LINE GAMES
Targeting chord tones in melodic improvisation
LAST MONTH, I discussed my approach to melody and melodic awareness, as applied to improvised solos played on a single string. Whether you’re playing over a complex chord progression or a single chord, the notes you choose to emphasize in a solo will serve to “tell the story.” We began by looking at the simple A minor pentatonic scale, lically which , is 1 ( spelled root), b 3 A ( , flatted C, D, E 3 , rd G, ), and 4, 5 interval , b 7 (flat- - ted 7th). We then expanded this five-note entity to the seven-note A natural minor E scale , F, , G which , intervallically consists of , 1 the (root notes ), 2,…
