We’re going to play a basic 2 chord progression and phrase over it at the same time. This can be fun and challenging at the same time. It’s easy to get the hang of if you stick with it. Before we begin, let’s recap a little and take a look at the chords we’ll be using and the scale patterns we’ll be using to phrase from. We’ll be using the open C and the open G chords:
Open C
| Open G
|
When playing the open C chord we’ll use the C scale pattern to phrase from.
The C scale pattern looks like this:
You can see how the pattern fits over the open C chord pattern by looking at the diagram below. On the right is the C scale pattern with the C chord pattern highlighted in black with it’s root marked by and “R”. Compare it with the diagram of the open C chord beside it.
This is what the C scale pattern looks like played in the open position:
Now, practice playing the open C chord and then playing the C scale pattern in the open position. Alternate between the two until you’ve got it down. Press the play button to hear an example:
When playing the G chord we’ll be phrasing from the G scale pattern.
The G scale pattern looks like this:
You can see how the pattern fits over the open G chord pattern by looking at the diagram below. On the right is the G scale pattern with the G chord pattern highlighted in black with it’s root marked by and “R”. Compare it with the diagram of the open G chord beside it.
This is what the G scale pattern looks like played in the open position:
Now, practice playing the open G chord and then playing the G scale pattern in the open position. Alternate between the two until you’ve got it down. Press the play button to hear an example:
Now we’re going to play a simple C-G chord progression. While we’re playing the C chord we’ll be phrasing from the C scale pattern and when we’re playing the G chord we’ll phrase from the G scale pattern. Here is an example:
You should have the scale patterns memorized by now, so you should have no problems trying to improvise chord phrases from the scale patterns over the C-G progression. Just add notes from the scale patterns in between the chords! Practice it and then practice it some more. Here’s an example: