Ideas For Further Study
This final lesson has been designed to provide you with some ideas for future study which are beyond the scope of detailed examination in this book. The pentatonic and major scales as applied so far are largely used by Rock, Blues, Country and commercial Pop guitarists. This incorporates a very wide range of music, however some styles, in particular Jazz and Jazz Rock, base their improvisation on different concepts.
Chordal Improvisation
Chordal improvisation involves using the notes of each chord as the base for improvising. Consider the following progression:
The key of this progression is G and you could improvise with the G pentatonic or major scales. However, a Jazz musician is more likely to use the chord notes as shown here.
Here is a sample solo based on the chord progression from the beginning of the lesson.
For chordal improvisation, the following areas of study are essential:
- Chord construction – each chord type (e.g., major, minor, dominant 7th etc.) has a specific formula which relates to the major scale, e.g., the formula for a major chord is I - III - V, which means that each major chord takes the first, third and fifth notes from its major scale – C major contains the notes C E G; A major contains the notes A C# E (refer to the chord formula chart at the end of Appendix 1).
- Notes in all positions – a complete knowledge of the guitar fretboard. This is best achieved by relating each position to two or three keys that are best suited to that position, and then playing through songs and exercises of graded difficulty.
- Chord arpeggios – an arpeggio involves playing each individual note of a chord (rather than strumming it) and can be used as part of a lead solo.
*Notes written as eighth notes are to be played as the first and third notes of an eighth note triplet. This is referred to as "swinging" the eighth notes.
Here is an example of chord arpeggios on the Gm, Gmaj7, G7 and G6 chords:
These studies must, of course be augmented by the playing and analysis of Jazz guitar solos.
Modal Improvising (Chord Scales)
A mode can be described as being a displaced scale. In other words, if you play a C major scale but starting and finishing on the D note, you are playing a mode:
The Roman numerals relate to the C scale.
This is called the Dorian mode and it is produced by playing through II - II on the major scale (e.g., D - D on the C scale). Each note of the major scale can be used as a tonic (starting note) for a different mode, and the situation can be summarized thus:
Each of these modes will be most suited to a particular chord which occurs in the key. This relationship between the mode and the chord is summarized in the following table.
The following examples show how these modes can be used against a chord progression. Exercise 88 illustrates the modes in relation to each chord, and exercise 89 re-organizes them into a smooth, running lead line.
This concept of matching chords to scales can be taken much further than the brief outline given in this section. For a thorough study of scales and modes and their relationship to chords, see Progressive Scales and Modes for Guitar, and also Progressive Jazz Lead Guitar Method by Peter Gelling.
