Jam Tracks Tips

Use these tips to navigate our bonus backing tracks.

1) 12-bar Blues (C) Here we have a basic 12-bar blues progression in the key of C. Your basic C Minor Pentatonic scale will work great (C Eb F G Bb), but you can of course also treat each chord as a dominant 7th and use Mixolydian mode (C mixo, F mixo and G mixo respectively for the I, IV and V chord of the blues progression). Alternatively, try simple mixing in key chord tones – the arpeggios: C7 (C E G Bb), F7 (F A C Eb) and G7 (G B D F). 2) Groove Time (Am) The progression for this track is Am – D9 – Fmaj7 – E7. You can use a variety of modes here, but your basic A Minor Pentatonic scale is still great (A C D E G). Dorian mode (A B C D E F# G) works perfectly over the Am and D9 chords, whereas you’d want to switch to A Aeolian – ie the minor scale – for the Fmaj7 (A B C D E F G). Finally, A Harmonic Minor is a great way of negotiating the E7 chords (A B C D E F G#). 3) Spanish Flavour (C# Phrygian) Here’s a Spanish-sounding track, which is perfect for diving into the 3rd of the major scale modes, namely Phrygian (C# Phrygian consists of C# D E F# G# A B). Using C# Minor Pentatonic (C# E F# G# B) and C# Blues scale (C# E F# G G# B) are also great options. Try playing around with spelling out a C# minor arpeggio (C# E G#) and a D major arpeggio (D F# A) for maximum ‘Phrygian effect’. 4) 7/8 Groove (Em/Gm) This fairly challenging 7/8 groove track shifts continuously between E minor and G minor. The E minor progression is Em7 to A7, and therefore E Dorian mode (E F# G A B C# D) is a top scale option, as well as E Minor Pentatonic (E G A B D). The G minor progression is also of a ‘Dorian’ nature, with the chords being Gm7 to C9. G Dorian mode (G A Bb C D E F) and G Minor Pentatonic (G Bb C D F) are the winners here. Enjoy.