improvising chord-melody

[Takemitsu]

Hello everyone,

I have a question for those who can improvise forever on a tune in solo chord-melody style.

Could you tell which specific study/excercise you have found the most helpful in developing your abilities in this field?

For the record I am already
1)spending as much time as possible on the instrument
2)learning as much tunes as possible

Thank you!

[mr. beaumont]

Being able to put any melody note on top of any 'shell voicing' I know...

[Takemitsu]

Thank you for your response. mr B. Do you see yourself doing the same thing with inversions too? Maybe more with a particular inversion?
Also, how much do you think of chord scale in actual improvisation? Thank you. I guess my points 1 and 2 are the to tip for everyone

merry christmas! Eb6(Eb on top)-Cm(Eb on top)-Fm(D on top)-Fm(C on top) etc...

[Cunamara]

You should learn harmonized scales on several string sets; having those handy can flesh out improvisations a lot and can give you a nice vocabulary in connecting and passing chords.

And the most fun part- listening to the chord melody masters a lot... George Van Eps, Joe Pass, Ted Greene, Ed Bickert (who plays chord melody style with a rhythm section rather than solo, but his stuff could easily stand on its own as solo work), etc., and especially Gene Bertoncini who often gets overlooked for some reason. Gene's stuff is the shiznit, man.

[Takemitsu]

Cunamara
Thank you for the response.
I do know a few chord scales. Mostly diatonic (i ii iii iv etc) and major with the third on top for drop 2 with string set 1234, 2345. And drop 3 2456 (5th on top). Those are pretty basic and I would like to expand a bit but found myself overwhelmed by possibilities.
What would be in order the "must know" scales that would NOT be based on inversions/dim.?
Also could you direct me on the most useful one for minor environment? Thank you and i hope the post is not too confusing.
Happy new year!

[Cunamara]

I'd take a tip from Van Eps and focus on triads for the harmonized scales. Major and natural minor first, then melodic and harmonic minor. When you've got those fingerings, then focus on putting different notes on top. You may have to modify fingerings, of course, dropping roots or fifths out and replacing them with something else. Also, playing scales on one string instead of across multiple strings is very helpful.

Gene Bertoncini's "Approaching the Guitar" and Chuck Wayne's "Chords" might be very helpful for what you are looking for. Gene has a master class DVD that covers some of this as well. If you're in or near New York, contact Gene and see about studying with him (he might teach via Skype, too).

I never think about whether a chord is a drop chord or not (and find that whole discussion not very helpful). My focus is usually on the melody or improvised line and the dropping the chords in underneath as a support for the melody or line. It is easy to make chord melody playing too dense and claustrophobic by trying to put a chord and bass note on every beat. Few people can make that sound really good. IMHO it is much better to focus on the melody and/or line, dropping in the chords when they fit physically and musically. You may be looking for something else.

[pantz]

Thank you for your response. mr B. Do you see yourself doing the same thing with inversions too? Maybe more with a particular inversion?
Also, how much do you think of chord scale in actual improvisation? Thank you. I guess my points 1 and 2 are the to tip for everyone

merry christmas! Eb6(Eb on top)-Cm(Eb on top)-Fm(D on top)-Fm(C on top) etc...

I think learning inversions all over the neck is part and parcel of being able to put any melody note on top. Frequently a melody note will be chord tones and you'll want to consider a fingering that naturally puts that note on top. Other times the melody note will not be a chord tone but you'll want a fingering that makes the melody note easy to grab in the high register.

Another thing to work on would be playing walking bass lines underneath your chords and melodies. Bass lines with altered notes, etc. can help you create some interesting flavors with rootless chords on top.

[docbop]

Start learning your chord voicing by the note on top. Triads and their inversions. Passing chords. Practice play chord scales using a chord on chord tones and passing chords on non-chord tones. Ron Eschete has some teaching materials on chord phrases. Over on Mike's Master Classes there are a handful of Steve Herberman classes that will help too.

[Takemitsu]

Thank you everyone. I will include most of this in the routine

[Will St Peter]

One thing that I do is I take every Chord to a tune and find at least three different voicings on each chord tone, and then on each tension. For example, In the song Take The A Train I would create three chords (3, 7 and tensions that you think sound nice. Root and Fifth aren't needed, but do sound very nice) on the Cmaj7 at the beginning of the tune. The chord tones are C, E, G, B, and the tensions are the 9 (D), #11 (F#), and 13 (A). That in itself is a HUGE assignment that takes any musician a long time, but if you work on one chord long enough and you truly hear the chord and the possibilities you can find your own beautiful and unique voicings instead of using standard stock chords when you chord solo. So that is three chords times 7 notes so there you have 21 voicings that you are familiar with while you chord solo. You can then play a simple melody in the top note of these chords and connect them throughout the song. If you know one chord truly then you will never struggle finding new and interesting ideas over it because they are endless. Repeat process for each chord throughout the song and then you will know what to do.

-Will

[NSJ]

One thing I've been working on is moving voices based on (to and from) simple triads. Not every note has to be harmonized, the whole thing would sound like a train wreck if they were.

For each triad, apart from knowing its Root and 2 inversions, I work on moving constituent voices (e.g., R to 9th; 3rd to 4th; 5th 6th, et al)

Like this ii-V-I exercise I thought of and practiced this morning, using only triads on strings 2,3 and 4. Each note of the triad is moved, diatonically.

Dm (ii)
GM (V)
CM (I)


Dm (1st inversion)--E--Dm(first inversion)-G--Dm(first inversion)--B
GM (root)--A-GM(root)--C--GM(root)--E
CM (2nd inversion)--D--CM(2nd inversion)--F--CM(2nd inversion)--A

Not many jarring intervallic leaps, so it seems to sound nice and probably voice leads ok, too.

the ability to move voices from very simple chords has been a HUGE revelation for me, it opens up the neck making the ability to move more fluidly and musically much easier for me.

[artcore]

Voice leading, however you do it is what you are looking for......easier said then done...

[TheGrandWazoo]

Get onboard the Barry Harris Train!! Whoop whoop!

for me, learning the 6th/dim inversions from Alan Kingstone's book was ground breaking. It is literally discovering the chords in between chord inversions. I could explain it more but that is the easiest. Everyone has there own way on how to do a chord melody. You must find your own way. Try to learn a chord melody from just the melody and chords when you can. It helps you find your way thru the fretboard jungle. Just start with triads or even 3rds. Keep it simple so you can see things happen.

[Takemitsu]

Thank you all.
Could some of you post vidéo examples of specific techniques appeliez on a chorus of a well known tune? That would be a great ressource.

Right now Im digging the Harris thing. Maybe Ill have the courage to post my amateur efforts in a few weeks!

[targuit]

Takemitsu - I know this thread has been dormant a while, but I would like to suggest that using a notation program is the best way I know to learn improvisation. Of course, you may already use a program, or may not care to. But I sincerely believe it is the best way. Why? Simply because in order to improvise well, you have to understand the language. Music is an aural representation of musical intervals based on the triad essentially with added extensions. It is both mathematical and lyrical. But to become better at playing over jazz standards, you need to play. So you need backing tracks. This you can create yourself with a notation program. You learn by doing. You can take advantage of the books on essential musical theory or a teacher as a guide.

There is a learning curve at first, but the benefits are inestimable in my opinion. Because you learn to create music, just as a carpenter learns to build a house. And once you have a foundation, you can innovate because you understand the forces and the structure. Improvising is as easy as singing over a chord progression once you get the hang of it. That requires practice and understanding. And time.

Jay

[circle110]

All the suggestions above are excellent. I want to mention two additional perspectives.

1. When playing solo guitar, you don't need to play chord-melody all the time. You can break up the arrangement and insert several measures of of one of these devices: single note lines, walking bass lines (if appropriate to the feel), bossa rhythm if appropriate (it is amazing how long a simple bossa groove sounds good by itself), or parallel interval lines (10ths, 6ths and 3rds are good intervals to start with). This creates more architecture in the arrangement and creates, for my ears, a more satisfying listening experience.

2. Start first with one chord-melody arrangement that you can play really well. Just one. From there you can begin to replace sections of that arrangement with other chord-melody bits you come up with or use any of the options I mentioned in #1 above. Keep this process up for a while and you will eventually have a big enough library of devices that you can create your own new arrangements on the fly and be, essentially, improvising solo guitar.

I saw a video by, I think, Kurt Rosenwinkle where he hammers on the importance of having one single chord-melody arrangement well in hand before you start to worry about the larger task of creating them off the cuff. You gotta start where you are.

[Cunamara]

"The fretboard jungle!" GrandWaz, that's hilarious- all the more so because it is such an apt simile. circle110 mkes a good set of points. Gene Bertoncini talked about not being able to just improvise an entire chord melody arrangement off the cuff a la Joe Pass, so he quite unapologetically creates arrangements (many of his arrangements tie classical music to the jazz tunes that borrow from them). When he plays them Gene makes variations on the arrangements on the fly, but always having the arrangement in his mind. It doesn't have to be made up from the whole cloth.

Here's Gene doing My Funny Valentine for Bucky Pizzarelli, Frank Vignola and Ed Laub (jeez, that must have been a great night of music!):

[Uffe Steen]

Thank you all.
Could some of you post vidéo examples of specific techniques appeliez on a chorus of a well known tune? That would be a great ressource.

Right now Im digging the Harris thing. Maybe Ill have the courage to post my amateur efforts in a few weeks!

Hi Takemitsu
Im new here.
I saw your post, and would like to show you my way of improvising chord/melody.
I know you might not be able to see what Im doing, (lefty strung upside down)but hopefully it can inspire some.
For me its about knowing inversions and focus on the top note of any chord.
Best regards
Uffe

[Takemitsu]

Thank you Uffe, that make a lot of sense to give top note priority. Also thanks for posting a video of you doing what you suggested.Amazing playing