Also referred to as quartal or quintal harmony when the chords are built by stacking fourths or fifths, respectively. These chords don’t need to have these intervals exclusively, as long as fourths or fifths predominate, they are still considered as such. The possibilities for building three-note fourth chords are:

The construction of this scale basically consists on adding a b6 on a major scale that unlike the bebop major scale, with similar construction, is treated as a scale degree and not simply as a passing tone:

Now that you have a good idea of how each mode sounds and considering that we are dealing with modes from within the same tonality, it is time see how they relate to each other in terms of feel and color. In terms of balance, when you play the Ionian…

As the name suggests, these are chords that approach a target chord (that being a tonic chord or any other), by a movement of a half-step either from above or below. Normally, the approach chord will be of the same quality as the chord it is approaching. For instance, a…

With the harmonic scale, we run into an augmented 2nd interval between the 6th and 7th degree. The idea behind the construction of the melodic scale is so that the melodic ascension towards the tonic is smoother by raising the 6th degree as well. …

Chords aren’t always played in their root position, like a C major with the notes C E and G in this order. While remaining the same, the notes of the chord may change places for practical reasons that may relate to the instrument you play, to facilitate going from chord…

Because a scale is a collection of notes that divide the octave into a certain number of steps, I previously implied that you could create your own scale materials. When you do so, my only advice is that the process is driven by melodic or harmonic intent. That said, a…

In this post I will be showing you how to make chords with extensions and how to read them. …

These scales can be built either with the repetition of the tonic as the root for the second octave, or not. The easiest way of building such scales is by combining two different scales, like so: