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To answer the question seriously, I just had a go and it appears that I am be working off scales; mostly I'm aiming at a melody with no real thought process though, so mainly B major with aspects of the others and bits of arpeggios as I see fit.
You first need to work out what key you are in (or keys if there is a key change).
When you see two maj7th chords separated by a 4th (and hence also a 5th) you can quickly orient yourself around a particular major scale.
Harmonising the C Major Scale:
C = C maj7 <--------
D = D min7 |
E = E min7 |
F = F maj7<--------
G = G7
A = A min7
B = Dm7b5
Looking at the chord progression above you can e the two maj7 chords are Bmaj7 and Emaj7.
When you orient them so that you have one as the tonic with a 4th up to the other you realise that is Bmaj7 up to Emaj7.
So harmonising the B major scale:
B = Bmaj7
C# = C# min7
D#= D# min7
E = E maj7
F# = F#7
G# = G# min7
A# = A# min7 b5
BUT WAIT, there is an even easier way to work out the key for this piece.
See the dominant 7 chord there- F#7- when you have a functioning dominant chord in a chord progression that does not change key then you just have to go down a 5th to get the key- a 5thdown from F# is B major.
Ideally you should be able to do this on the fly, which you will be able to do if you learn the circle of 5ths and the major scale in all keys.
What I actually think about when I'm actually soloing is very little- I've worked for years at practicing various things- scales, arpeggios, various licks and approaches to notes.
Once I have a tonal centre I just think melody, not mechanics.
If there is a key change then it is a slightly different approach but not massively different.
Studio: https://www.voltperoctave.com
Music: https://www.euclideancircuits.com
Me: https://www.jamesrichmond.com
Football is rubbish.
Supportact said: [my style is] probably more an accumulation of limitations and bad habits than a 'style'.
Although I do know the notes in the scales I'm not actually so much as thinking of them as notes but intervals when solo'ing. So I know that bending up to the major third note of that last chord in the progression produces a certain resolved flourish for example. It's all tricks like that
What is better is to use a one up and two down (outd), or two up and now down (tuod) approach note pattern.
So if the note you are encapsulating is A then play G->Bb->A or Ab->B->A
Try playing some arpeggios using alternating outd/tuod encapsulation.
Studio: https://www.voltperoctave.com
Music: https://www.euclideancircuits.com
Me: https://www.jamesrichmond.com
Football is rubbish.
Bmaj7 = D# minor 7 arp, F# triad
F#7 - E triad / F# triad
G#min7 - B maj7 arpeggio, F# triad
Emaj7 - just Emaj7 melodic lines.
1) determine the 'character' or 'attitude' of the tune you want - fast, slow, soaring, monotone, agressive, etc - probably in sync with the character of the song.
2) think about the structure of the solo - do you want to state a theme, then deviate from it and return to it at the end, maybe in a modified form? Or just take the tune on a journey from A to B (A and B are not notes in that context!), or repeat something endlessly while the chords shift underneath it, etc.
3) think about light and shade: you can create interest through contrast if your solo is long enough - fast bits and slow bits, low bits and high bits, bits with notes on the beat vs off the beat, etc
4) think about tension and release - you can create dramatic tension by using suspensions, or overhangs from the previous chord, which resolve during the chord itself, eg at the end of the I chord you can play a B and hang on to it till after the chord change to V, and only after a couple of beats resolve it to A#, which is the major 3rd of F#. Similarly you can hang onto an A# after the change to chord vi, then resolve it down a tone to the G#, maybe via a short B.
5) Although the chords are all diatonic with B major, you don't actually have to stick with those notes, you can play whatever you like. It's quite effective to switch between 'inside' and 'outside' notes, normally having inside as the default and slipping into outside at the end of a sequence before resolving back in again. So you could choose outside notes for the 4th chord - the E - or for the 4th and 8th measures of an 8-measure solo. Example of outside notes for the E7 could be that you could play E phrygian, focussing heavily on the m2, m3, m6 and m7 (F, G, C and D). It will sound odd, but if you play with intent and resolve nicely to the B major when it arrives, you'll get away with it.
6) use rhythm to reinforce note choice - eg, you could choose a default rhythm that you use again and again during the solo, and deviate from it here and there, but come back to it. For example if you are using a lot of suspensions, assuming each bar has 8 quavers, then over a 2-bar measure you could accentuate quavers 1 3 6 9 11 14. Or 1 3 6 8 11 14, for a 'pushed' 2nd bar.
7) use call-and-response to create story-telling. Play a little motif then repeat it, maybe an octave above, or more quietly, or with a bit of embellishment, in the next bar.
8) use tricks such as bends to give the same swooping, soaring feel that singers can get. For example on chord I, you can play the high 3rd, the 4th and back to the 3rd (D#-E-D#) with a bend: on the B string, bend a tone up from 14th fret to create the major 3rd (would normally be 16th fret), then bend up another semitone for the E, then back down to the bent D#. Pluck each note and renew the bend for each note - try and do it like a singer would!
9) where you want more deliberate statements you can fatten your sound with octave chords or power chords, then use single notes for arguments.
10) 'build' using ascending scales. This creates a triumphant, inevitable feeling. Just as a rather obvious example at the end of the solo you could play, one note per beat (or octaves)
I) B C# D# E
V) F#______
vi) G# A# B C#
IV) D# E F# G#
I) F#_____!
Gotta go but there are hundreds of concepts like those above. Read up on melody-writing. Then worry about the chords. Then put your hands in your pockets and sing the tunes you want. Then put them to your fingers.
Supportact said: [my style is] probably more an accumulation of limitations and bad habits than a 'style'.
I think theory is great iff used ...on its own its not really much use ...its great way off explainig what could work over a given situation it isnt a rule that you must do that though...a few examples mentioned in the posts above will work they explain the raw materials will never create music ...they will give you ideas on different approaches and keep you in tune..but making music you need to manipulate these ideas...
Its sort of like ...heres a pile of words ...talk to me
Thanks to the guys answering. I'm sure I'm not the only one whose learned something today.
"Shitshitshitshitshitshitshitshitshitshitshitshitshitshitshitshitshitshit....phew"
Say you have a dominant 7th chord- lets stick in C major because it is easiest to explain things.
G7 = GDBF
You can extend any dominant chord thusly:
G9 = GBDFA
G13 = GBDFACE
Let'd look at G13 for a minute: normally you wouldn't play the 11th if playing the full G13 chord but we are superimposing here so it might be useful to us.
There are two sub groupings of that chord that I find quite useful:
First is GBD and FACE.
GBD is just a regular major triad, but FACE is a major 7th chord.
In 'super funky muso jazz fusion' language this is playing a major 7th off the flat 7th of a dominant chord to imply a dominant 13th tonality.
Why? Because if you have other people in the band playing root notes and the major chord you can, as a soloist, go off an investigate some other things.
Just as an aside- the tension in a dominant chord comes from the dissonance between the major 3rd and the b5.
What is that interval? a flat 5th. Cool huh?
So any time you see a functioning dominant chord you could try playing a maj 7th chord off the flat 7th.
Try using some approach notes for some of the FACE- where you might play encapsulate some of the notes with a tone below and a semitone above (or vice versa)- it sounds really cool.
Another grouping is GBDF and ACE.
This is a simplified version of the above thing- GBDF is a dominant 7th chord.
ACE is a minor triad.
So another way of expressing a Dominant 13th chord is by taking a G7 chord and stacking a minor triad off the major 2nd.
This isn't as common a way to think about things so I won't hang too much on it.
The stuff above ^^^ this essentially is how jazz musicians think.
You have different rules for extending minor 7th chords, or major 7th chords.
You can use b5 substitutions- in fact, let's do one now.
Say you have a ii V I in C:
Dm7 G7 Cmaj7
Try substituting the G7 for the same chord type a b5 above, which would be Db7
Replace that in the ii V I
So Dm7 G7 Cmaj7 becomes Dm7 Db7 Cmaj7- you've heard that before I am sure.
In fact anytime you see a dominant chord you could turn it into a ii V I, without or without a b5 sub.
If you are soloing over a blues, for example- you could turn the whole thing into iiV I's- it might not sound very good though.
This is where taste and style need to be employed- you should spend a bit of time trying this sort of thing out- it is easy to overuse.
Studio: https://www.voltperoctave.com
Music: https://www.euclideancircuits.com
Me: https://www.jamesrichmond.com
Football is rubbish.
I've been playing a long time and have developed enough technique/dexterity to play pretty much anything I want to. But I have never had a formal approach to putting a solo over anything. I've never had to do it on the spot so I've never worked at it. Anything that has been written to go over a song has come from listening until I can hear it in my mind and then been taught to or memorised by my fingers later.
I will have to have a play around with what you've suggested. I don't think the problem is that people don't want to learn this stuff. It's that there is such a lot to learn that it gets overwhelming trying to find what bits you can apply.