Beyond Chord-Tone Soloing: A Pianistic Approach to Jazz Guitar Improvisation
When we first learn to improvise in jazz, a common piece of advice is to "outline the chord tones." This means playing the notes of a Dm7 arpeggio over a Dm7 chord, a G7 arpeggio over G7, and so on. While this method is certainly effective for learning to hear the harmony, it has a fundamental limitation: it’s a methodology optimized for monophonic instruments like the saxophone or trumpet, which can only produce one note at a time. The guitar, like the piano, is a polyphonic instrument, capable of creating its own harmony by playing multiple notes simultaneously. If we, as guitarists, blindly adhere to a method designed for single-line instruments, we are voluntarily abandoning the greatest potential our instrument holds. Today, we will discuss a "pianistic approach" that unifies voicing and soloing into a single, organic concept.
How II-V-I works in linear harmony
The Main Course: Discovering Lines Within Voicings When a pianist learns a new voicing, they simultaneously discover a wealth of new soloing ideas. This is because a voicing, when spread out horizontally as an arpeggio, becomes a line. Conversely, a line, when stacked vertically, becomes a voicing. From this perspective, a great solo isn't merely an enumeration of chord tones; it's the horizontal expression of a line with excellent 'voice leading.'
1. Thinking in Four-Part Harmony We must begin to perceive the guitar fretboard as a space where four distinct voices—Bass, Tenor, Alto, and Soprano—move, much like in a Bach chorale. When we play a 'chord melody,' the highest note (Soprano) carries the tune, the lowest note (Bass) provides the root motion, and the inner voices (Tenor and Alto) handle the movement of the guide tones. The same principle applies to improvisation. The line you play is essentially one of these four voices, while the other three voices should be sounding in your mind's ear. For instance, a highly effective improvisational technique is to create a solo line that mimics the movement of a guide-tone line, such as the 7th of the ii chord resolving down by a half-step to become the 3rd of the V chord. This creates a far more sophisticated and musical connection between chords than simply running arpeggios.
2. Using Upper-Structure Triads as Melodic Material Advanced voicings often utilize the concept of 'Upper-Structure Triads' (USTs), where a different triad is superimposed over a basic 7th chord shell. For instance, over a G7alt chord, one can play an Ab major triad (Ab-C-Eb) to produce the altered tensions of b9, 3rd, and b13. Pianists seamlessly transfer this vertical voicing concept into their horizontal solo lines. When the G7alt chord arrives, they might improvise using an Ab major triad arpeggio. This approach yields a sound that is far more structured and harmonically specific than simply playing a generic altered scale. It is the moment where the language of your voicings and the language of your solos become one and the same.
Better way to apply altered tension: upper structure triad
The reason many guitarists hit a wall with chord-tone soloing is that they mentally separate the part of them that plays harmony from the part that plays solos. The pianistic approach integrates these two roles. From this day forward, stop seeing voicings merely as tools for comping. Every chord shape you know is a treasure trove of potential melodic lines. The path to unlocking the full potential of the guitar lies in analyzing your chords, understanding the movement of the four inner voices, and extracting the most beautiful melodic paths from within that harmony. This is the gateway to true, mature improvisation. For a deeper dive into functional harmony and upper-structure theory, explore the advanced courses join us free Essential: Building-Blocks