Chord Tone Soloing Tutorial
Welcome to start of the improv series on the 12 Bar Blues. We are going to start this study of improvisation with the topic of chord tone soloing.
Chord tone soloing is the process of creating improvised lines exclusively with the primary tones of the chord which are 1, 3, 5 & 7. Chord tone soloing is the first step towards learning to improvise freely on the piano.
You might be thinking, "well wait a minute, 1, 3, 5 & 7 is just an arpeggio of the chord" and you are correct, it is, however, these tones play a very important part in building improvised lines and understanding the importance of them is essential in developing your ability to improvise.
Why is chord tone soloing such an important step in learning to improvise?
Well, all chord tones have a very stable sound. This is because you are playing directly within the harmony. The notes you are improvising with are the primary chord tones from the underlying harmony.
In contrast, the extensions 9, 11 & 13 are very colourful tones and the alterations such as b9, #9s, #11s and #5s can be used to add dissonance and tension to your lines.
If you have tried to improvise in the past, and you have found that your improvised lines begin to sound a bit lost and disjointed from the chords, then it’s very likely that you are not paying enough attention to chord tones.
Being able to visualize and identify these tones is incredibly important and if you analyse the solos of professional jazz musicians, you will see that chord tones play a very important role in their improvised lines.
Lesson Downloads
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12 Bar Blues Lesson Supplement File Type: pdf -
“Straight No Chaser” – Jazz Blues Form File Type: pdf
Related Lessons
First, we break down the anatomy of a swing line and we will talk about the variables and dynamics of swing that you can add to your playing today.
This lesson applies upper structure triads to the tune Tenderly and also discuss ways to add fills and runs in between the chords of this great tune.
In this lesson we explore general improv concepts such as: arpeggios, approach patterns, enclosures and turns and chord tone soloing.
Practice Tips
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The exercises in this lesson are not meant to sound like a true improvisation. The exercises are designed to get your familiar and accustomed to outlining the chord tones in your improvised lines.
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After you have watched the next few lessons in this series, you will understand why this is such an important step to take. We will start off with some simple examples and we will build up the difficulty.
- Don't dismiss the early exercises as being too easy, if you can play them 100% accurately at tempo without making any mistakes, then move onto the next exercise, but do not skip any of them out because you think they are too simple.
Per vedere le lezioni successive devo iscrivermi al vostro corso?
Hi Vincenzo. Sì, è giusto. Accedere al corso ti dà accesso a oltre 100 lezioni, trascrizioni e tutte le altre risorse per l’apprendimento. Se hai altre domande, ti prego di inviarmi un’email 🙂 Cheers, Hayden
Hello, at what tempo would you consider proficient enough to move to the next exercise?
Hi Bien,
You should be able to master the quarter note exercise fairly quickly, but still start off at at 60-80 bpm and then gradually build up in increments of 5 bpm. The idea is that you can complete the exercise whilst thinking to yourself “this is easy” – without you having to have complete concentration in the exercise. Once you reach that point, you are ready to increase the tempo. Perhaps take the quarter note exercise to 120 bpm and then move onto 8th notes.
It’s also important to introduce interesting intervals and patterns… try not to just run up and down the arpeggio tones sequentially.
When you move onto 8th notes, you will find it much more difficult because you have effectively doubled the tempo as you need to play twice as many notes in each bar.
Start at 60 bpm or even slower and again gradually build up in increments of 5 bpm. Once you get to 80 bpm you should find this challenging. You can always move onto the other topics in the course but revisit these exercises to keep practicing this important area. Perhaps apply the same exercise to a jazz standard like Autumn Leaves.
Remember that the goal of these exercises is to familiarise yourself with where the chord tones are located so that you are comfortable outlining them in your lines. In the next lessons in this course we introduce triplets and swing 8th notes and then it will start to sound less like an exercise and more like a jazz solo.
And of course, you can then repeat the same exercise with swing 8th notes, triplets, and practice combining different note durations and rhythms.
Hope this helps and any other questions let me know 🙂
Cheers,
Hayden
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Hi Hayden!
I am struggling with the “Guide tone” section. I have not been able to figure out the pattern. Pls help. I have managed to spot the notes by playing the video slow, however, the theory / science behind that is not at all clear to me.
Regards,
Hi Shantanu,
Sure let me help you out here.
The theory behind this is very simple, and something that we have covered in the past.
If you remember the lesson on the “3-note major 251 progression” – https://www.pianogroove.com/jazz-piano-lessons/major-251-progression/ – you will remember that we paid special attention to the voice leading which is the b7 falling to the 3rd of the next chord.
When we outline these voices in the 251 progression, the chords lead smoothly from one to the next. It’s the exact same principle here, except now we are using the voice leading in our right hand.
By playing these guide tones in our right hand, we are directly outlining the underlying harmony in our melodic ideas, and this sounds very ‘inside’.
It allows you to connect your melodies over the chords very smoothly.
It takes a while to practice, but just focus on outlining the b7s falling the 3rds when the chord changes, and you will hear that it sounds very pleasing to the ear. Try to visualise that half step from b7 to 3rd when the chord changes.
Hope this helps!
Hayden
Hayden:
Do you know an example of a standard song that meets this pattern in F that I could practice as a whole song-playing the melody and then an improv section? I’m working hard on this as it seems very fundamental, and having an actual song to work up, to add to the improv aspect, would really complete this for me.
Thank you.
Laura
Hayden:
I apologize-I hadn’t seen the studies below the lessons yet to see that you have already listed some standards that follow this pattern in F. If you could offer some additional samples as well, that would be great, even if they’re typically played in other keys. I know I’m going to need to learn this in other keys as well.
Thanks again.
Laura
Hi Laura,
Yes check out the “Straight No Chaser” lesson in this course first, and yes I can offer many more examples.
A nice one is “Miles Davis – Phrancing” – we have a dedicated tutorial on that tune here: https://www.pianogroove.com/jazz-piano-lessons/how-to-play-like-wynton-kelly/
You might also like Tuomo’s lesson on walking bass lines over the F Jazz Blues, you will see that he uses a lot of similar voicings, but this time played in the right hand:
https://www.pianogroove.com/jazz-piano-lessons/walking-basslines-revealed/
Finally, here is a list of jazz blues tunes in F which follow this form, I highly recommend that you check them all out on Spotify and/or YouTube and create a playlist.
You must start transcribing from the solos, first just focusing on little licks over the 25s and 251s, play along with the records to absorb the phrasing.
When analysing and transcribing from the recordings, you will find all of the things we have explored in this course such as chord tones, approach patterns, enclosures, and chromaticism.
we also have a transcription assignment on that tune here: https://www.pianogroove.com/community/t/wynton-kelly-transcription-exercises/3810
Check out those recordings – there are many more too, but that should get you started 🙂
Enjoy!
Cheers,
Hayden
In your transcription, you have highlighted the 13 in red as a chord tone? Is this because we are treating the 6 as a substitute of the 7 and therefore as a chord tone, as opposed to as the 13 and therefore as an extension?
All the best,
Jamie
Hi Jamie 👋🏻
Great question!
Yes that’s exactly right. When the 7th is not present in the chord, the 13th is referred to as the 6th, and if the 7th is not present the 6th becomes one of the 4 primary chord tones.
We can construct some great sounding lines with just the root, 3rd, 5th, and 6th of the chord and these tones play a very important role in improvisation.
Let me know if you have any further questions.
Cheers,
Hayden
Hi Hayden, I couldn’t follow which chords to play on the left hand? Why those chords? Thanks!
I don’t understand the voicings in your L hand. I guess I missed something big here. Please, tell me where this is covered? Maybe in rootless voicings?You are voicing most of the chords in the Left hand with the b7 as base note a then a 9 or b9 a 3rd or a 5th. I’m lost.
How do I learn this? Thanks!!
Hi Nancy,
Yes exactly, these are rootless voicings. We have a course here on this topic:
https://www.pianogroove.com/jazz-piano-lessons/left-hand-voicings/
I recommend you to first watch this 1 hour seminar where I explain all of the background information, apply to tunes, and also demonstrate some useful drills:
https://www.pianogroove.com/live-seminars/mastering-rootless-voicings/
Rootless Voicings are a big area of study and I address these voicings it in my most recent seminar on “Essential Chord Progressions”:
https://www.pianogroove.com/live-seminars/chord-progressions-for-beginners/
and also in the “Voicings For Beginners & Beyond” seminar that I hosted in January:
https://www.pianogroove.com/live-seminars/jazz-voicings-for-beginners/
Watch those 2 seminars also and it will give you a good idea of the main theory milestones ahead of you, and how to practice and how to progress.
If you have any follow up questions just let me know.
Cheers,
Hayden
Hayden, your support is greatly appreciated. I seem to be fumbling along trying to find a direct thread I can follow. But I guess there just isn’t any straight line to learning jazz. You just have to stop and fill in the gaps along the way. Is that it? Or is there a more direct route to making sure you absorb the fundamentals? Puzzled, Nancy
Hi Nancy,
My pleasure with the support. Any questions please don’t hesitate to ask.
Yes jazz is truly a vast topic and so there is no single path to work through the theory.
What I outline in the seminars above is what I perceive to be the “essential theory” and once we have a basic understanding of these areas it really opens doors for our playing.
It’s important to understand that we are always learning new theory, and there is always more to learn, and so in that sense it is an ongoing process.
I recommend to split your practice time between the courses mentioned in the seminars:
– Jazz Piano Foundations
– Chord Extensions
– Rootless Voicings / Left Hand Voicings
– Altered Harmony & USTs
With the theory in those 4 courses we can arrange jazz standards to a good level and create some sophisticated sounding voicings and progressions.
I am in the process of creating a new course on “Cocktail Piano For Beginners” which covers both harmony and improvisation. I’m aiming to launch the course around the end of this month. We focus on the tune “Misty” and the course is structured in a similar style to the course on “Georgia” but with a more cocktail-piano improvisation focus. I think you will enjoy it and more updates to follow.
In the interim let me know if I can help further with any guidance.
Cheers,
Hayden
Hi Hayden – I’m having difficulties with the fingering when playing chord tones randomly. Your fingering is very “efficient”, and I’m wondering if there is any fingering that you’re following while playing over a particular chord or if you’re simply anticipating where you’re going to be playing 2-3 beats ahead? Thanks!
Excuse professeur mais impossible d entendre la leçon 3. On entend un morceau de jazz. Donc problème de son
Bonjour Jean,
Quel est exactement le problème que vous rencontrez ?
Je peux regarder cette vidéo et entendre le son du piano et le son de la voix sans problème. N’est-ce pas le cas pour vous ?
Est-ce juste ce cours, ou les autres cours aussi ?
Cordialement,
Hayden