship. Gm7 - C7 is G Dorian to C Mixolydian but if you spell the scales out, they are the exact same starting in different spots. The same applies for Lydian Dominant and Melodic Minor. For that matter, any alteration of a minor scale OR a dominant scale with have a relationship to its respective ii or V. I know this is a lot of information, but Scott gives these really fantastic introductions to great concepts and I share them with all of my students and friends. He is an understated resource to music education and an incredible asset to any musician regardless of instrument. This is a concept I played with myself for quite a while and its so valuable so by elaborating I hope I can provide stepping stones for the rest of you to jump off from after the brilliant introduction set forth by Scott! Best, David

This partially sandwiched my head because when you said, "melodic minor" I was only aware of the classical melodic minor where you raise the 6th and 7th on the way up and drop them back on the way down. I didn't know about the "major scale with a flat 3rd" melodic minor. You learn something new every day.

Scott, I just want to let you know ,how much I appreciate your teaching method.I am a teacher as well and I tell most of my Fellow Bass Players to check your lessons out.

The easiest way to understand any chord/scale relationship is to Harmonise the scale. Melodic minor has Dom 7 chords on the 4th 5th and 7th notes. So C7 D7 and F#7-5 in G melodic minor. So the C7 chord being used as the example in this video could be a 4 chord in G melodic a 5 chord in F melodic and a 7 chord in Db melodic minor (strictly speaking should be a 7-5.) This also applies to the Mixolydian scale mentioned which is in fact just a Major scale. C7 is the 5 chord of F Maj so simply play F Maj over the C7. Use the Arpeggio to hit the sweet notes. Hope this helps :-)

If you want to simplify this approach whilst still maintaining those outside notes, try playing Eb pentatonic minor over the C7, you'll find that you get all the tasty tones that are found within the Db melodic minor, but you won't have to learn a new scale. You get Eb (#9), Gb (b5), Ab (b13), Bb (m7) and Db (b9). It's great to swap C minor pentatonic and Eb minor pentatonic and it's all shapes we already know

The tip at 11:12 is really cool. It reveals all the potential of what is a substitution. By the way, on a C dominant chord, you could play a C lydian dominant... Which is the 4th mode on the G minor melodic scale. It's like lydian with a minor seventh or mixolydian with an augmented fourth (or sharpen 11th if you prefer). Actually, what I say is like saying that on a C major chord you could even play a E phrygian. But that we have to memorize on your video is that playing G melodic minor on this C7 chord, emphasizes an 11th interval. Playing C lydian dominant would emphasizes a 11# interval if you insist on the F#: the intension changes the color. You changed my vision of "I have to play a scale which has the same root as the chord". So for this: thank You Scott's Bass Lessons Moreover, about the C super locrian which is the 7th mode of the Db melodic scale, it is the same reasoning as above. But if you add flavour to your C7 chord the things changes: - With a C79, you could still play the G minor melodic on it but the Db minor melodic would be tensed on the second degree (Eb). - If you play C79b or C79# (altered chords), the G minor melodic would be tensed but not the Db minor melodic because it has the notes of the C altered (super locrian) mode. - Same reasoning could apply for the 11th and 13th intervals => Beware of the chords! Final thoughts (at this point it's clear that I speak too much ahah). If you combine all the notes from the C mixo, G minor melodic and Db minor melodic: C Db D Eb E F F# G G# A Bb The only note which is outside is B. So you can play almost any chromatism as a transition between modes (you could even slip on the B I'm sure it would just sound like a blue note). And if you really really really want to play outside of the box: insist on the B! Which is actually the major 7th of your C. It is a 2nd minor interval with the C minor 7th, which seems to be the strong link between all these modes. Anyway, just remember what said Miles Davis: "There are no wrong notes in jazz: only notes in the wrong places." Keep the groove!

Thanks for these free lessons Scott. This one in particular has helped me understand the structure of a lot of jazz funk/ jazz bass soloing I've heard over the years. Big help cheers.

what we all should be paying attention to is how Scott expresses himself here. The notes are one thing but his use of rhythm and great phrasing are the hippest thing about this lesson.

I'm a full-time jazz bassist, and I've worn out the Lydian dominant and the Mixolydian. I've been rolling my eyes at the "melodic dominant down a fourth" thing because I wrongly assumed it was a (convoluted, long) shortcut mentally, but the arpeggios really sing on the bass. I was aware of other harmonic instruments doing this, but it didn't hit me practically until now. Thanks!

Listening with headphones. Love that bass tone

Mind blown. Thanks, Scott.

I'm a pianist but your tips are great for me too! Thanks man! Gonna keep this in mind when i get bored with dominant 7ths...

Great lesson; unlocks the "outside" sound via simple principles. Practice time!

A wise man once told me " the more you know, the less you know" and i find this adage has never been more appropriate than after watching these videos.

Yep, when you have nuance in feelings then you can find the scales that hit the spot!

Dude, this is my favourite lesson you have ever done. Seriously interesting stuff!

Very cool that you mentioned Emily Remler. She was an outstanding musician and a good friend of mine. I think of her often and miss her very much. Also this is an excellent lesson. Thanks for posting it!

Great lesson! Helped me unlock the next level of theory after the 'regular' modes.

i love his class he is a good teacher

I love his bass, so much character

thx scott , great lesson and you always the best

the altered scale is a melodic minor a semitone above the root... omg of course!! *mindblown*

This is a huge vocabulary expander. Thank you for lesson!

Love the sound of this. You can also use the melodic minor up a half-step over a static dominant 7 chord or over a dom7 that isn't returning 'home' to the I chord- a good example would be the jazz standard Take the A Train

Your are the best bass trainer

Thanks Scott, great 👍

Wow this is great and it has a sort sinister classical vibe to it I dig it a lot man

Great lesson Scott. Love that Bass!!

I like that jazz song in the beginning, what is it? Anyone know of good bands with that style? Reminds me of the music from Grand Tourismo.

hey man, thanks for this. challenging as only touched on minor mode harmony and mainly stay in major mode harmony.

Thanks again, Scott!

There's another way to think of this approach, that is to play F Major scale and then simply sharpened the root note (F), which gives you F#, all other notes stay the same. Technically the scale is called the Altered Scale (it's the same notes as G Melodic Minor).

This is great. Going to practice this now, with a drone from my synthesizer. Do more of this using scales and mixing them up. Thanks for the vids. I appreciate your time.

In one lesson Scott says to swing by the website to see videos ranging from beginner to "turn your brain into soup". I think this might have been the soup point.

Great stuff as always!

Glad I saw this one!

Hey Scott, I love your vids. I went through the list twice looking for #18! lol. Might want to recheck the numbering ;) Thanks for all the great work you do, there's a lot there that I haven't heard so I'm going to put the kettle on and have a good listen now :)

I practice these over a progression like: Cmin.- Dmin - Gb7 - F7altered so I play 5 scales first C Dorian - then Cmin then Gb lydian dominant then F7 Altered plus Penta tone min over all

phrasing is damn gooooood.

Whats the intro song? I've been wanting to know it since I started watching your videos, sounds smooth af!

I usually hear this being called the "Lydian b7", which is easier for some than naming the scale by a different root. I.e.- it's more normal to say C Lydian b7 than it is G melodic minor, although they are the same thing

Hey scott. I love your videos and you are one of the only reasons i am passionate about bass. Could you please tell me how to learn scales quickly and easily as i prioritize harmonics over riffs. Thanks! Great work!

Hi Scott. Your intro tune sounds very nice. Can you show us how it's played please.

just great, thanks a looot

I wonder what it would sound like if we used the D phrygian dominant over it as well!

Scott you gave me chills man. You are too nasty! Even on scale practice exercises hahah. I've got a long way to go...

This is my all-time favourite SBL lesson. When I first watched it I didn't quite get into the sound, but now it sounds totally awesome. It's funny how your ears develop over time and you learn to appreciate new harmonies. I do wonder if Scott (and jazz musicians in general) always use the substitutions for the melodic minor scale, or if he is equally competent at playing the Lydian dominant and altered scale from root position (i.e. F and B respectively, in the key of C). My follow up question to this would be, should I really work on the melodic minor scale and fluency over the whole fingerboard, or should I place equal emphasis on learning each mode of the melodic minor over the whole fingerboard?

Scott, I love the intro and outro music. I'd like to hear the whole song, if it is more than just an intro. Do you have a link to it?

man this sound fucking nice

reminds me of spirit

So why does he say down a fourth, not down a fifth? It's not like he's going from C-F he's just going to a lower octave of G.

i have this thing with my fingers where when i move from fore finger to pinky, or vice versa, my fingers stick out like a tea drinking princess. i gotta work on that, you guys fingers look very relaxed in these complex positions.

Wow, I can actually hear the bass through my laptop for a change.

It´s a complicated point, as everyone has his own vision. about harmonies, scales, modal scales, and Jazz theory......and it´s clear....someday when I get my own way of viewing this stuff. .. then I probably will be able to say "I got it"...=(

Hello Scott! thanks for your amazing videos and tutorials. the instrumental loop on which you're playing here is great, where can I find the mp3? thanks in advance and best regards from Italy! Antonio

I'm still yet to see you play that strat that I've seen pop up heaps :)

Forgive me if I'm way off here but is not the G harmonic minor scale that's being used rather that G melodic minor?

I'd like to get back to playing my bass again. Scales were hard for me. I know they are important.

What strings are you using? Your sound is incredible!

The thing I don't get is why this (the lydian dominant) scale isn't the first thing taught to jazz music students to use over vanilla dominant chords. Why teach the normal Mixolydian scale when the natural 11 sounds so bad? Same thing with teaching students to use Locrian over minor 7 flat 5 chords when it similarly contains an "avoid tone". Why not just suggest the 6th mode of melodic minor (Aeolian flat 5) right from the start which has no avoid tones or "handle with care" notes?

Is this substitution based solely on the fact that they share roughly the same shape/notes rather than an actual theory based solution, like a pentatonic substitution?

Scott this sounds a bit like some of the stuff that Phish does, especially the song "Stash".

Ok I think I get it. By melodic minor he means major scale with a flat 3rd. So a G melodic minor is just a g major scale with a Bb instead of a B. And C Lydian Dominant is a C major scale with a sharp 4th and a flat 7th. Is that right? So no fanciness with playing it different ways up and down like what we used to learn what a melodic minor scale is?

This is must beautiful p bass ... mine blonde with gold pickguard ... 59 custom shop

Are those flatwounds? loving that tone

I know you've been asked this a million times, but why the glove? Thx for the awesome vids!

hey scott, youve probably addressed this in a previous video but why do you wear that glove on one hand?

You could get even more out of this idea if you used melodic minor in the way it was designed to be used (M6 + M7 when going to the root and m6 + m7 for everything else). This is definitely a cool idea but I would like to know Scott's Bass Lessons why not just use G Dorian over the C7 chord? All of the notes are exactly the same and it wouldn't tonicize G quite as much....

5:49 - 5:53 so sick

Surely you would use c# melodic minor over a c7 chord? As the altered scale substitution??

What kind of strings do you use on that P bass?

Good lesson. :) What's up with the left hand glove?

i need this backing track , what to do??

I need some help understanding this: When he says G melodic minor has the same notes that C "MIXOLYDIAN SCALE" is he talking about the Mixolydian mode of C? (That would be G-A-B-C-D-E-F-G) Please take into account that I'm quite very inexperienced with music theory. I just recently learnt about modes and it was explained very lightly to me as: "You create a new scale containing the same notes of the mayor scale of your root note, i.e: If C is your root the 3rd mode would be a scale starting in E containing all the notes of C mayor scale ( E-F-G-A-B-C-D-E) ....By the way, is this correct? Thanks in advance and excuse my English, it's not my native language

Db is a whole tone away from C not a semi tone

whats with the glove?

Mixolydian = scarlet begonias outro

That Fender been through 2 world wars..

come out and play!

I think two of the coolest scales are Miyako-Bushi and Hirajoshi. Says the wannabe shakuhachi player...

What kind of stings does he use?

I need help muting my strings could you go more in depth in the next video please.

oh no!! it's the glove man, the hand transplant guy. give thing' his hand back!

what is the name of the bass and amp he is using?

Your Overwater sounds WAY WAY WAY better than your Fender.

Just learning ? Do the glove help ....

Scott is one of my favorite players, but I don't really like this substitution. Just not working for me. :P

too much talking showing off and fast glad its not in bloody american that would do it

worst relic job?

why he always wearing a gloves?

Always too much talking, not enough eating brains... xD

Quit playing the Strangers Things intro jeez

Can you play more and cut the talking down. . . I know you have to it just seems you do more talking