Lesson on Embellishments Over II V Cycle

In this lesson, I'm going to talk about how I embellished some of the phrases over that II V cycle.

Understanding the Chord Pairs

• The chord pairs are going down in tones.
• Each chord pair has the same scale.
  • You'd play the Dorian scale on the minor chord, which holds true for the V chord.

Note: You're just changing one note in the left hand anyway, providing you with a certain amount of freedom. You can more or less use that scale indiscriminately over both chords.

Adding Embellishments

One way of making the music more interesting is to introduce embellishments.

The Turn

The particular embellishment that I was using there could be described as a turn.

• Definition: A turn is when you go above the note and back again.
• Sometimes, this is written with a symbol, like an S shape, or it could be a mordant symbol.

Example with G Minor

Here's an example for G minor:

• Instead of just going, we go.

These turns can happen on any downbeat.

Key Insights:

• If you look at the last three examples, this is where I start to do the embellishments in the last three keys: C minor, F7.
  • The turn there was on the "a" of the F7, the first beat of the F7 bar.

Practice Tip:

• If I didn't do it, it would just be with the turn.
• It's quite nice to practice the two versions, with the turn and without the turn, alternating.

Ascending and Descending

So, I'm going up to B flat and back again.

• That's a semiquaver triplet.
• The next one is B flat minor.

When I get to E flat seven, I'm putting the turn on the second beat:

• With the turn:
• Without the turn:

So far, I've done these turns in the V chord. Of course, you can also do them on the II chord.

Final Example

Here's the last example where I put the turn in the A flat minor bar on the third beat:

• Here it was without the scale, without the turn, descending from the root.

Importance of Fingering

One of the reasons for practicing this stuff is to get the fingering sorted.

• When you introduce embellishments like this, if you haven't got your fingering in place with enough fingers to reach the necessary notes, you're just going to trip yourself up.

Key Takeaway: Embellishing scales like this is an integral part of learning to use scales effectively in your improvisations.

Practice Recommendations

It goes without saying that you should also practice all this over the other six keys not covered by this workout.

• Starting Point: Begin on B minor 7 and go down in tones from B minor 7 to cover all 12 keys.

Final Reminder: When you're playing with the backing track, you can practice anything you like with this workout. You could practice:

• Chord voicings
• Arpeggios
• Two five licks

Not just scales and embellishments!