Playing The Changes
In this series of videos, we look at how to play the changes to a song and be able to play melodic lines that smoothly flow over changing chords.
Putting It All Together
In this video, we put everything together and play over the changes in a 12-bar blues.
Discuss this tutorial here.
0:15 The chord transitions in a 12-bar blues are:
- I7 ↔ IV7
- I7 ↔ V7
- V7 → IV7 (but practice in both directions!)
1:24 My sample solo. 1:51 An analysis of the solo.
Some of the techniques used:
- strong/weak chord tones are emphasized to make the sound of a chord
- chord tones are constrasted to emphasize chord changes
- melodic lines consisting of only chord tones are used to make the sound of that chord
- chord tones are held for longer and/or growled for emphasis
- motifs are repeated and constrasted to highlight chord changes
4:20 It's important to practice common chord changes in all 12 keys. For example:
- I ↔ IV ; I ↔ V ; IV ↔ V (using major and/or dominant and/or minor chords)
- vi ↔ I
- ii-V7-I
- iii-VI7 ; ii-V7