On the gyspyjazzguitar group Michael Valentiner posted this excellent suggestion for beginners who are trying to solo to Bossa Dorado.
The Em7b5 in Bossa Dorado functions as the ii chord a minor ii-V-i progression. The iim7b5 and V7 (really a V7b9) are naturally occurring chords in harmonic minor harmony, so for these chords you should play out of the harmonic minor scale of the i chord. For example, for Em7b5 – A7b9 – Dm play out of D harmonic minor.
For Bossa Dorado, you can use two harmonic minor scales for the A part:

Dm / / / | / / / / |E7b9/ / / | / / / / |
D harm. minor —- A harm. minor —–
Em7b5/ / / |A7b9/ / / | Dm / / / | / / / / |
D harm. minor —————————–

You can treat the the B part in a similar fashion. To “smooth out” your solo, here’s a “trick”. Forget the Em7b5 for a moment and think of the progression as just E7b9 to A7b9. Notice that the top 4 notes of a V7b9 chord form a diminished 7 chord. For example, g# b d f from E7b9 and c# e g bb from A7b9. These two dim7 chords are just a half step apart, so if you play a phrase out of G#dim7 for the E7b9, when the chord changes to A7b9, resolve the last note down a half step. Or play the same phrase down a half step. This “trick” is actually good voice leading.
More specifically, the D harmonic minor over the Em7b5/A7 change ( E F G A Bb C# D) gives you 1 b9 b3 4 b5 6 b7 of the Em7b5 and 5 b6 b7 1 b9 3 4 of the A7. It’s a typical sound for a minor ii v.

Continue reading »