Ken's Corner: Guitar Improvisation for Starters - Lesson #19

By Ken Volpe
This is Lesson #19 in a series on Guitar Improvisation. Last week in Lesson #18 we started discussing three options for improvising. Please see Lesson #18 to review Option 1. Now let’s move on to Option 2.

I want to teach you a new set of scales. They are 1 octave Major scales in the key of A. 

SEE DIAGRAMS:

Form #1 starts on the E string with your index finger. 

Form #2 starts on the D string with your middle finger.

Form #3 starts on the G-string with the index finger.

Let’s continue with our theme on how chord tones and scale tones mesh.   

The A Major chord contains notes A,C#, E.
All 3-chord tones exist in the A Major scale as well. There are 4 scale tones that are not in the chord.  These notes are: B, D, F#, G#

The D Major chord contains notes D,F#,A.
All 3-chord tones exist in the D Major scale as well. There are 4 scale tones that are not in the chord.  These notes are: E, G#, B, C#

The E Major chord contains notes E,G#,B.
All 3-chord tones exist in the A Major scale as well. There are 4 scale tones that are not in the chord.  These notes are: F#, A, C#, D

Option 2 is another good choice for soloing but the major scales do bring up a few issues for a guitarist in the early stages of improvisation.

The Major scale forms have a lot of notes and that can be awkward in terms of execution. Also, the Major scales have a sound that is a bit predictable and not bluesy enough. The Major scales and the modes are best usually suited for Country and Jazz improvisation. We’ll look at that down the line. For now we are staying in a straight rock and or blues format.

Last week we spoke about training your ear to hear which chord and scale tones mesh and which tones do not mesh. Please pay close attention to this process of ear training. It’s not that you need to always be improvising with chord tones to have it sound right but you need to aware of which notes you are choosing. As we continue to learn theory and apply it this will all start to make more sense.

Once again from last week, training your ear is really the awareness of what sounds fit and what sounds do not fit within the context of a song. The sound of what occurs when scales and chords mesh is paramount.

In next week’s lesson we'll discuss Option 3 in regards to what scales we can improvise with that will fit our chords progression. I’ll see you all at the next lesson.

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