Definition and Usage of the Be-Bop Minor Scales (part 3): the Be-Bop Natural Minor Scale

In this article, the purpose of which may be regarded as solely didactic, some simple strategies finalized to mastering the Be-Bop Natural Minor scale are suggested. Moreover, their application to jazz improvisation is herein discussed. We start from the mere definition of the scale, extended along two adjacent octaves, in ascending and descending motion. Subsequently, the metric characteristics of the scale are highlighted, proposing performance, in descending motion, beginning at the chordal notes (tonic, modal, dominant, subtonic). Moreover, by exploiting some artificis typical of the Be-Bop idiom (such as chromatisms and approaches), we show how the scale may preserve its metric peculiarities even if it is performed beginning at the remaining tensions. Lastly, by resorting to the concept of harmonization, we expound a simple method finalized to combining the Be-Bop Natural Minor scale with the diatonic seventh arpeggios derived from the corresponding Natural Minor (Eolian) Scale.