improve your vocabulary.
Introduction
There are many ways to improve your musical vocabulary and make your melodies sound richer. The first approach we always have is to to learn how to play new scales or arpeggios but we never think of using differently what we already know.
In this lesson, i would like to show you the way i use a simple minor pentatonic scale over a Major 7th chord.
Explanation
If you want to give a different color, sound or character to a chord while soloing, you can superimpose triads, arpeggios or scales to that chord.
this is something i use all the time in both writing and improvising to create tensions and releases, to play in and out and to capture the right “personality” of a melody.
i have bunch of trick like this one but i’ll start by one of the easiest ones to apply directly to your playing.
Try to play Bm pentatonic over a GM7th chord, remember that trick as:
“over a Maj 7th chord, play a minor pentatonic scale up a major thind”
Construction
Bm pentatonic over GM7
GM7 is :
G (root), B (M 3rd), D (5th), F# (M7th)
Bm pentatonic is:
B D E F# A
Over GM7, Bm penta is:
B (M3rd), D (5th), E (6th), F# (M7th), A (9th)
So, playing Bm Pentatonic over GM7 gives you a GM7/9 (13) or a GM 6/9 kind of flavour.
To me, this approach is much easier to visualise and to apply to your playing than learning all the Maj 6/9 arpeggios... isn’t it?
Conclusion
This little trick is pretty usefull when you have to play over a Major6/9 chord, just think of that minor pentatonic up a major third.
you can also use this approach to color the chord you’re playing over, just like a painter would put some more blue or yellow to his picture.
in this case, the color is given by both th 6th and the 9th, these notes have a really strong personality and are in many cases the key to get to another level of emotion!
Have fun, and try to be creative with what you learn, there are no rules!!
Steev
