I've been playing guitar by ear for years and recently started to learn theory and I have to say you have a great method cause I always Loved and wanted to play this song. Thank you and I will be watching more of your lessons. Joe Lopez
Eddie, this sort of lesson is extremely valuable to aspiring jazz guitarists such as myself. I'd love to see a similar sharing of ideas over as many standards as possible, your way of teaching is a superb way to learn.
Eddie Lastra Thanks. One of the things which I find frustrating when learning jazz is that a lot of teachers give you the modes of the melodic minor, diminished scales etc but don't show you how to apply them or how to actually play jazz. So you're stuck with all this theory and little else. I've had to figure it out myself really. That's why I love it when jazz guitarists give you actual ideas like this in practice which you can then use to build upon. I bought a looper a few months ago and have been working out a mixture of scales I can use to improvise over given chords. Like I'll have a simple E7/E9 running for example and work out different scales which I can get to fit it like B minor, A melodic minor (the major 7th sounds great accented over the major third of the E7), G # minor 7 flat 5 etc (the flat 5 hits the D, the 7th of E etc) and figure out my own solos from a mixture of them. Sounds really good but I wish there was more material out there from guitarists such as yourself showing how to actually apply some of the more exotic scales in improvisation like in a basic 2-5-1 or simply what to play over what.
James Anderson One of the things for me is getting away from thinking you have to play the root of the chord over a chord progression and really understanding how the melody actually works. I think most guitarists learning jazz initially have to overcome that obstacle. From Robert Conti I basically learned some interesting concepts like B minor 7 flat 5 arpeggio over D minor 7/G7 and F major 7 arpeggios with some chromatic notes leading down to the E in the G 13. Things like that are priceless in getting guitarists to get out of that restrictive way of thinking and find new places to launch solos from over given changes.Is it possible you could do some videos like this, say like a 2-5-1 in E flat or a 2-5-1 in C minor etc and demonstrate many of the different ways you can approach playing them in your soloing? Like D minor 7 flat 5, G alt, C minor, D minor 7 flat 5 arpeggio, B diminished arpeggio over G alt etc. Things like the D flat melodic minor over the G flat chord shown in this are really valuable I think.
James Anderson I've found that in jazz it's a lot of learning that you end up having to unlearn lol! It's part of the process. Thanks for the input, I'll consider those in the instructional videos I am in the process of developing. Stay tuned...
Eddie Lastra Yes, there's a lot of superfluous stuff in theory which in practice is rarely used! I think in a given key (ideally something other from C as most are in that key in instruction) giving examples of what arpeggios and scales etc to target for a 2-5-1 would be really good. For instance in the 2-5-1 in C Robert Conti basically showed that over D minor 7 you can start in A minor, D minor on the root, on the 9th E, F major arpeggio, B minor 7 flat 5 arpeggio starting on the 6th/13th, and even A flat major to bring out altered tones over the G 7 etc. Things like that really get you out of thinking restrictively that you have to start from the root. Especially for some of the altered chords, displaying some of the more exotic arpeggios and scale tones you can play over given chords to bring out some of the more radically altered notes away from the standard melodic minor a half step above or diminished arpeggio over the major third I think would go a long way to helping improve our improv skills and knowledge in practice!
Congratulations!!! This solo was made with great melodic ideas and very understandable concepts. It will certainly help me and many others students around the world. Thanks for sharing your knowledge.
Nice lesson, very practical application of all your solo construction materials. I like going through a tune where you get the over all flow, not just isolated ii V I stuff. I play along all the time!
Eddie !!!! Thank you sooooo much for this improv lesson. Your explanations of what triad or scale you were thinking over each chord was absolutely the best method. I yearn to play fun jazz lines but most videos are so vague "you can do this (rips a line) or you could do (rips another line)" but no explanation. Thank you so much. Please do another. Maybe Satin Doll??? Tony
Hi Tony, Thank you for your kind words and for sharing my video. I'm glad to know that it was helpful for you. I was actually thinking of doing one for Satin Doll. Stayed tuned.....
Hi Eddie, Very informative lesson. Unfortunately it don't matter who you are on youtube, you're always gonna have naysayers who can't play shit but they certainly like bumpin' their gums about how you should have done this or they should have heard that. Please, forgive the naysayers and post more lessons for us players who are here to learn, period! Thanks a million!!
Superb lesson Eddie. Makes a nice addition to some of the concepts I learned from Robert Conti and Rich Severson, often something like a G flat 7 flat 5 will throw a lot of guitarists, good to know I can play some D flat melodic minor thing over it!
I'm working on this and there's two chords the c#-7 and f#7flat 5 that are exceedingly painful. Trying to find that app that does the substitution and use barre's.This is a toughie to fingerstyle on an electric. My fingertips are so sore, I could just cry.
Thanks for the lesson, Joe! Went through it a couple of times already. Just curious to know the theory behind coming up with those scales over those chords. I was always under the impression that one should play the scale of the actual chord. Clearly, that's not the case here and it still sounds amazing! Like that Db Melodic minor scale over that Gb7b5 chord. Thanks!
Heya, Db Melodic Minor contains the same notes as Gb Lydian Dominant. Gb Lydian Dominant is a mode of Db Melodic Minor. Just like you can play C major over G7. G mixolydian and C major contain the same notes. Lydian dominant contains the following intervals: 1 2 3 #4 5 6 b7 So we can use it over a dominant chord. It is the same as mixolydian but instead of a 4 it contains a #4. Lydian Dominant is often used over non resolving dominants (dominants that don't resolve up a fourth like G7 to C) such as tritones, or the backdoor pattern (bVII to I (Bb7 to C in key of C)). > I was always under the impression that one should play the scale of the actual chord. Some people like to look at the parent scale while other like to look at the scale per chord, the mode. For example when playing over G7: Parent scale: C major Mode: G mixolydian Both are the same thing as they contain the same notes. But stating the mode is more clear IMO. Hope this helps!
oh my god!! you are fantastic!!! i would love to listen to you in concert or in a small venue. I love in long beach california, please let me know if your in town.
Thanks Eddie - very helpful video. Is that an Epi Joe Pass you're playing? I've just bought one but the pickup selector switch on mine is on the upper bout, so I thought maybe yours was a different model.
Barrie Mills Hi Barrie, I'm glad my video was helpful, yes that is the Epi Emperor II the pre-Joe Pass model, word has it that before JP agreed to endorse the guitar he wanted the selector switch moved to the upper bout to make it more like his ES-175
One of reasons I like to watch and study your videos, is that your guitar sounds nice! I have an Emperor Regent and want to start sounding it off. Please tell me what type of accompaniment you are using. Is it a live band or is it software? If so a software, please tell me where to find such beautiful music to play along with. Thanks
Hey, Eddie! Great lesson you've got on here. Just out of curiosity, what are you using for your camera and recording setup? Thanks for reading and keep up the great work.
Lol. The day of the show: Keyboard player: Ok guys, Girl from Ipanema on G Me: Fuck!! I know you can transport right on the spot but I'm a total noob to this, so that can be a problem.
While your assessment is true, I think that was the point. This wasn't a "look what I can do video", but an instructional video for people who aren't necessarily at an advanced level. "This is a basic level tutorial on how I constructed a solo using triads, arpeggios, chromatic fills to stay on top of the chord changes."
Michael Price If you knew what you were talking about, Michael, your terminology would be a little more nuanced. As it is, you appear to be just another big mouth on the internet.
The improv was dry and played lacking sufficient swing feel and so, took me nowhere (showing no creativity). The lines overlaid the chord progression without adding any value. I did not want to hear it again - with or without explanation. Music must be more than constructed to bring a breath of life to the listener. Logical association is never sufficient. In fact, frequently "flaw"s in logical association can be more interesting.
I've been playing guitar by ear for years and recently started to learn theory and I have to say you have a great method cause I always Loved and wanted to play this song. Thank you and I will be watching more of your lessons. Joe Lopez
this guy is the best , he really teaches real good , and plays very disciplined
Eddie, this sort of lesson is extremely valuable to aspiring jazz guitarists such as myself. I'd love to see a similar sharing of ideas over as many standards as possible, your way of teaching is a superb way to learn.
James, thanks for your kind words, I'm glad to know it was helpful. Stay tuned, I'll be posting lessons on a couple of standards very soon
Eddie Lastra
Thanks. One of the things which I find frustrating when learning jazz is that a lot of teachers give you the modes of the melodic minor, diminished scales etc but don't show you how to apply them or how to actually play jazz. So you're stuck with all this theory and little else. I've had to figure it out myself really. That's why I love it when jazz guitarists give you actual ideas like this in practice which you can then use to build upon. I bought a looper a few months ago and have been working out a mixture of scales I can use to improvise over given chords. Like I'll have a simple E7/E9 running for example and work out different scales which I can get to fit it like B minor, A melodic minor (the major 7th sounds great accented over the major third of the E7), G # minor 7 flat 5 etc (the flat 5 hits the D, the 7th of E etc) and figure out my own solos from a mixture of them. Sounds really good but I wish there was more material out there from guitarists such as yourself showing how to actually apply some of the more exotic scales in improvisation like in a basic 2-5-1 or simply what to play over what.
James Anderson
One of the things for me is getting away from thinking you have to play the root of the chord over a chord progression and really understanding how the melody actually works. I think most guitarists learning jazz initially have to overcome that obstacle. From Robert Conti I basically learned some interesting concepts like B minor 7 flat 5 arpeggio over D minor 7/G7 and F major 7 arpeggios with some chromatic notes leading down to the E in the G 13. Things like that are priceless in getting guitarists to get out of that restrictive way of thinking and find new places to launch solos from over given changes.Is it possible you could do some videos like this, say like a 2-5-1 in E flat or a 2-5-1 in C minor etc and demonstrate many of the different ways you can approach playing them in your soloing? Like D minor 7 flat 5, G alt, C minor, D minor 7 flat 5 arpeggio, B diminished arpeggio over G alt etc. Things like the D flat melodic minor over the G flat chord shown in this are really valuable I think.
James Anderson I've found that in jazz it's a lot of learning that you end up having to unlearn lol! It's part of the process. Thanks for the input, I'll consider those in the instructional videos I am in the process of developing. Stay tuned...
Eddie Lastra
Yes, there's a lot of superfluous stuff in theory which in practice is rarely used! I think in a given key (ideally something other from C as most are in that key in instruction) giving examples of what arpeggios and scales etc to target for a 2-5-1 would be really good. For instance in the 2-5-1 in C Robert Conti basically showed that over D minor 7 you can start in A minor, D minor on the root, on the 9th E, F major arpeggio, B minor 7 flat 5 arpeggio starting on the 6th/13th, and even A flat major to bring out altered tones over the G 7 etc. Things like that really get you out of thinking restrictively that you have to start from the root. Especially for some of the altered chords, displaying some of the more exotic arpeggios and scale tones you can play over given chords to bring out some of the more radically altered notes away from the standard melodic minor a half step above or diminished arpeggio over the major third I think would go a long way to helping improve our improv skills and knowledge in practice!
Finally thanks to you I'm learning some jazz guitar soloing over chords that I almost overstand!
Thank you!
🎶🎸🎶
You're very welcome! I'm glad to know it was very helpful for you 💙🎼🎶
Thanks for the excellent video, Eddie! I'm playing this guitar in my improv class, and I really enjoyed your solo and explanations.
Brian, Thanks for viewing and for your kind words, glad it was helpful :) ~Eddie
Congratulations!!! This solo was made with great melodic ideas and very understandable concepts. It will certainly help me and many others students around the world. Thanks for sharing your knowledge.
Nice lesson, very practical application of all your solo construction materials. I like going through a tune where you get the over all flow, not just isolated ii V I stuff. I play along all the time!
that's the best explained lesson I ever seen
Your fingers glide so smoothly! I just started playing guitar.
that's a great way to teach Jazz soloing; thank you for doing this and keep it up.
Excellent video for studying this piece thank you
Niceeeee!!! As a Brazilian, I'm so proud of your performance!
Eddie !!!! Thank you sooooo much for this improv lesson. Your explanations of what triad or scale you were thinking over each chord was absolutely the best method. I yearn to play fun jazz lines but most videos are so vague "you can do this (rips a line) or you could do (rips another line)" but no explanation. Thank you so much. Please do another. Maybe Satin Doll??? Tony
Hi Tony, Thank you for your kind words and for sharing my video. I'm glad to know that it was helpful for you. I was actually thinking of doing one for Satin Doll. Stayed tuned.....
This is Off The Chain! Thanks!!!!!!!I have the Epiphone Emperor Regent and I must try this!
Hey Eddie, that´s was a really nice video, I´m looking forward for the next one! I agree with Tony, Satin Doll woul be great.
Thanks for sharing!
Thank you for your kind words Edmar. I have posted a lesson for Satin Doll, here is the link: Satin Doll - EZ Improv Jazz Guitar Lesson
Nice lesson Eddie. Thank you Sir.
@Al Ward: You're very welcome! 💙 I'm very glad to know it was helpful for you 🎼🎶
Hi Eddie,
Very informative lesson. Unfortunately it don't matter who you are on youtube, you're always gonna have naysayers who can't play shit but they certainly like bumpin' their gums about how you should have done this or they should have heard that. Please, forgive the naysayers and post more lessons for us players who are here to learn, period! Thanks a million!!
Thanks for the lesson.
Superb lesson Eddie. Makes a nice addition to some of the concepts I learned from Robert Conti and Rich Severson, often something like a G flat 7 flat 5 will throw a lot of guitarists, good to know I can play some D flat melodic minor thing over it!
I'm working on this and there's two chords the c#-7 and f#7flat 5 that are exceedingly painful. Trying to find that app that does the substitution and use barre's.This is a toughie to fingerstyle on an electric. My fingertips are so sore, I could just cry.
I love that backing track
Hi Eddie,I am wondering if you could show us the different scales please? Thanks!!
Good Job!
Thanks for the lesson, Joe! Went through it a couple of times already. Just curious to know the theory behind coming up with those scales over those chords. I was always under the impression that one should play the scale of the actual chord. Clearly, that's not the case here and it still sounds amazing! Like that Db Melodic minor scale over that Gb7b5 chord.
Thanks!
Heya,
Db Melodic Minor contains the same notes as Gb Lydian Dominant. Gb Lydian Dominant is a mode of Db Melodic Minor. Just like you can play C major over G7. G mixolydian and C major contain the same notes. Lydian dominant contains the following intervals:
1 2 3 #4 5 6 b7
So we can use it over a dominant chord. It is the same as mixolydian but instead of a 4 it contains a #4. Lydian Dominant is often used over non resolving dominants (dominants that don't resolve up a fourth like G7 to C) such as tritones, or the backdoor pattern (bVII to I (Bb7 to C in key of C)).
> I was always under the impression that one should play the scale of the actual chord.
Some people like to look at the parent scale while other like to look at the scale per chord, the mode. For example when playing over G7:
Parent scale: C major
Mode: G mixolydian
Both are the same thing as they contain the same notes. But stating the mode is more clear IMO.
Hope this helps!
Thumbs up! ;) great lesson...
oh my god!! you are fantastic!!! i would love to listen to you in concert or in a small venue. I love in long beach california, please let me know if your in town.
nice lesson
Thanks Eddie - very helpful video. Is that an Epi Joe Pass you're playing? I've just bought one but the pickup selector switch on mine is on the upper bout, so I thought maybe yours was a different model.
Barrie Mills Hi Barrie, I'm glad my video was helpful, yes that is the Epi Emperor II the pre-Joe Pass model, word has it that before JP agreed to endorse the guitar he wanted the selector switch moved to the upper bout to make it more like his ES-175
Good tutorial. I really appreciate that but I co not find any link for downloading the melody??
You should make a video breaking down "fly me to the moon"
One of reasons I like to watch and study your videos, is that your guitar sounds nice! I have an Emperor Regent and want to start sounding it off. Please tell me what type of accompaniment you are using. Is it a live band or is it software? If so a software, please tell me where to find such beautiful music to play along with. Thanks
Would be helpful if you give the staring note of each arpeggios and frills
+Pierre Rousse Thank you for your suggestion, I'll take that into account on my future video tutorials
Hey, Eddie!
Great lesson you've got on here. Just out of curiosity, what are you using for your camera and recording setup? Thanks for reading and keep up the great work.
can you post a transcription of the solo?
what guitar dis you use, Eddie? it's great explanation btw:)
smooth it out.
But very nice lesson
+Pierre Rousse Thank you :)
which strings and gauge do you use?
Lol. The day of the show:
Keyboard player: Ok guys, Girl from Ipanema on G
Me: Fuck!!
I know you can transport right on the spot but I'm a total noob to this, so that can be a problem.
Its good but it needs more feel. Seems like ur just playing notes in a scale like eighth notes straight through
While your assessment is true, I think that was the point. This wasn't a "look what I can do video", but an instructional video for people who aren't necessarily at an advanced level.
"This is a basic level tutorial on how I constructed a solo using triads, arpeggios, chromatic fills to stay on top of the chord changes."
Here's the legendary musician Bob Strauch's version with his own lyrics: th-cam.com/video/IDxLedytMm0/w-d-xo.html
Shit if you had any rhythm Id be impressed, nice melodic lines
Michael Price If you knew what you were talking about, Michael, your terminology would be a little more nuanced. As it is, you appear to be just another big mouth on the internet.
dbshore1 I'm sorry but like Michael said there are really big rhythm problems
why did he play Amin7 arpeggios over Fmaj7 ?
+Moncef Fadal Amin7 arpeggio over an F makes an Fmaj9 sound.
Amin7 = A-C-E-G
Fmaj9 = F-A-C-E-G
@@michaelruggles9441 you gotta be a Pro.... Thank You for highlighting
All this Francy names i Just pick up my Guitar and play
Are you playing so static for teaching purposes? I don't feel anything in your playing whatsoever, It sounds very correct though.
Quite obviously But certainly vry helpful for Jazz aficionado just starting to play You sound like a Jazz Pro on higher level
The improv was dry and played lacking sufficient swing feel and so, took me nowhere (showing no creativity). The lines overlaid the chord progression without adding any value. I did not want to hear it again - with or without explanation. Music must be more than constructed to bring a breath of life to the listener. Logical association is never sufficient. In fact, frequently "flaw"s in logical association can be more interesting.
No feel. Just because you have scale knowledge doesn't mean you can play
This a tutorial for learners You can listen to Joe Pass if you want to feel what you want