Help / Resources Soloing over Dom 7 Chords (Vamps)

[jamiehenderson1993]

I wonder if someone could point me in the direction of Books, Videos, Records, anything(!) to help me develop 'vocabulary' when playing over static dominant chords. Say 4 bars of G7 for example.

I'm really not sure where to start, so any help at all would be really useful (even if it seems really basic).

I know triads, arpeggios and major scale across the neck, and have a 'bank' of some bluesy phrases (and have worked a bit of being able to play 6th intervals - as well as trying to develop lines with that sound), but feel like I'm just spinning my wheels, so would love some inspirations / ideas of things to practice.

Many thanks.

[pamosmusic]

David Baker Bebop Scales — Barry Harris half-steps

[Heybopper]

Hi
try triad pairs so. over G7 use G major triad and F major triad. keep going through one then the other and keep going through the inversions on all strings. Doing this in all 12 keys should keep you busy for a while.
Using other triad pairs can outline the sound for may different chords.
It also depends where the G7 is going. If it is going to C or C minor then you can use altered dominant (7th mode of melodic minor) or Spanish gypsy ( 5th mode of harmonic minor) or G# diminished.
If you want a sus sound then major pentatonic off the 4th and 5th degree so G7 use C major pentatonic and F major pentatonic
Surround tones are good too so a tone above and semitone below each chord tone, so root, third, fifth, 7th, #11 ect.
And dont forget rhythm . I find it good practice to know exactly what rhythm im playing at any time . quavers, swing quavers, triplets, even triplets, 16ths ect and then dont forget the blues

[Doublea A]

I wonder if someone could point me in the direction of Books, Videos, Records, anything(!) to help me develop 'vocabulary' when playing over static dominant chords. Say 4 bars of G7 for example.

I'm really not sure where to start, so any help at all would be really useful (even if it seems really basic).

I know triads, arpeggios and major scale across the neck, and have a 'bank' of some bluesy phrases (and have worked a bit of being able to play 6th intervals - as well as trying to develop lines with that sound), but feel like I'm just spinning my wheels, so would love some inspirations / ideas of things to practice.

Many thanks.

I may have something that I can share with you.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[jamiehenderson1993]

I may have something that I can share with you.

Anything you can share would be great!

[jamiehenderson1993]

Hi
try triad pairs so. over G7 use G major triad and F major triad. keep going through one then the other and keep going through the inversions on all strings. Doing this in all 12 keys should keep you busy for a while.
Using other triad pairs can outline the sound for may different chords.
It also depends where the G7 is going. If it is going to C or C minor then you can use altered dominant (7th mode of melodic minor) or Spanish gypsy ( 5th mode of harmonic minor) or G# diminished.
If you want a sus sound then major pentatonic off the 4th and 5th degree so G7 use C major pentatonic and F major pentatonic
Surround tones are good too so a tone above and semitone below each chord tone, so root, third, fifth, 7th, #11 ect.
And dont forget rhythm . I find it good practice to know exactly what rhythm im playing at any time . quavers, swing quavers, triplets, even triplets, 16ths ect and then dont forget the blues

Thanks so much for this man - loads to dig into here!

[Heybopper]

No worries post a vid if you can to update with your progress

[marcwhy]

Check out Steve Khan's "Petantonic Khancepts" -- lots of fun ideas there!

Enjoy!

[alltunes]

If you think of G7 as a V chord in the key of C then you could explore C major ideas against G7. C Dm Em etc. Almost anything is available as long as you resolve your lines.

Barry Greene has a video lesson on the subject. Here is a sample:

[Doublea A]

I wonder if someone could point me in the direction of Books, Videos, Records, anything(!) to help me develop 'vocabulary' when playing over static dominant chords. Say 4 bars of G7 for example.

I'm really not sure where to start, so any help at all would be really useful (even if it seems really basic).

I know triads, arpeggios and major scale across the neck, and have a 'bank' of some bluesy phrases (and have worked a bit of being able to play 6th intervals - as well as trying to develop lines with that sound), but feel like I'm just spinning my wheels, so would love some inspirations / ideas of things to practice.

Many thanks.

I found a PDF that I created for one of my Jazz Guitar workshops with ideas for playing over dominant chords.

Jazz Guitar Workshops

Let me know if you would like me to send you a copy.

It was written with the intention of being accompanied by a verbal explanation. If you feel that that you would like a verbal explanation, I would be willing to offer you a free 30 to 40 minute Zoom Lesson to discuss it with you.

[Isfahan]

Tritone subs
The Guitar Arpeggio Compendium by Scott McGill
Joseph Viola Scale Studies and Chord Studies

[Peter C]

The Barry Greene clip is fun. Anyone know if that backing track is available anywhere?

[alltunes]

The Barry Greene clip is fun. Anyone know if that backing track is available anywhere?

Try emailing Barry and asking him for it. I suppose it wouldn’t hurt if you shelled out $15 for the lesson beforehand

[Peter C]

I said it was fun, not that I want to play it the same as him.

[pamosmusic]

You could do quite a bit worse

[Mick-7]

The Barry Greene clip is fun. Anyone know if that backing track is available anywhere?

Greene's site subscription is not cheap but he does offer a free 7 day trial.

[jamiehenderson1993]

I found a PDF that I created for one of my Jazz Guitar workshops with ideas for playing over dominant chords.

Jazz Guitar Workshops

Let me know if you would like me to send you a copy.

It was written with the intention of being accompanied by a verbal explanation. If you feel that that you would like a verbal explanation, I would be willing to offer you a free 30 to 40 minute Zoom Lesson to discuss it with you.

If you wouldn't mind sending me a copy - that would be amazing! I'd love to look through it & I'll get back to you if I need a bit of help accessing! That's such a generous offer - thank you so much.

[Christian Miller]

You guys should join Open Studio.

[djg]

You guys should join Open Studio.

or buy a jazz record

[Christian Miller]

or buy a jazz record

Don’t be ridiculous


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[pamosmusic]

You guys should join Open Studio.

but how much is it?

[Doublea A]

If you wouldn't mind sending me a copy - that would be amazing! I'd love to look through it & I'll get back to you if I need a bit of help accessing! That's such a generous offer - thank you so much.

I sent you the PDF.
Let me know if you anything else

AA

[paulkogut]

Pat Martino's Linear Expressions is worth a look

PK

[Peter C]

I don't know if this will be of any help to the OP; my way of my improvising over this kind of static chord funk vamp used to be mostly restricted to blues with a bit of side-stepping, some chromatic stuff and lots of bending, so I'm very much still experimenting. Here, I started off with a kind of road map of a few "rule book" superimpositions but ended up mostly just winging it. The video is a "home quickie" and of course unedited.

As mentioned in a previous post, almost anything goes as long as you resolve it and keep within the groove. I usually like to play a motif as a reference.

[pamosmusic]

I feel like with stuff like this, rhythm is really the move.

Most stuff sounds boring if the rhythms are boring. Simple stuff sounds interesting if the rhythms are interesting.

One thing I’ve gotten into the habit of doing when I have a vamp thing to play over is start with tons of space and some repetitive rhythms.