Music Lesson: Soloing Techniques

One thing I think that's key when we're looking at soloing is to pick a few patterns.

• Learn the patterns and then experiment with them to make them completely your own.

Starting with C Chord

Let's start with the first chord, C.

The Pattern

I'll play it to you at speed, and then we'll slow it down.

• This pattern is using the chord of C.
• We're going to use most of the notes in this middle section of the chord.

Notes and Movement

• Start with the minor third, which is the E flat.
• Moving from the minor third to the major third creates tension and resolution:
  • "Oh, what's that?"
  • "Oh, there he is, we're home."

This major to minor transition sounds bluesy, jazzy, and great.

• Start with the E flat.
• Move to the major third (E natural), then to F and F sharp.
• Finally, to G.

Add a bit of a pivot with your hand for movement.

You'll always be using the notes in the middle and the two C octaves with your thumb and little finger.

Speed Practice

At speed, you get this:

• Just C on its own, and then the note that we change plus your little finger every time.

And all of that is based around this:

• C, E flat, E natural, F, F sharp, G, and the occasional A.

Have a little play with these notes to come up with your own blues ideas.

Transitioning from C to E7

One thing that I really like is moving from C to E7.

• The fifth of C is G (the fifth note in the scale of C).
• The fifth note in E7 is G sharp, which is a semitone above G.

Although the chords seem distant, the fifth notes are only a semitone apart.

Improvisation Tip

You could resolve your improvisation in C on A G and start on E7 with G sharp.

This creates a nice familiarity in your playing. For example:

• You might go something like this:
  • "It's that semitone of like, oh, we've moved chord."

Adding Thirds to Improvisation

Don't forget to use thirds in the improvisation as well.

• Thirds are where we take the note of the melody.
• For example, if the note is C, we add the third note of that chord, which is E.

Practicing Thirds

You can constantly move these thirds up and down the piano. This might take some practice.

• Exercise: Pick some thirds and move them up and down the piano.
• This is also the Rugrats theme, incidentally.

Use the melody to influence your soloing skills.

Example

Take the melody:
"Some folks like to get away, take a holiday."

• That's only three notes!

You can do nice things around that.

• Start on an E.
• Remember, the minor thirds of any chord always sound nice.

Using Incidentals

The melody starts on the major third. Use little incidentals, you might catch the minor third.

Here we go:

• I'll swing the left hand and play some right-hand ideas.

This was based only on the C pentatonic scale:

• C, D, E, G, A.

You can experiment with these five notes anywhere on the piano.

Advanced Techniques

When you're feeling more confident, you can learn this advanced rundown:

• This works from the top to the bottom of the piano.

Example Rundown

Let's take: C, G, G, C, G, F sharp, F natural, E flat, C.

This is similar to the C blues scale.

Adding Over Chords

At tempo, this works all the way down the piano.

Add this over a nice G7 chord with your pentatonic ideas.

Chromatics

And of course, here comes the big rundown.

Feel free to experiment and make these ideas your own!