Tip: Approach Tones from Above

Darrin Koltow Blog Scales and Modes for Guitar

We continue exploring approach notes in this tip. In the previous installments we worked out with notes that were below the note we really wanted to hit, and we did this for dominant 7ths and major arpeggios. Now we’re going to use notes that approach the target note from above. We could attempt to go into how this sounds, compared to the approaches tones of the previous installment. But it’s better to dive in and listen. Here’s the exercise:

|-------------------|-6-5--------------|
|---------------8-6-|------8-6---------|
|----------7-5------|----------7-5-----|
|-5----8-7----------|--------------8-7-|
|---8---------------|------------------|
|-------------------|------------------|

-----------------|--------|
-----------------|--------|
-----------------|--------|
-5-------------5-|----5---|
---8-5-------7---|-8----8-|
-------8-6-5-----|--------|

Play these as eighth notes. It might be a bit tricky when you first try this exercise, because it uses finger rolls, including finger rolls for the pinky. So you can look at this exercise as a way to build pinky chops and dexterity, and not just as a way to learn about approach tones.

Thanks for reading.

This first appeared in the Guitar Noise News – April 15, 2006 newsletter. Reprinted with permission.