Introduction
Bebop Scales are just your regular scales and modes – such as the Major, melodic minor, Dorian and Mixolydian – but with an added chromatic note. So:
- Bebop scales = Traditional scales + 1 chromatic passing note
Bebop Scales
The most commonly used Bebop Scales are listed below.
| Chord | Name | Notes from C | Degrees | Passing note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ii | Bebop Dorian | D E F F# G A B C | 1 2 ♭3 ♭4 4 5 6 ♭7 | b/w ♭3 & 4 |
| V | Bebop Dominant | G A B C D E F F# | 1 2 3 4 5 6 ♭7 7 | b/w ♭7 & 1 |
| I | Bebop Major | C D E F G A♭ A B | 1 2 3 4 5 ♭6 6 7 | b/w 5 & 6 |
| i | Bebop melodic minor | C D E♭ F G A♭ A B | 1 2 ♭3 4 5 ♭6 6 7 | b/w 5 & 6 |
First, a few generalisations:
- Most Jazz Standards are in 4/4 time;
- Most improvised scalar runs are in quavers (therefore 8 notes per bar);
- Notes played ON the beat sound stronger than notes played OFF the beat;
- A diatonic scale has 7 notes (this is just a fact rather than a generalisation)
By adding an extra chromatic note, Bebop scales are able to:
- Better emphasise the harmonically important notes (Chords Tones) during descending scalar runs, by playing the chord tones ON the beat.
- Better align the number of notes in the scale to the number of beats in a bar. The scale ‘fits’ better over a 4/4 time signature because there are 8 quavers per bar & 8 notes per scale.
For example, let’s compare a Mixolydian scalar run to a Bebop Dominant scalar run:
| G Mixolydian | |||||||||||||||
| Ascending (in quavers) | Descending (in quavers) | ||||||||||||||
| Beat | Beat | Beat | Beat | Beat | Beat | Beat | Beat | ||||||||
 | | | | | | | | ||||||||
| G | A | B | C | D | E | F | G | G | F | E | D | C | B | A | G |
| G Bebop Dominant | |||||||||||||||
| Ascending (in quavers) | Descending (in quavers) | ||||||||||||||
| Beat | Beat | Beat | Beat | Beat | Beat | Beat | Beat | ||||||||
| | | | | | | | ||||||||
| G | A | B | C | D | E | F | F# | G | F# | F | E | D | C | B | A |
Pick Your Own
Bebop scales were ‘created’ (or at least ‘named’) by a Jazz composer called David Baker. He called them this because he noticed many Jazz musicians from the Bebop Era (Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Christian, Bud Powell, etc.) inserted an extra chromatic passing note when playing scalar runs. He settled on the above chromatic notes and created the above scales. However, there’s no reason to restrict yourself to these particular extra chromatic passing notes. In theory, you can add any additional chromatic passing note to a standard 7 note (Heptatonic) scale and create your own quasi-‘Bebop Scale’.