Bebop Scales

While learning to play the Major Scales, Melodic Minor Scales and all of the Arpeggios one needs to navigate jazz changes are important, there is one scale that might be the most important tool in your improvisational bag of tricks, the Bebop Scale. This scale, and it’s three variations (Dominant, Major and Minor), has been used by countless players over the years, most notably Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie and guitarists Pat Martino and Johnny Smith.

There are many ways to play these scales across the neck of the guitar, but the fingerings I’ve chosen to include here are ones that I find allow you to cover a large area of the neck, and that once you get them down you can fly through these scales with ease. Click on the links below to check out these scale fingerings and to learn how each Bebop Scale is built and how you can apply it to your improvisations today!

Bebop Scales

• Dominant Bebop Scale
• Major Bebop Scale
• Minor Bebop Scale
• Altered Dominant Bebop Scale

Click to return to the Essential Jazz Guitar Scales Page