Targeting Chord Tones (in Blues) ?

[Fretz]

Hi everyone.

I think there is one common hurdle that all guitar players will (or at least should) have to deal with at some point, regardless of what style they might like/want to play.
Like a lot of guitar players I love playing blues/blues influenced stuff, and I think it's a pretty good place to get started with this particular topic.

Ok, so here's a typical scenario: You know your major/minor pentatonic and blues scales, you know some nice licks...some of them even use all 3 scales , you've worked on some technical stuff like bending, vibrato, etc, BUT the problem is that when you play some blues lead it just doesn't sound quite as tasty as players like BB King, Clapton, etc. Sometimes it does but it's just not consistent...it's hit and miss. You're pretty sure it's not a technical thing (as such) because a lot of the time these guys aren’t shredding, they're just playing some real nice licks that seem to fit perfectly!

So it's frustrating but I guess it's good to have made it this far and to now be aware of this limitation that needs to be addressed, right?

So after talking to a guitar teacher, a better guitar player or even after goggling around you'll probably hear something like, "You need to target the chord tones".
Ah-ha! This makes sense and when you try some simple examples out over a few chords it sounds much better...big difference!

So now you know what needs to be done BUT I don't think there’s enough emphasis on becoming competent in this skill and how exactly to go about getting there.
So my question is this; what method/exercises, etc, did you use to develop this skill? To integrate it into your playing so that you don't have to always
consciously be thinking about it when it’s your turn to take a solo? And what exercises, etc, do you continue to use to maintain and develop this skill?


Looking forward to getting your opinion on this one...

 

[sumitomo]

I was gunna say phrasing and soul,and lots a lots practice.Sumi

 

[Commodore 64]

Try to hit a C when the chord change goes to C. Try to hit an F when the at the Chord change to F, and try to hit a G when the chord change goes to G. Then play around.

I'm borrowing a looper right now, and I recorded a 12 bar blues verse in C, and another in E. Then I just hit play on the looper and solo around on it for a while, and see what sounds good. You can mess around with notes and scales, but try to tie back into the chord progression from time to time, and you'll see that it sounds pretty cool, when you can hit it right. But use a simple chord progression that you are familiar with so you don't have to think very hard about it.

Like find an E, A, B on the fret board...then find it somewhere else. Then find it somewhere else. Then you can play around near those notes, at different spots, and tie in easy.

Now why in the hell did I get rid of my RC20XL? Kicking myself right now. But if I hadn't traded the RC20XL for a Godin, then I wouldn't have traded Eric the Godin...See how the circle works?

 

[Eric]

So isn't it more than the root notes? I haven't done much with chord tones, which probably explains some of my frustration, but I would guess it's the entire arpeggio going up to the 7th that is critical. I'm going to bring this up at my lesson tonight.

 

[Eric]

BTW C64, I think we all thought you were a bit weird for trading the looper for the guitar, but so it goes. At least you ended up with a bunch of other stuff in the end.

 

[Robert]

Practice playing the chord tones only for a 12 bar blues. Do this in the most common keys you play.

Play the 1, 3, 5 and 7 in as many variations/combinations you can, for each chord of the 12 bar blues.

Once you know this, find these chord notes in your pentatonic and blues scales, etc too.

Then deliberately try to play licks and phrases that end on these chord notes (for the chord being played, I, IV or V), but use whatever notes you think sound good besides that.

Maybe I'll try a video lesson on this topic...

 

[sunvalleylaw]

I like to visualize the barre chord that fits in the area of the fretboard I am playing on. That will tend to add a note or two to the good old minor pentatonic pattern I tend to rely on, and focus me on which notes are chord tones in the pattern. That seems to help. Other than that, I got nuthin really more than what these fine gentlemen say.

 

[jpfeifer]

This is great. You have hit a topic that was a major epiphany for me too when I discovered it, or I should say, I discovered that I needed to work on it

When I first started learning Blues stuff I was convinced that the major/minor pentatonics where going to be all that I needed to do most soloing. But I always wondered why my solos didn't sound as melodic as the guys I was trying to copy (such as BB King, Eric Clapton, etc) Then when I started getting into Jazz I discovered that they had a completely different approach to soloing that was kind of opposite of the approach I was using. In Jazz they tend to approach things by being aware of the chord tones that are happening in the song, and creating solo lines that highlight various chord tones, rather than using more of a scale-based approach like I was trying to do.

THe best way to get into this approach is to simply be "aware" of the chord tones while you're soloing. You don't have use "only" chord tones, but if you are aware of them while you're soloing, then you can start to highlight those notes that will give you the best sounds over a particular chord, and also be aware of those notes to avoid.

For me, the key thing that helped was to work on arpeggios for various chord types. I would start with Major/Minor and Dominant 7 chords. Work out these patterns over a blues progression so that you can visualize the arpeggios for each chord as you play through the song. The more I worked on arpeggio patterns, the more I started to understand why BB King would use certain notes that were outside of the blues scale. He was just highlighting different chord tones as chords changed.

Once you start going down this path, there are some really cool things that you can begin to do. For example, one of my favorite things is to substitute an arpeggio for a different chord than the one I'm playing over to get other sounds. For example, when you're playing over a 7th or 9th chord, try playing notes from a Minor7 arpeggio off of the 5th of the chord. For example, if you're soloing over an A7 or A9 chord, you can use Eminor7 arpeggio notes to get some sounds that you might not have thought of.

Anyway, my suggestion would be to start working up some arpeggios for the various chords and use that as a starting point to getting yourself more familiar with the chord tones.

I hope this helps, --Jim

 

[Fretz]

Thanks for all the info on this guys...really appreciate it .

This is great. You have hit a topic that was a major epiphany for me too when I discovered it, or I should say, I discovered that I needed to work on it

When I first started learning Blues stuff I was convinced that the major/minor pentatonics where going to be all that I needed to do most soloing. But I always wondered why my solos didn't sound as melodic as the guys I was trying to copy (such as BB King, Eric Clapton, etc) Then when I started getting into Jazz I discovered that they had a completely different approach to soloing that was kind of opposite of the approach I was using. In Jazz they tend to approach things by being aware of the chord tones that are happening in the song, and creating solo lines that highlight various chord tones, rather than using more of a scale-based approach like I was trying to do.

THe best way to get into this approach is to simply be "aware" of the chord tones while you're soloing. You don't have use "only" chord tones, but if you are aware of them while you're soloing, then you can start to highlight those notes that will give you the best sounds over a particular chord, and also be aware of those notes to avoid.

For me, the key thing that helped was to work on arpeggios for various chord types. I would start with Major/Minor and Dominant 7 chords. Work out these patterns over a blues progression so that you can visualize the arpeggios for each chord as you play through the song. The more I worked on arpeggio patterns, the more I started to understand why BB King would use certain notes that were outside of the blues scale. He was just highlighting different chord tones as chords changed.

Once you start going down this path, there are some really cool things that you can begin to do. For example, one of my favorite things is to substitute an arpeggio for a different chord than the one I'm playing over to get other sounds. For example, when you're playing over a 7th or 9th chord, try playing notes from a Minor7 arpeggio off of the 5th of the chord. For example, if you're soloing over an A7 or A9 chord, you can use Eminor7 arpeggio notes to get some sounds that you might not have thought of.

Anyway, my suggestion would be to start working up some arpeggios for the various chords and use that as a starting point to getting yourself more familiar with the chord tones.

I hope this helps, --Jim

@jpfeifer, I feel the same as you...a major epiphany! I think this could really transform and improve
my playing. But I want to stop and think about the best and most direct path to take on this so I don't waste time
spinning my wheels. The best way to learn this "technique" and incorporate it into my playing!


So would the idea of using arpeggios go something like this for example:
Lets say we're in the key of A
You've studied your pentatonic scales in position 1 (around the 5th fret)
And you've studied your "A Shape" (caged) dominant 7th arpeggio

Then when you're playing a blues in A and you're using position 1 over the 1 chord (A) (5th Fret),
when we change to the 4 chord (D) you can use your knowledge of the "A Shape- D dominant 7th arpeggio" (5th Fret)
to pick off some good chord tones to target? But you're still using A Pentatonic (position 1) as your "base scale", but possibly moving outside of it based on the notes in this D arpeggio?

 

[jpfeifer]

Fretz,

YES! that's the idea exactly!

Don't abandon your scales, just become aware of those arpeggios too. When you begin to do this, you will discover all kinds of cool things that are comming from those arpeggios.

The idea of arpeggios is that they are going to contain all of the chord tones (the notes that will sound "strong" over the chord you're playing). For the A7 chord you could play stuff out of your A Blues scale and also mix in some of the notes from the A7 arpeggio that are not in the A blues scale (for example: you could sit on that C# and it will sound just fine)

Then when it goes to the D7 you can still use your A Blues scale, but then you could use some notes out of the D7 arpeggio. For example: you could sit on a C natural (this note is already in the A blues scale but it also happens to be in that D7 arpeggio). So the idea is that you don't have to use "all" of the notes in an arpeggio. But if you are aware of them, then you kind of know where some of the sweet sounds are, or more importantly, you know what to avoid. For example, you don't want to be sustaining a note that clashes with the chord you're playing over.

For a really great example of this soloing approach, check out the opening line that Chuck Berry plays on JohnnyB Goode. Most of his note choices are comming right out of the A7/A13 arpeggio (assuming you're playing that song in the key of A). When you think of it this way it makes perfect sense. Chuck Berry probably came up with that line by imitating horn players since they tend to play over chords in this way.

One song that drives me crazy (because I hear so many guitar players using only the Blues scale over it) is Little Wing. If you use just one scale over that tune there are several areas where it just doesn't work because of the chord changes. For a great example of how can be done the right way, check out the Little Wing solo that Hiram Bullock plays in Sting's cover version of that tune. He really nails it.

Good luck with this!
--Jim

 

[LeadedEL84]

There is some great advice here already. I am going to add to it with my simple view of the situation. It really helped me move past this point in my playing when I got stuck in that part of the skill developement.

Using any of the standard shuffle paterns using the 1,4,and 5 chords in the progression think of the root note of the chord you are playing over as your "target note". Learn where all the target notes are on the fretboard for each of the chords in the progression. Then get to know the chord progression by heart until you instinctively know when the changes are coming and what chord the progression is in at that point.
Now that you have connected the target note with each chord it becomes a matter of what to do with it. I like to think of it as playing around the target note and delaying the pleasure of hitting the target note. Hitting the target note is like a resolution. It releaves the tension between the root of the chord and the single notes you are playing. Play towards the target note. Play away from the target note. Skip over the target note or move through it without stopping. Then finally hit the target note and put emphasis on it.
Think of it as you are teasing someone or yourself by moving towards the target note, then backing off. Then eventually hitting the note.
Learn all the arpegios,licks and tricks you can,and try applying them with the "playing around the target note" concept.

I'm not sure if this method will make sense to everybody or work for them. It did work for me. I am a very visual or spacial thinker. I often have visual pictures in my "minds eye" while I am playing solos and melodies. I visualize things like climbing or floating,silly things like hopscotch or jumping rope. Maybe not quite as literal as that but it all paints an abstract visual picture in my mind. I associate the licks,tricks,arpegios,and melodies with mental pictures.
I find that when I get in that state of mind while playing rather than concentrating on the fretboard and mechanics of it is when my most inspired playing comes out. I think it puts me in that part of the creative mind. I suppose this will only apply to those who have played long enough to have the instinct and muscle memory to disconnect their attention from the fretbaoard and mechanics.

I suppose I went a lot farther into that than I intended. I meant to keep it simple. Everything up to the playing around the target note should apply to the question though. I hope the last part doesn't make you all think I'm nuts. That's just my creative artist side that comes out once in a while. Music is about the only area in my life I access that. The rest of it is mostly logical,black and white,cut and dried. So it's nice to relax with my craziness once in a while. LOL