Chops: Intermediate
Theory: Advanced
Lesson Overview:
• Learn to harmonize a melody using block chords with quartal voicings.
• Use descending chord substitutions in your chord melody.
• Discover new ways to approach chord progressions.
Click here to download a printable PDF of this lesson's notation.
It’s no secret: Playing solo is one of the hardest things to master on guitar. In this lesson, we’ll explore six common “tricks” you can use to bring your solo chops to the next level. And you can apply these tried-and-true techniques to almost any melody.
To start with, you'll need a melody and some chord changes, and I’ve provided both in Fig. 1. This example consists of an easy diatonic melody and a very common jazz chord progression. They’ll provide the basic foundation for our new techniques.
Trick #1: Use block chords
Now that you have the melody and chord changes in your ear, let’s apply our first trick. If we look at how the guitar is tuned, it's arranged in fourths with a third between the 2nd and 3rd strings. This makes it very easy to play stacked fourths or quartal chords.
Fig. 2 is written in a “block” style using mostly chords built from stacked fourths, along with a few other goodies. Block-style playing consists primarily of parallel harmony—all the notes move in the same direction with the same rhythm. To add more spice to the sound, I included some quartal voicings from the Lydian mode. You’ll notice I’m not really concerned with the bass movement of my chords in this example. Instead, I’ve focused on harmonizing the melody from the top down using as many fourth intervals as I can without totally compromising the essential harmony.
Trick #2: Use descending chord substitutions
Next we’ll concentrate on the outer notes of the chord melody, specifically the top note (that’s the melody) and the bottom note. I’m going to try to play a descending bass line while maintaining my melody note movement on top. The first note of my melody is F, it also happens to be the first chord we play.
There is a common substitution that you can use to start your downward reharmonization. Use a minor7b5 chord a tritone away from the root with the melody as the top note. So, in Fig. 3 our new chord will be Bm7b5 chord with F on top. From there I'm just basically going through the descending cycle of fifths and substituting the b5 sub for every dominant 7 chord. So, instead of having Bm7b5-E7-Am11-D7-Gm11-C7, I have Bm7b5-Bb9b5-Am11-Ab7-Gm11-Gbdim7-Gm-Gb7.
Trick #3: Use ascending chord substitutions
Now we’ll go in the opposite direction. When chords are moving in a cycle, they seem to naturally flow through a downward progression. By taking the melody as our top voice and using the bass note as our root note, we’ll “go against the grain."
In Fig. 4, notice how I’ve again pretty much substituted every other chord. This time I’m using mostly diminished chords to achieve the harmonic direction I want to move in. All the diminished chords are functioning as the V chord of the minor chord they precede.
Trick #4: Use chromatic approach chords
The concept behind this technique is quite simple: Approach any chord from a half-step below or above. In Fig. 5, I’ve approached all the dominant 7 chords from a half-step above. Instead of F-D7-Gm-C7-Am-D7-Gm-C7, I now have F6/9-Eb13b9-D7b9-Gm11-Dbmaj7-C-Am11-Eb13-D9-Gm7-Db7#9b13-C9. Most of my approach chords are dominant, but I do use a Dbmaj7 chord going to C major, it all depends on the melody and, ultimately, your ear.
Trick #5: Arpeggiate the chords
In this example, I use the same chords as in Fig. 5. The big difference here is that I play through every chord one note at a time. Arpeggiating chords is a great way to change up the feel of a chord solo. I picked eighth-note triplets for the rhythm because of the tempo and the way they fit the feel of the melody. Again, my choices are ultimately based on what I think sounds good.
Notice how in Fig. 6 I’ve inserted a couple of intervals into the arpeggiated melody. I like the way they sound and how they break up the constant stream of single notes.
Trick #6: Reharmonize
This one is the easiest to explain and the hardest to do. In this example, we’ll keep our melody and throw out the chord changes. In Fig. 7, you’ll see I’ve abandoned our original changes. I decided to start on a Bbmaj7 chord and I just went from there. But these aren’t a random set of changes—all the chords I picked have the melody notes in them.
I also tried to connect my chords as musically as possible. The only rule is that the melody notes must be in the chords you pick. This technique is fun because you can throw a lot of the harmonic rules right out the window and just go for it!
Take these “tricks" and start applying them to your favorite jazz standards. With a little practice and patience you’ll be happy with the results.
This one is the easiest to explain and the hardest to do! Here, we are going to keep our melody and throw out the chord changes. In Fig. 7 you will see that I have abandoned our original changes. I decided to start on a Bbmaj7 chord and I just went from there. All the chords that I picked have the melody notes in them. I also tried to connect my chords as musically as I could. The only rule is that the melody notes have to be in the chords you pick! This technique is a lot of fun because you can throw a lot of the harmonic rules right out the window and just go for it!
The biggest hit I’ve ever had a part in is the Mr. Big single, “To Be with You.” It went to No. 1 on the charts all over the world, and I continue to brag about it whenever I have to write a bio for myself. I do feel that I did a solid and respectable job of strumming the chords, singing some harmonies, and playing a theme-reinforcing guitar solo, but I did not, I repeat, I did not write the song. I wish I had. It’s a great tune. But I have to give credit and gratitude to Mr. Big’s vocalist, Eric Martin, for making that happen. Thank you, Eric!
When it comes to hits, I have not had many outside of Mr. Big. Certainly nothing that has climbed the charts and sat next to Mariah Carey and Right Said Fred. But among the people who like to listen to guitar music, I’ve had the good fortune to have penned a couple of ... let’s call them “favorites.” The Racer X song “Scarified” would be one of those. And if my math is correct, the song is 25 years old now. Happy birthday to it!
“Scarified” began its life as a furious and deadly accurate double-bass drum riff by Scott Travis. I heard him playing it in rehearsal and did my best to attach some notes to his rhythms. That gave us the instrumental equivalent of a verse, but to complete the song, we needed more.
At the time, I was enamored with the fact that classical music of a certain age was legally considered “public domain” and could be plundered with wild abandon. Bach, Mozart, Beethoven. All that creative genius was (and still is) available to any writer who cared to borrow or steal from it, for the same price as a breath of air.
So steal I did. Or at least tried to. I was listening to my favorite harpsichord concerto (credited to J.C. Bach) and I began to learn my favorite sections of it by ear. This wasn’t easy! The notes were quick 16ths, and they were sometimes buried while competing with the accompanying orchestra for space in the mix. Also, these phrases had never been played on guitar before. Licks that might be a breeze on a harpsichord can be distinctly challenging when translated to another instrument. But I did my best, and came up with something that worked for the next section of the song. The result was a classical/ metal onslaught that became an immediate crowd-pleaser at our live shows and still rewards me with millions of YouTube hits from my solo version of the tune.
But one thing always bothered me about stealing these classical licks. And that is that I didn’t steal them correctly. So, after much creative hunting, I finally managed to locate the sheet music of the original harpsichord concerto. This was back in 1998, and I was feeling so ambitious I actually recorded the entire first movement of the concerto, using guitars to cover not only the harpsichord parts, but also the violins, violas, cellos, and string bass parts. I named my recording “Gilberto Concerto,” and after completing the recording, I promptly forgot all the parts due to the impossibility of remembering that many notes.
Fast forward to the present, and I found myself preparing for a gig and looking at “Scarified” in the middle of my set list. I thought it might be nice to finally take the correct notes that I briefly learned in 1998, and practice them until I could actually perform them live. So I dusted off the score, asked my wife—who sight-reads much better than I do—to play the notes slowly on the piano. I recorded her playing so I could easily learn the notes by ear (without having to battle fast tempos or competing orchestras). After a couple of weeks, I had it, and now I give it to you in Fig. 1.
The key to making this playable is the fingerings. Some fingerings make the lefthand part easier. Some fingerings make the picking easier. Some fingerings make the shapes easier to remember. Some fingerings make the notes easier to keep clean without string noise. I’m pretty sure I tried every possibility and every combination. After much practicing and tweaking, I finally had a fingering that my brain could see, my fingers could navigate, and my ears approved of.
And live … I nailed it. Proof that it works!
A couple notes about technique. I did not include specific markings to show where I am picking and where I am using hammer-ons and pull-offs. If I included that much notation, the end result would be cumbersome and counter-productive. The general hints that I’ll give you are these: I am not picking everything. Whenever I switch from one string to the next, I will always pick that transition— with outside picking, if possible. (With outside picking, your flatpick comes across a string from its outer edge. For example, if I was playing two notes on the 3rd and 2nd strings, I’d strike them with a down-up move. This means after plucking the 3rd string, I’d sail over the 2nd string and then hit it with an upstroke. For an in-depth explanation, see my “How to Practice Pole- Vaulting” column in the June 2011 issue.)
But otherwise, I am using hammer-ons and pull-offs as often as I can. I have covered this “juggling” of techniques in previous columns, so I encourage you to look back and practice some of my simpler exercises to build this technique into a habit.
Finally, I would like to thank J.C. Bach, his famous dad, J.S. Bach, and all those amazing writers 250 years ago who may not be getting royalties on their tunes, but who continue to shake the air with the awesome music they wrote. They were so good that I am terrified—in fact, scarified.
