Improvisation 306 - Advanced Concepts

Alright! Here we go! So much stuff to work with now. At this point, it is important to point out that you can use as much or as little of the things we have leaned so far. This is a matter of taste.

Really listen to what the different scale degrees do to the sound of the chord. Does it add tension? Does it serve to resolve tension? Does it imply a change is coming? Does it blur the music?

It is the answer to these types of questions that will develop your personal style. Get into it. Do this in many, if not all, of the keys and in all five patterns. Play in this fashion up and down just one string even! Break it down and aspire to HEAR the difference between the scale degrees and chord tones.

As you have certainly surmised, the arpeggios, pentatonics, and chord tones of all of our chords exist within the A major scale. You can think and play A major over the whole progression and sound fine, but not as fine as you could sound if you spelled out your changes.

SELL YOUR CHANGES.

I want you to be aware of the sounds you are making. I want you to be aware of the effects of your note choices and of the options you have. Apply the same formula explained above to this (and all) new progressions. 

How about our faithful I VI II V? 

1. Start with arpeggios.

2. Add in pentatonics.

3. Add in the half steps that make it the full tonic scale.

4. Go back and forth and experiment.

Think - Should I play a pentatonic over the first part and then add a half step when going to the next chord? Should I connect my triads of each chord and work up and down the neck for a minute? Should I make noise for a moment? Be inquisitive. Think with your ear!

You don't have to incorporate arpeggios and triads in every solo. You don't have to play the entire major or minor scale during a lead. You can jump in a pentatonic for a second and then back to an arpeggio. You can hang on one note for the whole thing. You can play so much so fast and just make a blistering blur of sound.

The point here is to listen your way through progressions and try to hear your way around the neck.  

Think: fast here.. slow here...bend here... just chord tones here…etc…

Always be mindful of the context of your playing and the function of the notes in that context.  

If you have gone through all of the exercises that have preceded this lesson, and you have totally absorbed them, then you need to begin to explore your own personal style. 

Until now, we have predominately been trying to hang on chord tones. Begin to explore other sounds. Check out some dissonance. Take it slow.

Make a list of players that really resonate with you - solos you adore.

Learn them, but don't get caught up in the micro. Focus on the macro. I'm serious. 

When you learn a Hendrix solo for example, I want you to think: A pattern 3 and he's fluttering over the arpeggio and creating suspension with some 2nds, 6ths, and 4ths.

I don't want you to miss the big picture and think: He played an A followed by a G followed by a B etc...  Or even worse: 17th fret, 15th fret, 12th fret etc... 

While this is obviously important and impossible to ignore, the Macro approach is what will lead you to your own personal style. 

People like Hendrix, SRV, Eddie, etc. didn't know theory the way you will, but they knew the naturally existing shapes on the guitar and the sounds they make. 

They just didn't know all the names. 

This is why you must LISTEN your way around a tune. HEAR your way up and down the neck. 

Don't get caught up in minute details of other's playing. Grasp the concept you like in others, and add it to your bag. Your bag is never empty, and you need the help of others to get it going, but you must add as much of yourself as other players. 

THINK MACRO.

Jam Tracks

1.  Bb 1 6 2 5 7th Chords

2.  F 145 7th Chords 

3.  G 1 4 5

4.  E minor 1 4 5