Best phrases to unlock the 251 progression

[pingu]

Can I get you’re top ideas for
navigating a 251 (in C major please)

mine is
up the Dm7 arp ,
down the G7 scale
resolve onto the third of C
so ….

up D F A C
down B A G F
E

keep them simple if possible please

[wolflen]

Ab Eb D G Gb Db C E

Descending chromatic starting on the B string-9th fret

[Christian Miller]

Thought I'd take that for a walk

[AllanAllen]

It’s all in the repertoire. Pick a tune you like, open the real book and learn the melody under the ii V I parts.

The bridge of Satin Doll, the Honeysuckle Rose lick, bars 4 & 5 of How High The Moon. Bars 9-11 of Let’s Get Lost.

Also, hate to break it to you, but there’s nothing that’s going to unlock anything. All improvement will be due to struggle and repetition. Good luck.

[pamosmusic]

Thought I'd take that for a walk

this is what Bert Ligons linear harmony does. With this exact lick at some point.

[PMB]

Nice one, Christian!

You might also like to take Bert Ligon's three basic outlines and expand them into longer ii-V-I lines. The outline may remain intact and preface or succeed another phrase or be expanded from within. Here's a guide with a number of examples:

[vintagelove]

4321
7246
53

[pingu]

Thanks everyone , this is great

[Mick-7]

This thread is full of ideas on the subject: The Notated Lick Compendium

[rpjazzguitar]

Lots of good ideas above.

My thinking goes in a somewhat different direction.

Strum Dm7 G7 Cmaj7 repeatedly and start scat singing.

When you get a line you like, write it down in standard notation, if you know how to do that.

Next, alter the G7. So now, strum, for example, Dm7 G13b9 Cmaj7. Scat sing and write down the good ones.

Then try a different alteration of the G7, maybe, this time, G7b13.

Then another, and another. Try making the Dm7 into Dm9. Try making the G7 into a Db13.

etc etc etc.

The good part is that you'll be building a notebook full of your own ideas. Of course, there's value in copying other people's ideas -- that's the traditional way of learning jazz. But there's also value in making your own ideas explicit and putting them on the guitar.

[charlieparker]

Lots of good ideas above.

My thinking goes in a somewhat different direction.

Strum Dm7 G7 Cmaj7 repeatedly and start scat singing.

When you get a line you like, write it down in standard notation, if you know how to do that.

Next, alter the G7. So now, strum, for example, Dm7 G13b9 Cmaj7. Scat sing and write down the good ones.

Then try a different alteration of the G7, maybe, this time, G7b13.

Then another, and another. Try making the Dm7 into Dm9. Try making the G7 into a Db13.

etc etc etc.

The good part is that you'll be building a notebook full of your own ideas. Of course, there's value in copying other people's ideas -- that's the traditional way of learning jazz. But there's also value in making your own ideas explicit and putting them on the guitar.

I find scat singing good for finding a good rhythm for a line or a nice melodic phrase. But I find it hard to scat sing certain type of lines ala Parker. If I want to sound like Chet Baker then that's a good approach but doesn't really work for me for more complex stuff.

[Mick-7]

I find scat singing good for finding a good rhythm for a line or a nice melodic phrase. But I find it hard to scat sing certain type of lines ala Parker. If I want to sound like Chet Baker then that's a good approach but doesn't really work for me for more complex stuff.

You don't need to be able to sing your lines, leave that to someone like George Benson. The goal is to be able to play the lines you hear, obviously it will require more effort to do that with complex lines.

[pamosmusic]

You don't need to be able to sing your lines, leave that to someone like George Benson. The goal is to be able to play the lines you hear, obviously it will require more effort to do that with complex lines.

You don’t need to be able to sound good when you sing them, but sure you should be able to sing them.

Mumble them. Mutter them. Whatever.

I would maybe even say the pitches don’t much matter — but the rhythms I think you should be able to sing right?

[pamosmusic]

The quickest way to get someone to chill and not play so much is to tell them to clap their rhythms or sing their solo.

I think we tend not to realize how much our hands do without the permission of our ears.

Which is fine — there’s always going to be some rote or muscle memory stuff when you improvise, but it’s good to check in pretty regularly

[Tal_175]

Here is a transcription of three choruses of mostly 251 phrases that outline the changes in simple and beautiful ways: