CHORD TONE / ARPEGGIO DRILLS Jacob Wise

WHY CHORD TONE DRILLS? (and not just improvising using chord-scales / licks / “playing by ear”, etc.)

Outlining harmony in a clear fashion and making your musical ideas obvious - before you make them obscure / vague

Outlining harmony and time simultaneously (basslines)

Establishing points of resolution for jazz licks / vocabulary (which notes to start and end a phrase on)

Voice leading – smoothly connecting chords via guide tones, common tones, 3-7, b9-5 resolutions, etc.

Targeting chord tones – especially the third (clearly identifying the chord quality), as well as extensions (9, 11, 13) – tones that give melodies more color

Motivic development – taking simple ideas (based literally on the harmony of a tune) – and transposing them through the changes – with or without alterations

Control the changees – don’t let the changes control you (motivic development, or thinking in terms of the line – controlling the melodic line upwards or downwards through the changes)

Much of the jazz vocabulary comes directly from arpeggios and chord tones – not scales (confirm this via transcription of the language)

MATERIAL:Triads (1 3 5)seventh chords (1 3 5 7)ninth chords (1 3 5 7 9)eleventh chords (1 3 5 7 9 11)thirteenth / fully extended chords (1 3 5 7 9 11 13)

PRACTICE METHOD1) Pick one concept

2) Using a rubato / free time approach (either solo or with harmonic accompaniment) – explore the tune’s harmony using that approach, until it is strongly established in your mind, and under your fingers

3) In tempo / real time (solo or with playalong) – practice improvising melodies and lines using this concept. Also - practice integrating this new concept with

your usual approach to the tune (licks, and patterns that you are already comfortable with)

CONCEPTS:

2 octave or full rangefrom root on 6th and 5th strings(based on root position voicings - changing positions – most basic concept)

in position (6 fret span) – from root, or full range in position (starting on a note other than the root = inversion)

Descending arpeggios begin every arpeggio on the 1st string and descend - practice locating melody notes instead of bass notes

“Positions” (6 frets) based on the first chord of the tune 5-6 positions overall for the entire tune – based on the location of the 1st chord – find the other chords nearby

Position exercises1 up, 1 down – first arpeggio ascending, then next arpeggio descendingtry on various string sets in position (1234, 2345, 123, 234, 345, etc)

Full range chord tone drillPlay 4 notes per measure – connecting arpeggios as you ascend and descend across the entire fingerboard (using any fingering as long as arpeggios connect smoothly – using a common tone, or whole or half step)

Chromatic enclosures / neighbor tones / appoggiaturaChromatic belowChromatic aboveScale tone aboveDouble chromatic above(try various combinations of above approaches)

“Horizontal” exercisesPick a string set – 12, 123, etc. and play chord tones on those strings – lots of shifting up and down the neck – good way to link arpeggios with chord shapes / inversions

Chord tone permutations135, 153, 315, 351, 513, 531

1357, 1375, 3157, 3175, 5317, 5371, 7531, 7513, etc.

Chord tones from voicings Triads (major, minor, diminished, augmented) drop 2, guide tone + extension voicings, 3 and 4 note chord scale voicings, etc. (in position, or across the fingerboard on one set of strings)

Guide tone drills – connecting 3rds and 7ths through the changes (think guide tone / shell voicing shapes – guide tones are usually on strings 34)

“Melodic basslines”create an improvised line with a limited number of notes per measure (2, 3, 4)use strict half notes and quarter notes, or be loose rhythmically

Extended arpeggios Major: 1 3 5 7 9 #11 13

Minor: 1 b3 5 b7 9 11 (13 is not a good extension for the ii7 chord – 13 is the 3rd of the V7 chord, so playing the 13th of the ii7 negates the 7-3 voice leading from ii7 to V7)

Dominant:Tonic or II7 dominant: 1 3 5 b7 9 #11 13 (I7 and IV7 in a blues, II7 in “Take The “A” Train”

Altered dominant (many variations)1 3 5 b7 b9

3 5 b7 b9 (same as diminished 6 arpeggio – transposable by minor 3rds)

1 3 5 b7 #9

1 3 5 b7 b9 #9 10 b13 (fully altered aka superlocrian sound)

1 3 5 b7 b9 #11 13 (half whole diminished sound)

Upper structure triad possibilitiesCmaj13 = D / C bassCdom13 (9, #11, 13) = D / C bassCmin13 = D- C bassC13b9 = A / C bassC7b9#5 = Db- / C bassetc. (many possibilities to investigate)