Improvisation XII - "Everything Happens to Me" Part 3

This is the last exercise in a series of improvisation exercises based on the song “Everything Happens to Me” and focusing on tritone substitutions. Just like last month, the fret range is preserved but the key is changed—this time to Ab major. In this arrangement, there are tritone substitutions wherever a dominant chord would resolve to its associated tonic.

The rules of this arpeggio exercise are:

1. Arpeggiate the chords of a song in 8th notes within a five-fret range of the guitar.

2. Starting on the lowest available chord tone in that range (in this case, Db, the third of a Bb minor 7 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 may find it helpful to read through a reference exercise. You can find one chorus written out here and watch me perform it here.

Improvisation XI - "Everything Happens to Me" Part 2

Months ago, when I using this arpeggio exercise on the standard “Like Someone in Love” I altered the key of the song rather than change fret range. That is what I’ve done here as well. Rather than move out of the 7th-10th fret range, this month’s arpeggio exercise features “Everything Happens to Me” in F major with tritone substitutions on every dominant chord that would resolve to its associated tonic.

The rules of this arpeggio exercise are:

1. Arpeggiate the chords of a song in 8th notes within a five-fret range of the guitar.

2. Starting on the lowest available chord tone in that range (in this case, D, the fifth of a G minor 7 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 may find it helpful to read through a reference exercise. You can find one chorus written out here and watch me perform it here.

Improvisation X - "Everything Happens to Me" Part 1

This month’s improvisation exercise begins a new series of arpeggio exercises focused on tritone substitutions, now based on the standard “Everything Happens to Me”. I chose this song in part because I really like it and because it has some slightly unusual harmony in it—at least for a 32-bar AABA jazz ballad. There is a nice use of viiº7/iv (F#º7) in the fifth measure of the A sections. This prolongs dominant harmony from the previous measure’s VI7 (B7) as these two chords share the same diminished set. Additionally, there is a ‘baked in’ tritone substitution in measure seven of the A sections.

Continuing the previous series’s focus on tritone substitutions, I have made tritone substitutions in this arrangement in every situation where a dominant seventh chord would resolve to its associated tonic.

The rules of this arpeggio exercise are:

1. Arpeggiate the chords of a song in 8th notes within a five-fret range of the guitar.

2. Starting on the lowest available chord tone in that range (in this case, B, the fifth of an E minor 7 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 may find it helpful to read through a reference exercise. You can find one chorus written out here and watch me perform it here.

Improvisation IX - "Everything I Love" Part 3

This is the last exercise in a series of exercises based on the song “Everything I love” and tritone substitutions. This month the range of the arpeggio exercise has been shifted to the 10th-14th frets inclusive. Each month the fret range has shifted upwards 4 four frets. By the end of three months, then, I have covered an entire octave range on the guitar.

As always, the rules of this exercise are:

1. Arpeggiate the chords of a song in 8th notes within a five-fret range of the guitar.

2. Starting on the lowest available chord tone in that range (in this case, E, the seventh of an F major 7 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 may find it helpful to read through a reference exercise. You can find one chorus written out here and watch me perform it here.

Improvisation VIII - "Everything I Love" Part 2

Last month, I changed my usual improvisation exercise by tritone subbing every V7 chord that would resolve to its associated I chord in the song “Everything I Love”. This month, I continue that practice by shift the range of the arpeggio exercise to the 6th-10th frets inclusive.

As always, the rules of the game are:

1. Arpeggiate the chords of a song in 8th notes within a five-fret range of the guitar.

2. Starting on the lowest available chord tone in that range (in this case, C, the fifth of an F major 7 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 may find it helpful to read through a reference exercise. You can find one chorus written out here and watch me perform it here.

Improvisation VIII - "Everything I Love" Part 1

In previous posts I have mentioned how the improvisation arpeggio exercises I have been documenting are useful for learning the fretboard in a very thorough way. They can also be an excellent kind of ear-training. The rules of the exercise force specific resolutions of one chord to the next—resolutions we might not have otherwise chosen or ‘heard’. By repeating this exercise I will eventually expose myself to every resolution of one chord tone to another. Furthermore, this exercise can also be a way to target specific kinds of harmony.

In this month’s exercise I have replaced every V7 chord that resolves to its associated I chord with a tritone substitution. Tritone substations are perhaps the first substitution many jazz musicians learn. By practicing them in the context of this exercise, I can better train myself to ‘hear’ them and anticipated their resolution no matter what chord tone I happen upon.

As always, the rules of the game are:

1. Arpeggiate the chords of a song in 8th notes within a five-fret range of the guitar.

2. Starting on the lowest available chord tone in that range (in this case, A, the third of an F major 7 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 may find it helpful to read through a reference exercise. You can find one chorus written out here and watch me perform it here.

Improvisation VI - "Like Someone in Love" Part 3

In keeping with my aim of altering the key of each exercise while preserving the fret range, this month’s improvisation exercise features the song “Like Someone in Love” in the key of B major arpeggiated between the 6th and 10th frets inclusively.

As a reminder, the rules of this exercise are:

1. Arpeggiate the chords of a song in 8th notes within a five-fret range of the guitar.

2. Starting on the lowest available chord tone in that range (in this case, A#, the seventh of a B major 7 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.

Improvisation V - "Like Someone In Love" Part 2

In previous improvisation exercises, I changed the fret range but kept the key the same. In this series of exercises on the song “Like Someone in Love”, the fret range stays the same but the key of the song will change each month. This month the key is G major while last month it was Eb major. The fret range is the same as last month, between the 6th and 10th frets inclusively.

For new readers, the rules of this exercise are:

1. Arpeggiate the chords of a song in 8th notes within a five-fret range of the guitar.

2. Starting on the lowest available chord tone in that range (in this case, B, the third of a G major 7th 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.

Improvisation IV - "Like Someone in Love" Part 1

The improvisation exercise for this month is based around a different song, the jazz standard “Like Someone in Love”. Compared to “Stella by Starlight”, the harmony in “Like Someone in Love” moves a little bit faster. Since more chords last for only a half note, improvising according to the exercise’s rules requires slightly faster thinking. The fret range this month is the 6th-10th frets inclusive.

For any new readers, the rules of this exercise are:

1. Arpeggiate the chords of a song in 8th notes within a five-fret range of the guitar.

2. Starting on the lowest available chord tone in that range (in this case, Bb, the fifth of an Eb major 7th 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.

Improvisation III - "Stella by Starlight" Part 3

Once again, this month’s improvisation exercise is the same as last month’s except that the range within which one arpeggiates has been shifted to between the 1st and 5th frets inclusive. This range of the guitar can be tricky as it requires a bit more stretching. Nonetheless, it is a familiar range for most guitarists. Because of this, I find my habits are more well-worn here than elsewhere on the fretboard. This exercise helps me break those habits.

For new readers, the rules of this exercise are:

1. Arpeggiate the chords of a song in 8th notes within a five-fret range of the guitar.

2. Starting on the lowest available chord tone in that range (in this case, G, the third of an 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 may find it helpful to read through a reference exercise. You can find one chorus written out here and watch me perform it here.

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:

1. 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).

2. 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.

Improvisation I - "Stella By Starlight" Part 1

Practicing improvising on your own can be very tricky. I find it helpful to create simple, game-like scenarios based on a small set of rules. These games don’t necessarily make one improvise in the fullest sense of the term but they help develop my ability to think quickly about harmony and the guitar. The rules for this improvisation game are as follows:

1. Arpeggiate the chords of a song in 8th notes within a five-fret range of the guitar (in this case, from fret 5-9 inclusive).

2. Starting on the lowest available chord tone in that range (in this case, Bb, the fifth of a E half-diminished chord) and arpeggiate upward. Change directions only when the next chord tone falls outside of the five-fret range.

This exercise and others like it help me work out my knowledge of the fretboard in a rather rigorous way as well as force me to hear chords resolve one to another in ways I wouldn’t normally choose. Though the point of this exercise is to improvise using the rules only, it may be helpful to read through one chorus of the exercise, which you can find here. You can also watch me playing this exercise here.