Chord Tone Soloing

Following the chords is the secret to playing melodically. It’s the way you draw the listener in, by making your lines go like hand in glove with the chords. So how do you do it? Well, as with many aspects of learning guitar, the answer is simple but the application is harder.

Triads – Arpeggios = Chord Tones. Any of the notes that are in the chord are the fantastic choices, but you don’t have to play all notes from the chord. In fact, it’s better if you don’t.

I have created a short solo over a backing track which features plenty of chords. However, the cool thing is they all come from the C major scale! That means you could play just the C major scale, the A minor pentatonic or C major pentatonic over this tune, but you know what? It will sound quite boring and uninspired. Remember – the chords are all coming from the major scale, which means all of what I’m playing is just C major scale. However, since I’m focusing on the chord tones, it doesn’t really sound like I’m just playing a major scale. BINGO!

So take a look and listen to this video. It will hopefully inspire you and help you see what is possible on that darn fretboard! Soundslice is also available.