Note: Please click on the links at the end end of this article to download the examples.
In this installment, we are going to continue where we left off in
part 1 by practicing over some more complex chord changes. For the
exercises in this lesson, we are once again going to limit ourselves to
the use of chord tones only. If you have so far been practicing your
arpeggio forms and inversions over the entire range of the fingerboard,
you should by now seeing some significant improvement in your ability
to navigate the fingerboard while outlining harmony. I will present you
with 3 new exercises in this lesson to practice improvising over using
chord tones. Each of them is modeled after a popular jazz standard and
represents common harmonic movement that you might encounter on a
regular basis on jazz gigs.
Exercise 1 is a standard 12 bar jazz blues progression in F. An
example of a tune that would contain changes like this would be
"Straight, No Chaser." The changes in exercise 2 are similar to the changes in the tune, "Tune Up." Exercise 3 contains the identical chord changes to the tune, "Autumn Leaves."
For each of these exercises, you will once again start by playing
continuous swing 8th notes using chord tones only. As you will be faced
with having to play through many more individual chords and
modulations, it is absolutely critical that you look ahead as much as
possible. In other words, keep your eyes moving ahead of the measure
you are currently playing so that you are able to pre-meditate your
position shifts and arrive at each chord change with accuracy and
confidence. As we have done in the past with prior challenging
exercises, start with very slow tempos and work into a comfort zone
before kicking up the speed. For examples of how to play through each
exercise, check out the accompanying videos.
exer 1:
exer 2:
exer 3:
Obviously, once you get these progressions down you'll want to move
onto new challenges. One thing you can do to challenge yourself is to
try playing tunes you know transposed to new keys. This is vitally
important, because if you play the same changes over and over without
any variation, your eyes will have a tendency to rely on the same
visual cues on the fingerboard and you will find that you are not able
to play as well in other keys. Ideally, you should practice playing
through these exercises in all 12 keys. If that seems intimidating to
you right now, start simpler by trying to improvise over a ii-V-I
progression in all 12 keys.
Once you become proficient with controlling placement of chord tones,
then you can go back to practicing in a less restrictive manner, for
example using only chord tones 3, 5, or 7 on the downbeats of each
chord change, and then completing your phrases using combinations of
other scale tones or chromaticisms. This 'chord-tone-boot camp'-like
approach that I have shared with you in this lesson is primarily
designed to make you much more aware of where the chord tones are found
on the fingerboard. Ultimately this helps you to navigate harmonic
motion better and will also help you to become a better foundational
bassist, as well.
Until next time, keep on chord-toning!
If you have not done so already, please click on the links below to download the examples
