jam tracks tips
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Chicago Blues
We start with a Chicago style 12-bar blues progression in E, with the ‘end-of-the-cycle-turnaround’ of E-E7/D-A/C#-Am/C-E/B-B7. For scales, I recommend using both E Minor Pentatonic (E-G-A-B-D) and E Major Pentatonic (E-F#-G#B-C#) for a great bluesy sound.
C-Am Jam
This one goes between the I chord (C) and the VI chord (Am). You could also view this as traversing the key of C and its relative minor key, A minor. You can use the seven notes of the C Major scale (C-D-EF-G-A-B) throughout (it becomes the A Minor scale), and of course A Minor Pentatonic (A-C-D-E-G) will work beautifully as well.
7/8 Groove Jam
For this odd-metre jam in F#, count the subdivisions as 2-3-2 (meaning 1-2-1-2-3-1-2). It’s very open, so I suggest playing around with a variety of scales, like F# Dorian (F#-G#-A-B-C#-D#-E), F# Minor scale (F#-G#-A-B-C#-D-E), F# Phrygian (F#-G-A-B-C#-D-E) and even F# Mixolydian (F#-G#-A#-BC#-D#-E), as well as F# Minor Pentatonic (F#-A-B-C#-E).
I-VI-II-V Jazz Jam
This final jam picks up where our C-Am Jam left off. It doesn’t just do the I and VIm chords, but also includes the IIm7 and the V7. So,
Bb I-Vm-IIm7-V7 in the key of
Bb-Gm-Cm7-F7. Bb means Major
(Bb-C-D-Eb-F-G-A) scale fits over all of it and I recommend outlining the various chords’ arpeggios too. Happy jamming!
Jam tracks by Jacob Quistgaard. For free scale maps and hundreds more tracks, visit www.quistorama.com. You can also subscribe to www.youtube. com/QuistTV to get all the latest tracks and licks. Or find Quist and his jam tracks on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.