Chord Scales

Due to the particular structure of the these notes, (click here) outlining the chord and having a scale segment as well, this figure and it’s variations have been the basis and appear in many songs. I am calling a chord scale, since it outlines a chord and has a bit of a scale, and it actually is the beginning of the pentatonic scale. In it’s original form, it has formed the basis for a lot of songs. Most famous among these are the following:

Begin the Beguine
The Tennessee Waltz
What’ll I Do?

These are songs that have been around for decades. I’m sure that there are countless more out there. It's not only the notes in this particular order that are important.

Variations of these notes have also been used in many songs because they're so linked to the pentatonic scale. The pentatonic scale is a major element in the construction of melodies in pop music. Below are 24 variations based on this melodic word.

Variations on 1st Note	Variations on 2nd Note	Variations on 3rd Note	Variations on 4th Note
Var. 1	Var. 1	Var. 1	Var. 1
Var. 2	Var. 2	Var. 2	Var. 2
Var. 3	Var. 3	Var. 3	Var. 3
Var. 4	Var. 4	Var. 4	Var. 4
Var. 5	Var. 5	Var. 5	Var. 5
Var. 6	Var. 6	Var. 6	Var. 6

Because these melodic words all contain the color note going to the root, you can create a lot of melodic words that will work out with the color note going to the root. When using these melodic words, using major chord with the 9th or a second in them, sometimes written as C2, or F2 chords, will work very well with a lot of the melodic words above. Click here to listen to chords with the 2nd in them. A lot of times the melodic word will end on the color note and that's ok too.

Putting it all together

For this example, we're going to use the following melodic words:

Var 2 of Variations on 2nd Note (C) ____ Scale Segment for E to G ______ Var 2 of Variations on 2nd Note (F)

Music Example