earn Melodies If you hope to play in front of an audience, remember: Listeners want to hear a song's melody. At seminars | often invite stu- donts to play with me onstage. And even though I let the participants choose the tune, they often know only the chords, not the melody. Most begin- ners know biues chords, but few know a good melody to play over the changes. Knowing a melody makes the difference between just jamming over some chords and playing an actual tune, + You should learn as many tunes as possible,‘both chords and melody. As the initial mys tery ofthe instrument lessens, try to learn ‘melodies in all keys and in several fretboard positions (more on this later) Eventually you'll be able (o transpose a song instanta- neously, so even ifsomeone calls a tune in fa key you're not really used to, you'll be right with them, ‘when you're not practicing, listen to as many recordings as possible. Constantly expose ‘yourself to new material and different ver. sions of fair songs And don imi yours ‘ening solely to guitarists—open your ears thom and piano players, too. Fora place to start heres abrieistening ist of players with ‘exceptional melodic ability: planists Oscar Peterson, Art Tatum, Chick Corea, and Auto: no Carls Jobin tenor saxophonists Benny Carter, Coleman Hawkins, Lester Young, and Zoot Sims; vocalists Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitegeral violinist Stephane Grappeli vibra phonist Gary Burton; and Chet Atkins. Chord Patterns and Voicings ‘Many jazz tunes have similar chord pro ‘sessions but different melodies For instance, Barney Kessel “Swedish Pastry." Chale Park er "Ble Bounce,” and Thelonious Monk’ “Straight No Chaser” ae all based on essen aly the same bes progression. Soifyouleam fone ofthese common sequences in several ‘es, you're actually learning the changes 0 ‘many tunes Keep amental recor oftunes that have similar chords. “The blues progressions the most common chord sequence. While there are several vai ations, the 12-bar progression Fx. 1 writen neve in the key of G is probably the most typical version in jazz. (For more on blues ‘hon changes, see "Blues on Target: The ABCS OfFIV-W" in the Howto Pay Blues ise ofHiow to Play Guitar} ‘Another common progression isthe one used in the fist part of George Gershin’s"T Got Rhythm.” These chor, known as “ihythm changes,” have been used in many songs. [Ex.2 shows the progression in ts most com. mon key, Bb ‘Blues tunes usually consist ofjust one 12 bar progression tha’ repeated many times. But many tunes have two parts often called the And B (or bridge) sections. The fllow {ng commonly used sequence (FX.3)cropsup from the top [FIRST STEPS om? F7 as akey-of- bridge in such tunes as Char lie Christians "7 Come11” and Charlie Park ers “Anthropology” ‘The term “voleing” refers to the way a chotd’s notes are arranged. Experimenting with voicings lets you create interesting comping (accompaniment) patterns, $0 learn to play each chord in 4s many differ- How To pay GUITAR / Jazz cent ways as possible. Also, hipper-sound: ing chords can be substituted for basi hat monies, as long as they're related. For instance, if tune ealls for a G chord, try playing a G5, Gmaj7, or Gmaj9 instead— these ae just a few ofthe possibilities. ‘Good chord combinations are often found by tral and error. Generally, the highest-FIRSTSTEPS sounding note of a chord (melodic voice) should move ina smooth and logical manner to the next harmony. Let’ take the progres- sion in Ex. and examine a few simple sub- stitution possibilities, ‘outcan alvays play asequence as its wrt ‘en. Ex.4 showsa simple combination. Mov- Inga chord form down in halfsteps can bean co Fis effective way to voice certain progressions In Fx.5 the fingering shape ofthe notes an the second, third, and fourth strings remains the same, while the bass note changes according to each chords root (D, GG and P. ‘The use of a common tone in the upper voice ofa chord gives a progression continu ty In x. 6, Dappearsin the upper voice of from th op each chord. Bx. 7 shows a poor chord choice the melody created by the upper voice lacks adistinet pattern, Remember that comeet music theory does- sitalways equal good sound, Your eas should be yourguide;ifavoleing o series of vleings doesnt sound good, come up with an alter native. Strive to keep the top notes of your ‘chords moving inalogical, melodic way. And ‘while you should strive for variety when play nga progression, itsbettertoberepeiive than to.se poorly conceived voicings. Scales ‘One of your main goals should beto lear ‘the same scale in as many diferent positions aspossible. Tusea system offive sale pattems ‘that enables me to play aver the entielength ‘oftheneck With practice you'llearn to shift berween these fingerings. Also, these ive for mations serve as reference points for other scales and chords. In Bx 8, the sith pattern Js the same as the fits, only without open strings. All ngerings are inthe key of G and the root in each pattern is circle. ‘A good way to learn your way around the fretboard isto locate the same nate in as many places as possible. Find the notes in x 9 using the numbers asa guide: The frst number of each pair rep ‘while the second is the fret. When you begin to get comfortable with the sequences, turn ‘on your metronome and play the notes ina steady rhythm, speeding up gradually. ‘Nawrylocatinga shor sequence of notes. ‘orinstance play C D, and Ein foudifer- entlocatons With practic, you fingers wil fall automatically whatever nate you choose, As yoursolo stills gro yout be abieto couple this ‘ote-finding process with the ability tohear a ‘phrase in your head hefore you plat, When ‘that happens, you'e atthe door of real jazz ‘Leamingto soo isa complex process, but ‘eventually you'l begin to associate scales ‘withthe chords they ft with litle efor, Fol* Jow youtinstints when soloing I’saparadex, Dut thinking too muuch about what you're Playing can destroy your concentration. When Tm playing. dontthink about the following: thenames of chords and scales, the fetboarg, music theory. Save those thoughts for when you're trying to fall asleep. And dont woery about whether what you're playing is right ents the string, vara / now To PLATom the top | First sters | toleam more about theory and the fretboard, ‘Butinexperienced players often have trouble raking @ tune sound interesting. Here are Chord Soloing some tips for finding new approaches Amangngumesforsologutarisagreatway __ Vary your voieings. If Gmaj7 comes ‘mostof the eit willbe. Above all listen to ‘what's happening around you. around often ina tune, use alternate volcings, for use Gmaj7 one time and G5 the next ‘While the art of chord substitution ean be complicated itis valuable arranging device. ‘Starca tune atdiffrentlocationson the | fretboard, Fven though you use exactly the | same chords, youl be surprised atthe differ entideas youllgetjustbystaringinadife- | ent postion «Play more chords and fewer single notes, but dont overdoit. The notes ean be used for the melody oras ls j + Use more single notes and fewer chords. Justa an arrangernent with too many single notes can sound bare, using too many chords can sound clutered and choppy. + if youre playing unaccompanied exper imentwith differen tempos Fee feeto speed ‘up orslow downa tune. Try startingat ballad tempo and eventually working up to a mod: ‘erate swing, Changing time signatures can also ad interest to an arrangement Finally, the more seales, chords, and songs you know, the better you can impro vise with canfldence. As you increase your ability to visualize the fretboard and the relationship between chords and scales, the ‘more freedom you'll have for playing w' you hear. ‘The flery solos and sensitive comping of Joe ‘Pass, who died in Los Angeles on May 2 1994, graced hundreds recordings by awho’ who of jase, including Dizzy Gilespe, Ella lazgerald, Count Basie, Duke Elington, and sear Peterson, But his greatest legacy may be his solo work (documented on the Virts- ‘oso recordings), which features briliant {improvised sllloquies compete with watk- ing bass lines and dazzling single-note phrases. This article frst appeared in the July 1983 Guitar Player —————