Courses dealing with Eight Note Scales, Chords, Tetrads and Bebop Scales.
Octatonic Series
I’ve written a series of books dealing with eight note scales. This is a vast subject that is seldom covered by other music publishers and is long overdue. I will be adding the various courses to this page over time.
The first series of books will cover: 124 Bebop Scales, Segmented Bebop Scales, Segmented Bebop Scales with Approaches, Octatonic Chords and 495 Octatonic Chord Scales.
Background on Octatonic Series
Two of the most commonly used octatonic scales are the diminished and symmetrical diminished scales. These two scales are some of the most useful scales in an improvisers toolkit. But there are many more eight note scales such as the passing diminished scales, Bebop scales and others that are useful to create a unique sound.
There are 495 possible eight note scales. Some of these octatonic courses deal with all 495 scales while others look at a subset (124) scales that I’ve found useful. Bebop scales are also covered in this series. It is common to use about 10-15 Bebop scales but if you follow the logic of Bebop scale production there are actually more like 124 Bebop scales that can be useful in improvisation and composition!
The study of the diatonic chords of octatonic scales is also a subject seldom covered. I’ve created a book of the diatonic 3 and 4 note chord voicings covering 124 octatonic scales. Learning these chords will really help you hear, retain and use octatonics in a more creative and musical way.
Many of the courses contain music examples written on a music staff and include midi files so you can hear the examples, while other courses just contain lists of scales either as degrees and/or pitch class sets. See each specific course for a list of contents.
Bebop Scales: 124 Bebop Scales and Their Application
This course works with 124 Bebop scales but is also an overview of future courses. Bebop scales are some of the most commonly known octatonic scales and are one of the techniques used by jazz musician to create a “Bebop Sound.” They are used in a very specific way so they are in a special class of eight note scales. Most musicians are familiar with a small subset of Bebop scales. This course looks at the common Bebop scales as well as many more. You can see from the Table of Contents below that many aspects of Bebop scales are covered as well as an introduction to some of the future courses which cover; Segmenting Bebop scales and Segmenting Bebop scales with Approaches.
The other courses mentioned above will really help you to see all the applications of Bebop scales and are very important concepts to grasp their full potentials. Overall this is a great course to get started learning Bebop Scales, understanding their use and seeing future ways that you can practice and apply them.
Table of Contents:
Bebop Scales
Common Bebop Scales
Course Breakdown
29 Octatonic Scales
Seventh Chords Continued
124 Bebop Scales
Chromatic Modes of Bebop Scales
Bebop Scales and Chords They Work Over
495 Eight Note Scales with Prime Form
How to Practice with this Course
Segmenting Bebop Scales; an introduction
Approaching Bebop Scales; an introduction
Going Beyond Bebop Scales
Diatonic Chords of Eight Note Scales; an introduction
Chord Tones and Available Tensions
Passing Diminished
Chords Derived from an Eight Note Scale; an introduction
Application of Eight Note Scales; an introduction
As you can see from the TOC this course goes explores Bebop Scales on a very deep level. It also includes references to Pitch Class Set Theory so that you can see how all scales are related back to the 29 Eight Note Scale Prime Forms.
List of Contents for the Bebop Scale Course:
95 Page PDF
All 495 Eight Note Scales in all keys with midi files.
Jam Tracks V1 (MP3’s of 10 chord types in all 12 keys)
Music Education Genealogy Chart
You might find the “Music Education Genealogy Chart” located on Bruce Arnold’s artist website interesting. You will clearly see the historic progression of pedagogy that is the basis for Muse Eek Publishing Products. Great musicians throughout history have been studying the ideas presented by Muse-eek.com which derives its content from a a lineage that stretches back to Scarlatti!