A detailed breakdown of dominant 7th chord scales for This Masquerade, showing which scales work over each dominant chord in the progression.

In this study we will look at several chord scales for dominant 7th chords that we may play on This Masquerade or other tunes.

Let’s start with Lydian Dominant, a mode of Ab melodic minor. Notice how close this is to F natural minor. We just adjust the c note down a half-step to accomidate the Db7(#11).

The next dominant seventh we will link to the predominant. Here we have the Gm7b5 with locrian. When we look at the C7, the f tone will descend by a half-step.

Let’s check out Ab13b9. This is a mode of the Db Harmonic Major. This is a part of a V-I to Dbmaj7.

This is a G mixolydian chord scale.

Let’s look at G7b13. Here we’re working with the c melodic minor scale.

Here we have a good example of dominant 7th chord and the tritone root relationships. Compare this Gb7#33 to C7Alt..

Develop language on dominant 7th chords to expand your improvisation ability. Spend time with each one.