These arrangements are also known as chord melodies. You can still create wonderful chord melodies with just a pick. The idea is to add chords to the melody of a song. Jazz guys love to use this term instead of solo guitar playing (which the classical guys like to call it). Either way, the concept is similar and sometimes exactly the same.

I’m presenting to you the classic jazz standard Autumn Leaves to demonstrate this technique. I’m assuming that you know what repeat signs and 1st and 2nd ending signs are. If not, please check out Tom Serb’s lesson on these at: Standard Notation – Part 2.

There are 3 documents and 2 audio samples to this lesson:

#1 Lead Sheet (this is just the melody with chord symbols to indicate the harmony to be used with the melody)

Download jpg (Right-click and “Save as”)

#2 Chord Diagram (these are the fingerings for the chords that I decided to use with the melody)

Download jpg (Right-click and “Save as”)

#3 Chord Melody (this is the arrangement I came up with in order to be able to use just a guitar pick)

Download jpg (Right-click and “Save as”)

#4 Audio Sample – 1 (the chord melody played slowly by me)

Download mp3 (Right-click and “Save as”)

#5 Audio Sample – 2 (the chord melody played with embellishments by me)

Download mp3 (Right-click and “Save as”)

* you can e-mail me and ask for the videos to both audio samples (these audio samples were taken directly from the videos).

My initial approach is simple. I first learn the melody, I look for chords that can be used to play with the melody, and I make adjustments to those areas that don’t fit easily. Always remember to “think out of the box” when you hit these areas; they always come up. If you don’t panic, try to think of alternative ways to solve the problem, and remember there are times when “just the melody” works, you will get through 99% of you songs. Whatever you try, don’t worry about rules! The only thing you need to know is “if it sounds good – keep it and if it sounds bad – change it”.

Your “To Do” List:

• Learn the melody I presented.
• Take a look at the chord chart. There are countless chord fingerings. I recommend that you learn how chords are constructed. Eventually it is not that difficult to create and manipulate chord fingerings. It’s by far the best path to creating these nice little arrangements.
• Try playing the arrangement – listen to audio sample -1 on this webpage first.
• Try and examine “how” I put it together. If you try to put a chord melody together, keep it simple. As you create more chord melodies, you will gain new techniques, and the more difficult ones will be attainable.

Ballads are always good to start with. After you have half a dozen or so of them, you will probably want to play something that has a “groove” to it. That is another ball game and I’m not going to cover that in this lesson.

There “is” another step farther you can take the ballads to. After you have a ballad under belt and can play it fairly well, you can add little riffs (motifs -musical lines from scales) to it. When you end a phrase, that’s the time to add you stuff! I did this and added an audio sample -2 for you to listen to. This will give you an idea of what I’m talking about. I will cover improvisation within a chord melody in another lesson, that is, if you guys/gals e-mail and request it.

Ok…. Good Luck and if you would like a video of me playing this arrangement, e-mail me at petersimms.guitarman@gmail.com . I will be more than happy to send it your way.

Have Fun! … Peter Simms

This particular lesson is focusing on a typical jazz blues progression in the key “A”. Most people who are just getting into the blues know that there is a 3 chord combination that is traditional with the blues. It’s called a I – IV-V progression (Roman Numerals are usually used with explaining chord progressions). In the key of “A”, we would use the chords A, D, and E. To figure this out, we would think of an “A” major scale and an A major chord would be the “I” chord. As you build chords in the scale you get: I = A, ii = Bm, iii = C#m, IV = D, V = E7, vi = F#m, vii = G#m7b5. Each one of these chords can be extended, as long as the integrity of the chord remains [example: E = E7]. A typical set of chords for a jazz blues is our set below. As you listen to the mp3 provided below, you will notice that it will “sound” of the blues, but the new chords have put a twist on the texture and feel of the sound.

There are standard classical theoretical rules that can be bent with jazz and blues (such as changing major chords to dominant 7th chords) . Our progression contains: A6 = I , D9 = dominant II, F#7#9 = dominant III chord (notice the #9 is the same as a b3, thus this type of chord is substituted for minor chords and doesn’t ruin the chord progression sound), Bm7 = ii, and E7#9 = V. A lot of this theory is confusing for some of you, so don’t worry about it. Just play the exercise, because it’s fun! For those of you that have some general theory background, I thought this would be interesting. Jazz theory is very insightful, and there are lots of good books and articles available on the subject. I highly recommend it.

Back to playing…The bass line generally will out lines the chords, walk a scale that matches the chord, and sometimes will add a few chromatic passages (1/2 step notes that are not part of any scale or chord) to lead to the next chord. The trick to making this sound good is to “punch” the chords out with your index, middle, and ring fingers, and to focus on making the bass sound smooth. By doing this, you create a feeling of two instruments (bass guitar + rhythm guitar). It takes a while to get it, but it’s somewhat addictive once you got it.

Provided below is the music, tab, and a chord diagram sheet to help out with fingerings. I would recommend taking it a chord at a time, check to see how the bass line relates to the chord, and get the feel of moving from one to the other.

Your Left (picking) Hand:
1. Play the bass line with your thumb.
2. Keep your index, middle, and ring fingers together and pluck in a unison motion (as if they were glued together).

For a quicktime video of me playing it, email me and I will be happy to email you one. Left and Right hands. Sometimes seeing it helps a lot.
Here is an mp3 of me playing the Walking Bass Blues Rhythm – Key of A – (click here)

( I played it a little slow, in order for you to follow the chart)

Have fun with it!
Enjoy! … Peter Simms
My email: peter@petersimms.com

Let’s get back to Riff 1, which, up until now, you have woodshedded over the full range of the fretboard in individual positions. Here, we will focus on two string at a time while moving up and down the neck in a horizontal fashion.

Notice how we are just using strings 1 and 2, going up and all the way down again! Try the same for strings 2 + 3:

After you have mastered those two riff applications, it will be easy to do the same for the remaining four string combinations. And REMEMBER: When you feel your muscles of the fretting hand/arm tighten up, take a break and start doing this exercise at half the tempo; this will enable you to focus on relaxing and playing with as little effort as possible.

In unit 2 we started on one position for Riff 2. Try the next as follows:

Just as before with Riff 1, figure out all positions of the neck – eventually in all keys. This time however, you won’t find all these written out, because you should be able to apply the sequence of Riff 2 to the same scale shapes that we have used for Riff 1. Have fun and take your time.

To proliferate our skills on Riff 2, let’s complete the horizontal way of playing here as well – if you haven’t already:

Again, work your way through all combinations of two strings, one at a time!

Finally, it is up to you to work on integrating these concepts in your own playing. Below you will find a comprehensive study that combines those two riffs; however, that is just another stepping stone towards taking this style of playing to the next level. Play along with music as much as you can and focus on playing these lines! After some time of concentrated playing, you will need less and less of premeditated focus while approaching the very essence of effortless playing.

Also in this Series

• Legato Playing Part 1
• Legato Playing Part 2

To move on, let’s train this foundation a bit more but focus predominantly on the development of riffs and applications in this idiom.

Exercises 5a through 5d need to be executed once again with the same consideration to detail as described in exercises 1 through 4 (described in the first part of this series). Take your time and add this exercise to the first four as part of a routine to get through. Notice how the fingering 1-2-4 stays constant on string 3 and how only the one note played on the second string changes with each exercise. The same concept can be applied to different fingerings: Get creative!

The following Exercise 6 is tricky in that we have a group of four notes on each string (at first played in hammer-ons with each first note picked; on the way down in pull-offs) but played in triplets. Definitely use a metronome at first, slowly increasing the tempo over a few days or weeks. You should soon notice how the picked notes, emphasized notes if you will, fall on changing parts of the triplet pulse.

Riffs 1b though 1g pick up at the last installment’s riff 1 by taking the same phrase and its approach to other positions while staying in the same key: A-major/F#-minor.

The following Riff 2 will direct us into changing positions. For simplicity’s sake, we will stick with the key of F#-minor. However everyone should transfer the riffs learned in these columns to as many keys as possible, maybe simply by turning on the radio, then figuring out the key of the currently playing song and going for it with these lines.

Make sure to also move down the neck once this is figured out. It is just as easy and the slide should be executed with the first finger.

We will get into variations of Riff 2 as well as a bit more of preparatory foundation exeercises in the next installment. Until then, have a great time with it.

Also in this Series

• Legato Playing Part 1
• Legato Playing Part 3

When I now teach this technique to students, I start at the very beginning, no matter how long they have been playing guitar for. It is important to take it extremely slowly, focusing on how easy it is to do this first exercise – not on how fast you will play it;

Speed is the result of slow and accurate practicing!

Start this first exercise by placing all four fingers of the left hand on one fret each (frets V to VIII). The first bar has the fourth finger pulling off (p.o.) and hammering on (h.o.) and every bar can be repeated or soloed as desired. Make sure to do this slow enough so you can keep all fingers close (!) to the fretboard after each pull off. If done too fast, you will notice that there’s no control over that exaggerated pull off, and your fingers will learn an inefficient, if not bad, technique. So, take your time, focus on ease and relaxation, and increase speed only slightly every day. This way, you will give your system time to learn in an efficient manner.

Exercise two will increase the challenge a bit, still working with a purely technical idea:

This should be practiced on all individual six strings. Take your time on this before going on to the next set of exercises, which combine these first two elements.

Ex. 3

Exercise 3 uses only hammer-ons and one should pay close attention to the rhythm of triplets (sixteenth-note triplets to be accurate). Practice first with a metronome to even out the rhythms, which can be played as eighth-note triplets as well. With concentration and perseverance you will quickly notice your improvement in feel, which will in turn enable you to execute this difficult passage in an absolutely even and unhurried playing style – something that is of utmost importance for legato playing.

The same approach should be taken for the following exercise as well as the application-riff at the end of this first installment.

The following application-riff is in the key of A-major/F#-minor. Move it around to different keys and play it along with some music. The next installment will get even more into playing applications that built progressively on this unit’s foundation work.

Also in this Series

• Legato Playing Part 2
• Legato Playing Part 3

When comparing the minor blues scale (right) with the diatonic natural minor scale (left) in the illustration above, only one note jumps out at being out of place, namely the blue note (in this key of C minor the note “F#”), while steps 2 and 6 of the natural minor scale are omitted when playing the minor blues scale. In other words, play the natural minor scale without those steps and add the b5, the blue note.

Just as C-major uses the same notes as A-minor, since they are relative scales, the C- major blues scale is identical with A-minor blues. When comparing the major scale with the major blues scale we can see that the difference lies in steps 4 and 7 as well as the blue note, the #9.

Important: Before going to the following, figure out this relationship of diatonic major/minor and blues major/minor scales in all positions!! Then, go on to:

Playing application 1: a) Record a one to two minute play-along track of

b) improvise over the track, mixing up the major scale and major blues scale; in as many positions as you have looked at, eventually in all of them (use method described above as well as the blues scale chart of the previous installment to pair up the different scales).

c) play one of the idioms learned in installment one

You’ll notice in the last experiment that the blues sound is much stronger!? The mixing of both minor and major blues scales on non-blues backgrounds enhances the blues sound immediately.

d) to capitalize on this insight, improvise on the play-along track mixing up the major scale with both the minor blues and major blues scales. Who knows: this might just be so much fun that you will come up with your own blues idioms or even inspire you to transcribe some Benson, Grant Green, or other favorites!?

e) turn on the radio and figure out the key of the song just being played; then make the same connections of mixing up the scalar vocabulary. This can work in just about any style…have fun!

Let’s move on to applying this knowledge to yet another background: MODAL PIECES.

Playing application 2: a) Record a one to two minute play-along track of

b) improvise on this track using, for Dm9, the C-major blues scale (the relationship here lies in Dm being the second step in C-major tonality; or D-Dorian is the same as C-Ionian) and, for Fm9, use the Eb-major blues scale (for similar Dorian/Ionian relationship).

c) Improvise using D-minor blues and F-minor blues scales (for obvious natural minor/ blues minor relationship, as described in the first part of this installment)

d) improvise by mixing up the different approaches elaborated on in points b) and c); in addition, incorporate the diatonic scales here for a diversification in sound. This is actually a thought process you have practiced in playing application 1; hence, a fairly easy and direct step!

e) finally, go back to installment one and pick some of the blues lines to apply here.

The last points in this playing application 2 are actually quite a chunk which needs to be digested over some time; however, this is quite a hip sound and you will soon realize that the tools used are quite simple, if not all familiar necessarily for all of you, and that this is just a way of rethinking how to use these tools. Once you see through all this and manage to make music with it, I can only encourage you to go through your whole repertoire of tunes and actively work this blues insight and skills learned into songs that you already know. This will actually take less time and effort than you might expect.

Also in this Series

• Blues Lines in Jazz I
• Blues Lines in Jazz II

When analyzing the make up of some of the jazz-blues idioms that were illustrated in the previous column, one will quickly notice that there are more than just notes from the basic (minor) blues scale being used. Below, you can review the definition of this most common version of this scale:

Here is the one shape most popular among guitarists:

Here, you have two and a half octaves; below, you will find all shapes for the whole range of the guitar neck in a specific arrangement. A lot of players never get past these notes for improvising, having often learned them as well as the mere pentatonic minor scales early on in their development on the guitar. Let’s conduct an experiment:

Record a play-a-long track of yourself vamping a C7 chord. On playback use the C-minor blues scale (for example the shape displayed above with the lowest root note on the 8th fret) for playing along. This will most likely be familiar territory for you!?

Now, move that same shape down three half-steps and play the A-minor blues scale. How do you like it? It might sound a bit Country & Western to you; in fact, you are playing the C-major blues scale! So if this doesn’t turn your crank, don’t be discouraged until you try the following:

Above is one position of both minor (left) and major blues scales. The hollow dots represent the blue notes, without which you would get the mere pentatonic scales respectively. Play both these scales mixed up over your C7 track: Here is the key for that jazzy blues sound we have been after.

First, get familiar with the back and forth and the combination of these two tools. Then learn more of the blues idioms from before; or just analyze and understand the ones you already got down.

In conlusion, you can draw from the complete illustration of this minor/major relationship below. I would recommend spending some time with the play-along track in each of these positions; and, if you really like this sound, try to apply this to songs and playing situations you are comfortable with already…more on this in the next installment in this series.

Also in this Series

• Blues Lines in Jazz I
• Blues Lines in Jazz III

To stick with the analogy of jazz as a language, with dialects and slang, blues becomes important again when facing those mechanical aspects of bebop or improv per se, since it is one of the traditions that jazz evolved out of. Blues is very much part of many a listener’s background, trained or not, and, therefore, a good way to connect to any type of ear.

I love listening to a blazing bebop solo by George Benson knowing that this is exactly his approach: He will put a funky touch on any flurry of bebop runs and patterns by resolving to or contrasting those with a light-fingered blues double-stop as the one that follows:

Here’s another little blues thing from the same solo:

This is preceded by a cool II-V-I phrase and, in combination, looks like this:

Below are a few more fun lines in various keys. The first one illustrated here in the key of G:

Another one in G-blues; try this one first by using only down strokes:

Back to F-blues:

This same one can be looped with a great effect:

Here’s is another way of looping this idea:

I can only recommend that you learn your favorites (or all of these) in all positions of any key. It is a tough but really rewarding habit to get into. Check out how this works on the previous example:

Make sure to be using alternate picking on all these examples. The phrasing and swing feel will be much more controllable this way! Also, try the two looping versions in all those positions as well; some positions are harder than others but a great way of evening out your skills all over the fretboard.

Well, on we go with the fingerings in all the positions:

In the next installment of this series on “Blues lines in Jazz” we will focus on the background on these lines. It will enable us to come up with our own renditions and understand new lines quicker and more profoundly.

Also in this Series

• Blues Lines in Jazz II
• Blues Lines in Jazz III

Let’s pick up the topic again, this time using these chords in songs. A good way to get a feel for this kind of substitution is to reinterpret a well-known tune. The Bob Dylan song All Along the Watchtower (also recorded famously by Jimi Hendrix) is an interesting framework against which to examine the possibilities of comping with fourths. The chords to the tune are simple. They’re in A minor (the relative minor of C major – the key we studied last time).

In our reinterpretation, we won’t be playing a simply strummed folk style, or an all-out, psychedelic rocker. We’ll be going for a half-time, jazzy groove feel , so be sure to swing those eighth notes! As we set out to substitute for the original chords, let’s pick out voicings from our harmonization of C major in fourths that avoid heavy use of the roots and fifths. A bassist would most likely be playing these notes. When looking for a replacement for Am, we would avoid a voicing with an A or E in it. Let’s also try to select voicings that emphasize the thirds (minor or major) because these notes give a chord its quality. For Am, we would choose a substitute that has a C in it.

Here are some choices:

Notice how the highest-pitched notes in the substitute chords are the thirds for the chords they are replacing (e.g. the C note played on the 13th fret of the 2nd string is the minor 3rd of the Am chord it is replacing). By having these notes on top, we will be able to accent them (perhaps with staccato upstrokes) and use them to create the tonal focus of the chord. And by choosing a voicing with the 7th on the original chord (in this case, G is the 7th in Am7), we further color the chord’s quality with extended tonality.

Here are the replacement chords used in the song’s progression:

This is just one simple example of the ways that you could use the harmonized voicings to substitute for the original chords. While extending an improvised jam around this song, try your own variations. You needn’t limit yourself to simple strumming either. Arpeggiating these harmonized forms can create a rolling and spacious melodic backdrop.

I hope this has given you a useful point of embarkation on your journey to explore the use of fourths for comping.

For examples of reinterpreting Hendrix tunes with a different feel, check out Sting’s version of Little Wing and The Wind Cried Mary, or The Corrs’ version of Little Wing. The Hendrix Tribute CD, entitled In From The Storm (RCA/Victor), has a number of very strong renditions that stretch the original tunes.

Also check out… Comping With Fourths Part 1

Let’s see what happens when we stack two fourths on top of every step in the key of F-major/ D-minor using the fourth string for the lowest notes:

Notice how this shape appears on five of the seven steps! This repetition makes such a sequence really easy to play. Let’s do the same with the lowest note on the G-string; look for a similar occurrence:

On this last example, it sounds great to play the fourth or fifth string as a pedal tone against the quartal shapes. We obtain the sound of D-Aeolian or accordingly A-Phrygian. Try that sound and also the 6th string for the pedal to get a taste for E-Locrian. All these church modes are parallel modes in F-major.

Then, figure out this quartal system for different keys. You’ll see that the structure and sequence of the three different quartal basic shapes is always the same. Experiment in those different keys with more open string pedal tones for varying effects.

It is also interesting to stack three fourths on top of every scale tone:

We will soon apply these shapes for a chord melody on the song “Beautiful Love.” But let’s first look at the scale application from a different angle:

Mixing of Standard Voicings and Quartal Shapes

Using the position above for a II-V-I in F-major, quartal shapes can be inserted to make this progression a bit more modern sounding and hip. Check out the following:

To conclude this series on jazz comping we will look at a chord melody arrangement using this approach with quartal shapes. This familiar song (from Jazz Comping 1) features the first eight bars as finished. I added the remainder of the form unfinished for you to practice on. Print out this page and get busy with the guitar and a pencil. Experiment with mixing up quartal shapes and standard jazz voicings and sometimes just stating the melody with maybe the bass note underneath.

• Autumn Leaves page 1
• Autumn Leaves page 2

Also in this series:

• Building a chord voicing vocabulary
• Extending the chord voicing vocabulary
• Chord Extensions
• More Revelations on Extensions

Chord on I Major Key

When embellishing the one chord in major, which in the simple form is a major seventh, we have the option of using a natural ninth (9) or the major sixth (6). Let’s start with voicing examples that use a major ninth:

All but the third voicing should be played with the second finger on the root.

With the next examples we are actually preempting the next section on compound voicings; but more on that further down. Here are the I-chord versions with ninth and sixth:

By once again inserting these new voicings into the cadence connections, one of the I-VI-II-V (turnaround) progressions could then look like this:

Figure out the other possibilities for this cadence, as well as the basic II-V-I’s! Since extension can be added in various combinations and on all of these steps, you have plenty of possible outcomes here. So, take time exploring.

Compound Voicings

We cannot have more than six voices in a chord due to the physical make-up of our instrument, the guitar. Often times we want to keep the number of tones in a chord voicing to four anyway, sometimes even only three. So when for example adding a thirteenth on a dominant seventh chord, it most likely will replace the fundamental fifth (5) of the chord. Especially on the guitar, this is a good thing to do. In addition, the use of two or three extensions together forces us to make do with most the fundamentals of a chord (root, third, five and seventh). One thing to keep in mind is that the third of the chord is the most important element, since it indicates the gender of it – major of minor. The seventh is the second most important.

Here are some well-used compound voicings for non-altered dominant seventh chords; fill these in for the V-chords of the typical cadence connections elaborated on in the previous three chapters:

Use the second finger for the first two voicings and for the bottom row the first for the first and the third finger for the last.The name G13 is differentiated from a G7(13) in that the former includes the seven and nine automatically. Analyze the voicings that apply to find out what exactly is in those chords.

Now, let’s go to the altered dominants; fill these in for the VI-chord of a turnaround, or the V-chord in minor (more on this in the next segment of this chapter):

Use the second finger for the root on each one of the voicings in the first two rows; use the first finger for the two of the last row!

At this point, we will introduce the last cadence type in this series on comping. In major we had the II-V-I as well as the turnaround (I-VI-II-V) progressions. Let’s have a look at how the II-V-I cadence looks like in a minor key, C-minor in the example below, and you’ll notice that you already have the tools to play most of the following combinations:

Combinations with basic chord voicings:

The shapes of the II-Chords (min 7 b5) should be familiar from the chord system layouts from the first two chapters in this series. These are generally not modified with extensions, so we will only have to worry about varying the V- and the I-chords. For this, use any one of the altered dominant shapes from above and insert them in as many variations you can come up with. Play these connections slowly then, listening to the sound of each chord and change, so you can discover possible favorites in permutations. Below, you can see one possible connection:

The I-chord can also be enhanced with extensions illustrated in the previous chapters which include major 9’s and perfect 11’s. Experiment here as well, and start with the position below:

One last, really cool variation on the I-chord will be mentioned here; and that is to add a major seventh instead of the minor seventh. This can be done, because this minor chord is considered the tonic chord of the key and is therefor treated differently than if it were a II-chord. Especially as ending chords on minor key tunes, this minor-major-seventh chord is very effective and popular and is very beautiful in combination with ninths. Here are some voicings of this type to be inserted in the minor cadence:

Make sure to transfer all the examples to different keys!

The following, What Is This Thing Called Love, is a song that uses several minor based cadences. Voicings indicated should be an inspiration to try different positions and extensions.

What Is This Thing Called Love pdf (Right-click and “Save as”)

Also in this series:

• Building a chord voicing vocabulary
• Extending the chord voicing vocabulary
• Chord Extensions
• Quartal Shapes

Making the Connections with Ninths

Let’s start with this on minor chords. When we add a ninth to the II-chord, the typical major II-V-I connections look like this:

Once Again, there are more possibilities in combining voicings from the three systems. Explore!

When playing through these connections, compare and analyze how and where the basic voicings have changed. The ninth is equivalent to the second step of the minor chord scale; it is located a half-step below the minor third.

Turnarounds (I-VI-II-V): Let’s add a ninth on both the II- and the VI-chords. Below you will find only one of the connections illustrated; go back and figure out the other possible positions for this change yourself!

Don’t forget the other positions!

As in the previous unit on comping, let’s also show one connection with the VI-chord as a dominant seventh chord. In this turnaround situation, the VI-chord needs to have altered extensions to best work with the raised third; this means that most possible extensions added here need to be raised or lowered by a half step. Let’s clarify this a bit: altered thirteens on the VI-chord (G7) in the key of Bb represent typical steps in the diatonic material of the key; the major thirteen of G7 would be E. That, however, is not contained in the Bb-major scale where we have an Eb. Since G7 functions as the VI-chord of Bb in this situation, an added 13 would have to be a b13. This works similarly for other extension, with some exception in certain situations.

Examples with VI 7(b9):

Example with VI 7(+9):

Notice how the +9 is attained by raising the b9 by a whole step! Figure out the other possible positions/connections.

Making the Connections with Elevens

By Adding 11s to the minor II-chord shapes, it becomes easy to once again vary the comping sound on the now quite familiar II-V-I and turnaround connections. Learn the individual minor 11 shapes below and insert them in all the possible connections/positions of those two cadence types.

Check out how the first Cm7(11) chord fits with its position on the II-V-I:

It is merely a variation of the same cadence that features the ninth on the II-chord from earlier:

Experiment with all possible positions you can think of.

Here’s an example for one turnaround connection:

As you can see, adding more and more extensions on different chords/steps of these typical cadence connections is actually quite easy, if the foundation is in place. We will continue with the other possible steps but mostly by listing their possible extensions in the different positions. It is up to you to place the individual chord voicings in the positions/connections learned before.

I would recommend to take this in strides and to apply a new combination in the song examples Autumn Leaves and Oleo learned in the previous two columns. This ensures a deeper processing in your motor-memory.

Extensions for Specific Chords/Steps

Dominant Seventh Chords

There are two versions of extended dominant seventh chords: 1) non-altered dominants, and 2) altered dominants. The non-altered dominant seventh chord is used most often as a V-chord in major. Viewing the two cadence connections so far, major II-V-I and turnarounds, both examples would yield F7 in the key of Bb-major as a non-altered dominant chord.

Here are a few F7(9) voicings to be inserted in the cadence connections:

Use the middle finger for the root on each of these three chord voicings. Also, compare these extended versions to the basic voicings of this type: The ninth (9) is situated a whole step below the third, and at the same time a whole step above the root/octave.

Eleven’s on this step in the key are treated in a special way. It would be too much background information to get into in this column, so for now just accept that eleven’s in this context are played as +11’s by jazz musicians:

The last extension introduced in this column will be the thirteen. It is located a half step below the dominant seven of this chord example. Here are some suggestions:

To round out this foundation in comping skills in the next issue, we will look at some really hip voicings by combining several extensions on single chords (notice the differing terminology on the last set of voicings, more on this next time) and will also introduce one more vital cadence.

So hang in there, because, if you haven’t had any fun with this stuff yet, the pay off for all your hard work is right around the corner.

Also in this series:

• Building a chord voicing vocabulary
• Extending the chord voicing vocabulary
• More Revelations on Extensions
• Quartal Shapes

Guitarists often want to know how to grow beyond standard barre chords when they expand their playing outside of rock/blues into jazz or other alternative styles. In this series of lessons, we’ll explore a cool approach to accompanying (often called “comping”) jazzy chord progressions. This approach can be called “harmonizing in fourths” because that is exactly how you derive the chords.

Barre chords are very “heavy” on roots and fifths. These can be the least harmonically “interesting” notes in a chord, and are typically being played by a bassist or other accompanist. With the “fourths” approach, you provide a broader harmonic “space” to other musicians. Your rhythm part supports their solos.

I – Chord Construction:

In this first installment, we’ll learn how to construct the chords and find them on the guitar. In the next installment, we’ll have a look at putting them to use.

As an exercise, try doing this on your own to find chords harmonized in fourths in other keys.

II – Finding these chords on the fretboard:

For our first exploration, we’ll play all the chords we created from the C major scale using only the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th strings (B, G, and D strings in standard tuning).

Play each of these chords and let them ring out. Listen to their unique quality. Compare the sound of these chords to the standard chords (harmonized in thirds) from C major scale. Do you notice the increase in harmonic complexity? They create tension and color when compared to a major or minor chord. These chords might seem a little (or a lot) “off” to you if you are not familiar with extended chord voicings, but in time, your ears will come to hear them as natural and interesting and maybe even preferable.

Now move back and forth among these chords to get a feel for how they create movement. Don’t use a very busy rhythmic pattern yet, just appreciate the motion generated by the harmonic changes.

Lastly (for now), use the open A string as a bass “pedal” or “drone” note and move the chord forms around in an improvised rhythmic “vamp.” This low tone sets the “key” as A minor (the relative minor of C major). The harmonized chords (from the above chart) work nicely to establish an interesting backdrop for soloists.

If you can, record yourself playing this vamp. When you play it back, you can solo over it to get a feel for how much extra “space” this comping style creates. Next time you jam with a friend, try it out and watch their eyes bug out because they didn’t know they could play “jazz.”

As an exercise, try to find these same chords using only the G, B, and E strings.

Next time we’ll use these chords as replacements for traditional ones in chord changes.

Also check out… Comping With Fourths Part 2

Here, we also have the four essential shapes (in the order left to right: Maj7, Min7, Dom7, Min7b5):

Cadence: II-V-I

Let’s add this knowledge to the cadence progression, II-V-I major key, from the previous column installment, by mixing up the three systems. Recall that the first voicing system has the chord’s root on the 6th string exclusively. The second voicing system has the root note on the 5th string and the third system, as illustrated above, the root is on the 4th string. Mixing the three systems will be really easy, if you have played through these applications in conjunction with the first column on Jazz Comping:

Here are the voicing combinations for this key:

There are obviously more possibilities in combining voicings from the three systems. Experiment by figuring out all the variations that you can think of.

Review the song Autumn Leaves and apply voicings from the third system discussed in this column. Approach this in the same way the cadences above were treated; for example, try to play all the changes of the song staying between frets III and VI.

Cadence: I-VI-II-V

In the example below, you can see the first eight bars of “Rhythm Changes” – a song form we encounter in jazz frequently; the sign means to repeat the chords from the previous two bars:

The main building block here is a I-VI-II-V, essentially our now familiar II-V-I (Cm7, F7, Bbmaj7) with one extra chord added: the VI (G7). The diatonic seventh chord built on this root, G, is a minor seventh (examples a. through c.). But, as already mentioned, this often gets played as a dominant seventh chord (d. through f.):

a.

b.

c.

Once again, we can use a dominant seventh chord for step VI:

d.

e.

f.

Remember: There are plenty more possible variations of pairing up the three systems. I recommend searching for all of them, in as many keys as possible.

Below you’ll find the complete “Oleo” (S. Rollins). It is a song based on this typical form in jazz. You’ll notice that voicing diagrams for the song’s chords and progressions are illustrated just once, though a chord or progression may occur repeatedly in the song. Also, the voicings in this version all fall into one small region on the neck, which is made possible through the three voicing systems covered so far.

Oleo pdf (Right-click and “Save as”)

In the next installment we will introduce extensions and alternate ways of voicing these basic chord types. That will bring about an even jazzier, and sometimes more modern, sound.

Also in this series:

• Building a chord voicing vocabulary
• Chord Extensions
• More Revelations on Extensions
• Quartal Shapes

In later installments, we will talk about concepts of adding extensions, the use of quartal chord voicings, and their applications to songs and progressions, including “Autumn Leaves,” Rhythm Changes and more.

Harmonizing the Major Scale System

In the figure below, you can see the C major scale harmonized with seventh chords; instead of playing a scale with single notes, you can do the same with a series of chords that consist of notes from that scale:

The steps are numbered for a certain reason:

Steps I and IV are harmonized with major seventh chords,
II, III, and VI with minor seventh chords,
step V with a dominant seventh chord,
and step VII becomes a half-diminished chord (minor7 b5).

This structural knowledge becomes handy when applying the shapes to the guitar. First, place the root of each chord on only the sixth string, and you’ll notice that there are only four initial voicings:

Since we repeat and recycle some of the shapes, we can break down the list of voicings to these four:

The same system can be played with the roots on the A-string:

The four different voicings we encounter here are the following:

Note: Please keep in mind that these voicing types are basic versions, which we will modify in later installments by adding extensions to turn them into typical jazz voicings.

How to practice:

1. Practice both systems (system I with roots on only the E-string, and system II with roots on A-string) of the C major scale chord progression illustrated above, ascending and descending.
2. Transpose the C major systems to Bb major (one whole step down) and repeat the same exercise in that key; here, the first chord of system I has its root on the sixth fret, sixth string. In system II, the root of chord I, Bbmaj7, falls on the first fret, fifth string.
3. In the key of Bb-major play the following typical jazz cadences (chord progressions that you will find in almost all jazz tunes):

Major II-V-I’s:

or

I-VI-II-V’s (turnarounds):

or

in more modern Jazz, the VI-chord is more often than not played like as a dominant seventh:

or

Let’s apply these voicings now to the jazz standard Autumn Leaves:

Autumn Leaves pdf (Right-click and “Save as”)

You will notice that some of the same cadences are used as the building blocks for these changes, while you will also encounter II-V-I cadential movement in the relative minor key; we will pick up this topic later in conjunction with altered extensions.

In later installments in this series we will talk about adding extensions to these basic chord voicings to create a jazzier tone; these we will then apply to this song. The next column will add one more voicing system for the diatonic chords, as well as Rhythm Changes as a typical song form for exercising more chops on cadences.

Also in this series:

• Extending the chord voicing vocabulary
• Chord Extensions
• More Revelations on Extensions
• Quartal Shapes

First, let’s again take the example of Dm7. Below are two sequences that sound great over this chord:

1.

2.

Notice how once again the chord tones (boxed in the first example) fall on the downbeats and the chromatic approach tones on the weaker upbeats.

1. Work this out in a few steps to ensure getting it right and progressively engrained in your finger movement. First play the arpeggio shape:

(lower root is on 5th string, 5th position)

2. Then review the chromatic ascending approach from the previous column installment; this will make it much easier to apply the sequences, so here it is again:

3. Sequence one plays this very approach backwards while keeping the chromatic notes the same. Players like George Benson really get into these types of lines. When you have that line up to playing speed (several days of practice, I’m sure), work on combining it with previously worked out material such as a D minor (Dorian or Aeolian) or the basic ascending chromatic approach as shown below:

4. Sequence two uses an eight-note grouping running up the initial chromatic-style line, starting on every step of the chord. Work this one through the same progressive steps, and then, for kicks, play it fast with high gain on the signal: A cool rock sound with a different kind of bite.

Start with just one of the sequences first and work that out until you can do it technically with ease. Make sure to use alternate picking: Down strokes for chord tones (downbeats) and upstrokes for the chromatic color tones. When comfortable, create a play-along track to experiment over, or use any modal jam, jazz of funk, and adjust the arpeggio shape to the key. The mere fun of this type of line should encourage you to work out this example in all positions on the neck. That applies also to other types of chords as mentioned in the beginning.

Let’s take a modal chord progression and progressively layer the tools we will need to create to get to those above-mentioned in-between elements. Here is a chord progression taken from Coltrane’s Impressions:

||—- 16 bars of Dm7 —||— 8 bars of Ebm7 —||— 8 bars of Dm7 —||

Let’s examine the first of the two chords: Dm7; here’s the arpeggio at the fifth position (that is, starting at the fifth fret on the neck):

In a different layout (root on 5th string, 5th position):

Looking at the “partials,” the notes that make up this chord, we have the root (D – all of which are circled on the fret chart), the b3 (F), the 5 (A), and the b7 (C). These are arranged in a range of just over two octaves with the lowest note being a fifth and the top note a seventh.

Practice this form on the guitar for a few moments, starting at first very slowly on the lowest root, playing to the top note, back down to the lowest note, and back up to the root. Always use alternate picking! It helps to realize that this is the same as a D minor pentatonic scale with the fourth (G) omitted.

Once this gets easier after a few minutes (or however long it takes to practice to the point of the arpeggio becoming automatic in your movement), play a Dm7 chord voicing before and after you play the arpeggio; this is helpful, because it creates a reference point to something familiar. Start the arpeggio now on not only the root, but the other partials (third, fifth, or seventh) as well.

With chord tones you are able to truly reflect the sound of the changes in a tune. The notes in-between give you options as to how to color your lines. Notice how the chord tones (boxed) in the illustration below fall on the strong beats (1, 2, 3 ,4 ) and the passing tones on the weak beats; also, the passing tones in this ascending line approach the chord tones by half steps, practically functioning as leading tones to the chord tones.

Practice this approach now in similar fashion: Slowly from the lowest to the highest notes in this position; make sure to play the notes of the arpeggio (the boxed chord tones) with down strokes, and the passing tones with upstrokes. It is amazing how fast you can get at playing this type of phrase with alternate picking – but take several days to slowly build speed;

start the phrases on different notes – down beats as well as up beats, but be aware of metric placement:

The most common choice for the downward movement is the use of the Dorian scale (add major 7th) as illustrated blow:

In some circumstances, the following scales [with differences to dorian indicated] need/can to be used:

• Aeolian (add major 7th) [step 6 is minor]
• Phrygian (add major 7th) [steps 2 and 6 are minor]
• Melodic Minor [a special case that will be discussed in the following]

It will take a bit of time and practice to assimilate the elements illustrated above. But it will be very rewarding to then move on to the application part with taking a play-along track (self-made or a recording of So What by Miles Davis or the song Impressions by John Coltrane) or with a musician friend, and to try a few improv techniques.

Briefly apply the same practice steps to Ebm7 by moving everything up one half step. Then play along with the music using the elements elaborated on; make sure to change after 16 bars to Ebm7 – the arpeggio, the passing tone layout, the resulting Dorian bebop scale.

Take time to get used to the new tools, and focus on the metric placement of the notes. You will notice how your consistent practice with careful regard to up and down strokes has paid off by giving you control over what notes to play when. The important chord tones will reflect the changes in your playing, enabling you to resolve your lines carefully and true to the harmonic background. With consistent practice this metric control will be accompanied by astonishing facility and speed and greatly improve your alternate picking.