switch every chord, or every few chords?

[richb2]

I am confused. I have watched the Emily Remler DVD and she says to solo differently over each chord. I am taking some group lessons with a fairly known guitarist who says that if you do that, you are going to sound disjointed, and that you need to play at a single position for a few chords, in order to make a melody.

What do you guys do? Change your position or scale every chord or stick out for a few chords?

[Jazzyteach65]

I think what you're referring to is vertical playing, or adressing every chord. I used to use Emily's "Hotlicks" etude and Joe Pass books to outline turnarounds and progressions by arpeggiating each chord, now years later I approach by whatever I hear or whatever I'm working on, ie motives, scales ect. if there's more than one chord in a measure, like a quick ii-V then treat the V chord alone,There are plenty of approaches and great answers I'm sure will come from great players here

[mr. beaumont]

you don't need to dramatically change positions to play over every chord. all the notes you'll need are usually included in a five fret span or so.

brush up on chord voicings and arpeggios. if the changes are blowing by at 200bpm, you might want to blur the changes a bit, but playing over the chord of the moment is part of the essesnce of jazz, and it doesn't sound "disjointed" if it's done well.

[richb2]

Remler talks about just knowing two positions of the jazz minor and with that being able to play over the chords. Assuming chords are changing once per measure (I know that is not always true), it is hard to make a meaningful melody under those contraints. My teacher describes it like translating word for word or by the sentence. Translating word for word make sit hard for the listener to understand the story. Translated sentences (analagous to a few chords around a center) are much more understandable.

[mr. beaumont]

think about any, oh, arbitrarily, let's say, five fret span on the fretboard--there's a lot of notes available there. there's no need to jump position to outline each chord change.

think about it--even knowing only two positions of the jazz minor scale will allow you to cover every key in a few fret span.

playing differently over every chord does not have to equate jumping around the neck.

[Jazzyteach65]

Rich, how about starting to play one note from the jazz minor per chord, in quarter note form. I know this sounds crazy, but stART SLOW AND SIMPLE. It sounds like you (we are ALL guilty of this) are considering too much. It took me years to get over this "what note/scale ect" to play over what chord mentality.

You might wanna use the jazz minor arp in four shapes actually. try this idea over chords. The arpeggio is a minor with a major seventh, then add a ninth on top. A lot of simple ideas come from the top of the arp if you extend to the scale after.

The four "shapes" I wpuld work on is the "C shape" and "A shape" rooted on the a string, then the "E shape" and "G shape" rooted on the low E

[derek]

In addition to what Mr. B says, by arpeggiating, you are then put in the position to link these arpeggios as the changes are coming. This skill of dealing with a target note really helps make your playing sound smooth and interesting. How you approach the note that is coming to outline the next change is some of how styles are made, and what makes jazz sound like jazz. Good luck with it.

[richb2]

Originally Posted by Jazzyteach65

You might wanna use the jazz minor arp in four shapes actually. try this idea over chords. The arpeggio is a minor with a major seventh, then add a ninth on top. A lot of simple ideas come from the top of the arp if you extend to the scale after.

Wait, I thought the jazz minor was a major scale with a flatted 3rd. I didn't know about the ninth, which is really a second, right? The 2nd is part of the major scale, so the 9th is already in there, right?

On positions, I have concentrated on the A root and the C form. Next I need to do the E form, but I wanted to make sure I had a pretty good working knowledge of these two first.

[Jazzyteach65]

The 9th degree,is the second scale degree raised an octave. So if you're playing a C jazz minor arp, the 3rd fret on the b string (d) will be the ninth. The arp is as follows:C Eb G B D. try manipulating the arp, hammering notes and accent certain colors.