I was thinking about this yesterday when a couple of people mentioned that they sometimes get stuck on the Backing Track Jams where they perhaps feel like they're not sure what to do other than to noodle around in a familiar scale, probably the pentatonic. Awareness of Chord Tones is one way to break away from "noodling".
You usually hear about Chord Tone Soloing as a concept in the jazz world..but really it applies to every genre. The basic idea is to simply target strong chord tones as the chords change. This gives your lead lines a focused effect as it sounds like you're leading the listener through the chords..which makes it sound like you know what you're doing
. You can use non-chord tones in your phrases, but aim to always hit a strong chord tone when the chord changes.
What's a strong chord tone?..well a little knowledge of chord construction helps here. Major chords are built from the 1, 3, 5 of a Major scale and minor chords are built on the 1, b3, 5 of a Major scale. Dominant chords also contain the 1, 3, 5 of a Major scale with an added b7 that distinguishes them as Dominant. If you don't know your Major scale yet, check out Mark's lessons on the subject and come back when the above makes sense
The 1, 3 (or b3 for minor),5 and b7 are all strong chord tones when played against their respective chords. As a demonstration, I've recorded a short clip which has this chord progression:
Dmin7/Gmin7/A7/DMaj
So, my "map" of strong notes for each chord is going to be:
D, F, A, C / G, Bb, D, F / A, C# E, G / D, F# A
To keep it really simple, I played a lead line that focuses exclusively on either the 1 (root) or 3 or 5 of each chord as it changes. I've ignored the 7's though they work fine too.
So each time the chord changes, I'm either playing a 1, 3 or 5 of the underlying chord. Also, I try and avoid big jumps to get to my target note, try and approach the target note from no greater than a whole step away, a half step makes it sound even smoother.
Here's the clip:
http://www.box.net/shared/pxvjj0ju8v
To my ears, by focusing on chord tones, this type of lead line sounds constructed and purposeful.
I haven't Tab'd out the line itself because:
a) I think it's more important to really listen to the clip and the effect that the chord tones create.
b) It's slow enough that if you really wanted to learn it, you could work it out
.
So, when faced with a Backing Track, always check out the chords first. This may sound obvious, but I know I've been guilty of wailing away without really paying attention to the changes..and sometimes that works..but it's good to understand what you're playing over...make a note of what the progression is, make a mental note of what the strong chord tones are..and then wail away!
Hope you get something out of this!
BTW, when people refer to Dave Gilmour or even Michael Schenker as being "tasty" players..it's because 99% of the time, they're instinctively hitting chord tones!.
You usually hear about Chord Tone Soloing as a concept in the jazz world..but really it applies to every genre. The basic idea is to simply target strong chord tones as the chords change. This gives your lead lines a focused effect as it sounds like you're leading the listener through the chords..which makes it sound like you know what you're doing
. You can use non-chord tones in your phrases, but aim to always hit a strong chord tone when the chord changes.What's a strong chord tone?..well a little knowledge of chord construction helps here. Major chords are built from the 1, 3, 5 of a Major scale and minor chords are built on the 1, b3, 5 of a Major scale. Dominant chords also contain the 1, 3, 5 of a Major scale with an added b7 that distinguishes them as Dominant. If you don't know your Major scale yet, check out Mark's lessons on the subject and come back when the above makes sense
The 1, 3 (or b3 for minor),5 and b7 are all strong chord tones when played against their respective chords. As a demonstration, I've recorded a short clip which has this chord progression:
Dmin7/Gmin7/A7/DMaj
So, my "map" of strong notes for each chord is going to be:
D, F, A, C / G, Bb, D, F / A, C# E, G / D, F# A
To keep it really simple, I played a lead line that focuses exclusively on either the 1 (root) or 3 or 5 of each chord as it changes. I've ignored the 7's though they work fine too.
So each time the chord changes, I'm either playing a 1, 3 or 5 of the underlying chord. Also, I try and avoid big jumps to get to my target note, try and approach the target note from no greater than a whole step away, a half step makes it sound even smoother.
Here's the clip:
http://www.box.net/shared/pxvjj0ju8v
To my ears, by focusing on chord tones, this type of lead line sounds constructed and purposeful.
I haven't Tab'd out the line itself because:
a) I think it's more important to really listen to the clip and the effect that the chord tones create.
b) It's slow enough that if you really wanted to learn it, you could work it out
.So, when faced with a Backing Track, always check out the chords first. This may sound obvious, but I know I've been guilty of wailing away without really paying attention to the changes..and sometimes that works..but it's good to understand what you're playing over...make a note of what the progression is, make a mental note of what the strong chord tones are..and then wail away!
Hope you get something out of this!
BTW, when people refer to Dave Gilmour or even Michael Schenker as being "tasty" players..it's because 99% of the time, they're instinctively hitting chord tones!.
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..what that impact is will be different for everyone I guess..but you get to learn what a minor third sounds like against a particular chord in a particular context..and then you can target that emotion at will..I think this is a big part of what we call "feel" players do instinctively.
