Mastering Jazz Theory: Guitar Teacher Interviews PhD Musician Eric Bowman 

I'll have to rewatch this. Thanks again Marc

This was extremely informative but highly condensed, less than 10, 000 hours required (?) for full mastery of a subject! The theoretical approach would require "too much thinking" on the bandstand. The goal is to find a quick way to instantly think of the relevant root of a suitable scale for each chord on the chart. Personally, I have an algorithm to quickly visualize the root of applicable scale(s). When I see a dominant 7#11 on the chart, I look for the nearest 5th interval as the root of the required "parent". So...for C7#11 - I look for its 5th interval (G) and that IS the root of the G-melodic minor (4th mode) required for improvisation over that chord. In other words, the fingerboard is my visual GPS (guitar positioning system). This does not mean that I start improvising on the root note, but I have a tonal playground established. As Eric stated, the melodic context of the chart might trump some notes of the suggested scales. Tweaking may be applied on-the-fly but at least we have an instant starting point - a home base for the ball park of note choices! I am sure there other mental shortcuts that can be used. Has anyone seen Table for guitarists (like Aebersold's Chod Syllabus) showing common chord types and the root of applicable scale(s).?

Merci Marc-André and to Eric, very cool, Stuff. Thanks

As a physicist-guitarist I appreciated Eric's "key" to explaining harmony and scales using Pythagoras' harmonic series produced when we pluck a guitar string note. All the harmonics are heard at the same time, albeit much fainter than the root, especially the upper overtones. Scales and chords that we humans interpret as consonant or "harmonious" stem from the overlap of these harmonics, when playing a chord or sequentially as an arpeggio or improvised solo phrase. In summary, Pythagoras discovered the "Big Bang" theory of harmony with his monochord single-string guitar. I consider him as the first guitar Rock Star!

Are there virtuosic jazz guitar players who don t know what a major scale is?

First