Soloing With Chords

I’Ve always found IT Fascinating to hear players imply the harmony of the underlying chord progression when soloing. In fact, the backing track for this month’s Headlines is purely drums and bass (in the old-school sense), so it leaves things open for this kind of playing. It also makes it necessary to create a sense of harmony and movement. Listen to any trio and you’ll hear the interesting ways people meet this challenge. Jimi Hendrix developed a fascinating lead/rhythm style, and Jack Bruce played up a storm to keep things full under Eric Clapton’s solos. In this solo, the bass is only stating the root notes, so it’s all on you…

I’ve avoided falling back onto the comfort zone of the pentatonic here and tried to keep things as three-dimensional as possible in terms of harmony. We’re not talking Joe Pass or Barney Kessel, but there is a nod to the jazz-flavoured chord voicings of Robben Ford or Kirk Fletcher. There aren’t actually that many different chord shapes being used in this piece, but they are happening in fairly quick succession, so this may not feel like a particularly spontaneous way to play at first. However, by staying with a few basic shapes like this, it’s possible to build and expand ideas over time. Knowing your pentatonic shapes is very helpful, plus the CAGED chord shapes and the triads and inversions they incorporate.

One thing I don’t generally get to demonstrate here is the use of space and dynamics through the course of a whole piece. Sometimes, this is the perfect solution if you’re feeling flustered by all the passing chords! I’ve set a medium-driven sound and stuck with it, but there’s nothing to say you can’t set quite a distorted sound and roll the volume back for the chord parts, then unleash it for licks and solos. Hope you enjoy and see you next time!