Moonlight in Vermont Chord Scales
Reference Shape Studies
These are chord scale starting points. These examples will serve as good starting points for improvising over the changes. The goal here is to not only have the scales down, but to be able to hear the chords relationship to the scale over time. So practice these in the context of the harmony listed.
Here’s our first chord in the tune. This is the major scale as it relates to the Eb6 chord.
Next we have the Cm7. Notice that the chord scale relationship is the same. This is because the arpeggio of Eb6 and Cm7 contain the same notes. Only the root changes from Eb to C.
Here we start to experience some movement away from the tonic with Fm7, a predominant chord. The scale is the same, but the chord tones have shifted; notably fa.
Now we’re moving to the dominant chord, Bb7. Now we have both fa and ti driving us toward the tonic chord.
This will resolve to the tonic chord Eb6. Notice that fa and ti move toward do and mi.
Later in the A section Eb6 and Cm7 are followed by Db7. Here I’ve suggested the lydian dominant chord scale. It will stay close to our original note collection while accommodating the Db and Cb tones.
In the B section we move to the key of G, which is the parallel major of the iii chord in Eb. We start with the ii chord in this new key.
Again we will have a note collection here and the consonances will change with the chord progression. Here we have the V chord.
Now on to the I chord in G.
Here we to into a secondary dominant that will bring us back to the ii chord. This phrygian dominant chord scale is a mode of the A harmonic minor.
This creates tension and drives us to Am, the ii chord in G.
After the progression in G is complete, the progression is transposed up 1/2 step to Ab. Here we have the ii chord.
Now the V chord.
Moving to the I chord in Ab.
And just like before the V/ii, but in Ab this time.
That will resolve to the ii chord in Ab.
At the end of the section we have the Bb7(b9) chord that pulls us back to the key of Eb. In this case we are working with mixolydian b9, a mode of the Eb harmonic major.
So there we have it. Chord scales for all the chords in the tune. This will serve as a good starting point for improvising on this tune.