You should study scale degrees and their functions. Once you get a handle of the "tendency tones" in a scale, you can easily use it for improv and stay in the key.Clayjrjr2 wrote:How do you pick from different scales so often.
I can't seem to do it that well. What do I do?
One trick to modal scales is to avoid the leading tone and subdominant->dominant relationship that could push you into tonality. This is especially the case when you use any complex chords - you'll always smack into tonal harmony no matter what you try (not even Beethoven could break that barrier).
Try composing individual melodies with modal scales. If you add more than two voices, you'll see what I'm talking about.