Trombone lesson: maj7 and maj7#5 patterns in jazz improvisation

Trombone lesson: maj7 and maj7#5 patterns in jazz improvisation

Are you a jazz improviser? Do you know all the maj7 (major seven) and maj7#5 (major seven sharp five) patterns in all keys by heart? If not, I strongly recommend that you get started! They are extremely useful in when you improvise since they set the mood of a chord very clearly, and most of them are quite well suited for trombone as well.

The reason that I bring up the maj7 and the maj7#5 patterns at the same time, is because together, they can cover a wide range of jazz chords. When you start adding different fundamentals below the maj7 and maj7#5 patterns, you get a bunch of common jazz chords, where the maj7 and maj7#5 on top cover many of the important notes in the chord.

Please note, that when we add another fundamental, the chord is no longer a plain maj7 chord, so now I we talking about the maj7 strictly as a pattern – not as a chord! This might sound more complicated than it is. Take a look at this example to see what I mean.

When you start thinking in this way, you can cover most chords in most jazz standards with these two patterns. Here is a list of chords that works fine with this pattern, and when to use maj7 or maj7#5.

As you see, with these two patterns, you can cover maj7, -9, 13sus4, 13, maj7#5, 13#11, 7alt and m7b5 chords! On a straight 13 chord, the match in theory isn´t perfect (you get sus4 instead of a major third), but in real life it works fine. In the case with the m7b5 chord and maj7#5-pattern, you get a natural 9 on top, a nice way to get the most out of that chord.

Unclear? Write a comment with your questions, and I´ll try to answer them.

Now, let´s try to make this into an exercise over a jazz standard! I have used the first part of All The Things You Are. It is built up with only the two patterns. You should try to finish the song with the same pattern, and of course try it on other jazz standards as well.

Good luck!

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2 Comments

  1. maria 11 years ago

    guauh thanks cor everything

  2. Paolo 9 years ago

    What’s the third chord of the maj7 pattern? BbMaj7-9-13b?

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