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Exercise
— switch — The Cycle Shells with Color Rootless Voicings Bud Powell Left Hand The Turnaround Tritone Substitution Reharm the V Diatonic Sevenths Secondary Turnaround Minor ii–V–i Minor ii-V-i with ♭9 Minor Turnaround Diatonic 7ths in Minor Backdoor Progression Twelve-Bar Blues Minor Blues Bird Blues Blues Stride LH Blues Walking Bass Rhythm Changes Boogie Blues Shuffle Rhythm Changes Bridge Blues Rootless (Evans) Coltrane Changes Blues Pedal Point Standard Intro Blues Block Chords Two-Handed Comping Blues Freddie Green Charleston Comping Bebop Blues Comp Freddie Green Comping Blues Guide Tones Walking Bass Charleston Blues Tritone-Sub Walking Bass Bud Powell Blues Drop Two Two-Handed Modern Blues Stride Bass Stride with Melody Quartal Voicings Upper Structure Triads Hybrid Voicings Kenny Barron Voicing Sus Chord Vamp The Mu Chord Maiden Voyage Chord 4-Way Close Pedal Point Lydian Vamp Phrygian Vamp Bossa Nova Guide Tones Bebop Scale Dominant Bebop Dorian Bebop Bebop Minor The Enclosure ii-V-I Lick Pentatonic Patterns Plain Locrian Melodic Minor Dorian ♭2 Lydian Augmented Lydian Dominant Mixolydian ♭6 Locrian ♮2 Altered Scale Harmonic Minor Phrygian Dominant Half-Whole Diminished Whole-Tone Scale Minor Blues Major Blues Aeolian (Natural Minor) Dorian Mode Ionian (Major) Lydian Mode Minor Pentatonic Mixolydian Mode Phrygian Mode Whole-Half Diminished
(MED. SWING ♩=80 )
67
Jazz Piano · The V7♭13 (non-functional) Scale
Mixolydian ♭6
Mode 5 of melodic minor — dom scale with flat 6, twelve keys
Play exercise
Take mixolydian and flatten the 6th. C mixolydian ♭6:
C D E F G A♭ B♭ C . Six of the seven notes are
identical to plain C mixolydian — only the A drops to A♭.
That single alteration colours the dominant chord with a
♭13 , the same alteration the phrygian dominant scale
uses, but here paired with a natural 9 (a softer, less
acidic dissonance than the phrygian dominant's ♭9).
Use it on a V7 chord that doesn't resolve down a
fifth — for instance, the I7 in a blues that moves to IV (not
to a minor i), or modal V7 vamps. The ♭6 sits as the chord's
♭13 colour without demanding the dramatic resolution that
phrygian dominant signals.
Now 2 octaves, both hands — the same pattern extended up and back with fingering marked above every note in each hand.
Intervals 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 – ♭6 – ♭7. Mixolydian with flat 6.
Use Over V7♭13 not resolving to a minor i. Mode 5 of melodic minor.
Jump to
C7♭13 F7♭13 B♭7♭13 E♭7♭13 A♭7♭13 D♭7♭13 F♯7♭13 B7♭13 E7♭13 A7♭13 D7♭13 G7♭13
X
X
15fr
C
7
add
13
C
7
add
13
X
X
15fr
X
X
20fr
F
7
add
13
X
X
20fr
F
7
add
13
B
7
add
13
X
X
25fr
X
X
25fr
B
7
add
13
E
7
add
13
X
X
18fr
X
X
18fr
E
7
add
13
X
X
23fr
A
7
add
13
X
X
23fr
A
7
add
13
X
X
16fr
D
7
add
13
X
X
16fr
D
7
add
13
F
7
add
13
X
X
21fr
F
7
add
13
X
X
21fr
X
X
26fr
B
7
add
13
X
X
26fr
B
7
add
13
X
X
19fr
E
7
add
13
X
X
19fr
E
7
add
13
X
X
24fr
A
7
add
13
A
7
add
13
X
X
24fr
X
X
17fr
D
7
add
13
X
X
17fr
D
7
add
13
X
X
22fr
G
7
add
13
G
7
add
13
X
X
22fr
The Daily Drill
The ♭13 without the drama
3 min Play C mixolydian ♭6 slowly. The A♭ is the colour — it sits as the chord's ♭13. The 9 (D) and natural 3 (E) keep the scale consonant; the ♭6 (A♭) and ♭7 (B♭) supply the dominant tension. 8 min Cycle three keys. The fingering is identical to the regular mixolydian scale you already know — only the 6th note changes by a half step. 4 min Compare to phrygian dominant: play G phrygian dominant (V7 → Cm) for 4 bars, then G mixolydian ♭6 (a non-resolving G7♭13) for 4 bars. Same ♭6 in both; phrygian dominant adds the ♭9 for cadential pull, mixo ♭6 stays softer. 3 min Apply: improvise over a static C7♭13 vamp. Don't resolve. Let the ♭6 ring as a colour, not a tension that demands movement. Three V7 scales, three resolutions The V7 chord has at least three usable scale options depending on what it's doing. Mixolydian (parent major scale) — the V is functionally resolving to a major I; vanilla, no alterations. Phrygian dominant (mode 5 of harmonic minor) — the V is resolving to a minor i; ♭9 and ♭13 supply the minor-key colour. Mixolydian ♭6 (mode 5 of melodic minor) — the V is sitting modally, not resolving; ♭13 colour without ♭9 acid. Altered scale (mode 7 of melodic minor) — the V wants every possible alteration packed in; ♭9, ♯9, ♯11, ♭13. The mood and motion of the V chord chooses the scale, not the chord symbol alone.
Same ♭13 as phrygian dominant, but with a natural 9. Softer, more modern, less Iberian.