Article Tags: ionian improvization chord progression

I've run across a few articles about improvization. The main point was that during 18th century guitar teachers regularly taught improvization. The idea is almost like jazz theory but with a heavy emphasis on melody. That doesn't mean jazz is devoid of melody--just check out the Real Book. Anyway, here's a simple chord progression in A major (Ionian):

A Gdim F#m E

Even values for each, like all 1 beat or 4. Let's look at using this progression to create a background. A simple way to think about chord voicing is to think about your guitar strings. For the chord, play the D G B strings. Then you can do something like this:

B - 2 - - 0 - - 2 - - 0 - -

G - 2 - - 1 - - 2 - - 1 - -

D - 2 - - 0 - - 4 - - 2 - -

Depending on what you're doing you could cut out the B string. Let's do that and add some bass notes:

e - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

B - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

G - 2 - - - 1 - - - 2 - - - 1 - - - 

D - 2 - - - 0 - - - 4 - - - 2 - - - 

A - 0 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

E - - - - - 4 - - - 2 - - - 0 - - - 

For the melody we have lots of options in the first position, which is E mixolydian:

e |0 - 2 - 4 - |

B |0 - 2 - 3 - |

G |1 - 2 - 4 - |

D |0 - 2 - 4 - |

A |0 - 2 - 4 - |

E |0 - 2 - 4 - |

Thinking melodically, come up with a 4 note idea. Keep it simple, like the higest for notes descending with the first 3 chords then ascending with the last:

e - 4 2 0 - 4 2 0 - 4 2 - - - 0 2 4 

B - - - - 3 - - - 3 - - 5 3 3 - - -

G - 2 - - - 1 - - - 2 - - - 1 - - - 

D - 2 - - - 0 - - - 4 - - - 2 - - - 

A - 0 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

E - - - - - 4 - - - 2 - - - 0 - - - 

Keep in mind that's one thing you can do. You could do the top 4 notes of the scale and move down one scale step each time. You could do something more rhythmic with the chord and bass voices too.

Another way to apply these ideas is when playing with other musicians. You can look at the chord progression and, if you practice playing like thise, your fingers can more naturally find the notes that you want to play. This is where classical/fingerstyle shines in terms of musicianship. It's not unusual for a piano player to put bass, chord, and melody together, if you've never tried improvising like this give it a try.

Updated on: 2008 12 15