5 Exercises That Will Help You Solo over Chord Changes
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 28 ก.ค. 2024
- Learning how to solo over chord changes is pretty difficult, especially if you also want to be free to play melodies that move across the chords so that you are not just playing something on one chord and something else on the next.
In this video, I am going to show you 5 exercises that will help you develop these skills. The exercises are mostly pretty common and are probably more about how you understand the chord changes and think about the exercises that will help you learn to play better solos. I think you will see what I mean along the way.
Content:
0:00 Intro
1:00 #1 Learn The Arpeggios But Not Only How To Play Them
2:13 Not Only Thinking In Intervals - Here's Why!
3:56 #2 Give It Some Context - Add the Scales
4:47 #3 Put It In The Same Range - Where the Real Overview Is
5:56 #4 Connect the Chords - Voice-leading and Melodies
6:48 #5 Think Ahead - Universal Good Advice, Also in Jazz Solos
10:07 Avoid these mistakes in your solos!
10:18 Like the video? Check out my Patreon page
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My name is Jens Larsen, Danish Jazz Guitarist, and Educator. The videos on this channel will help you explore and enjoy Jazz. Some of it is how to play jazz guitar, but other videos are more on Music Theory like Jazz Chords or advice on how to practice and learn Jazz, on guitar or any other instrument.
The videos are mostly jazz guitar lessons, but also music theory, analysis of songs and videos on jazz guitars.
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Every single video of Jens Larsen is a gem...we r so lucky and privileged to have you ...God bless you
Thank you! :)
Agreed!
Absolutely. I play the sax and I come here everytime I’m stuck . Thanks a lot Jens 👏🏽
I agree. Thanks Jens!
Absolutely.
The best jazz teacher on the internet ...learning so much from you...so structured and informative for someone like me who doesn't have the luxury of going to a jazz school
Glad you can put it to use like that 🙂
The sheer amount of solid information on your videos is amazing. You don't skim on theory. If anyone here reads this, TAKE YOUR TIME with Jens' videos. They're not videos to watch 5 of them on the train on your way to work. If you focus on one of them a week, you have material for years and you can still come back revisit.
Thanks for that! :)
How Do You Approach Soloing on Chord Changes? Share a great tip or an exercise! :)
Content:
0:00 Intro
1:00 #1 Learn The Arpeggios But Not Only How To Play Them
2:13 Not Only Thinking In Intervals - Here's Why!
3:56 #2 Give It Some Context - Add the Scales
4:47 #3 Put It In The Same Range - Where the Real Overview Is
5:56 #4 Connect the Chords - Voice-leading and Melodies
6:48 #5 Think Ahead - Universal Good Advice, Also in Jazz Solos
10:07 Avoid these mistakes in your solos!
10:18 Like the video? Check out my Patreon page
Thanks for the video ! Here's another exercise:
Play only chord tones, in any order. And play only quarter notes.
When the chord changes, play the *nearest chord tone* to the one you were just on.
So you stay on the note if it's a common tone.
Otherwise, you (usually) move a half-step or whole-step up or down.
Teacher Larsen, I am from Brazil. I always watch your videos. I learn a lot from your teachings. Thank you very much!
So, I'm teaching myself jazz on the mandolin, and these videos are the best thing i've found on the internet, by far! The concepts are so well explained and universal that I don't have much trouble at all applying them to a different instrument. Thanks Jens for making this beautiful music accessible to more people of all skill levels!
Thank you very much Bruce! That is really great to hear 🙂
So helpful, thank you 😊
Well-considered concepts and explanations. An additional exercise I’ve been finding helpful is to rest after each target note and only play the 3 eighth notes directly before the next target note. Very helpful for learning to think ahead.
That is indeed a great way to work on that 👍
Excellent guidance, Jens! This is exactly the way I approach and show it. Two enthusiastic thumbs up!! 👍👍
No one explains like you, Jens :)
It took me a while to be in the mental space to pick up jazz improv but the self-quarantine has given me the opportunity, so I watch your videos and learn so much. I’m finally working my way through Autumn Leaves! So, thank you for doing everything you do.
You are very welcome :)
exactly what I was looking for with excellent and on point examples that explain the context really well! Thank you Jens!
Glad it was helpful!
This is such good stuff, Legend you are!
This is good advice and I have lived by it for over 40 years. There is also a lot to be said for playing the chord progression. When I first started if you wanted a chord progression to practice over you bought a 60 minute tape and played the chords over and over and over. By the time you had your tape you were really familiar with how the progression sounded and were better equipped to improvise over it. (It also did wonders for your chord vocabulary as you had to keep changing it to avoid monotony.)
What happen so much today is we use computers to generate the progression, or buy a recording etc and this part of the learning process is missed, just getting the sound of the changes under your fingers.
This is just something that I have realized in hindsight that really helped me. If you can use it that's good. If you can't, that's ok too. Cheers
Your most concise, concrete and clear presentation ever. Thanks Jens!
Glad it was helpful!
One of these days, I will have this level of understanding and comfortability with theory and playing. This is so inspiring
Go for it 🙂
Not a very original comment, but thank so much for teaching us for free, basically. I used to play guitar (usually metal stuff) up until I was 16, I got pretty good at it in what I wanted, but then switched to the piano. Now, at 28, I'm picking it up again and your videos are immensely helpful!
Thank you very much! I am really glad you can put them to use like that 🙂
That is truly one of the most beautiful guitars I have ever seen in my life. You make it sound fantastic! Excellent video, very helpful.
Thank you 🙂
Great video Jens! This one is extremely helpful and is often not explained like this, thank you very much!
Glad it was helpful!
You made me Re-Love playing Guitar.
Thank you so much.
You’re very welcome, Silvano. Go for it!
Good video and a great lesson. This stuff is a little over my head theory wise but you break it down nicely. I get better understanding. Nicely done.
Great lesson Jens! Thank you!
Thank you Cliff! Glad you like it!
great video as always, this was easier to understand for me than some of your other videos i think your explanations were easy to understand
Great to hear!
Thank you for the lesson. Well explained, nice and easy mood, objective. All good stuff.
Loving this learning! Thanks Jens.
Glad to hear that 🙂
Excellent tip!
Thank you 🙂 Glad you like it
Golden lesson. Thanks Jens!
Glad you like it! :)
"that bebop, or even Bach kind of flow".
Love it.
I took bass lessons many decades ago. My teacher said you could take virtually any Bach bass line and swing it, and it would sound like jazz.
Love Jens. Great lessons. Damn I want that vintage Yamaha double cutaway. Not to mention the Ibanez, Epiphone, etc.
Haha! They are not for sale 🙂
This is exactly what I've been looking for. Thank you so much Sir and God bless you.
Glad it was helpful!
Your lessons contain so much useful information Jens, thanks a lot! I always have to watch them several times before some of it sinks in :-)
Glad you like them!
Fantastic lesson, thank you!
My pleasure!
Thank you so much Jens.
You are so welcome!
Keeping up with and understanding the progression as it changes is definitely pivotal to serving the song! Awesome!
Thank you, RC 👍🙂
@@JensLarsen You are always welcome!
this was interesting for a non-jazz beginner. So for each chord, try and end on the third.
No, that's not really it 🙂
Top stuff Jens - good advice in there - Thanks 👍
My pleasure!
What a great lesson. Thank you.
The problem is, I keep hearing So many song melodies in these exercises that I keep going off on tangents! Very fun
Great video, Jens! Thank ypu!
Glad you like it 🙂
Whoa.. This is a gem indeed! Thank you Jens.
You're very welcome!
Brilliant video as always!!! Keep them coming we need you!!! Been playing since before 1970 myself!! Best wishes Pete Austin Plymouth England.
Thanks! Will do! :)
Presently this type of knowledge is right where I am at. Not necessarily in soloing but this answers questions I keep coming to. Thanking you sincerely.
Sometimes a little gem of knowledge, really does give you a light bulb moment.
Great to hear!
Jens you are the best teacher! Very good ideas! Thank you!
Glad you like it 🙂
All of these ideas have helped me a lot. Keeping things in the same range as really made my lines sound a lot prettier to my ear. I think large interval skips are something I'm still figuring out how to handle properly and I've noticed quite a few players use them in motifs when they decide to use them.
Great to hear! Keep at it and you will get that in there as well :)
Always informative and challenging lessons here!
Glad you think so!
This lesson is very helpful to me. Tak ska' du ha'.
Great video Jens. I agree that it’s not just about the notes, but knowing the chord tones in each arpeggio that really unlocks the changes. Also inverting the arpeggios like you said, that makes the voice leading much easier to understand.
And then of course, finding the voice leading between the upper extensions is the next step!
Indeed :) Thanks!
the best!!
I know this is a bit off topic, but I am always impressed by your technique and how you never seem to miss a note. Everything is so clear and clean. I have not watched all your videos, but I do not see you talk about technique and mechanics much. Would you consider doing such a video? (Apologies if it is already somewhere I have not found.)
Great explanation. Best "signal to noise" ratio on this topic
Glad you liked it
You got that signal to noise analogy from Captain Sinbad right? :D
Perfect videos for where I am on guitar and where I want to be. Btw that double cutaway Yamaha is gorgeous.
Great! Thanks :)
Nice Video Jens!
Thank you , Riccardo! :)
best guitar channel out there
nice one!
Thanks!
this is a solid
Thank you 🙂
Another golden gem. I know you're working on a full video course. I hope it's ready soon for your followers to purchase. It would be nice if it ialso ncludes info from this youtube video. I need examples to practice , but I also need a 'push' from ypou and feedback to try constructing my own original lines.
Awesome, thank you! Hopefully there will be some options for getting feedback, and the course is certainly on making lines :)
@@JensLarsen any idea of a date when it might be offered?
Your work is unreal and very helpful. I hope I can support you on Patreon but i do not work right now. However, i will when I work again. I am grateful for your work. One day could you do a Mike stern video! Lol Thanks
Thanks! I actually did a video on a Stern solo :)
5:48 Coincidentally these days I saw one video where you were talking about voice-leading as a melodic concept
Excellent lesson, as always. Also, really nice shirt!
Thank you very much! Do you know the nice shirt joke?
@@JensLarsen No, I don't but I'd like to hear it.
Funny to see you skillfully playing these tasty jazz licks on a guitar I tend to associate with 1980s punk (John McGeoch, Frank Navetta). Sounds great though! Gonna practice this today.
Thank you! I don't think I have ever heard of any of those :)
@@JensLarsen Magazine and Descendents (the early years).
Love Shadow by Fashion uses an Em7(9) to A7(13) for part of its verses although I don't know yet what the other two chords are. Jazz chords are amazing.
Thank you for this great video. I also purchased your course on satin doll from your webstore and I will extend the process you teach to all other standards I know (which is a lot of work and will take a lot of time, but I think it is very worth the effort). But one thing is not yet completely clear to me. If I connect every chord in a chord progression with target notes it sounds a bit like an etude or constructed, for instance (this is a bit extreme example but maybe explains what I mean) if I play every chord change towards the seven of the chord to move to the third on the next chord. I guess motivic development is an important element to avoid chord connections to sound overly exercise-like. But do you have other advice to get it sound more musical?
I absolutely love your videos. They are so informative and helpful! What kind of guitar is that Jens?
Thank you! This guitar is an old Yamaha SG1000
Hi Jens, I'm currently on the way to build up larger reportoir and came across the tune "wives and lovers". There is a DbMaj7 in Eb Major surrounded by Am D7 and Gm C7 and I dont quiet get how to analyse this chord? Thanks in advance
Thank you my teather
You are very welcome
Thank you Jens! Do you recommend playing with backing tracks? Is there an app, program, or software you recommend? Also, do you have any tips for playing over Hullo Bolinas?
I would be careful with using backing tracks too much. You often learn more from trying to learn to hear the song internally and feel the time.
How’s it going Jens??
It’s really great your videos they are very helpful, I just wondering if you use band in a box.
Thank you so much
Very appreciate if you answer me.
Cheers mate.
Thanks! I don't use band in a box :)
I found one mistake in my playing while I was watching your explanation of the Barry Harris exercise. I always started scale runs with a chord tone on the off-beat. If I start on the down beat or put a leading note or scale note on the off-beat followed by a chord note on the down beat it sounds better. This wasn‘t clear to me. Thanks!
This is tough but yes the is what I'm looking for on how to change chords
Go for it 🙂
@@JensLarsen thank you so much
Instead of looking for what's not in the next chord I'm looking what's in both chord😅
@@sherlanmamaril7368 That may not be that helpful, but you will discover that along the way 🙂
@@JensLarsen it's by accident , anyway I'm gonna practice more thank you
Great exercise! I can feel the weight of your guitar though. We have same guitar 🎸😂
Thank you! Yes thar is a bit heavy 😁
Jens, when you add scale notes between the arpeggios, isn't that just playing modes? Is the difference that you think in terms of arpeggios rather than modes?
Ihe mode doesn't really make the distinction between chord tones and scale notes, and it also does not take the surrounding chords into consideration. That is the main difference 🙂
Really love your channel....What's the name of that guitar, its model?
Thank you! It is an SG1000 :)
Jens - kind of unrelated, but when you are playing fourths melodically across strings (e.g. if I want to play 3rd fret 6th string G and then 3rd fret 5th string C right after) what is proper technique to do this?
That depends on the situation, both in terms of right and left hand technique (Not sure which one you are asking) I would try to be able to execute that in a few different ways.
@@JensLarsen I am talking about the left hand. I think with the right you could just sweep or use alternate picking
Jesse Olsson If I want the G on the 6th string to continue to ring while playing the C, I place the tip of my finger over both strings and I don’t lift the finger tip off the 6th string. If I want the G on the 6th string to be staccato, then I hold both the 5th and 6th strings down with one finger tip, and rock the tip towards the 5th after plucking the 6th. This movement away from the 6th string to the 5th deadens the 6th string.
I use either the medio or anular (middle or ring) fingers for this since the pads are larger than the indice/index or chico/pinky fingers. The larger area of the middle or ring fingers results in more accuracy.
Sería genial que todos los videos tuviesen la opción de subtítulos en español.saludos desde chile .🇨🇱
Glad you like it!
Jens Larsen he in tv
rodrig
My soloing is like the example you played when you played separate non connected arpeggios over each chord in sequence. Since the thirds and sevenths of each chord define the tonality of that chord are you thinking about connecting the seventh of a chord to the third of the next? That seems to work well for 2-5-1 changes but what about when the changes aren't just 2-5-1. Have been working on Just Friends for example.
I am thinking about the target notes in the next chord, not so much what I already played. For solos then 3rds and 7ths are not always where it is at. That is more a chord thing.
What guitar is that hes playing. It's like a sg but kinda nicer
It's a Yamaha SG1000 :)
Maybe he simplest example of thinking ahead is the first run in the "Stairway to Heaven" solo. An A minor pentatonic run ending on F (a tone that is not in the A minor pentatonic scale), because by then the chord is already an F major, not an A minor anymore. Interestingly, there was a G major chord in between there, too, but it doesn't matter. The solo kinda glides over it in A minor pentatonic scale. This simple example tells a lot about soloing, I think.
That is a composition, so it is not thinking ahead (and there is no G chord?)
@@JensLarsen Yeah, you're right. It's in fact just an example of landing on a chord tone on the beat one. Maybe it's not such a good example at all. In fact, I think I'll just delete the post! :D
how to use scales over arpeggios, example im playing a dm7 chord and arpeggio as well what scale should i use? whould i use the c major scale?
It depends on the context, is it a Dm7 in a song in F, is it in Rhythm Changes in Bb?
@@JensLarsen oh sorry, its in the key of C
@@sakaido_shanae Then probably C major is the way to go :)
Question: In your opinion, should I take a song-based approach (starting with relatively simple tune), or be a bit more "surgical", so to speak (ii-V-I, backdoor, coltrane changes, etc.)
Song approach for sure!! Just learning bits and pieces is never going to get you there.
@@JensLarsen Many thanks! I've been playing guitar for most of my life, so I could get kind of set in my ways, when really I have to approach all of this like an absolute beginner.
Learning songs is not like a beginner, is it?
@@JensLarsen Sorry - last comment was out of context. It was a general way of saying, I'm going to tend to say things like, "Oh I know this already!", when truthfully, it's an improvisational concept I've not really explored :) :) :)
Learning songs is not like a beginner, I think yes and no. Sure, it's easier to learn the chords and melodies. But with Jazz, you REALLY have to know the ins and outs if you want to improvise and play the changes. This is a point you've made too - learning what Hendrix or SRV does is one thing. If those tunes are an E blues, there are subtleties, but you can get away with sticking to that bread and butter minor pentatonic scale always...
Jazz is different. So I have to revisit basics. As an already advanced, non-Jazz player, it's pretty humbling.
Great Stuff -- by the way, I cannot find anything on the guitarist "Francis Bach" that you mention at the end -- am I spelling the name right? Thanks
Where in the video exactly?
@@JensLarsen at the very very end -- a little window pops up, of this guitarist, as well
@@tedandersen977 Can you find a timestamp then I'll check
@@JensLarsen 10:05
@@tedandersen977 "For instance, Bach"
can you please do a video of exercises on how to accomplish your step 1 here ??
Isn't that really what I talk about in the how to practice you scales lessons and also what you learn playing the arpeggios of songs?
@@JensLarsen sorry for not being clear. More like how to memories the fretboard and intervals of chords
Hey Jens! Do you give one on one online lessons? :)
I don't have time, sorry :) But if you send me an e-mail I can maybe recommend a good teacher?
I guess it's hard to fathom a jazz musician thinking about note names while they're doing these up tempo, intricate lines unless this is just an early step that's absorbed then discarded
You don't think about lifting your foot and putting it on on the break of the car, but you know where it is. That's how that knowledge should be. I wouldn't consider that discarded, more internalized
God dammit what a nice Guitar :-)
Thank you!
3:14 You are absolutely right, but modal nerds will disagree lol
Helô Jens..
Sell me one of your guitars?
Very, Very good. I Very like your vídeos Jens...
Hugs from Brazil...
Thanks Pedro! My guitars are not for sale. You could order one of these though: th-cam.com/video/bgWj4Y-qeIY/w-d-xo.html
Hey Jens, are you by any chance danish? Your name and accent sound very danish
I live in the Netherlands, but I am indeed (very?) Danish
Ah, tænkte det nok, danskere har den der karakteristiske måde at snakke engelsk på
finally, youtube allows bookmarks on the video timeline
It discourages me that yo need to know all this stuff. I feel like I know what to play over chord changes. Maybe if it was analyzed it is mixolydian, half diminished or the harmonic minor - I dont know.
This is not really a lot of stuff. What notes are in a scale and what chords are in that scale. Analyzing it as modes when it isn't modal is pretty weak
@@JensLarsen I think if i know a melody i can play the notes of gravity that outlines the melody , but that is not always what will make the solo great.
@@steinetakorgroovy And therefore it is better to analyze tonal music with modes and not know the chord tones? That does not make a lot of sense to me :)
1:34
Have some faith. Working on this stuff will somehow come out in your playing. Have a little faith.
True! Just stick with it! :)
I understood everything except everything after, 'Learning how to'.
This is a beginner lesson, right?
I am not sure there is one level that we can call beginner. I meet a lot of people who considers themselves advanced or intermediate and I don't usually understand why..
Fala muito...
Sorry if English is difficult for you 🙂
See Jens. Grab guitar. Play along