An incredibly effective method to deal with this (but often forgotten) is to listen to what others have done over the same progression. Then steal the phrase and then tweak it to make it your own. I had to write this blog post because I’ve spent years struggling with anything that wasn’t a ii-V-I that everybody teaches you. Or what if the ii-V doesn’t go to a I but repeats or change keys?!?

I recently revisited Charlie Parker’s Scrapple From The Apple and in the second 4 bar phrase there is F / Bb Bdim / F / F (each / separates a measure). It’s also written F / Bb G#dim7/B / F / F. This type of progression trips me up. I see how the bass line moves going from Bb to B to C which could be used to make a line but generally I’m not sure what to do.

So I found a version by Tom Harrell in which Kenny Garrett also improvises. Here’s a nice 4 bar phrase that you can use in your own solos and tweak if you want. I get it up to a decent speed and play it with Band in a Box to see how it sounds.

Here’s the tune. The phrase begins around 36 seconds in:

Click for larger image:

Of course we can analyze the notes if we want but we don’t need to

I just picked up Greg Fishman’s Hip Licks for Saxophone and highly recommend it not just for jazz but also jazz fusion (eg Greg Howe). Not because you will learn melodic and tasty licks over all chord types but from the work you will do to get them into your playing. This involves playing the phrases in all 12 keys, recalling the phrases from your mind/ear, trying to connect and develop the phrases in a logical manner.

Having technique helps you get these licks up to speed but it still takes practice as many ‘moves’ are unfamiliar so you wouldn’t be able to play them if you haven’t practiced them beforehand, especially at faster tempos. Drilling down even further, many of the licks are made up of smaller, repeatable cells that are combined in different ways, so these cells could be extracted and practiced as well.

My passion over the past few years has been improvisation, specifically in jazz and jazz fusion. Due to the tendency for songs to have many chord and key changes, many of us have gotten stuck as to what to do. I’ve practiced a ton of things over the last few years, so I’d like to mention a few things that haven’t worked for me, why I think they haven’t, and how to tweak them to be more effective.

1. Scales, Modes and Arpeggios

Some teachers say scales are great for technique, which is true but we should dig a bit deeper. You need to be able to have the technique to play melodic content over chord changes. So since you won’t be playing scales in your solos, you won’t be automatically able to play fast lines unless you’ve practiced them beforehand (take it from me).

When I say scales and arpeggios I mean practicing them up and down as exercises rather than applying to tunes.

Solution – use 1-3 note scale fragments and arpeggios to approach a target chord tone on beats 1 and 3 (for 4/4 time). Alternatively, practice melodic phrases that contain these things.

2. Learning solos and etudes

Again, this is great for technique and the solos are actual melodic content so we’re getting much closer to our goal. But when we play a rehearsed solo we’re not really thinking of the chords

Solution – take phrases or small melodic cells (3-4 notes) and use them over different chord types (major, minor, dominant, etc). Use them in different tunes, learn them in all 12 keys. Be able to connect them.

3. Transcribing tunes

When I say transcribing tunes, I mean the act of transcribing a solo and writing it down. While that has many benefits, such as ear training, if not done methodically it will not have as beneficial effect as it could have.

Solution – transcribe a small phrase and use these such as in item 2.

Let’s say the ideal scenario is that you hear melodic ideas in your head over various tunes and are able to play them on your instrument. How does this occur? I believe it is by working out ideas that sound good to you beforehand, ie during practice and remembering those things. It doesn’t come from strictly listening to existing tunes. Most of my discussion of improvisation is around fairly challenging styles such as bebop. Some famous musicians have said that ‘improvisation is the combining of things previously practiced’. I think this comes closest to what I am trying to say.

It’s the ability to recall this information during improvisation that is most important, and must be the main emphasis of one’s practice.

Transcribing music is the most direct path to learning a style, such as jazz improvisation. Imagine trying to learn French from a book rather than imitating real French people. But if you’ve already transcribed an entire solo and even learned it note for note you might be wondering how this will help you improvise your own solos. I’ve been able to play amazing solos at high speeds but that didn’t translate to improvising my own solos. While transcribing a whole solo will develop your ear, the trick is to take one phrase and work with it for a while until it is fully absorbed into your playing. We often bounce around to different topics and so nothing new gets into our playing.

The basic steps I follow for transcribing are:
-find a solo I like for a song I am working on (eg. Roland Kirk’s version of Blues for Alice)
-transcribe a phrase (one you like or one over a trouble spot in the tune). I highly recommend and own Transcribe! software (affiliate link)
-sing (even if you’re a bad singer like me) and learn how to play the phrase on your instrument. Sing at a slower tempo if it’s really fast.
-understand how the phrase works (more on this below)
-take the idea and use it in different songs and over different chords
-twist the idea and make it your own (more on this below)

Here’s Blues for Alice by Roland Kirk. The first 2 measures of the solo at roughly 0:40-0:43 will be analyzed.

Here’s the phrase transcribed:

Understanding How the Phrase Works

When I analyze a phrase I look at the chord(s) and for starters what notes are on the strong beats (beats 1 and 3). Sometimes these are anticipated (on the previous ‘and’ beat, eg ‘and of 4′). Sometimes there are no notes on the strong beat. In this case we have no note on beat 1, but the next 3 notes are a descending scale fragment that targets C on beat 3 (the fifth of F6). This is a perfect example of Forward Motion by Hal Galper. I have that book and highly recommend it (affiliate link).

Next we have another 3 note fragment starting on ‘and of 2′ and approaching the E of Em7(b5) on beat 1 of measure 2. From E we play D (minor 7th) and then the C# over the A7 (major 3rd). This is another common device and strong harmonic movement – a ii V moving from the min7 of ii to maj3 of V which is a half step movement.

Then instead of descending from C# down to Bb (b9) Roland Kirk transposes it up an octave to the Bb then descends to G (min7) then up chromatically to the A, at which point we’re on the Dm7 on beat 1 of measure 3. Hopefully you’ve followed me during this analysis as it’s pretty straightforward.

How to Make it Your Own

There are a variety of things you can do to use these ideas in your own soloing. You might come up with some of your own:
-target other chord tones besides the 5th (C) over F6 using a 3 note descending approach
-try ascending to the chord tone C (and others) instead of descending as Rolank Kirk did
-Use the E, D, C# (root, min7 over ii and major 3rd over V) idea over other ii V ‘s
-anticipate the chord tones (play one eighth note earlier than strong beats)

Transcribing has other values as well, as you learn to imitate your idols even every nuance, develop technique, develop your ear and so on. When you find yourself frustrated with your progress, try to remember to get back to the basics – imitating the master’s and twisting the ideas for your own purposes.

Transcribing is a much more direct path to learning than many other methods (scales, arpeggios, etc) and is incredibly inspiring. Looking for shortcuts to learn guitar can be a sign that you’re not willing to put in the required work, or it can be a logical desire to seek the most efficient path.

[flv]http://onlineguitarcoaching.com/wp-content/uploads/canonrock.flv[/flv]

Here’s the Canon Rock tab from Ultimate Guitar to follow along.

Here’s the Pachelbel’s Canon Rock backing track from the YouTube video – a difficult track to find on the Internet! Canon Rock Backing Track

Here’s the Pachelbel’s Canon Rock full song mp3 audio extracted from the YouTube video so you can listen to it, slow it down, etc. Canon Rock

I highly recommend that you buyTranscribe! for slowing down challenging pieces like this, looping difficult sections, and working them out one part at a time. It’s too frustrating to try and play each piece at full speed right off the bat.

Below you can buy 5 video lessons covering the volume swells, chords, 3 string arpeggios, sweep arpeggios with tapping, and melody. You also get diagrams and explanations of how the chords and solos work over the chords.

Volume Swells
[flv]http://onlineguitarcoaching.com/wp-content/uploads/pachelbel_volumeswells.flv[/flv]

Chords
[flv]http://onlineguitarcoaching.com/wp-content/uploads/pachelbel_chords.flv[/flv]

Sweep arpeggio
[flv]http://onlineguitarcoaching.com/wp-content/uploads/pachelbel_sweeparpeggio_tap.flv[/flv]

Tab to the sweep and 3-string arps (see ultimate guitar tab for the full parts):
Canon Rock Lesson PDF

Melody
[flv]http://onlineguitarcoaching.com/wp-content/uploads/pachelbel_melody.flv[/flv]

This is the scale shape for the melody. All the notes fit into this shape. For the shapes I refer to (eg. Shape 3 = Phrygian or C Shape), check out this blog post on the CAGED system – http://onlineguitarcoaching.com/2008/11/the-caged-system-for-guitar/

3-string arpeggios
[flv]http://onlineguitarcoaching.com/wp-content/uploads/pachelbel_3string_arpeggios.flv[/flv]

Creating Your Own Solos Over Canon Rock

This lesson describes how to create your own solos over Pachelbel’s Canon in D.

Pachelbel’s Canon is in the key of D major. The chord progression is eight bars long and goes as follows:
D A Bm F#m G D G A

Here’s the Pachelbel’s Canon Rock backing track from the YouTube video – a difficult track to find on the Internet! Canon Rock Backing Track

We will start simple by playing root chord tones over each chord in Shape 5 we get the following:

In the key of D major we have the following notes: D E F# G A B C# D.
The chords as usual for major scales are: D Em F#m G A Bm C#dim D.

The chord tones for each are:

D – D F# A
Em – E G B
F#m – F# A C#
G – G B D
A – A C# E
Bm – B D F#
C# – C# E G

Let’s add a typical classical sounding sequence to the root notes, using eighth notes and play the idea twice in each measure.

Okay that’s not bad. Let’s try a smoother mostly descending line rather than jumping from root to root. This is known as voice leading. We will start on the root of D major then descend to the next closest chord tone for the next chord, staying in shape 5. For that we get:

Okay now let’s build the same sequence over this new voice leading line.

That sounds a bit smoother than the original, and demonstrates how you can start to add complexity to a simple chord tone framework. This is the key concept to absorb in this entire site!