Playing Changes – Practice Tip

Improvising through chord changes is challenging. We want to have specific knowledge of how each note we play relates to the current harmony and the key of a tune. In practice what can we do to gain familiarity with these elements? One thing we can do is focus on one change, or two chords. Let’s talk about root notes first. We have eleven possible movements from one root to another. We may also consider that the root may remain the same while the chord quality changes. So we have eleven possible changes and twelve when we consider the root remains the same. Next, we have chord quality. Let’s consider five of these; maj7, 7, -7, -7b5, and dim7. Try these out with just one root note in the order mentioned, forward and backward. We hear that one note changes between each of these chords. Now, practice one root movement and pick one of the chord qualities for the two chords. Decide your approach to the lines; triadic, scale, ect. Play four or eight notes played as steady eighths for each chord. Improvise back and forth through the chord change in all positions and the full range of the neck. Get a sense for how the patterns and shapes change. Also, listen for how the harmony differs between the two. Some notes remain the same others change to different notes. Concentrating on just one change you will really get in-depth with chord changes and find yourself improvising with increasing ease.