Lesson on Dealing with Unexpected Chords

In the last lesson, we talked about diatonic chord sequences, which are the safest and, let's be honest, blandest type of chord sequence. However, quite often you will find an unexpected chord, or two or three, in a sequence. This can make improvisation more challenging.

Recognizing the Odd Chord

Listen and Identify

Let's listen to this little sequence and see if you can recognize the odd one out.

Hopefully, you recognized that the seventh chord, which was a D, was the odd one out.

If you remember from what we talked about with diatonic chords, when C is the first chord, D minor would normally be the second chord. So, putting D major in there is unexpected because it has an F sharp, which is not part of the C major scale.

Strategies for Dealing with Unexpected Chords

We're going to look at various scenarios on how to handle this, including several drastic train crashes!

Playing a Simple Melody

First of all, let's play a simple melody that outlines the chords and highlights the odd choice.

Notice how we included the F sharp. If we didn't know the D chord was coming, we wouldn't have known to put that in. But with that F sharp, it works fine.

Using the C Major Blues Scale

Now, let's try playing the C major blues scale over that sequence and see what happens when we get to the D chord.

Hopefully, you noticed that this really didn't work when we got to the D chord.

So, what could we have done to get around that? When we encounter a non-diatonic chord, if you're playing blues phrases, you really need to switch to the D blues scale.

So something like that.

Let's try that whole thing with the sequence.

I think you'll agree that worked a lot better!

Temporary Modulation

Sometimes you encounter not just one unexpected chord but a whole series that are outside of the diatonic sequence. This can lead to what's called temporary modulation, where you effectively go into a new key.

Example of Temporary Modulation

Let's listen to one of those sequences:

Did you hear that when it went to E flat, A flat major 7 E flat? That was really well outside!

The simplistic way of improvising here is for me always to go with the major pentatonic scale. If you noodled through the C major pentatonic scale and hit that E flat moment, you'd be in serious trouble, especially when the next two chords come in, making it clear there's no way out of your trap.

Key Takeaways

You really need to know what those chords are. Here are a couple of songs that feature this kind of sequence:

• Summer of '69
• Is This the Way to Amarillo?

I often find myself playing in covers bands, happily noodling along, but then those unexpected chords turn up. What I usually do is try to find a safe note that belongs to the original key, which will fit through them.

There will always be at least one note. You can hang your solo around that note until you get back to safety.

Example of a Safe Note

For instance, I used the G note, which is part of the C chord and also part of the E flat chord. After starting on the E flat chord, I felt safer inserting that E flat while still returning to the safety of that note.

This approach is a halfway house between ignorance and actually taking the time to analyze the chords.

The Correct Approach

Finally, let's review the correct way to handle unexpected chords. If you've done your homework, investigated the chords, and returned prepared, you'll make it sound like you actually know what you're doing, rather than just taking desperate evasive actions.

Your Assignment

Your assignment for this lesson is to play through the sequence we've just discussed and find different ways of dealing with those unexpected chords. Happy practicing!