Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Pianist Corner - Non Classical What are the hippest scales to improv with on "All Of Me"

Here's a little quiz. What scales would you chose for each chord of "All Of Me" . I find all of my students and many professionals do not really realize what the most ideal scale type is for each chord in "All Of Me" :

| C maj7 | Cmaj7 | "E7" | "E7"|
| "A7" | "A7" | D-7 | D-7 |
| "E7" | "E7" | A-7 | A-7 |
| "D7" | "D7" | D-7 | "G7" |

I don't get it? What are they?

Chromatic scale works equally well on all chords;-)

Seriously though I don't think there can be such a think as an 'ideal scale type', the scale choice is determined by factors like what extensions you include in the chord and how much tension you want to add, and many others.
I would be interested why you think many professionals are wrong about their scale choice though.

Strange question. All of Me is a fun piece to play becuase it has a relatively simple progression, but with lots of dominant chords. I can't think of a scale that you couldn't use.

I'm either unhip or I just like to keep it simple, but I tend to use:

C: C major scale
E7: A major scale
A7: D major scale
Dm7: C major scale
Am7: G major scale

Of course I use tension notes, neighbor tones, etc, but I like the simple approach above.

what you need is a hip replacement

I agree with beeboss - there is never a one-size-fits-all killer scale for jazz standards such as All of Me... However, there are useful 'framework' scales and arpeggios to understand, depending on the chord.

For example, the first chord of C (perhaps even C6)... a pentatonic scale framework could work well here with a couple of blues notes thrown in here and there.

But of course, that passes pretty quickly and you're then on to the E7, which you could consider an arpeggio of E7 with perhaps a flattened 9th F... which leads nicely on to the Am7...

Hope that helps a bit!

Interesting, nobody seems to get it. Use your ears and study the masters, they are not playing simple unaltered Mixolydian scales on E7 and A7 .

If you are playing b9 extensions for example then regular mixolydian is not going to sound so good.

If you think by key then A harmonic minor is the closest scale for the E7 chord - like a C major scale but with the G sharpened to fit the 3rd of the chord. You could follow this same approach through the other chords but there is no reason why an altered scale wouldn't work just as well over the E7 imo, F melodic minor ascending or E diminished (1/2,1). These will all work well depending on the context.

I think people do get it though. What they're saying is that there is a choice. You could use a super-locrian scale on the A7 but you could also go old-school and use a straight mixolydian. Or you could mix it up a bit. I think it's great to learn a bunch of scales, practice with them all individually until they become part of your playing, and then eventually forget them and pick the notes you want to hear. Then if you hear a recording of someone playing a certain sound and you like it, most probably you will be able to go to the piano and replicate it. I mean, it takes a long long time but that's ideal for me - rather than your 'correct answer'. It's a matter of taste.

For those that are curious, here's a transcription of a Sarah Vaughn solo: http://www.music.sc.edu/ea/jazz/Transcriptions/ALL%20of%20Me%20SARAH.pdf

Looks like pretty standard scales to me, albiet with quite a few enclosures and chromatic passing tones.

For those that are curious, here's a transcription of a Sarah Vaughn solo: http://www.music.sc.edu/ea/jazz/Transcriptions/ALL%20of%20Me%20SARAH.pdf

Looks like pretty traditional scales, albiet with a nice use of enclosures and chromatic passing tones.

Old timer Lester Young using altered scales on E7 and A7. It's such an obviously better choice than awkward sounding mixolydian. The mixolydian on E7 and A7 sound so "out of key" for a tune in C, where as the altered scales sound at home in the key of C on E7 and A7 because they are much closer to the key of C !
http://www.scribd.com/doc/55169612/Lester-Young-All-Of-Me-Sax-Solo

"Hippest" as in what would Herbie Hancock play on the E7 A7 changes as compared to what the Lawrence Welk band would play. I have heard Herbioe play All Of Me and he played an alt every time.

imho, the improviser who plays the most interesting music over ANY changes is he who plays good melodies. I don't understand why people get so wrapped up in scales. If you know them all then your ear will provide you with good melodic material. Chet Baker could play great bop and then play totally diatonic, but he was a master at melody and phrasing.

You can play C major over the entire form of All of Me and it will work extensions, alterations, and all. If you develop the ideas, use good phrasing and time, it's a great solo.

No need to claim any one approach is superior. Again, my opinion, and I may be in the minority haha.

I agree ilion. Singable solos are awesome. Simple stuff with good time and phrasing bangs it. I think it's easier and quicker to get stuck into strange scales than it is to gain the other stuff like time and phrasing, solo structure, and melodic interesting development. That stuff takes a long time and a lot of playing and listening.

And I guess it's a trick answer? None. I wouldn't be thinking "chord = scale". That's a teaching method that allows inexperienced students to come up with a passable imitation of a jazz solo. It's great for educators because it's testable - much easier to grade a student on "are you fluent in F# mixolydian" than on "was that a good melodic solo?". But it's not a very good way to make good music.

Every note has a relationship to the chord being played, to the melody, to the notes everyone else is playing - chord/scale theory is one way to think about these relationships. Obviously if somebody just uses chord/scale theory to choose what notes to play that is not going to work very well, but on the other hand we cannot make good music by ignoring the relationships either.

It's only a matter of time before the thread becomes a scale vs chord vs ear debate. There's a good chapter on metaphors for the musician about that.

Same old arguments to avoid simply answering the question...