We don’t think too much in positions when it comes to Chords and Chord Melody Guitar. That is something that is connected more to scales, but it does make sense to have this perspective especially if you want to work on ways to improvise in a solo guitar setting where you want to use full chords with a root.
In The first video I did on this topic I was working on one position and exploring some options there. In this video I am going to look at the other one and show you how to improvise there on a II V I giving you a way to look at the chords so that you can take a voicing and add a melody on top of that.
The 1st Position from the Previous Lesson.
This lesson is continues from a previous video I made on the topic. You can check out here: Chord Melody Solo Process
The position I discuss in that lesson is the one use in that lesson is around this set of notes:
The best way to think of this “position” (since it isn’t really a position) is as a set of root notes.
The “other” Chord Melody Position
By starting with the root of the II chord on the 6th string you get this position. Showed here with Shell-voicings.
Examples and “Chord melody Solo Scales”
The way I am going to explain this is by looking at some examples and use those to make some scale positions of notes with one main chord voicing.
The first example could be something like this:
Finding scales for each chord
The notes that can be used for each of the chord are found in the C major scale. I am leaving out notes that don’t fit the chord or it’s function.
You can find another example with the same note-pool is shown here below:
Adding an altered dominant
A similar set of chords and notes but using an altered dominant would look like this:
An example of how this is used is shown here below.
Notice that sometimes the chord voicing changes to allow for the rest of the line to be more playable. This is how I am playing the line on the Dm7 chord.
Another example of how the altered dominant can be used is shown here below. The melody here is a motif stated on the II chord and then developed on the Valt chord.
Joe Pass Chord solo book
A book, that I have used and learned a lot from is this book of transcribed chord solos. I mention it in the video.
Joe Pass – Chord solos
http://amzn.to/2kk2zei (affiliate link)
Chord Melody Survival Kit
If you want to develop your skills with chord melody then you can check out this lesson where I break down my basic process for making a chord melody and demonstrate how to turn this into an arrangement.
The lesson includes 3 arrangements and video lessons describing how they are made.
Get a free E-book
If you want to download a Free E-book of 15 II Valt I licks then subscribe to my newsletter:
Get the PDF!
You can also download the PDF of my examples here:
Jazz Guitar Insiders Facebook Group
Join 600+ Other Jazz Guitarists 🎸Join us in the Facebook Jazz Guitar Group Community: http://bit.ly/InsidersFBGroup
If you have any questions, comments or suggestions for topics then please let me know. Leave a comment on the video or send me an e-mail. That is the best way for me to improve my lessons and make them fit what you are searching for.
Please subscribe to my YouTube channel and feel free to connect with me via Instagram,Twitter Google+ or Facebook to keep up to date with new lessons, concerts and releases.
