#Chromatic notes how to

It is much more important that you learn them slowly and accurately.

Once again, don’t worry about playing these patterns with a metronome or backing track at first. For the 3rd of a dominant 7 chord, the scale step is only a semitone above the target note. Notice that for all of the tones, with the exception of the 3rd, the scale step is always one tone above the target note. Here are all the arpeggio tones of the Bb7 chord played with the same pattern. Chromatic approach Example 8h:Īs you can see, the note that is chromatic to the scale is now placed on the beat (although later you should experiment with the rhythmic placement of all of these ideas)

#Chromatic notes how to

One very interesting thing about this pattern is it allows us to put a chromatic tone on the beat, and it will sound fantastic, just so long as you resolve it correctly.Įxample 8h shows you how to play the semitone below / scale step above pattern on the root of the Bb7 arpeggio. There are many other chromatic approach note patterns that are often used, but one that you should definitely work on is the semitone below / scale step above pattern.Īs its name suggests, this pattern starts in a similar manner to the semitone below pattern described above, however, we now add in another note, this time from the scale appropriate to the chord (in this case, the Mixolydian mode) The following lines demonstrate the use of the ‘semitone below’ approach note pattern. I would highly recommend getting used to their sound and rhythmic placement over a one-chord vamp such as backing tracks three and four. These patterns are also very useful and distinctive when added to arpeggio-based lines over static chords. They tie in strongly with the idea of melodic voice leading over changing chords that we examined in chapter seven, and they can be used at any time as an approach into a target note of a new chord. I finally realised that they work best when not used in isolation. When I was first learning these concepts, the main difficulty I had was using them musically. This technique can be applied to any arpeggio, so it is wise to proceed slowly here and learn the sound carefully and fluently. To save space I’ve written the following examples as 1/8th notes, but don’t be afraid to add lots of space between each note ‘pair’ so you can internalise this concept easily. Now apply the same idea to the Eb7 arpeggio. When you get confident, try playing the previous exercise as a continuous line as shown in example 8b: Chromatic approach Example 8b:Īlso learn this idea descending, as in example 8c: Chromatic approach Example 8c: In the following diagram, the notes of the Bb7 arpeggio are solid, and the chromatic approach notes are hollow. Try the following exercise in your own time don’t use a metronome and try to visualise each note of the Bb7 arpeggio as you play it. We are going to add a chromatic approach note a semitone below each of the arpeggio tones of Bb7.Įach chromatic note will be played on an offbeat and be one semitone below the target note. This concept is a great starting point to explore some commonly used decorations to arpeggio based soloing. If we consider what we learned in the previous chapter about chromatic passing notes, it is not unreasonable to suggest that we can place any chromatic note on an offbeat, so long as it resolves to an arpeggio tone on the beat. Remember the basic principle of jazz soloing keep arpeggio tones on the beat, and non-arpeggio tones off the beat. Jazz language is mainly made up from arpeggios and ‘decorations’ to those arpeggios. Chromatic approach notes are a massive part of the jazz guitar language.