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Django Reinhardt
Charlie Christian
Johnny Smith
Tal Farlow
Jimmy Raney
Grant Green
Kenny Burrell
George Benson
Pat Martino
Jim Hall
Each line comes with a brief analysis of why that particular line is interesting from a harmonic,
melodic and rhythmic standpoint. Feel free to print this PDF as many times as you like. There
are no restrictions as far as that is concerned.
I only ask that you do not upload it to the internet. Instead, if you feel that you have a friend who
would enjoy this, please ask them to subscribe to my newsletter and I will happily send them a
copy of this ebook for them to enjoy.
If you want to check out other free online jazz guitar lessons and resources, please visit my
homepage at Mattwarnockguitar.com.
Thanks again for your support and I hope you enjoy my ebook 10 Essential ii-V-I Licks for Jazz
Guitar.!
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I hope you enjoy these ten licks from some of my favorite players, who were key to developing
the modern jazz vocabulary. Please check out Mattwarnockguitar.com for more jazz guitar
lessons and resources.
Drop 2 Chords
Drop 3 Chords
Over the middle-four bars of the tune, I started by moving between an Ab and Bb triad
over the Fm7 chord, imply Fm13 without using root-position chords. Playing major triads
from the b3 and 4 of any m7 chord is a great way to use 3-note chords to properly
outline the sound of that chord, while allowing you to quickly move between shapes as
you move around the neck. In the second half of the middle-four bars I switched back to
fourth chords over Cm7, only this time ones that started on the root and 9th of the
underlying chord.
To finish the etude off, I dug into more rootless chords in bars 9, 10 and 12, and
returned to my old favorites fourth-chords in bar 11. Using 3-note chords will not only
sound good over a minor blues progression, but it will allow you to quickly and easily
move between chord shapes as you navigate the changes, especially at faster tempos.
Click to hear audio for this Minor Blues Chord Etude
Further Reading
Jazz Guitar Chords - Wes Montgomery V-I Concept
Jazz Guitar Chords - Minor ii V I Voice Leading Video Lesson
Jazz Guitar Chords - Jim Hall Diminished Voicings
Jazz Guitar Chords - So What m7 Fourth Chords for Guitar
Jazz Guitar Chords - 3 to 7 Triads
Fun and Easy Ways to Build Chops and Open Up the Guitar Fretboard
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Practice Guide
So, how do you go about practicing these scales in order to get the most out of each exercise?
Here are some of the ways that I like to practice scale patterns in order to build chops and
develop my creative playing.
1. Practice in 12 keys at various tempos
2. Practice using different scales and modes
3. Improvise over a static chord or key center using only one of the 5 scale techniques
4. Write a melody or solo using a specific scale technique as the melodic basis for each line
5. Sing along with all of the above to build the connection between your ears and fingers
If you are new to learning scales on the guitar you can still get a lot out of these techniques. Just
visit my Scale Fingerings for Jazz Guitar Page to find information and notation for Major,
Melodic Minor, Harmonic Minor, Harmonic Major, Symmetrical and Pentatonic scales for
guitar.
Now lets dig in and have some fun with 5 Essential Scale Techniques for Jazz Guitar!
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Ascending Playing all intervals upwards regardless of the direction of the scale
Descending Playing all intervals downwards regardless of the direction of the scale
Alternating 1 Playing the first interval ascending and the second interval descending
etc.
Alternating 2 Playing the first interval descending and the second interval ascending
etc.
These four permutations are important to work through as they will provide you improvisational
material, and prepare you to transcribe jazz lines as you will hear a lot of great players using
these four approaches in their solos.
I have written out all four approaches for the first interval, 3rds, but have only written one for
each of the intervals after that, 4ths, 5ths, 6ths and 7ths. This way you can get the idea on how
these four approaches work with 3rds, then work it out yourself with the other intervals to really
ingrain these ideas into your hands, ears and minds as you work through them in the practice
room.
3rds Ascending G Major Scale
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Cmaj-Dmin-Emin-Fmaj-Gmaj-Amin-Bdim
This will help you learn the neck at the same time as you are working on your chops.
And if you are really adventurous, you can practice playing the first note of each triad, the root,
and then singing the next two notes, the 3rd and 5th. So if you played a C major triad you would
play the first note, C, then sing the next two, E and G.
You can try singing along with yourself as you play through the exercises first in order to ease
into this exercise, then you can take off the water wings, dive into the deep end and see if you
can sing the 3rd and 5th of each chord after playing the root. Not easy, but a great way to take
your ears to the next level.
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Further Study
If you liked the above exercises and want to learn more, you can check out the following series of
articles on my website. Happy practicing!
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When learning bebop licks for jazz guitar there are few players that have more vocabulary than
the great picker Pat Martino.
As well, while we often have a lot of vocabulary, or spend a good amount of time on major key ii
V I licks and phrases, we can sometimes have less vocab or spend less time working out minor
key ii V is in the practice room.
Because of this, in todays lesson well be dissecting 5 classic Martino licks played over a Minor
Key ii V I Chord Progression, digging into the licks themselves as well as to the components of
each lick so you can take this material and use it to build great-sounding lines of your own.
So grab your axe, turn up your amp and dig in!
Lick 1
In this lick Pat is using the 5th mode of D Harmonic Minor over both the Em7b5 and A7alt
chords in bar one of the example.
With this approach, Pat is ignoring the Em7b5 chord in place of focusing on the A7alt chord, the
V7 in the ii V i progression.
When playing the fifth mode of the Harmonic Minor scale over a 7alt chord it produces a
7(b9,b13) chord sound that builds tension before resolving to the im7 chord in the second bar of
the lick.
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Lick 2
The second lick brings to the forefront a DmMaj9 arpeggio in the second bar of the lick.
After setting up the b9 of the A7 chord in bar 1, the repeated Bb note, Pat then runs up and down
a DmMaj9 arpeggio in the second bard, playing the notes D F A C# E.
This arpeggio comes from the D Melodic Minor Scale, which is a solid scale choice when
soloing over the i chord in a minor key ii V i progression.
Try soloing over a minor key progression and use either the tonic Melodic Minor Scale or the
tonic mMaj9 arpeggio to bring this concept into your own lines and phrases.
Lick 3
Here is another example of Pat using the mMaj9 arpeggio over the Dm chord in bar two of the
lick.
In this case Pat leaves out the root of the arpeggio, which produces an Fmaj7#5 arpeggio, which
contains the 3-5-7-9 intervals of the DmMaj9 chord.
Playing 3 to 9 arpeggios is a common Bebop technique that many players use in their solos, and
this lick is a good example of how Pat brings this sound into his minor key ii V i phrases and
lines.
Lick 4
The fourth lick showcases a common rhythmic grouping that Pat loved to use in his lines, as well
as other great players such as Wes Montgomery.
The rhythmic pattern is three repeated notes, quarter note-two eighth notes, followed by two
other notes using eighth notes as well.
In this lick Pat uses the rhythmic pattern to outline the Em7b5 and A7b9 chords in the first bar,
with an emphases on the C#-Bb notes which bring forth the sound of the underlying A7b9 chord.
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Lick 5
The last lick shows how Pat mixes modes over the first and second bars of the minor key ii V i
chords.
In the first bar Pat is playing a D Harmonic Minor Scale, which outlines the 7b9 sound of the V
chord, before switching to the D Dorian mode in the second bar which brings out the Dm7 chord
that is heard in the harmony.
As well, there is a classic Bebop phrases occurring at the end of bar 1 and the beginning of bar 2
where Pat plays Bb-G-G#-A.
This short Bebop phrase is worth extracting from this line and taking it to other licks, chord
progressions in your practice routine.
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Click to hear audio for this George Benson Jazz Guitar Lick
The use of the F Major Pentatonic Scale in the first bar of the lick
The b3 to 3 in the tonic key of F bluesy sound in the first half of bar 2
The resolution to the tonic note, F, in bar 3
The syncopation between the two 8th-notes and the quarter note in the second half of
bar 2
Click to hear audio for this George Benson Jazz Guitar Lick
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2. 2 Up 1 Down
The second pattern is a favorite of mine that I took from Lenny Breau, and is played by stacking
two notes on top of your starting note, then falling back down by one note to finish the lick.
To begin, you play the first note of the scale, then you skip a note and play the note on the same
fret one string higher. You do this one more time to build the ascending section of the line, A-DG in the first bar of the example below.
From there, you simply fall down to the closest scale note to complete the four-note pattern, AD-G-E in the written example.
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To continue this pattern, you start it again on the second note of the first group of four notes. So,
you play A-D-G-E, then D-G-C-A, G-C-E-D and finally C-E-A-G to complete the line as youve
now run out of room in this position.
This four-note pattern sits nicely when you run it up the neck using 8th notes, but if you want to
go for a syncopated feel, try playing it with triplets, so a four-note pattern over a three-note
rhythm. Very hip!
3. Up One Down the Other
The third pattern is a descending lick that goes up the right side of the scale, G-C in the written
example, then down the left side of the scale, A-E in the example.
This pattern then continues down the scale starting on each note on the right side of the
pentatonic fingering youre using.
To add a bit more modern feel to this pattern, try putting a pull-off between the two notes that
occur on the same string.
So, in the first four-note group you could put a pull-off on the first string between the notes C
and A for example, then continue this idea as you work your way down the scale.
4. Descending Side Step
With this pattern were getting a bit more modern as we introduce an inside-outside lick to the
pentatonic scale.
The crux of this pattern is that you play four notes of the A minor pentatonic scale, then you play
four notes of the Bb minor pentatonic scale.
You continue this back and forth until you reach the top of the scale and run out of room on the
neck.
This technique is called side-stepping and has been used by many great jazzers such as John
Coltrane, McCoy Tyner, Michael Brecker and others.
It wont fit into every musical situation, so get this lick under your fingers and then let your ears
and musical taste dictate when is the right time to unleash this idea in a jam or gig situation.
5. Ascending Side Step
Again, with this lick you are using a side-step technique to ascend the neck, moving between A
minor pentatonic and Bb minor pentatonic as you go.
The difference with this lick is that you are shifting up the neck instead of back to the original
position as you did with the previous pattern.
Because of this, you are covering three different box-patterns as you move up the neck, which
is why this pattern can be very effective. Not only will it bring an inside-outside sound to your
lines, but it will allow you to run up from the 5th to the 12th fret and all six strings at the same
time.
As you work through each of these scale patterns, the goal is to get your chops up, but also be
able to inject these ideas in a natural and musical manner when you take them to a jam session or
gig situation.
So have fun with them and see where these patterns will fit into your technical and
improvisational workout this week.
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When learning how to play jazz guitar, one of the most important things we can do as
guitarists is expand our repertoire beyond swing and bebop tunes.
By exploring other styles of jazz, such as Bossa Nova, you will not only expand your
repertoire and harmonic/melodic palettes, but you will build a wider repertoire of tunes
that you can bring to your next jam session or gig as a jazz guitarist.
In todays lesson, well be looking at a Bossa Nova tune, Blue Bossa, that is one of the
most popular tunes to be called at jam sessions or out on the bandstand, and therefore
its an important tune to have under your fingers as a jazz guitarist.
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The bass notes and chords that fall on beats 1 and 2 are played quietly, never
accented.
The last chord, on the & of beat 3, is accented (played louder) to highlight the
syncopation of that part of the bar.
The rhythm is one-bar long and you just repeat this bar for the entire tune.
Again, this is a pretty straight-forward rhythm, but one that can add a level of
authenticity to any Bossa Nova song you are playing.
To learn more about this rhythm, and Brazilian rhythms in general, check out my ebook
Modern Time: Rhythmic Fundamentals for the Improvising Musician.
3. Bossa 2 Rhythm
We can now add 1 chord to our Bossa 1 rhythm that we just explored, to produce a
Bossa 2 rhythm.
While it may seem fairly easy to just add one chord to the bar in order to produce this
new rhythm, it is the resulting anticipation of the next chord that makes things tricky.
Because we now have an accented chord on the & of beat 4 in each bar, you have to
anticipate the next chord change with that attack before the bass note of that chord
sounds on beat 1 of the next bar.
This is the hardest part when learning how to play Bossa or Samba rhythms on guitar,
playing the chord for the next change before the chord actually happens.
But, if you can get this technique down, then you are well on your way to playing Bossa
and Samba music on guitar with an authentic feel and touch that you cant get without
this anticipatory embellishment of the rhythm.
If you are having trouble with the Bossa 2 Rhythm, try isolation the first 4 bars and
working slowly with your metronome until you get it down and are comfortable with that
anticipated chord on the & of 4.
From there, you can piece the whole tune together after you have worked out the
smaller pieces of the puzzle on their own.
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Bossa 1 Rhythm
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Bossa 2 Rhythm
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Blue Bossa is a must-know tune for any jazz guitarist as it often comes up in jam
sessions or in gigs with other musicians.
By having an understanding of the chord progression, a chord melody arrangement, two
authentic Brazilian rhythm patterns and a few improvisational exercises for this tune,
you are giving yourself a full understanding of the building blocks and devices needed to
smoke this tune the next time its called at a jam session or on a gig.
If you have any questions about Blue Bossa, or anything jazz or jazz guitar related,
head on over to the Matt Warnock Guitar Facebook Page or Matt Warnock Guitar
Twitter Page and post a question on my wall and I will be happy to answer you asap.
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When learning how to apply scales to an improvisational context, one of the biggest problems
guitarists face is that their lines sound like scales.
In order to keep the scale as your underlying melodic device, while breaking away from
sounding like you are playing scale A over chord B in your solos, we will explore five different
Bebop patterns that you can use over the Dorian Bebop Scale in order to expand your Bebop
vocabulary, while not ditching the scales youve worked so hard on to learn.
Once you have learned a pattern, here are some ways that you can go about practicing it in order
to have the lick become ingrained in your playing and come out in a more natural way, rather
than sound forced or worked out.
Improvise over a static m7 chord using only one Bebop pattern in your solos, such as
focusing on enclosing the root or fifth, or using the Honeysuckle pattern.
Improvise over a static m7 chord and mix two Bebop patterns together in your solos, such
as working between enclosing the fifth and the 3 to b9 arpeggio throughout the
improvisation.
Bring the above exercises into a tune you know or that you are working on in the practice
room.
Enclosed Root
The first bebop pattern that you will apply to the Dorian Mode is an enclosed root. This
technique, the enclosure, is one of the most popular in jazz and an essential pattern for anyone
looking to bring a Bebop sound to their lines.
The idea is fairly simple. Pick a note, such as the root in this example. Play one half-step (1 fret)
above that note, then one half-step (1 fret) below that note, then play the note itself. So, if you
are playing a D Dorian Mode as in the example below, you would play Eb-C#-D.
Try playing this idea descending the scale first, as in the example, as that is the most common
application of the enclosure in a jazz context. Once you have it under your fingers, take it to
other keys and use it in your solos whenever you bring the Dorian Mode into your lines.
Enclosed Fifth
You can also apply an enclosure to the 5th of the Dorian Mode. The theory is the same. Pick the
note, in this case the 5th. Play one half-step above, one half-step below and resolve to your target
note. For a D Dorian Mode that would be Bb-G#-A.
There are other notes that you can enclose in the Dorian Mode, but we will look at these two for
now as they are the most commonly used in the jazz tradition. If you get the hang of these two
enclosures and want to take the technique further, try applying it to any other note in the mode to
see how it sounds and if you feel those enclosures would fit into your playing style.
Honeysuckle Riff
Another common Bebop pattern is the Honeysuckle Riff. This riff is so named because it is
similar to the opening phrase of the tune Honeysuckle Rose. Those who are familiar with this
melody will recognize the first five notes in this riff, though here they are slightly altered with a
chromatic passing note to spice things up.
The riff starts on the root, goes down three notes of the Dorian Bebop Scale, and then ascends a
triad starting on the second note of the scale, before descending in scale order until you hit the
next root, where you repeat the lick.
This lick is a little longer than the enclosures, so go slow when learning this idea and applying it
to your improvisations. It might take longer to learn, but its a great sounding melodic phrase that
adds some Bebop spice to your lines and phrases.
3 to b9 Arpeggio
The last Bebop pattern we will look at in this section is the 3 to b9 arpeggio. This idea does
exactly as the name suggests. You descend the Dorian Bebop Scale. When you reach the third,
you ascend an arpeggio that uses the notes 3, 5, b7, b9, which spells out a 7th arpeggio.
So, for the key of D Dorian Bebop, you would start on D. Descend the scale. When you reach F,
you play an ascending F7 arpeggio that brings you back up to the top of the scale and then you
descend down until you reach the next third, where you repeat the lick.
Since this pattern has a built in b9, it works great when you pair it up with an enclosure on the
root. As you ascend the 7th arpeggio, when you reach the b9 note, just sneak in a note 1fret
below the root before hitting the root and descending the scale again. This pairing of the 3 to b9
arpeggio and root enclosure is a common pattern and one that really helps you extend your scale
ideas while injecting some Bebop flavor at the same time.
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Learning how to play jazz guitar means learning how to add different colors and
tensions to Dominant 7th chords in your jazz guitar solos.
While many of us have checked out the Altered Scale in this situation, and have looked
at the Phrygian Mode to add a b9 color to our m7th chord lines, we may not have tried
applying the Phrygian Mode over 7th chords in a jazz guitar context.
In todays lesson well look at just that, using the Phrygian Mode to bring out a quasialtered sound in your 7th-chord lines, as well as use this mode to add a secondary
Altered color to your jazz guitar vocabulary.
For more information on this mode and scale system, check out my articles Phrygian
Modes for Jazz Guitar and Modes of the Major Scale and Their Application.
What it does have, is the b9, #9 and b13, three of the four possible altered notes over
any Dominant 7th chord, you are just missing the b5(#11) from this scale.
Soloing Exercise
Put on an A7 backing track and practice soloing over this chord using the A Phrygian
Mode. Take this to all other 11 keys over time to hear how this mode sounds over a
7th chord, and how it sits under your fingers in different parts of the neck.
As a comparison, Ive written out the A Altered Scale and A Phrygian Mode side-by-side
so you can see the difference between these two Altered Dominant sounding scales.
Notice that the Altered Scale has the 3rd and b5 in its construction, while the Phrygian
mode has the 4 and 5 in its makeup.
Soloing Exercise
Put on an A7 backing track and practice soloing over this chord using the A Phrygian
Mode for 4 bars and the A Altered Scale for 4 bars. Take this to all other 11 keys over
time to hear how these modes sound over a 7th chord, and how they sit under your
fingers in different parts of the neck.
The first lick is a static G7 chord, with a cool-sounding G Phrygian line applied over top
of this sound.
Click to hear the audio for this lick.
In the second lick, I applied a G Phrygian Mode to the second half of the first bar in a
short, ii-V-I lick in the key of C major.
Click to hear the audio for this lick.
Here is another short, ii-V-I chord progression featuring a sample lick where I applied
the G Phrygian Mode to the G7 chord in the second half of bar 1 of the phrase.
Click to hear the audio for this lick.
And here is a long ii-V-I progression in C major, with the G Phrygian Mode used to solo
over the G7 chord in bar 2 of the progression.
Click to hear the audio for this lick.
And finally, here is another long, ii-V-I progression in C major with the G Phrygian Mode
being used to color the G7 chord in bar 2 of the lick.
Click to hear the audio for this lick.
Though we would normally think of the Phrygian Mode as being used to solo over m7
chords, producing a m7b9 color as we saw in the beginning of this lesson, you can also
use it to bring a quasi-altered sound to your dominant 7th chords as well
Try this Mode out in your Dominant 7th practice routine this week to see how it sounds
to your ears and fits under your fingers. It might take some time to get under your
fingers and become accustomed to the sound, but once its in your ears it will add a
nice, secondary Altered color to any 7th chord you are soloing over in a jazz guitar
setting.
Have a question or comment about this lesson? Visit the How to Play Phrygian Over 7th
Chords thread in the MWG Forum.
One of the most common chord progressions we encounter when learning how to play
jazz guitar is the major key ii-V-I progression.
When learning how to build comping patterns and chord-soloing ideas over major key iiV-Is, 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 dont always have to go bigger or harder when it comes to properly voiceleading 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 todays lesson well 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.
So, grab your guitar, turn up your amp and lets dig in!
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, its 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.
Sometimes learning how to play effective comping and chord soloing lines on guitar
doesnt 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 wont 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? Head on
over to the Matt Warnock Guitar Facebook page and post a question on my wall. Always
happy to answer any questions and help you out any way I can.
So you are essentially just playing the given chords, but taking the root note out in order
to make things easier on your hands when using them to comp through tunes.
For the V7alt chord, G7alt in the given examples, you are simply taking the Fm triad
from the Dm7b5 chord and lowering the 5th note to produce the notes F Ab and B.
When doing so, you are playing the b7, b9 and 3rd of G7alt, giving you all the notes you
need to produce the 7alt sound that is being heard in the underlying changes.
So, there is a bit of background into why these 3-note chords work over Minor ii V I
chord progressions, now its time to grab your guitar and get these puppies under your
fingers, into your ears and out on the bandstand!
Often times, these simple, three-note shapes are all you need to properly outline the
chord changes, and keep things aurally interesting at the same time.
Do you have a question or comment about this lesson, triads or voice leading?
Head on over to the Matt Warnock Guitar Facebook page and post a question on my
wall.
Always happy to answer any questions and help you out any way I can.
Voice Leading
Drop 2 Chords
Drop 3 Chords
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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 its cool to add in slurs, then go for it.
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Click to hear audio for the Watermelon Man Chord Solo Etude.
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So you can see, you dont 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 doublestop 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!
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