Passing Notes

The Root - 3rd

T
A
B

7 10 7

The 3rd - Root

T
A
B

7 10 7

The 3rd - 5th

T
A
B

7 10 4

The 5th - 3rd

T
A
B

4 10 7

2014 Cliff Engel

The 5th - 7th

T
A
B

9 10 4

The 7th - 5th

T
A
B

4 10 9

The Root - 3rd - Root Position The Root - 3rd - 1st Inversion

T
A
B

10

10

10

The Root - 3rd - 2nd Inversion The Root - 3rd - 3rd Inversion

T
A
B

10

10

10

13 15

12 14

12
15

12 14

13

The 3rd - Root - Root Position The 3rd - Root - 1st Inversion

T
A
B

10

10

10

The 3rd - Root - 2nd Inversion The 3rd - Root - 3rd Inversion

T
A
B

10

10

10

13

The 3rd - 5th - Root Position

T
A
B

14 12

12
15

14 12

15 13

The 3rd - 5th - 1st Inversion

10

10

10

The 3rd - 5th - 2nd Inversion The 3rd - 5th - 3rd Inversion

T
A
B

10

10

10 12

10

10

The 5th - 3rd - Root Position

T
A
B

13

15

14

15

12
15

13

The 5th - 3rd - 1st Inversion

10

10

10

The 5th - 3rd - 2nd Inversion The 5th - 3rd - 3rd Inversion

T
A
B

10

10

12 10

10

12
10

13

15

15

14

15

13

The 5th - 7th - Root Position

T
A
B

The 5th - 7th - 1st Inversion

10

10

10

The 5th - 7th - 2nd Inversion The 5th - 7th - 3rd Inversion

T
A
B

10

10

10

10

13 15

The 7th - 5th - Root Position

T
A
B

14

12 14 15

14

15 13

The 7th - 5th - 1st Inversion

10

10

10

The 7th - 5th - 2nd Inversion The 7th - 5th - 3rd Inversion

T
A
B

10

10

10

10

13 15

14

15 14 12

14

15 13

G7

T
A
B

10 7

Dm7

T
A
B

17

16

G7

14
17

14

15

17

15

14

12

CMaj7

10

10

12

13

10

12

10

Chord tones are identified as the root, third, fifth, and seventh degrees of a scale while scale tones
consist of the second, fourth, and sixth scale steps. Non-diatonic notes are tones which are not found
within the chord or its diatonically associated scale. Embellishing tones are notes of secondary
significance in music, and many times they are not diatonic to the harmony. Often, they create
dissonance and resolve by either a half step or a whole step to a more critical pitch.
One of the most commonly employed embellishing tones is the passing note. A passing note connects
two other pitches of greater importance through stepwise motion. The passing note may appear in a
descending or ascending fashion between two pitches, and it may or may not be diatonic to the
harmony. When a scale tone is positioned between two chord tones, it is functioning as a passing
note. For example, the passing notes in these exercises will be the second, fourth, and sixth scale
degrees of the Mixolydian mode because Mixolydian is one of the most common scales musicians will
utilize when playing over dominant seventh (7) chord types.
This collection of exercises contains the most common passing note techniques used in the
construction of solos. The one and two-octave arpeggios of G7 as well as the G Mixolydian mode will
function as the basic building blocks of all the exercises. After passing notes from the G Mixolydian
mode are applied to the chord tones of G7 over one and two octaves, you are presented with a
sixteenth-note phrase featuring these techniques over the G7 chord to demonstrate how you could
potentially utilize these techniques in real musical application on an individual chord change. You will
also find an eighth-note line over the ii-V-I, the most common chord progression played in jazz music,
in C major to illustrate the type of phrase you could improvise using passing notes.
These exercises are excellent for ear training purposes because they will help you internalize the sound
of passing notes notes along with how they relate to particular chord types. They are also great
exercises for expanding your fretboard familiarity since they can be played across every position of the
fingerboard, and due to all of the string crossing that is required, these exercises will certainly help
develop your technique.
Play through each of the exercises as notated. Transpose to the other keys such as C7, F7, Bb7, and
also apply these techniques to all of the remaining seventh chords including Maj7, m7, m7b5, dim7,
mMaj7, 7sus4, Maj7#5, Maj7b5, 7#5, and 7b5 using the notes from their most closely associated
scales. To help make this amount of material seem more manageable from a time perspective, you
can apply these techniques to just one seventh chord per day. Then, improvise solos using these
passing note techniques over individual chords, short chord progressions such as the ii-V-I or any of its
common variations, and complete song forms including the 12-bar blues. As you study transcribed
solos, locate passing notes, observe how they are used, and assimilate those techniques into your own
playing.
This lesson has been excerpted from Soloing Techniques For Bass Guitar & Acoustic Bass. For more
information on the IIB's online bass courses, visit: http://www.InstituteOfBass.com.