Improvisation II - "Stella by Starlight" Part 2
This month’s improvisation exercise is the same as last month’s except that the range of the arpeggiates has been shifted to the 9th and 13th frets inclusive. As useful as I find this exercise within one fret-range, its real power seems to me to lie in this kind of variation. Just as I am getting used to where all the notes lie within a particular range of the fretboard, when I alter the range—sometimes by as little as one fret—everything changes.
For any new readers, the rules of this exercise are:
Arpeggiate the chords of a song in 8th notes within a five-fret range of the guitar (in this case, from fret 9th-13th inclusive).
Starting on the lowest available chord tone in that range (in this case, D, the seventh of am E half-diminished chord) and arpeggiate upward. Change directions only when the next chord tone falls outside of the five-fret range.
While the purpose of this exercise is to improvise according to the above rule, some find it helpful to read through a reference exercise. You can find one chorus written out here and watch me perform it here.