I made this lesson to give you a way into using Arpeggios and Pentatonic scales when you are improvising on a Jazz Standard. Both topics are useful and easy to work with when you are studying jazz at any level. The approach in this lesson package is a little more towards a novice jazz guitarist.

The lesson contains 5-chorus example on the bebop classic Lady Bird. The solo begins with mostly using arpeggios and then gradually starts adding pentatonic scale ideas. The final choruses are freer and using a mix of those approaches and other bebop-oriented material.

A simple approach to making music on a great jazz standard

You know the scale, you know some arpeggios, but it doesn't really become music. We are all working on getting the skills to solo, but it can be very difficult to really apply it to a song.

This lesson is on digging deep into the song Take The A-Train in one position on the neck.

• Learn The Essential Material in the Position: Scale, Arpeggios, Pentatonics
• See how it is applied in a real solo and understand the phrases
• Take the ideas into your own playing.

Really exploring important positions on the neck is what will help you gain the knowledge to play more freely and rely as much on your improvisation as on your licks. The exercises included in this lesson cover some of the essential and less obvious arpeggios and pentatonic scales that you can use over Take The A-train.

This lesson consists out of a lesson video that covers the basic structure of All The Things You Are. First a short simple analysis of the harmony, the scales and key centers of the song. Then the Arpeggios for the chords in All The Things You Are in the 8th position. I also discuss how you can practice them on the song with the included backing track.

The 2nd part of the lesson consists of a 3 chorus solo over ATTYA with transcription and a lesson video for each chorus. I have made the choruses so that the first on is only around the 8th position and only using arpeggios. The 2nd chorus stays in the 8th position but incorporates more extensions and leading notes. In the final chorus I move around the neck and uses a few reharmonizations, altered dominants and other devices such as double time and 8th note triplets.

Stella by Starlight is one of the most beautiful jazz standards the we have in the American Songbook. Especially the chord progression but also the melody with a high amount of extensions is an interesting vehicle for improvisation. But being interesting in this case also means being difficult to play. The chord changes are sometimes going in unexpected directions and the bridge have an almost modal feel to it with prolonged chord sounds.

In this lesson package I will go over an analysis of the chords in which I will not only describe how the chords move but also suggest the scales that fit the chords the best in the context of this song. The next part of this lesson is an arpeggio study so that we can bring the scales and the harmony together. Finally I discuss some ideas and strategies for picking target notes and soloing over Stella By Starlight.

This lesson consists out of a short lesson video that covers the Arpeggios for the chords found in Fly Me To the Moon in the 8th position and how you can practice them on the song with the included backing track. I then describe how you can use the 3rd of each chord as both a harmonic reference but also as a reference to the melody which is also based around a move from 3rd to 3rd in the chords.

I have also recorded and transcribed two solo etudes, one only using arpeggios and another being more free and using more chords, passing notes etc.

I tried to make the exercise and the solos fairly easy to play so that it is easy to get through them and use them as a blue print for your own lines.