• Registered: 2013-06-10
  • Posts: 360

Topic: How Do You Solo Over Chord Changes?!?

Hello,

As my interest in Jazz and Fusion has grown I have come to realize that I will have to learn how to solo over complex chord changes, so far I have done some searches of the internet and I have not found anything on this topic that is broken down to the point where someone who is ignorant to the subject can follow, I have found plenty of stuff that just says, "you use the lydian mode over this chord" but I need to know why, I need a deeper understanding so I can apply it to everything and not just use it on a specific chord sequence! I'm sorry if these are dumb questions, I come from a rock background so I am used to soloing in one key/scale/mode for an entire solo! I would like to say in advance that I greatly appreciate all answers and comments!

Cheers,

Django

2 Reply by ZeyerGTR (edited by ZeyerGTR 2014-01-27 16:43:19)

  • From: Orlando, FL
  • Registered: 2010-04-15
  • Posts: 1,373

Re: How Do You Solo Over Chord Changes?!?

The "why" is what notes are in the chords you're playing over, coming from, and leading to.  That's really what determines whether a given note in your solo sounds "in" or "out."

So the key to soloing over changes (not that I'm any great expert at it) is understanding what chords you're playing over, and want notes create them.  Knowing the chord progression also opens up notes that lead to and from a given chord (chromaticism, etc).  It's not about "I'm playing over a b9 chord, so i'll play phrygian dominant," it's about melody, and often you'll hear great melodies that have 'outside' notes that work.  They work because they're played at the right time and lead to or from something.

The other thing to practice, which I'm terrible at, is keeping track of the chord progression in your head while you play.  Put on a backing track with some changes and when you're practicing, don't worry about the notes you're playing so much as keeping track of the changes.  Once you get comfortable you'll start to "hear them coming" and be able to anticipate them while soloing.

If you know how to read music, get a copy of the Real Book and start learning standards that catch your ear.  They're classics for a reason and you'll see how the melody works over the chords.  It'll also get the sound of common jazz changes in your ears.

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3 Reply by Hollie's Dad (edited by Hollie's Dad 2014-01-27 19:57:11)

  • Registered: 2012-02-27
  • Posts: 43

Re: How Do You Solo Over Chord Changes?!?

I'm so far from expert it's not even funny, but I'd echo the good advice given above, plus something else useful I picked up, which is the use of triads. I was lucky enough to see Carl Verheyen talking about this very subject and his advice was to take a chord and work out its triad (the 3 essential notes that make up the chord) in various positions, including inverted ones. He showed how you can move laterally and create interesting lines just using triads. I got to know quite quickly where the triad shapes were and they're something you can always fall back on when you know a certain type of chord is coming.

I just don't know how the jazz guys do it so effortlessly on the fly. It's so hard keeping track of the changes in your head while trying to play something fluent and melodic. Start simple I guess and see how far you can take a simple 1-4-5 progression by implying extended chords like 9ths, 7ths and 13ths.

Be sure to have fun trying though, it can get laborious if you let it.