Play C- in Bb?

[lobematt]

Im working through a Charlie Parker lick at the min an I understand all the theory except for half a bar...

It's a 2 5 1 in Bb and over the end of the Bb (the 1 chord) he plays a C- arpeggio Bb G Eb C D F

I can't figure out how this fits into Bb major, anyone shed some light on this??

Thanks!

[JakeBrownBass]

C dorian mate.

Because dorian starts on chord 2 of the parent key, you can play the dorian scale over a 2 5 1.

All about the modes

Edit,

Give it a go with some thing like iRealB or online backing tracks, every time a 251 comes along, throw the dorian scale over the top of it!

Edited February 28, 2012 by JakeBrownBass

[Bilbo]

The notes of the Bb major scale are Bb C D Eb F G A B.

The notes in Parkers lick are Bb G Eb C D F. All are diatonically correct and fit perfectly. It seems that you have a slightly distorted view of the starting point of the Bb major? Were you thinking of the chord tones/arpeggio rather than the scale?

It is perfectly acceptable to play absolutely any note over a Bb chord; the only issue is the level of tension created. You get little or no tension from Bb, D, F and A, a little from C and G and and whole lot from Eb but, if you wanted to, you could, for instance, use B, Db, E Gb and Ab as lead in notes for a lick or to create an extension which means every note is right (or probably more accurately 'not wrong'). It's all about context. My gut feeling is that you are operating on a misconception of what being 'in Bb msjor' actually means? Can we help?

[lobematt]

Thanks for the responses, it makes a bit more sense now, especially the modes comment. It's probably because I'm still a bit new to this jazz lark but when I see Bb major I play Bb major! I can see it when its spelt out like the post above though. Nice one boys.