Modes of the Melodic Minor as Applied to Dominant Chords (#1)

John Stowell and Mike Godette demonstrate how the modes of the melodic minor can be applied over dominant chords to create tension and resolution in a V-I setting. This is the first session in their conversation series, with the two guitarists trading ideas and reacting to each other's voicings.

John shares the approach his teacher Link Chamberlain gave him in the early 1970s: using melodic minor chords from other keys as dominant chords. The centerpiece is the seventh mode — playing melodic minor ideas a half step above a dominant (C# melodic minor over C7) and combining them with the grounded sound of the basic dominant, so your lines aren't all tension.

What's covered

• Melodic minor modes that generate tensions over dominant chords
• Melodic minor chords referenced as altered dominant chords (e.g. C#m(maj9) heard as C7#9b9)
• Implied V chords as a reharmonization device
• Pianistic chord voicings for the guitar
• Modifying voicings to find sounds outside the typical altered-scale vocabulary

Mike Godette is a guitarist from the New Haven, Connecticut area with a degree in Jazz Studies from Western Connecticut State University. He has toured with his former progressive jazz-metal group Mid Atlantic Title, performed with jazz artists including Aaron Goldberg, Myron Walden, Jimmy Greene, Jumaane Smith, and Ralph Lalama, and is on the faculty of the Litchfield Jazz Camp, Fairfield School of Music, and Continuo Music.