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View Full Version : What scales to use to improvise on 'Corcovado'


bluesax
10-02-2003, 12:52 PM
Hallo,
i am trying to understand the harmonization of Carlos Jobim's song Corcovado so that i could improvise on the chord progressions in that song. I can see some 2-5-1 progressions but i don't get the whole picture of that song. What i am trying to find are the scales which i could use for improvising.

PaulNYC
10-02-2003, 02:38 PM
volume 31 of the aebersold books has that song I believe.

bluesax
10-02-2003, 10:01 PM
UNfortunately in Vol 31 of the Aebersold series they only show the chords, but make no scale suggestions.

zadu
10-18-2003, 10:24 PM
Maybe you could look at one of Jamey Abersold's scale syllabus pages and write out the kind of scale suggested by him there.. like D dorian/Ab diminished/Gminor/Cdom7/Fmaj etc and play them over the chart to see how you like the sound of it?
(Edit )
The chord symbol/names also represent a scale like D dorian is spelled "d e f g a b c" , and Ab half diminished 7"Ab Bbb Cb Db Ebb Fb Gb" OK ? So if you make up some short runs out of a few consecutive notes of the scale suggested by the chord symbol you can make up your own counter melody and move around from chord to chord without doing a lot of arpeggiating of the chords.
The final section can be played with a C major scale except for the first two measures of F minor. This is a super restful way to end the tune with those descending major scale runs that finally resolve to the tonic note. Jobim's a real master.