Introduction and Motivation

This is a tutorial on using chord tones in playing blues solos and fills. The most common basis used by blues players for improvisation is the minor pentatonic scale. While pentatonic ideas can be very powerful improvisational tools, they are most powerful when used in the context of a comprehensive musical "tool kit." The purpose of this tutorial is to provide an additional set of powerful musical tools. The ideas presented here are simple, and most players will be able to begin using them within a few days of beginning to practice them. Additionally, the concepts are deep enough that they will continue to bear musical fruit for as long as the dedicated player practices them.

In creating this tutorial, I assume you posess the ability to read either standard notation or tablature and a minimum level of familiarity with moveable chords. If you have acquired these skills, you should have no difficulty applying the concepts presented here. If you have not yet reached that point, you may have some difficulty.

Western (as in western civilization, not "country & western") tonal music is largely built on tertian ("based on thirds") harmony. The interval between each chord tone and the one immediately above it is a third. There are two primary types of third intervals - major and minor - and the intervals between adjacent tones in a chord are - with a few exceptions - one of those two types.

Because blues relies heavily on dominant seventh chords, it only makes sense to focus our attention on them. "Seventh chords?" you say, "I can already play ninth chords!" to which I respond, being able to play one or two (or four or five) grips of a chord is not the same as really knowing how to use (or play over) that chord. What's important is that everything you learn to play over a seventh chord will work equally well over a ninth, eleventh, or thirteenth chord. Furthermore, as we develop the concepts you will need to play fluently over seventh chords, you will find that the higher tones beyond the seventh will be accounted for.

Let's look at the intervals in a dominant seventh chord:

root/third - major third
third/fifth - minor third
fifth/seventh - minor third

With the above knowledge, you can arpeggiate (play the tones in a chord one at a time rather than all at once) any dominant seventh chord from any point on the fretboard at which you can identify location of the root. If you learn where these tones lie on the fretboard, you will have begun building a toolkit which will enable you to break out of the box. Although we'll use the key of G for the examples that follow, the concepts are completely general, and the fingering "shapes" moveable. You should transpose the ideas to the other keys (and practice them in those keys) as part of the learning process.

Here's an example for two G7 arpeggio forms in second position:

If you examine the tab, you will see that there is only one difference between the forms. The first has the high F on the first string, which requires a stretch, and the second has the same F on the second string, which requires a one-fret position switch. The second form is the more "traditional" one, but the first has been taught by more modern teachers since as early as the 1970s. Many of these teachers believe that it better facilitates playing at tempo. I use both interchangeably as called for by the line I'm playing at the time. Both forms can work equally well. I suggest you learn both and use whichever is more comfortable for you.

Here is a three octave form for the same arp:

This one will take some practice to master. In the beginning, I would suggest that you stick with the positions shown in the tab. The G in the second measure should be played with the fourth finger and the B in the third measure with the third finger. The remaining fingerings will fall naturally to hand.

The "two-note-per string" arp form is particularly powerful, for reasons that will become evident. Here's one such form for the three-octave G7 chord:

Note that there are only two fingering patterns and that they alternate. The spaces between same-string tones are four frets (major third) on sixth, fourth, and second strings, and three frets (minor third) on fifth, third, and first strings. The first pattern requires a stretch, a capability every guitarist should develop, whereas the second does not.

This arpeggio pattern is especially well-suited to sequential lines - ascending or descending - that use alternate picking. The challenge you will face in acquiring mastery of this form is building your speed in the required position changes. Here is a link to an excellent tutorial on developing your technique: http://www.jazzguitarstartingright.com/left%20hand%20right%20hand.pdf . The discussion on Page 3 of this document deals with learning how to develop the ability to change positions effortlessly.

One very important piece of this puzzle is to learn the sounds of the intervals. While chords are constructed from thirds, every other type of interval also exists between various chord tones. when you invert thirds, you get sixths, and the tonality reverses: the inverse of a major third is a minor sixth, and vice versa.

Here's a listening exercise that will help with the above: starting with third fret, sixth string, play the first two notes of the G7 chord (G and B). The B will be second fret, fifth string. Now replace the low G with the one an octave above (fifth fret, fourth string). The first interval is a major third, the second a minor sixth. Now, repeat with the next chord tone (B, seventh fret, sixth string) and its upper neighbor (D, fifth fret, fifth string) and the inverted interval (Same D with B above, either 9th fret fourth string or 4th fret third string). Next do the same thing with the fifth (D) and the seventh (F). When you have the sounds of these intervals commited to memory, you will instantly recognize them when you hear them.

The same listening exercise should be applied to the intervals between every possible tone pair within the G7 chord. The G/D, B/F intervals (fifths) and their inverses (fourths) are next in the sequence. Then there's the G/F (seventh) interval and its (second) inverse. The B/F interval is of particular importance. It is a flatted fifth (tritone), and its inverse (nominally a sharped fourth) is the same interval. The tritone interval is the signature interval in a dominant seventh chord. If you want to create the sound and feel of a dominant seventh, you only need to play the third and seventh, which contain this very tense harmoniic interval.

The point of all this is to develop complementary abilities: to be able to hear in your head the music you want to make - an absolute prerequisite to everything else - to know where to find the notes you need to make that music on the fretboard, and to have the necessary facility to execute those notes as you hear them, without conscious thought. If you find yourself having to think verbally while you're trying to use an idea "in the moment," it means you haven't yet practiced it enough. Together, those three elements will enable you to make music. Shortchange any of them, and you will handicap yourself.

Using the root for reference, the ascending intervals between that tone and the other chord tones are: major third, perfect fifth, and minor seventh. Going down from the root, the intervals are major second (root/seventh), perfect fourth (root/fifth), and minor sixth (root/third).

Beginning with the third, the ascending intervals are minor third, flatted (diminished) fifth - aka "tritone" - and minor sixth. Descending intervals from the third are major third, flatted fifth, and major sixth.

Beginning with the fifth, the ascending intervals are minor third, perfect fourth and major sixth. Descending intervals from the fifth are minor third, perfect fifth, and minor sixth.

Beginning with the seventh, the ascending intervals are major second, diminished fifth, and major sixth. Descending intervals from the seventh are minor third, flatted fifth, and minor ("dominant") seventh.

Neighbor Tones

Here is one logical extension of the chord tone improvisational concept. Before going further, I should point out that you need to work on getting the chord tones down. I'm not talking about just being able to find them in a few seconds on the fretboard. You need to be able to play them at tempo as they come to mind, while you're playing a solo or a fill. Acquiring this skillset will take most players quite a few hours of regular practice time over a period of years, but it will be time well spent.

In creating melodies, it is useful to know that any chord tone can be approached from above or below via a neighbor tone. First we'll talk about neighbor tones from below. Here's an exercise using G7 chord tones with added lower neighbor tones.

Even though this is strictly an exercise to help you find neighbor tones, I suggest you try playing the above as written. Even played straight up, it has a "bluesy" feel.

It's worthwhile to analyze the added neighbor tones. Here's a list:

F# - major seventh
Bb - minor third
C# - flatted fifth (or sharped fourth)
E - sixth (or thirteenth)

Of these four, the one that you want to be most cautious with is the F#. Sustaining a major seventh tone over a dominant seventh chord can sound very dissonant. It works well as a leading/passing tone, however, and you will hear it used that way in a lot of older blues recordings. The other three neighbor tones are more tolerant of how you use them. The A# can be bent upward to approach the B. The in-between pitches that lie between A# and B are collectively known as a "blue note," and it was this in-between pitch - sharp of a minor third, but flat of a major third - that originally gave "the blues" its name. There's another blue note between the sixth/thirteenth and minor ("dominant") seventh, and you can do some interesting bends from E to not-quite-F over the G7 chord we're using for illustrative purposes.

Let's now talk a bit about the 12-bar I-IV-V progression. Although there are a number of common variations, the basic form is:

I/// I/// I/// I/// IV/// IV/// I/// I/// V/// IV/// I/// V///

Applying this to the key of G, using dominant seventh chords, we have:

G7/// G7/// G7/// G7/// C7/// C7/// G7/// G7/// D7/// C7/// G7/// D7///

Note that, of the twelve bars in the cycle, you're playing G7 for seven. Ergo, G7-based ideas, including the ones I presented earlier, will carry you through most of the progression. Given that, let's examine the other chords in the context of variations on the G7 concepts.

First, there's C7. The notes in the C7 chord are C-E-G-Bb. There is one tone - G - in common with the G7 chord. This tone is the root of the G7 and the fifth of the C7. The root (C) of the C7 chord is the fourth of the G7, and it lies a half step above the third (B) of the G7. The third (E) of the C7 chord is the sixth (also called the "thirteenth") of the G7 chord, and it lies a half step below the seventh (F) of the G7 chord. The seventh (Bb) of the C7 is the minor third of the G chord and is a half step below its major third.

Note that the C7 chord contains two of the lower neighbor tones - Bb and E - of the G7 chord. The third (B) of the G7 becomes the seventh (Bb) of the C7 by moving it a half step (i.e., one fret) downward. The seventh (F) of the G7 becomes the third (E) of the C7 by the same half-step downward movement. This is very powerful knowledge for a number of reasons, the first of which is called voice leading.

Now, let's tie in something that most of you already know - the minor pentatonic scale - to the concept of chord tones. We'll stay in the key of G, but these concepts apply equally well to every key. First, the notes in the G minor pentatonic scale:

Everyone who has been playing blues will recognize this. It's the pentatonic "box" in root position. Now for a little analysis:

There are three tones in common between G minor pentatonic and the G7 chord: root (G), fifth (D), and seventh (F). The two tones unique to G minor pentatonic are A# and C, the minor third and fourth (or eleventh) of the G chord, respectively. Note that both tones are a half step away from the major third of the G chord and can therefore both serve as neighbor tones. This is one way to meld minor pentatonic with chord tones. Here is an example line that uses both these tones as neighbor tones:

Minor pentatonic with Chord Tones Exercise 1

Here's a clip of the above exercise:

Exercise 1

We do not need the concept of minor pentatonic in order to construct the above line. The only tone minor pentatonic adds (C) to the ones we already have is an upper neighbor tone. I mention minor pentatonic strictly as a means to connect the concept of chord tones to a more familiar one.

Now, let's play around (music-theoretical term) with the tones in Exercise 1. The first variation will be to shift everything to the right by half a beat (one eighth note). Here's the variation:

Minor pentatonic with Chord Tones Exercise 2

A clip of the above two exercises is attached for reference. Exercise 1 is first, followed by Exercise 2.

Sixth Chords

Obviously, other chords than dominant sevenths find use in the blues. In keeping with the "straight blues" theme of this tutorial - no jazz stuff here - we'll look at the simplest alternative to dominant sevenths: sixth chords. You will find sixth chords used instead of sevenths in jump blues, rockabilly, and swing tunes. The tones in a G6 chord are G, B, D, and E. The intervals are:

Root/thiird - major third

Third/fifth - minor third

Fifth/sixth - major second (whole step).

You might notice that the last interval is not a third. For this reason, a sixth chord is not, strictly speaking, a "proper" chord. However, if you take a closer look, you will see an interesting relationship. Here's a list of the tones in a G6 chord with the sixth first: E, G, B, D. But wait! Those are the tones in an E minor seventh chord. So, a sixth chord and a minor seventh chord built on the sixth tone (relative minor) are identical. Here is a three octave arpeggiated form:

This only differs by one note - E instead of F - from the three-octave G7 arpeggio.

You can use sixth chords instead of dominant sevenths anywhere they occur. Sixth chords were common practice in earlier blues songs, as well as in swing and jump blues. You can take any single-note chord tone line that contains the seventh and simply replace it with the sixth. Neighbor tones work the same way with sixths as with sevenths. In soloing, if you largely avoid the dominant seventh tone and use the sixth in its place, you will create melodies that have more of a vintage "swing" sound to them.

I want to stress again some important facts about learning to use chord tones in your playing. First and foremost, there are no "proper" fingerings, either for scales or arpeggios. If you want to be able to improvise well, you must be able to find the notes you hear in the moment, while you are playing the solo. This means that you should be familiar with multiple options for fingering any musical phrase. The point is not to string together licks you have committed to muscle memory, it is to hear musical ideas in your head and execute them with your hands. You should be able to play a solo, for example, in a single, arbitrarily chosen left hand position or exclusively on one string. In fact, many of the better guitar teachers have their students play solos with these constraints as developmental exercises.

Momentarily Backing Out for an Overview

Let's look at the tones we've covered for playing over a G7 chord. First, the chord tones:

G, B, D, F.

Then lower neighbor tones:

F#, A#, D#, E.

Then one upper neighbor tone (there are others, but we've only covered this one so far):

C.

Then the sixth:

E, which is also a lower neighbor tone to F.

Let's list them in ascending order from G:

G, A#, B, C, C#, D, E, F, F# .

That's nine tones. A major scale only contains seven tones, and we're not yet done adding tones that can be used over a G7 chord.

Here's the point I've been working towards: when someone asks, "What scale do you use to play blues?" or even "What scale is best for playing over a seventh chord?" the answer is the chromatic scale. In other words - and this is very important - you can use any of the twelve tones in the chromatic scale (all the white and black keys on the piano and any note you can play on a guitar) - and some in-between pitches that don't even have names - to play blues. What matters is not which notes you use, it is how you use them, including where you place them rhythmically, and what you play before and after them. The aim of this tutorial is to provide some tools to help you decide where to place the notes and how to assemble them into blues melodies.