Any advice on playin' the changes?

[musicjohnny]

Well, I've been finding this very difficult to do.
I know scale to chord relationships, (basic ones anyways)
i.e. Min-Dorian Maj- Lydian etc
and I have a good command of arpeggios all over the entire fretboard

I really don't know why I'm having a hard time with this. I have the knowledge, I'm just having a hard time applying it.
I've been playing over ii - V - I's and trying to solo using chord tones only so I get the hang of it, and then slowly but surely add some chromatic approaches in there and spice up that vanilla quality that you get from playing just inside, but I can't seem to think fast enough for the changes.

To the more experienced jazzers, what practice methods and thought processes did you guys use when you were first tacklin' this concept?

[Lambosoa]

Try this thread: http://www.jazzguitar.be/forum/impro...-too-much.html

[pierre richard]

time on the instrument...

listen..do you hear it in your head?

can you sing/hum a line?

if you can sing it you can play it...

time on the instrument..pierre

[itsall4you]

as pierre always says.. time on the instrument!

there's nothing that will substitute for that.

It seems like something that you just need to put your time into it..

Just one thing I'd suggest is trying digital patterns which is like a pattern that you set to play which degree of the scale on every chord.

eg. you decide to play 1 2 3 5 over every chord (it's a Coltrane thing in giant steps and such) and if the chords are Am7 D7 Gmaj7 you play A B C E D E F# A G A B D.

[derek]

Originally Posted by musicjohnny

Well, I've been finding this very difficult to do.
I know scale to chord relationships, (basic ones anyways)
i.e. Min-Dorian Maj- Lydian etc
and I have a good command of arpeggios all over the entire fretboard

I really don't know why I'm having a hard time with this. I have the knowledge, I'm just having a hard time applying it.
I've been playing over ii - V - I's and trying to solo using chord tones only so I get the hang of it, and then slowly but surely add some chromatic approaches in there and spice up that vanilla quality that you get from playing just inside, but I can't seem to think fast enough for the changes.

To the more experienced jazzers, what practice methods and thought processes did you guys use when you were first tacklin' this concept?

What I did, and what I have students do is to get out the real book and just start arpeggating thru tunes. Doesn't matter if you know the melody or not. You begin to see how to connect them by use of chromatics, and when changes are coming 2 to the bar, you being to develop quicker moves using 3rds and 7ths, etc.

I use this as the foundation of my playing, rather than the chord/scale stuff. If I am called upon to play thru a tune, which happens, I am able to navigate thru it, albeit inside fairly comfortably.

From there, I just add licks, scale partials, and all the other improvisational devices we have at our hands. But home base for me is arps. Good luck

[derek]

I almost forgot about those cool Fred Hamilton vids that were posted here a while back. This is a master demonstrating what I am trying to do.

YouTube Video

[Goofsus4]

Maybe just try slowing down to 90 bpm or slower. That's what I do when I'm trying to master a set of changes I'm struggling with. Turn it into a slow ballad and try to make really strong melodies. Target specific intervals in the next chord as your destination, i.e. 3rd, 7th, root let's say and make your line get there chromatically. Eventually, you start to think less about the chord you are on, and more about the next chord. I think that's the key to it. That's why I'm a big fan of running lines over single chords endlessly until you master the ability to play over the chord without thinking, starting on any note, and from anywhere on the fretboard. Then, you can concentrate more on getting to the next chord the right way and then once you get there, you go on autopilot on that chord and start thinking about the next change. Now when I say "autopilot" I mean you are thinking about musical ideas and the tones, not the chord-scale relationship stuff. For instance, if I'm playing over a Dm7 that's headed to a G7 I can start my line on the Dm7 and then instantly forget about the Dm7 - my mind is on the G7 and my ear is on the Dm7 sounds that are headed for the G7. Eventually, you start cobbling together an entire framework that the whole ii V I cycle rests in and then you can start going on autopilot on this ii V and start thinking about the next ii V and so on. Obviously, on fast or frequent changes, you have to be able to think in cycles because you can't think about one chord at a time - it's gone before you do.

Oh, and it also helps to learn a lot of chord voicings. For instance, when it comes time to play over the G7, I also know voicings for the G7#5, the G9, the G7b9, the G13, and the G11 and so on in most positions on the fretboard so I can just play the notes from those grips and create phrases off that as the G7 comes up- sort of a Charlie Christian approach I guess. If you can visualize those grips sitting right next to the grips for a Dm7 type chord, then you can usually see how to move smoothly between them. You just do that a LOT over and over and over again and it starts getting much easier.

It's just all about repetition, like everything else. It doesn't really matter how you approach it, just that you keep running those lines every day. Eventually you get the sounds in your ears and your fingers just "know" where to go.

[Reg]

One note becomes two, three then a short phrase etc... same with rhythms eventually your able to think many versions of one note. Its possible by trial and error, but you had better have a very hip ear and a lot of extra time. Put in the time on training your ear to be able to hear what think your hearing. Put time in on theory also.... Reg

[justin]

Hey everyone, Im new to this board, theres alot of great info here and its about time I started giving back! hah, so hopefully someone will find some of the things I say helpful! anyway,

One thing you can try is playing the arpeggio and then a scale that "fits" the chord in the same position that the arpeggio is in. After doing this for some time you will probably notice that youll be weaving in other notes then just the basic arpeggio. Of course theres many different choices of scales/arpeggios, for instance on a D7 you might play diminished or the altered scale, and I think its importaint to remember that even though these scales are one note different (either 13 or b13) the lines that come from them can have completely different sounds.

The other thing to work on is where your putting the chord tones on the beat. Transcription helps with this. and if your trying to get a 8th note line going on then using scale tones and chromatics will helpyou achive this.
one more thing, after doing this for a while you might (or mabye not!) notice yourself being so focused on "making the changes" that your playing isnt as melodic as it was before if you used to think "key center" all the time. so something you can do that will help get that balance of of that could be to try just making the importaint candences in tunes, like if theres a 5 chord or some sort leading back to the tonic, or some sort of secondary dominant, like in autumn leaves when you have ii V of vi, try just focusing on that change.
I hope this helps!