Another way is if it’s a C altered scale, play a B Major scale (1 semitone below C) but replace B with C

Thanks for demystifying the very challenging altered scale. I’m a guitar player but yet found this video super useful.

Mulgrew Miller is one of my favorite utilizers of the altered scale. If I Were A Bell is a treasure trove of altered ideas.

One of the best piano channels ever. Stunning!

Terrific lesson. Perfectly lays it out is simple terms. So many guys get caught up in their own cleverness when making tutorials that they complicate the issue further. And they take 20 minutes to do it! I'd recommend this video to anyone who wanted to get an understanding of how to us ethe altered scale.

Wow! I have a very hard time making lines using that type of scale, as well as other diminished scales, but you gave some great ideas for us, thanks!

Its been a great honour to have this knowledge for free from you

One of the ways I've been training myself to think about the altered scale is by keeping what you can, then replacing whole-tone chunks with the other whole-tone scale. For example, C mixolydian has three common notes with C alt, namely the C, E, & Bb. In mixolydian, the C & E would be connected by D, forming a short three-note whole-tone scale. F, G, & A also form a short whole-tone scale but it's the opposite whole-tone scale as E, Bb, & C. If you switch the lower part from D to Db & D#, you get a single whole-tone which comes from the opposite whole-tone scale as C & E, and if you switch the upper part from F, G, & A to F# & Ab, that becomes part of a whole-tone scale connecting E to C across the top half of the scale. It sounds really confusing explaining it in this way, but essentially, just seeing all scales as a collection of miniature whole-tone scales connected with half-steps makes it easier for me to see the visual patterns and transpose them much more quickly.

Great speaking with you the other day!

Thanks, very clearly and well explained. You have shone some light on the concept of jazz This genre seems logically based and not just being random and bedlam I am being motivated to it, thanks

this literally is the only video i would need for the altered scale, thank u for explaining it’s structure and functionality so well!!

Once again, you did a great job showing that concept, and in context. I never thought about how I play over altered stuff. I've been too random.

Thanks so much! I completely forgot altered scales/chords existed - this helped a TON!!!

this is so clearly and concisely explained, THANK YOU!!!

Whenever I fancy learning something awesome on piano I just open up this channel and watch a video. Epic. Thanks.

I think of it as the major scale (ionian mode) with a sharpened root

Great explanation. The only thing I would add is to specify using the melodic ascending notes only.

Thanks Simón for your time and effort!..

Simon..reviewing this video. A good way to learn the alt scale is to put pinkie on the octave. In C, I go down by whole notes untill the thumb lands on the major 3rd (E) then half whole to to C. Notes would be C Bb Ab Gb (E D# Db C) Of course a good check is tbe 7th mode of the Db melodic minor. See below ..Edited below Db Eb Gb Ab Bb C E C .

Great lesson; thank you.

Yes, altered scales do share the same tones as the melodic minor scale. But I strongly feel it's better to learn the altered scale by understanding its half step, whole step relationship and how the scale tones make up the altered chord tones of the dominant 7th. Obviously it's the same result but I just think the concept of knowing that the altered scale is made up of tonic, flat 9, sharp 9, third, flat 5(#11), flat 13, and flat 7 of the dominant will help make the scale become more ingrained in soloing as well as chord voicing. But you are of course correct in that except for the starting note (which of course is nebulous when improvising), alt and melodic minor are one in the same.

In general one of the best jazz piano videos i've ever seen !

You are amazing… this lesson is very helpful to me and many people. Thank for your time .

Great video - thanks so much for this

Hi simon ive followed you for a year now & to be honest i just like your style. This was really useful ive locked horns with the altered scale with other tutors , but never got anywhere. You made it very simple & just seems a useable scale. It makes you expand your set of notes you dont have to avoid .. i also like your voicings they sound really modern (aka as mr. Glasper. When i first watched you i was intimidated thinking id never get near that level but a year later i won't be opening a you tube channel but i can do stuff. You arent so rigid as others so i find i can trial & error your stuff & in a morning come up wit somut. Anyway i just like to say thanks as i guess there's a legión of us out here using your stuff who never respond to. You. All the best & any bossa, montuno or amy (frank,) whitehouse would be grest.

Thank you for generously sharing your kool trick Simon !

5:54 Well this is the sound I’ve been searching for! Thank you!!!

I play that scale in almost every song!!!

Thanks for demystifying the Altered Scale. It makes sense now. I like the part about going up a half step playing the melodic minor! Great job...

good video fam, good licks as well, thanks !

Thank you. In case you didn’t know, you are great! Perfect lesson.

Great explanation! You are the first I’ve seen break it down like this

Great vid! Thanks.

I know very little about jazz but this was so clearly explained I think I understand a little about something that seemed impossibly esoteric. Great tutorial.

One thing you could do at the beginning is point out some songs that use the Altered Scale or play something that uses it. Often you have to use a real world example of something to get students intrigued.

Great video!

Thanks for sharing! Having it explained like you did makes it so much easier to understand. Much appreciated!

This is SO good. So clear.

Btw.. like the alt chords you are using.

La escala más importante!.

Excellent tutorial, Simon! I understand the Altered Scale now. Thank You!

Why you always release videos when I'm cooking dinner I'll never know...🤣🤣 But as always I'm HERE for it!!!

The Altered scale is the same as the Super Locrian and the Lydian Augmented of the 3rd. It can seem incredibly bright but also incredibly dark making it so alien, so its basically the antithesis to the major scale as neither bright or dark like the other modes

Nice vid. 💯⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Bro youre the best

You are AWESOME DUDE! THE BEST SO FAR🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶

Very good.

Thank you for the lesson!

Very nice

amazing video, thanks.

Super helpful!! Thanks Simon

I am a new subscriber from Philippines 🇵🇭!I really enjoy watching this kind of piano tutorials because i think i could learn how to play it somehow tho i couldn’t afford a real piano so i would just watch it instead ;)))

that is what i always called COCKTAIL PIANO , what a beautiful sound. fantastic lesson thanks.

RANDY JUDAH TORREZ ❤ < Thanks for making something that sounds complicated is actually very easy with Tutorials like this and a professional teacher Thank you Simon i really appreciate it. 🎹

I love Nordic music!

Thanks! Another tool for my tool belt.

I always feel happy when I watch a pianopig video :)

Thank you :)

Thank you for this one.....more knowledge for me am greatful ☺️

amazing video 👏👏

Cool! Great lesson!

Nice.

Brilliant video mate - thanks for making it!

Great video, thanks for the tips! Is it just me, but the way I tend to approach the altered scale is more as a variant of the same tone diminished scale, only with 3 full tones at the end. Only because I approached and got the hang of diminished scales first, but also because their seems to be more meaningful connections between those two modes (despite different number of notes in the scales) than an altered scale and minor melodic from 1/2 tone above. Is anyone else having this kind of ideas?

Once again, another gem of a tutorial. Thanks!!

this is a great video. thanks!

Great lesson!!!

its also a HW dim. scale with a raised 5th and ignored 6th and d super locrain of d natural minor chord semiton above d root 👊💪

I love your channel bro, thank you very much for sharing this gold with all of us

What I found is that if you just use the altered scale on a dominant chord without knowing what you're doing, it may sound horrible. That's why this video is a very good starting point, then the next step is to listen and copy a lot of examples in order to get some vocabulary, and make it sound in the style, rather than random (and being an altered scale that is made to be dissonant, random doesn't sound pretty but just wrong).

I think of it as the Locrion mode but flattened the 4th hence the other title Super Locrion (I think they look really similar)

Simon just revisited my comment. It was accurate untill the last part. I wrote..( See below ). I had put the C alt scale as a pictorial view. Somehow the effort was skewed. I have straightened it out. I just edited the old comment. I corrected the graphics.

Great Video.

Very interesting. What scale(s) do you play when you’re not on the dominant chord though?

Great stuff! Thanks! ;)

Hi. I’m an ear player mainly though understand some theoretical rudiments. I play modern jazz. I’m working Lennie Tristano’s Requiem, a Prelude in Bb followed by a haunting blues in F. It was written for the late Charlie Parker. The prelude is relatively easy alternating between Gmin & Cmin/G slash chords. The opening prelude is almost rubato. It gently resolves from Gmin to A7/G to Abmaj7/G. This is fairly straightforward forward to until a D7alt appears. I had to look that up and what given this fingering: D F F# A# C It sounds bloody awful. I can play round this in a kind of lazy way. But that chord as written sounds dreadful. Have I gone wrong? As I understand you video the altered scale D would start of D# and not have the clashing D. Hope you can make sense of thisz

At 4:56 I don't get the notes. A G7 as I understand it has G, B, D, F but what he played was missing the D and instead had an A and an E. What am I missing here?

Eso es todo piano puerco!!! suena genial.

its so beautiful. but i need drills to have a chance at all :-/

Sos el mejor 😊😉🎶

I am new to music theory, so can anyone please explain me one thing? Why is he saying that the chord is G7 and plays GFABE? Isn’t G7 in C major GBDF?

I believe it's not the same as melodic descending minor scale though, so might be confusing to say its same as altered and not refering to only ascending melodic minor scale. Since ascending melodic minor scale is the one that has raised 6th and 7th. Descending melodic minor is same as natural minor scale. At least this is what I've recently learned but since its an ocean of information on the net I might have gotten ahold of wrong information.

Please help: I am so confused by this video. I thought the melodic minor sharpened the 6th and 7th degrees ascending and flattened them on the descent. Did I get it wrong or am I missing something please? I would really appreciate your help.

idol

Nice ! Super interessante!!!😃👍

❤❤❤

It closely resembles the octonic scale now that I look at it

Hello from Brazil. 📍🇧🇷🥁🎉🎊🎺🎷🔥

🎹 🐖. Just for the fun of it. I just put this in the free app on play store called Maestro. I set it to 60 bpm and set it to repeat 4 x. HWdimWtone. I think they have done a bit of improvement on it. Press help and it plays a \ show. Slide = \. I have done self study of Donna Lee standard with it. I set it to Sax. I think. Great Video. Love your videos. The Best

How come so many of the chords you play are missing their roots? in your improv you played FACE for example, when it should have been DFACE or FACED so you actually include the root? How is it a 2-5-1 when the chords can so easily be mistaken for, say a 4-5-3? I say 3 because you don't use C in the last chord but instead double up on E, almost instilling that E/III feeling. Could you possibly explain?

Tradusir al español grasias😊

so c altered scale = c locrian?

So like... locrian with a flat 4? Very interesting! Maybe I shouldn't lump western classical post tonal harmony with this, but helps me remember!

What chord extensions aside from #5 will fit the altered scale?

Hey PianoPig, can you do some video tutorials/lessons regarding other modes: Modes of Melodic Minor Scale: 1st Mode: Melodic Minor (mM7) 2nd Mode:Dorian ♭ 2 (m7sus4♭ 9 or m7♭ 9) 3rd Mode: Lydian Augmented (M7♯ 5) 4th Mode: Mixolydian ♯11/ Lydian ♭ 7 (Dom7♯11) 5th Mode: Mixolydian ♭ 6 (Dom7♭ 6) 6th Mode: Locrian ♮2 (m7♭ 5) 7th Mode: Altered Dominant/ Super Locrian/ Diminished Whole Tone (Dom7♯5, ♭ 5,♯9, ♭ 9) 3.) Modes of Harmonic Minor Scale: 1st Mode: Harmonic Minor (mM7) 2nd Mode: Locrian ♮6/ Locrian 13 (m7♭ 5) 3rd Mode: Ionian Augmented (M7♯5) 4th Mode: Dorian ♯4 (m7♯4) 5th Mode: Phrygian Augmented (M7♭ 9) 6th Mode: Lydian ♯9 (M7♯9) 7th Mode: Altered Dominant ♭♭7 (Dom7 Alt) 4.) Modes of Harmonic Major Scale: 1st Mode: Harmonic Major/Ionian ♭6 (M7) 2nd Mode: Dorian ♭5 (m7♭ 5) 3rd Mode: Phrygian ♭4/ Phrygian ♭11/ Phrygian Dim11 (m7) 4th Mode: Lydian ♭3/ Lydian Diminished/ Melodic Minor♯4 (mM7) 5th Mode: Mixolydian ♭2/ Dominant ♭9 (Dom7) 6th Mode: Lydian Augmented♯2/ Lydian Augmented♯9 (M7♯5) 7th Mode: Locrian ♭♭7 (Dim°7) 5.) Modes of Double Harmonic Major Scale: 1st Mode: Doube Harmonic Major (M7♭9) 2nd Mode: Lydian ♯2♯6 (M7) 3rd Mode: Ultra Phrygian (m7♭♭5) 4th Mode: Hungarian Minor/ Gypsy Minor/ Harmonic Minor♯4/ Double Harmonic Minor (mM7) 5th Mode: Oriental (M♭5) 6th Mode: Ionian Augmented ♯2 (M7♯5) 7th Mode: Locrian ♭♭3 ♭♭7 (Dim°♭3)

Skipper

wait but dont melodic minors go differently downwards than upwards?

I’m a slob, I’m gonna eat this up 🤣

Nice bho :)

🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉