When learning how to build comping patterns and chord-soloing ideas over major key ii-V-I’s, we often look for large 4, 5 and 6-note chords, or shapes with big stretches in them to navigate this common progression.

But, you don’t always have to go bigger or harder when it comes to properly voice-leading a ii V I progression in a major key. In fact, often times it sounds better, and is much easier on your hands, when you use triads and other 3-note chords in your ii V I comping and soloing ideas on the guitar.

In today’s lesson we’ll be looking at ways that you can apply triads and voice-leading guidelines to your major ii-V-I comping and chord soloing ideas on each of the four string-sets on the guitar.

These shapes and patterns will give you more than enough material needed to convincingly and easily get through any ii-V-I progression, in any key and over any tune you are jamming on or shedding in the practice room.

Click to download the PDF for this lesson.

Major ii V I Triad Construction

Before we begin checking out these triads on the guitar, let’s look at how they work from a theoretical standpoint, in order to fully understand how and why we apply these shapes to our chord soloing and comping ideas over a major key ii-V-I chord progression.

The idea stems from the inner spelling of any 7th chord. With a four-note chord, if you remove the root note, you are left with a triad, which will be the building block of our chord ideas throughout this lesson.

Here is how this works for each of the chords in a ii V I chord progression, written out in the key of C major as an example.

Dm7 – D F A C = F A C  (F major triad when root is removed)

Cmaj7 – C E G B = E G B (E minor triad when root is removed)

There you have the two triads build from the iim7 and Imaj7 chords in a ii V I. But what about the V7 chord?

Here, we are going to apply a bit of voice leading to make things move smoothly from one chord to the next, as well as make it easy for you to remember how to apply these chords on the fly when bringing them to a musical situation.

To produce the V7, or to be more specific V9, chord that you will see in the examples below, we simply take the iim7 chord and lower the 7th by 1 fret.

So, if you have Dm7 (F A C to spell our F triad), and you lower the 7 by one fret you get a G9 chord (F A B or b7-9-3).

This is a great way to outline a V9 sound in your comping, while moving smoothly and easily from the iim7 chord at the same time.

Though it is not strictly a triad, this three-note shape has been used by countless players such as Lenny Breau, Ted Greene, Ed Bickert and many more to bring a V9 sound to their comping and chord soloing ideas throughout the years.

As well, you will notice that when you apply these different triads to the major key ii V I chord progression, the iim7 and Imaj7 chord always share the same inversion.

This can help you when memorizing and applying these shapes to your playing, as you know that whatever inversion you start your progression with on the iim7 chord, you will use that same inversion when it comes to resolving to the Imaj7 chord at the end of the phrase.

If you need a refresher on triads and triad fingerings, check out my “Triads for Jazz Guitar Page” for more information.

Now that you have some theory behind how we are going to build these triads and apply them to a ii V I progression, it’s time to put this knowledge to action and learn how to comp through major ii-V-I chord progressions using triads and proper voice leading on each possible string-set on the guitar.

Major ii V I Triads Top Strings

The first string set that we will explore features these ii-V-I triads on the top 3 strings of the guitar.

After you have memorized these shapes in the key of C major, practice taking them to other keys around the neck, before applying them to a tune you know or are working on in your practice routine.

Since these triads are on the thinnest strings of the guitar, they tend to cut through better than some of the other, lower string-sets.

Because of this, they sound great in a chord soloing situation where they rise above the other instruments in the band, and are fairly easy to grab on the fly when creating chord-soloing ideas on the guitar.

Click to hear the audio for this example

Major ii V I Triads 4-2 Strings

This is my favorite string-set to use when applying triads to the major-key ii-V-I chord progression.

On the 4-3-2 string set, the triads seem to ring clearly and each note comes out with clarity and solid tone on the guitar, and therefore this is the set of strings that I use the most when applying triads to my ii V I comping and chord soloing ideas.

For this reason, if I am to only work out one string set for these triads, and apply them to my major ii-V-I ideas on the guitar, it would be this one. So, this is a good place to start if you are looking to explore this idea for the first time in the woodshed.

From here, you can branch out to the other string sets, working these ideas fully across the neck in various keys and octaves as you explore these triads further in your jazz guitar practice routine.

Click to hear the audio for this example.

Major ii V I Triads 5-3 Strings

The next string set we will explore is the 5-4-3 string set, which is commonly used in jazz guitar as you can get a nice low, full sound on these strings, but they tend to be less boomy/muddy than the lowest three strings on the guitar.

I always think of jazz guitar legend Wes Montgomery’s tone and texture when I play these chords. Not sure why, but they bring to mind the sound that Wes got when he played chords on the lower string-sets in his comping and soloing ideas.

Memorize these shapes in the key of C major to begin, and then take them to other keys around the neck before applying them to a tune you know or are checking out in the woodshed.

Click to hear the audio for this example

Major ii V I Triads Low Strings

To finish up our study of voice-leading triads through major key ii V I progressions, here is how those chords would line up on the low-3 strings.

Though we don’t use this string set as often as the other three, mostly due to the sometimes muddy sound we get on the low strings when using triads, they are worth working out and trying to find places to apply them to your comping and chord soloing ideas.

Again, work on these triads as written at various tempos, then take them around the different key centers before applying them to a tune you know or are working on in the practice room.

Click to hear the audio for this example

Tune Up Triads Study

To sum things up, and apply what we’ve learned to a practical situation, here is a one-chorus comping study using triads on various string groups to outline the chord changes to the Miles Davis tune “Tune Up.”

I have worked in various inversions and string sets for each triad, even in the span of one bar on occasion, but kept the sense of strong voice leading between each chord in the progression.

Once you have worked this study out in the woodshed, try writing a chorus or two of your own over this tune, or any other you know or are currently working on.

Then, try applying these triads to your comping, or chord soloing ideas, in real time as you play along with a backing track, jam with a friend or bring these triads to your jazz group playing.

They are small, easy to play shapes, but they can have a big effect on your comping and chord soloing ideas, so they are well worth spending time on in the practice room to get them under your fingers, into your ears and into your jazz guitar playing.

Click to hear the audio for this example

Sometimes learning how to play effective comping and chord soloing lines on guitar doesn’t mean learning big, stretchy chords. In fact, it can be just the opposite.

By working out triads and applying them to ii V I chord progressions, you are not only developing a proper approach to voice leading this common and important chord progression, but you won’t have to learn any big or difficult chord voicings to do so.

Do you have a question or comment about this lesson, triads or voice leading? Post it in the Major ii V I Triads thread in the MWG Forum.

How to Play Major ii V I Progressions Using Triads from Matt Warnock Guitar

While many of us will go for a Whole-Tone Scale approach to soloing over 7#5 chords when we see them in a lead sheet or Big Band chart, there is an easy to play, and great-sounding, Triad Pair that you can use to outline this chord in your lines, while keeping things simple at the same time.

In today’s lesson we will be exploring a 7#5 Triad Pair that you can use in your solo to bring a fresh sound and approach to your 7#5 outlines.

Read more about applying different triad pairs to chords in my “Triad Pairs for Jazz Guitar Series”

7#5 Triad Pairs For Guitar

The triad pair that we will look at features an Augmented Triad from the Root and 2nd notes of the 7#5 chord you are soloing over.

This means that if you see a C7#5 chord, as in the example below, you can play C+ and D+ triads over this chord to bring out the characteristic sound of the harmony in your lines.

Notice those two triads actually produce 2 other triads each, for a total of 6 possible Augmented Triads that you can use in your playing over 7#5 chords.

Let’s take a closer look at this concept.

The notes of the C+ triad are C E G#, and when you play different inversions of those notes, you create two other Augmented Triads, E and G#.

C+ = C E G#

E+ = E G# Bx(C)

G#+ = G# Bx(C) Dx(E)

The same rule applies for the D+ Triad.

D+ = D F# A#

F#+ = F# A# Cx(D)

A#+ = A# Cx(D) Ex(F#)

So, when you take these 6 Augmented triads and play them back to back, you get all of the triads from the C Whole-Tone Scale.

C+ D+ E+ F#+ G#+ A#+

You can see these triads laid out on the fretboard in the following technical exercise, which I use to work these triads over different string sets and different keys around the neck.

So, you can think of this as 1 Triad Pair, C+ and D+ over C7#5, with each chord having 2 possible inversions to use in your lines.

Or, you could think of it as using the triads coming from a C Whole-Tone Scale to solo over C7#5.

Whichever way you choose to think about it is cool, as long as it allows you to understand the concept, then quickly and naturally bring these triads into your jazz guitar solos.

To finish off this section, I’ve written out a sample ii V I Jazz Guitar Lick in the key of F Major that you can use as a jumping off point when exploring this Triad Pair from an improvisational standpoint.

7#5 Triad Pairs Practice Tips

After you’ve checked out the 7#5 Triad Pair, and worked out the examples written above, you can explore these important melodic devices further in your practice routine.

Here are a few of my favorite ways to practice 7#5 Triad Pairs from both a technical and improvisational standpoint.

• Play these triad pairs in inversions in 1 position on the neck ascending, descending and alternating ascending and descending in 1 key.
• Repeat this exercise in 12 keys across the neck and in different starting positions such as 5th string roots, starting on the 2nd of the two triad-pairs, etc.
• Play a 7#5 chord on the guitar and sing the triad pairs for that chord, both major and then minor. Repeat in all 12 keys.
• Put on a static 7#5 chord vamp and improvise over it using the major triad-pairs, followed by the diminished triad pairs. Repeat in 12 keys.
• Solo over a major key ii-V-I chord progression and use the 7#5 Triad Pair to solo over the V7 chord. Repeat in 12 keys.
• Solo over a tune you are working on and use the 7#5 Triad Pair to build lines over every 7th chord in the progression.

As jazz guitarists, we know that having control of the 7#5 chord and soloing vocabulary is an important part of playing the genre, but sometimes we can get too focused on scales and licks in our playing over this important chord.

By checking out the 7#11 triad pairs above, the technical exercises and vocabulary examples, you can expand your 7#5 vocabulary without going beyond simple augmented triads in your playing.

What do you think about these triad pairs over 7#5 chords? Share your thoughts in the 7#5 Triad Pairs thread in the MWG Forum.

Triad Pairs for Jazz Guitar – 7#5 Triad Pairs from Matt Warnock Guitar

In today’s lesson, we’ll be looking at 5 licks that will being a Modern Jazz sound into your playing by using 4th intervals for the basis of each lick.

These licks tend to have a more “open” sound to them compared to lines built in 2nds, 3rds and 6ths for example, so take your time with them if you are just exploring jazz guitar licks in 4ths for the first time.

Have a question or comment about this article? Visit the 4th Interval Licks thread in the MWG Forum.

4th Interval Lick 1

This first 4th-interval lick starts simple over the Dm7 chord, then builds in intensity as chromatic notes are added in bar 3, both as lower approach notes to chord tones, F#-G and A#-B respectively.

Though I marked several notes with slurs, you can also play those notes as slides if you hear that sound in this line. You could also pick every note if you wanted, the right-hand markings are a suggestion so feel free to try one or more picking approaches to this, or any, lick and see where they lead you in your playing.

4th Interval Lick 2

Again, this lick starts off fairly simple, but then starts to build in chromatic notes at the end of the first bar, continuing into the second bar before resolving back to a more diatonic feel over the Cmaj7 chord in bar 3.

The rhythm used in the 3rd and 4th bars, quarter-note triplets followed by a triplet, can be a bit tricky to get down at first. So, make sure to use your metronome and go slow with these measures until you have this rhythm down. From there you can speed things up and move forward with a deeper comfort level on the rhythm.

4th Interval Lick 3

In this lick, I used a descending pattern over the first two bars, the four-note riff that works it’s way down the neck over Em7b5 and A7alt.

Notice that I used the Altered Scale over the A7 chord, applying 4ths to this scale in the same way as I did the Major Scale Modes in the previous examples.

You can use 4th over any scale or mode you choose, but some are trickier than others because of how they lay on the guitar. So, feel free to experiment with added 4ths to any scale or mode you know, but just be aware that some will take more time to get down than others.

4th Interval Lick 4

This lick also contains some tricky rhythms in the first two-bars, so take your time working these sections out, with a metronome and slowly is recommended.

The last two bars use a straight-forward rhythmic approach, but cover a large part of the neck, as well as a few awkward position shifts.

For this lick, feel free to try out a few different fingerings, move notes around the neck etc., until you find a fingering for the second half of the phrase that fits your hands and feels comfortable to you.

You might dig my fingering the best, or you might find one that fits better than what I wrote down for your hands. So no harm in looking at a few other ways to grab this lick on the neck as you explore it further in the woodshed.

4th Interval Lick 5

The final lick in this lesson also uses the Altered Scale over the A7 chord in the second bar, as well as a series of stacked 4ths along different strings in bar 3 of the line.

When you start to play multiple stacks of 4th intervals across the neck like this, you often find that you can use only one or two fingers to grab these notes, but that your picking hand might stumble on the way up these 4th intervals.

For this reason, feel free to experiment with sweeps, half-sweep picks, alternate picking or economy picking when you come across lines like these. There are many ways to pick this line, so experiment with a few and find the one that best fits your hands and musical style.

4th Interval Licks Practice Tips

Here are 5 ways that you can practice these licks in order to further integrate them into your fingers, ears and improvisational vocabulary.

1. Sing the root of each chord and play the lick over those roots. Repeat in 12 keys.
2. Play the underlying chords for each lick and then sing the notes of the lick over your guitar chords. Repeat in 12 keys.
3. Learn each lick in either a lower or higher octave than written. Repeat in 12 keys.
4. Find at least 3 other fingerings for each lick on the neck. Repeat in 12 keys.
5. Solo over your favorite jazz standard and use these licks as much as possible during your solo.

With a modern-sounding vibe to them, and being relatively easy to finger on the guitar, 4th-interval licks are a must-have tool in the modern jazz guitarist’s improvisational tool belt.

Check out these licks in the practice room this week and then take the out to a jam or gig to see how they fit into your current repertoire of tunes.

Do you have a question or comment about this lesson? Visit the 4th Interval Lick thread at the MWG Forum.

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Jazz Guitar Licks – Five 4th Interval Licks for Guitar from Matt Warnock Guitar

As a guitar player, I really enjoy being able to go from playing single-note solos to chordal/double-stop solos.

Something I like to do is to combine both of these approaches when I am improvising.

There are several reasons I would choose to do so.

When I am in a trio setting, bass and drums, I really like to do this type of thing as it provides an accompaniment to my solo and outlines the harmony that I’m playing over, since in that format there isn’t another harmonic instrument.

It can truly add color, variety and dynamics to your improvisation in this type of trio setting.

George Van Eps, Howard Alden and Lenny Breau are names that come to mind when I think of this concept if you would like to check out some guitar players doing it besides little old me.

In the following examples, I really didn’t get too crazy with the chords and am only peppering my lines with double-stop ideas.

Nothing with more than two notes at a time was combined into these jazz guitar licks when I worked them out on the guitar.

I wrote all of the following examples over ii-V-I’s in the key of C with two examples placing two beats for the ii and V.

Another example stretching them out a little more with four beats for the ii and V. In the last example, I wrote a phrase 4 measures long over one chord, Am7.

Be careful of the cluster’s at the end of the 1st and 3rd examples as they can be a little tricky fingering wise.

I hope these examples can be springboards for you to come up with your own ideas.

Try to do these in different keys and apply them to as many jazz standards as you can. Good luck!

Have a question or comment about these licks? Share it in the Double Stop Licks thread of the MWG Forum.

Double Stop Lick 1

Listen to the audio for Double Stop Lick 1

Double Stop Lick 2

Listen to audio for Double Stop Lick 2

Double Stop Lick 3

Listen to audio for Double Stop Lick 3

Double Stop Lick 4

Listen to audio for Double Stop Lick 4

About the Author

Dave Kain studied at Suny Purchase, Berklee College of Music, and eventually received a Bachelor’s degree in jazz improvisation from Five Towns College of Music. You can watch Dave in action on his youtube channel www.youtube.com/davekain as well as checking him out at www.reverbnation.com/davekain

Jazz Guitar Licks – Double Stop Licks for Guitar from Matt Warnock Guitar

While many of us will dig into the Lydian Dominant Scale when learning how to solo over 7#11 chords, we often stop there in our exploration of this fun and common chord type.

Besides using the 4th Mode of the Melodic Minor Scale over 7#11 chords, you can also take simple, easy to play major and diminished triads, and pair them up to create lines that are both interesting to to ear and that outline the changes at the same time.

In today’s lesson we will be exploring just that, two different 7#11 triad pairs that you can use in your solo to bring a fresh sound and approach to your 7#11 outlines.

Read more about applying different triad pairs to chords in my “Triad Pairs for Jazz Guitar Series”

Have a question or comment about this lesson? Visit the 7#11 Triad Pair thread in the MWG Forum.

7#11 Triad Pairs 1

The first 7#11 triad pair that we will look at uses Major Triads starting on the root and 2nd of the underlying chord, C and D in the example below over C7#11.

If you are new to these triads, or just want a refresher, check out my Major Triads for Jazz Guitar Page.

As you can see from this first example, when you play C and D over C7#11, you produce the intervals Root-3-5 and 9-#11-13, the basic triad and all of the extension notes.

Now that you know about the Major Triad Pair over 7#11 chords, and what intervals they produce, it’s time to take them onto the guitar.

Here is one of my favorite ways to practice 7#11 Triad Pairs, or any triad pair for that matter. The crux of this exercise is that you play the triads back to back moving up their inversions, but instead of staying in one position you move up the neck on the same string set.

Here is an example of that exercise over C7#11 on the 4-3-2 string set. After working this string set in a number of different keys and tempos, try taking this idea to other string sets across the fingerboard.

Finally, to give you an example of how to apply this 7#11 triad pair to a lick, here is a sample phrase over the first four bars of an F Blues chord progression.

Learn the lick in the given key and then practice taking it to other keys and fingerings across the neck in your jazz guitar practice routine.

Now that you have checked out Major Triads over 7#11 chords, let’s move on to another favorite of mine, Diminished triad pairs.

7#11 Triad Pairs 2

The next set of 7#11 Triad Pairs that we’ll take a look at involves playing a Diminished Triad from the 3rd and #4 of the underlying chord, as in the Edim and F#dim triads in the following examples.

As you can see, when you play Edim and F#dim over C7#11, you produce the intervals 3-5-b7 and #11-13-Root, all important notes when outlining a 7#11 sound in your lines

If you are new to these triads, or just want a refresher, check out my Diminished Triads for Jazz Guitar Page.

Here is how that looks on paper.

Again, to give you some technical exercises to work on in order to get these triads in your ears and under your fingers, here is a similar exercise to the Major Triad Pair that we saw earlier, only this time using Diminished Triads instead.

And to finish up, here is a sample lick using the Edim and F#dim triads over a C7#11 chord. Learn this lick as is, then take it to other keys and tempos around the neck in order to get the most out of it in your jazz guitar practice routine.

Now that you have checked out both sets of 7#11 Triad Pairs, here are some exercises that you can do in order to explore these ideas fully in the woodshed.

7#11 Triad Pairs Practice Tips

After you’ve checked out each triad pair, and worked out the examples written above, you can explore these important melodic devices further in your practice routine.

Here are a few of my favorite ways to practice 7#11 Triad Pairs from both a technical and improvisational standpoint.

• Play these triad pairs in inversions in 1 position on the neck ascending, descending and alternating ascending and descending in 1 key.
• Repeat this exercise in 12 keys across the neck and in different starting positions such as 5th string roots, starting on the 2nd of the two triad-pairs, etc.
• Play a 7#11 chord on the guitar and sing the triad pairs for that chord, both major and then minor. Repeat in all 12 keys.
• Put on a static 7#11 chord vamp and improvise over it using the major triad-pairs, followed by the diminished triad pairs. Repeat in 12 keys.
• Solo over a major key ii-V-I chord progression and use the different triad pairs to solo over the V7 chord. Repeat in 12 keys.
• Solo over a tune you are working on and use each triad pair to build lines over every 7th chord in the progression.

As jazz guitarists, we know that having control of the 7#11 chord and soloing vocabulary is an important part of playing the genre, but sometimes we can get too focused on scales and licks in our playing over this important chord.

By checking out the 7#11 triad pairs above, the technical exercises and vocabulary examples, you can expand your 7#11 vocabulary without going beyond simple major and diminished triads in your playing.

What do you think about these triad pairs over 7#11 chords? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.

Triad Pairs For Jazz Guitar – 7#11 Triad Pairs from Matt Warnock Guitar

Every great jazz guitarist has worked their way through this 12-bar form, and many such as Wes Montgomery, Kenny Burrell and Pat Metheny have even written classic jazz blues heads that are now a part of the must-know repertoire for current jazz guitarists.

While many of us know that learning to solo over Jazz Blues tunes is an important skill to have, we are often stuck with knowing where to start, or we suffer from having too much information at our hands and can’t figure out what is the right pan of attack for us in the woodshed.

In today’s lesson, we’ll be analyzing a jazz blues solo in the key of Bb, learning to play it on guitar, and pulling individual licks and phrases out for further practice.

By learning a jazz blues solo, understanding the concepts behind the licks, and taking individual phrases out of context and into other parts of your playing, you’ll develop a well-rounded approach to studying and playing the jazz blues form in your own subsequent soloing endeavors.

Have a question or comment about this lesson? Visit the Bb Jazz Blues Soloing thread in the MWG Forum.

Click to download the PDF for this lesson.

Analysis: First Four-Bars

The first four bars are fairly straight forward as I was working off of a melodic pattern, repeating it across the changes in the first 3 bars.

The pattern, which you can see in the first bar, is build by playing down the minor pentatonic scale of the underlying chord, in this case Bb, and then mixing in the major 3rd interval in the second to last note, D in this case.

That lick, which uses the intervals b7-5-4-b3-3-R, is then repeated over the Eb7 chord, transposed up a 4th to keep the same intervals over the new chord, before returning to it’s original form and chord in bar 3.

This type of playing, using one lick and passing it around different chords in a progression, is a great way to keep a melodic thread going in your solos, while outlining the changes at the same time.

Once you’ve learned this lick over the first 3 bars of the Bb blues, try coming up with your own melodic phrase over the Bb7 chord, then transpose it to fit the Eb7 chord, before bringing it back to Bb7 in bar 3.

It is tougher to do than it seems, but well worth the time spent in the practice room in order to get this approach down in your playing.

The lick in bar 4 uses a very common chord substitution. Here, I am using a B minor pentatonic scale to imply a Bm7-E7 chord progression, which I then resolve down a half-step to the Eb7 chord that falls on the next bar in the progression.

Using a #IV chord, E7 in this key, over bar 4 of a jazz blues chord progression is a great way to add tension to your lines that you then resolve into the IV chord in bar 5 of the tune.

After learning this lick, try putting on a jazz blues backing track in Bb and begin to improvise using E7 in bar 4, using the B minor pentatonic scale as a start and then branching out to other scales and arpeggios from there.

It takes a bit of time to get used to working with those types of subs and tensions, but once you get them in your ears and under your fingers, they will take your playing to a whole new level.

Analysis: Second Four-Bars

The second four bars starts to shift more into the realm of arpeggios in order to outline the given chord progression. After using a short, Dominant Bebop Scale lick in the first bar, over Eb7, I switched gears and began using arpeggios with different rhythms over the next three bars of the tune.

The Edim7 and Bb7 both use the root-position arpeggios to build the ascending and descending line over both of those bars, while the G7b9 features a 3 to 9 Arpeggio Lick that uses Bdim7 to outline G7b9.

This is a common jazz guitar technique, using a dim7 arpeggio from the 3rd of a 7th chord to produce a 7b9 sound.

In this case, Bdim7 (B D F Ab) produces the intervals 3, 5 b7, b9 over a G7 chord. After you’ve learned this solo, try improvising over a Bb jazz blues chord progression and playing Bdim7 in bar 8 over the G7b9 chord in order to bring this concept further into your own improvisations.

Analysis: Third Four-Bars

The last four-bars takes a turn into the Bebop lick world as I used common Bebop techniques and phrases to outline each chord in this part of the tune.

The first bar, Cm7, uses a common Bebop lick that is worth taking out of this phrase and practicing on it’s own in order to take further into your jazz guitar soloing.

The crux of that phrase is the Bb to A movement, implying Cm7-F7 as Bb is the b7 of Cm7 which moves by half-step to the 3rd, A, of the implied F7 chord.

As well, the last 3 notes, and first note of the next bar, approach the F, root note, with a double-enclosure, Gb-Eb-E-F, which highlights the underlying change in harmony.

The last two-bars are also worth taking a closer look at. Here, I used a Bb triad over Bb7, then moved the root note up chromatically to play Bdim over G7b9, which we saw earlier, and finally moving up by one more half step to play Cm7 over Cm7.

Again, I resolved the b7, Bb, of Cm7 down to the A, 3rd, of F7 to voice lead that iim7-V7 chord progression.

Soloing over the last four-bars of a jazz blues progression is often the hardest part of the tune, so try this lick out as written, then begin to experiment with it in order to develop a few variations of this phrase that you can use over subsequent choruses in your solos.

Bb Jazz Blues Soloing Etude

After checking out and learning each four-bar phrase on it’s own, you can now link them all together and play the entire chorus as a whole.

Start slowing and work with a metronome when learning the entire chorus. As well, make sure to memorize it as that will make it easier to work with in the woodshed, as well as take into your soloing when it comes time to bring these ideas into a practical, musical situation.

Click to hear the audio example for this Bb Jazz Blues Soloing Etude.

How to Practice the Bb Blues Soloing Study

After you’ve learned this Bb Jazz Blues single-note solo as written, at a slow or medium tempo, you’ll want to expand it further in your practice routine in order to get the most out of each lick, phrase and rhythm in this etude.

Here are a few ways that you can break down and expand on this chord solo further in your jazz guitar practice routine.

• Practice this solo at various tempos from 50 to 200 bpm’s if possible.

• Extract one or more licks from each 4-bar phrase and practice them at various tempos, and in all 12 keys if possible.

• Sing the root note of each underlying chord while playing the written single-note solo on the guitar.

• Improvise with this single-note solo by adding in new notes and licks, changing the rhythms and taking notes out of the solo in order to take it off the page and begin to make this solo your own.

• Write your own single-note solo using licks and phrases from this, and other jazz guitar solos you’ve learned, in order to develop the skills needed to improvise in this style on the spot.

If you have a question or comment on this jazz guitar solo study, head on over to the Jazz Blues Soloing Study thread in the MWG Forum.

Jazz Guitar Soloing – Bb Jazz Blues Solo Study from Matt Warnock Guitar

Recently I was humbled to discover that I had passed 3000 followers on Facebook, 3000 subscribers on YouTube and 5000 subscribers to my newsletter.

So, to say thanks to everyone that has followed the Matt Warnock Guitar Facebook Page, Matt Warnock Guitar YouTube Channel or signed up for the Matt Warnock Guitar Jazz Lessons Newsletter, I am doing a big giveaway of prizes to my readers.

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Jazz Guitar Lessons Giveaway Prizes

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Jazz Guitar Lessons, eBooks and Apps Giveaway from Matt Warnock Guitar

There are a number of different altered dominant chords, which alter the 9ths, 5ths and combinations of those two intervals, and so we are often stuck with finding the best way to navigate these important chords on the guitar.

In today’s lesson, we’ll be explore two different triad pairs that you can use to outline 7b9#9 chords in your solos.

This approach uses common shapes, Diminished and Minor Triads, to produce altered sounds over more complex chord shapes, allowing you to simplify your approach to 7alt chords, while still outlining the underlying chord at the same time.

Have a question or comment about this lesson? Visit the 7b9#9 Triad Pairs thread in the MWG Forum.

7b9#9 Triad Pairs 1

The first 7b9#9 Triad Pair that we’ll look at uses two Diminished Triads based off of the 5th and 6th of the underlying chord.

In this key, C7b9#9, those triads are Gdim and Adim, which produce the intervals 5-b7-b9 and 6-R-#9 respectively.

Here is how those notes look on the staff and fretboard as a reference.

Now that you have your head around this 7b9#9 Triad Pair, let’s take a look at how these chords sit next to each other on the neck of the guitar.

In this exercise, I have run up each inversion of Gdim and Adim side by side on the neck. Once you can play this exercise as written, in a few different tempos, take it to a number of other keys to get a good idea of how this triad pair sits on the fretboard.

Here is a fun little lick that uses the Gdim and Adim 7b9#9 triad pair over the V7alt chord in a minor ii V i in the key of F.

Once you’ve checked out this Jazz Guitar Lick in the given key, take it to other keys and different tempos to get a full understanding of how this lick sits on the neck of the guitar, and how it fits into your playing as a jazz guitarist.

Click to hear the audio for this 7b9#9 triad pairs lick.

Now that we have explored diminished triad pairs over 7b9#9 chords, let’s move on and explore minor triad pairs over 7b9#9 chords in a similar context.

7b9#9 Triad Pairs 2

The second set of 7b9#9 Triad Pairs that we will look at involve pairing up Minor Triads from the b7 and Root of the given chord.

So, if you have a C7b9#9 as in the example below, you play Bbm and Cm together to form an Altered sounding triad pair.

When you play Bbm you are outlining the intervals b7, b9 and 4, while Cm outlines the root, #9 and 5th.

This means you are getting the notes of the chord, minus the 3rd, and both the b9 and #9, giving you the sound of the C7b9#9 chord by only using the easy-to-play minor triads.

Here is how that looks on paper for a reference.

As a technical exercise, here is one of my favorite ways to work on 7b9#9 Triad Pairs in my Jazz Guitar Practice Routine.

The crux of the exercise is that while you are running up both of the underlying triads, Bbm and Cm in this key, you are alternating between ascending and descending each triad, so going up one and down the other.

Try this pattern out in written key at different tempos, and then take it to all 12 keys around the fretboard so that you have a full understanding of how these triads sit together on the neck of the guitar.

To get you started with a bit of vocabulary using this 7b9#9 Triad Pair, I’ve written out a lick over the first four bars of a Jazz Blues Chord Progression in the key of F for you to check out.

After learning this lick in F, take it to other keys, as well as into Jazz Blues Tunes that you are working on in your practice routine, or that you are jamming on with your friends or band.

Click to hear the audio for this 7b9#9 triad pairs lick.

After exploring these two triads from a theoretical, technical and lick standpoint, check out the practice tips below to expand on these concepts further in your jazz guitar practice routine.

7b9#9 Triad Pair Practice Tips

To continue working on these fun and fresh-sounding melodic ideas in the woodshed, here are some of my favorite ways to practice 7b9#9 triad pairs in the practice room.

• Play 7b9#9 triad pairs in inversions in 1 position on the neck ascending, descending and alternating ascending and descending in 1 key.
• Repeat this exercise in 12 keys across the neck and in different starting positions such as 5th string roots, starting on the 2nd of the two triad-pairs, etc.
• Play a 7b9#9 chord on the guitar and sing the triad pairs for that chord, both major and then minor. Repeat in all 12 keys.
• Put on a static 7b9#9 chord vamp and improvise over it using the major triad-pairs, followed by the minor triad-pairs. Repeat in 12 keys.
• Solo over a minor key ii-V-I chord progression and use the different triad pairs to solo over the V7alt chord. Repeat in 12 keys.
• Solo over a tune you are working on and use each triad pair to build lines over every 7th chord in the progression.

What do you think about playing triad pairs over 7b9#9 chords? Share your thoughts in the Comments section below.

Triad Pairs for Jazz Guitar – 7b9#9 Triad Pairs from Matt Warnock Guitar

While many of us have explored the Altered Scale over the 7alt chord, we tend to stop there most of the time when it comes to building lines over this tricky, yet common jazz chord.

In this installment of my series on triad pairs for jazz guitar, we’ll be taking a look at how you can use major and minor sounds to build 7alt triad pairs on the guitar.

This will expand your ability to solo over this common, yet tough, chord, without having to learn anything new beyond major and minor triads.

So, grab your guitar and let’s dig in to 7alt triad pairs, how to build them, how to play them and sample some licks using these ideas in a real-life situation.

Have a question or comment about this lesson? Visit the 7alt Triad Pairs thread in the MWG Forum.

7alt Triad Pairs 1

The first set of 7alt triad pairs that we’ll look at involves playing major triads from the b5 and #5 of the chord that you are on.

You can see an example of this here, as I lay out a Gb and Ab(G#) triad over a C7alt chord for comparison.

As you can see, these two triads provide all of the juicy notes that you need to properly outline any Altered Chord in your jazz-guitar solo, these are the b5, b9, #5 and #9.

Now that you’ve seen the theoretical side of these triads, let’s take them to the guitar with an exercise that can help you work out and memorize these 7alt triad pairs across the neck in all 12 keys.

Here is an example of that exercise written out over a C7alt chord, using the triads Gb and Ab. Make sure to take this exercise to multiple tempos and keys as you continue to work through it in the woodshed.

To finish this section off, I’ve written out a sample lick over a Minor ii V I chord progression that uses the b5 and #5 triad pair over the V7alt chord, Gb and Ab over C7alt in this key.

Check this lick out, work it in 12 keys, and then bring it to tunes you know or are working on in the practice room.

I also threw in one of my favorite tension devices over a Im chord, the #4 (Blues Note) in bar 3 of the line. This note isn’t for everyone, it’s pretty tense, but check it out if it catches your ear and then take it further in your practice routine.

When you’re comfortable with this lick, start writing out licks of your own that use this 7alt triad pair to build your vocabulary over this common, yet tricky, jazz chord.

Click to hear the audio for this 7alt triad pairs lick.

Now that we have explored major triad pairs over 7alt chords, let’s move on and explore minor triad pairs over 7alt chords in a similar context.

7alt Triad Pairs 2

The second set of 7alt triad pairs that we’ll look at use two minor triads, from the b9 and #9 of the underlying 7alt chord.

Here is how those chords would look like compared to a C7alt chord, using Dbm and Ebm at the 7alt triad pairs.

Again, you can see all those funky sounding alterations within those two minor triads, allowing you to properly outline the 7alt chord that you’re soloing over, while keeping a sense of organization in your lines due to the compact and recognizable aspects of the triads themselves.

As well, you can apply the same exercise that we looked at with 7alt triads pairs from a major-triad perspective to these minor triads.

Here is how that would look over a C7alt chord, and again work this exercise in 12 keys and at various tempos over time in order to come up with a complete picture of how these triads sit and sound across the neck.

Lastly, here is a sample minor-key ii V I jazz guitar lick that you can practice and bring into your playing, using the b9 and #9 triad pairs as the basis for the lick.

After you’ve learned this phrase in a few keys, and brought it to some of the tunes you’re working out in the woodshed, try and come up with some lines of your own that use these 7alt triad pairs as the basis for your lines.

Click to hear the audio for this 7alt triad pairs lick.

After exploring these two triads from a theoretical, technical and lick standpoint, check out the practice tips below to expand on these concepts further in your jazz guitar practice routine.

7alt Triad Pair Practice Tips

To continue working on these fun and fresh-sounding melodic ideas in the woodshed, here are some of my favorite ways to practice 7alt triad pairs in the practice room.

• Play 7alt triad pairs in inversions in 1 position on the neck ascending, descending and alternating ascending and descending in 1 key.
• Repeat this exercise in 12 keys across the neck and in different starting positions such as 5th string roots, starting on the 2nd of the two triad-pairs, etc.
• Play a 7alt chord on the guitar and sing the triad pairs for that chord, both major and then minor. Repeat in all 12 keys.
• Put on a static 7alt chord vamp and improvise over it using the major triad-pairs, followed by the minor triad-pairs. Repeat in 12 keys.
• Solo over a minor key ii-V-I chord progression and use the different triad pairs to solo over the V7alt chord. Repeat in 12 keys.
• Solo over a tune you are working on and use each triad pair to build lines over every 7alt chord in the progression.

What do you think about playing triad pairs over 7alt chords? Share your thoughts in the Comments section below.

Triad Pairs for Jazz Guitar – 7alt Triad Pairs from Matt Warnock Guitar

While many of us want to learn how to bring chord-soloing phrases into our playing, we often shy away from working on this skill in the practice room since we believe that chord soloing means using big, hard to play play chords to create cool-sounding chord solos.

But, often times less is more when it comes to building effective chord solos, and bringing chord soloing lines and phrases into your solos and chord-melody phrases.

In today’s lesson, we’ll be looking at how you can use double-stops, two-note ideas, to build cool-sounding and effective chord solos, without having to bring larger chords into the equation.

If you have avoided learning chord-soloing techniques because you thought it would be too difficult. Or you have worked out larger chord forms and are looking to bring a new texture to your chord-soloing ideas, then checking out this double-stop chord solo over Watermelon Man may be just the thing to take your playing to the next level.

In order to fully learn this solo, try breaking it down into four-bar phrases and learning each one before putting the solo together as a whole. This will help you ease into the larger solo, while getting a chance to dissect and absorb the material behind each phrase at the same time.

So grab your axe and have fun!

Have a question or comment about this lesson? Visit the Watermelon Man Chord Study thread at the MWG forum.

Click to download the PDF for this lesson.

Solo Analysis – First Four Bars

The solo starts off by using double-stops mixed in with a few notes from the underlying F Mixolydian Mode. Throughout this study, the double-stop lines will be coming from the Mixolydian Mode, the 5th mode of the major scale.

So, if you are unfamiliar with this mode, you might want to check out my Mixolydian Mode Page in order to get this scale in your ears and under your fingers before moving on to the rest of the study.

Throughout the etude, you will notice that there are moments, such as the 4th beat of the second bar in this phrase, where I use a hammer-on in the recording between Ab and A.

Since adding slurs such as this might not be for everyone, I left them out of the notation. But, feel free to add in hammer-ons, pull-offs and slides where you see fit.

You can either listen to the audio below to get an idea of how I use slurs to spice up these lines, or come up with approaches of your own.

As long as your taste and musical ears says it’s cool to add in slurs, then go for it.

Solo Analysis – Second Four Bars

The second four bars is an almost exact repeat of the first four bars, though this time the notes have been moved up to fit the Bb7 chord that occurs in the first two-bars of this phrase.

The last two bars are a slight adaptation of what you learned in the first phrase of the solo, mostly to get back from the Bb7 while keeping the spirit of the line intact in a “call and response” sort of fashion.

Taking a line and moving it around the harmony in order to make it fit over different chords and sections of a tune is a great way to develop your sense of phrasing, while not having to worry about coming up with new material for every bar in your solo.

Solo Analysis – Third Four Bars

The third, four-bar section uses repetition to build on a motive, altering it slightly over the C7 chords, in order to keep a sense of familiarity within the phrase without sounding stale at the same time.

Again, the notes for each lick are taken from the underlying Mixolydian Mode, C Mixo and Bb Mixo respectively. As well, each phrase, except the first bar, starts and ends on the related triad.

We sometimes feel that we should avoid triads in our soloing as they sound too plain and not interesting enough to be jazzworthy.

But, sometimes the sound of a triad can be effective and bring a sense of harmony to your lines that can’t be duplicated with a scale or larger chord form.

So, though you may advance as a player throughout your study, don’t forget to keep triads in your bag of tricks. They might come in handy more than you would think.

Solo Analysis – Fourth Four Bars

The last four bars play off of a variation of the riff heard in the previous phrase, though now it is moving chromatically down from C to B in the first bar. Then down to Bb, Ab, Gb and finally resolving to the F triad in bar three.

By focusing on triads while stepping outside the given harmony, we are giving the listener an anchor to grab onto, the familiar sound of the triad, while bringing them along to “outside” harmonies at the same time.

Whenever you have a series of chords like this, C7-Bb7-F7, you might be tempted to spice up your lines by adding in different scales and modes.

But, sometimes the most effective way to add outside colors to your lines is to stick to a simple idea, such as triads, and then create a new harmonic path, such as the one here that moves from C-B-Bb-Ab-Gb-F, that gets you to your destination by different means than is written in the tune.

Watermelon Man Jazz Guitar Chord Soloing Etude

To finish things off, here is the full chord solo written out with audio to act as a guide when working on this study in the practice room. When you see the whole solo on one page, you can really see how the use of space helps to divide the phrases, letting the solo breathe at the same time.

So, spend some time and work out this solo in your practice routine this week. Then, try writing out or improvising your own double-stop based solo over Watermelon Man.

It’s a great tune to know, and one that comes up often in jam sessions and on pick-up gigs, so definitely worth learning.

Click to hear audio for the Watermelon Man Chord Solo Etude.

So you can see, you don’t have to use large, 3, 4 or 5-note chords to build a cool sounding and effective chord solo.

After you work this solo out in the practice room, try coming up with your own double-stop based solos over Watermelon Man, or any tune you are working on in the woodshed.

And, if you do learn the solo, feel free to record a video or audio version of you playing the solo and post in on the Matt Warnock Guitar Facebook Page for others to check out.

Check out this solo in the woodshed this week and have fun!

Jazz Guitar Chord Soloing – Watermelon Man Study from Matt Warnock Guitar