The RIGHT Way to Improvise with CHORD TONES for Better Solos

[@JohnHorneGuitar]

Just purchased. I love this approach and is in fact how I finally started to teach myself to make the changes after years of people telling me to play scales. Obviously, I love more advanced concepts too but as you point out if you can't make clear musical statements with the chord tones, none of the rest adds much to the music. Looking forward to working through the etudes!

[@markgriskey]

"There will never be another Ewe" the sheep herder's lament ... pun courtesy of Ladd McIntosh

[@musamor75]

@@markgriskey That's a beauty! Well done old chap.

[@bencmcintoshjr8480]

Eb Chart for Tenderly

[@norakat]

For major diatonic chords - every note of the scale is actually a chord tone.

[@CaptainSunFlare]

The editing is a solid A+

[@miker7808]

I think A# would be more appropriate. lol

[@arcioko2142]

@@miker7808 A## its better

[@b3llydrum]

Yeah it's

[@RussianSpy4632]

My parents say it's average, I'm not asian or racist but I feel like it ;(

[@Alekseyyyyyy]

As a non-jazz intermediate guitar player I am finding these lessons extremely useful. Thank you!

[@FacePomagranate]

That "cringe" note at the start was pretty awesome, not going to lie.

[@andrewgtr24]

It’s hip as heck

[@tsg_frank]

Now you're thinking in Jazz™

[@anuvette]

No

[@joseloo4343]

@@anuvette )

[@ethanpaulsoncomposer7252]

Yea I actually really liked it

[@HerroVincey]

This is knowledge EVERY musician needs to learn. Solid lesson Jeff, 15 minutes has provided foundation for a VAST amount of material to study and work on.

[@Jamsville]

Welcome back! Btw this editing is insane!

[@rodrigogomes2064]

Ye can see how insane it is in his eyes

[@fran6b]

I mean, to call ourselves a self-taught in these days, one mustn't watch to much of KZbin, cause if so, you better say you are formed at the KZbin Academy. Learning from people like Rick Beato, Nahre Sol, David Bruce, and our great Jeff Schneider, just to name a very few, is on another level in terms of free, available and valuable education. It's in a stellar another level, imo.

[@BillyMac812]

Those are my teachers - also; Scott Devine, Eric Haugen (very melodic guitarist), Brett Papa, Adam Neely, Tim Pearce, and Paul Davids...

[@machinate]

@@BillyMac812 Tack Brian Krock onto that list, especially if you're on a jazz/modern classical vibe.

[@BillyMac812]

@@machinate I will check him out, Thanks!

[@macdoug1234]

Agreed. I used to have to try and learn from slowing down my KISS records back in the day. Now you can just type the song into youtube and someone will teach how to play it for free. Kids today don’t know how good they got it

[@ernst-filipmichel9744]

They are only teachers if you really are a student tho ..

[@NeilKohlen]

I am a guitarist and since guitarist are somehow cursed with playing 3-note per strings scale and pentatonic, I have to admit that this is by far the best lesson on how to improvise. The rhythms arent too crazy in the given example and everything is very understable! Thanks Jeff!

[@jackgriffith9229]

Jeff, Have you tried formula improvisation! Take 1357 and think of them as target notes. Now choose any note and a half step below a whole step above then play the target note. Sometimes this formula actually works!!😳🎸🥁🎹☠️😎

[@gdn9272]

Lines that rhyme - awesome concept, thank you!!!

[@valeriekuhn3746]

Jeff, I really like and appreciate your writing on the score to explain what is going on and how the chords are working. That is great information to me.

[@alcofribasnasier5089]

The most useful video you ever can find on the net whatever the instrument or the style you play

[@sourceofpain]

Oh dear... The content AND the delivery of the content, from your voice prosody, transitions, annotations and EDITING are simply top notch. Keep up the awesome work!

[@cannolivibraphone]

So my main instrument is vibraphone, and I learned to improvise through the simple phrase "just play drums on the chord tones." This video put it in some ways that I hadn't really thought about before. I love chord and scalar based improv methods. Great video

[@Vintagestep]

Awesomely explained. I was trying to do all of that well aware of the key aspects you just explained. Right now I'm taking a little break from jazz, but I think what I was missing was trying to compose solos, which is often seen as the opposite of improvising but I think is a nice way to work on phrasing, the broad look of the solo so it just doesn't look like a bunch of licks... And don't forget to transcribe guys. I don't write my transcriptions down right away, I prefer to learn the solos by memory for a while, play them regularly, enjoy them, and maybe later on writing them down, analyze them and try to incorporate the lines on other songs. But well it's easier said than done, hope you all can keep on with your goals as I'm trying with mine.

[@jeffreydelisle7337]

Jazz is oxygen. Don’t break for too long

[@jaykay1053]

The coherence of this chord-tone improvisation reflects beautifully the coherence of your instruction, here.

[@NickWebbSax]

Nice one man! Chord tone soloing is so overlooked as a way to internalise changes and make sure your playing is as coherent as possible; it gets rid of so much of the musical BS that we all are guilty of adding when we're just noodling. Great vid. Can't wait for the next one.

[@dixonhill4925]

this is for me the only "true" method (in terms of solid start). i play jazz since 15 years, learned all the scales and all the modes and the licks but wasnt able to play a tune. why? because chord tones is the fundament of modern western impro. your book about this is my next buy. thank you very much!

[@anderssvensson3894]

Rhythm defines all great musicians ! Thanks Jeff !

[@pickinstone]

I am tempted to make a video looping what Jeff said from 2:48 to 3:10 over and over and over! Maybe one day, the internet will listen ;)

[@alexambroise111]

Wow haven't watched your videos in a while and the editing is IMPRESSIVE. You have always given out prime content for free on KZbin, which I deeply admire, and this is a massive upgrade to an already awesome channel. Cheers Jeff!

[@andreaiudica98]

I often like to think of any non chordal tones as possible extensions or colors of the chord I’m improvising on, thus extending this idea of “chord tone improvisation”. That way, you can actually delineate all your melodic choices as harmonic choices, without having to think in terms of scales (which I find too intricate and mnemonic). It also makes the solo AND the harmony way more “horizontal”, meaning the melodic lines flow together with the harmonic movements and viceversa, which is pretty cool

[@alancosens]

This concept should be the first lesson on the topic of improvisation. I spent years trying to improvise using scales/modes and for whatever reason it just took a while for it to dawn on me that the 1, 3 and 7 are what creates the movement from one chord to another. He's right. Most teachers start out teaching you scales. Maybe that is beneficial for classical training. I don't know. But for improvisation, you'd be way better off learning all the chord tones first.

[@etiennechagnon]

"I found someone else" 😂 Important lesson man! I study jazz at the university of Montreal with the famous jazz bassist Alain Caron and he told us that each time he has to learn a new song, he comes back to this. He says Mike Stern do the same. In fact, we had a full semester course just on the way he builds up his impro on new songs from playing with chord tones only to a few bebop scales. I have part II of the course to my agenda next year! Have a good one my friend 🤘🏻

[@thebass548]

Dawg, I needed this video. Thanks for putting it out for free

[@CharlesMottLMSW]

There are any number of self taught guys whose playing primarily around chord tones as opposed to scales. Wes Montgomery. . Larry Carlton says that is his approach also. The you learn to add other extensions and alterations to make things even.more interesting when your ears are ready for it. Bebop had some resl interesting ways of approaching chord tones and is a good study especially to finding real interesting ways to approach them. And make them not sound like you are simply playing arpeggioa.

[@curiouscurious6558]

great points. One of the factors that so many teacher don't stress is that landing on a chord tone on the beats. if we play a non scale tone on a beat, be aware and control.

[@MrDavidFitzgerald]

The level of production combined with the clarity and value of these lessons is amazing.

[@robstevens9590]

Thanks for this lesson. The tips of making ("simple") chord tone solos not sound drab are invaluable.

[@mksounds6326]

I found you tonight quite by accident and I'm glad I did. Thank you for a very interesting lesson. Always good to get a new angle after playing for so many years. All the best from the Bay Area. MK

[@stiffiron]

Super helpful! Lophiile suggested your channel on a video he did for Native Instruments, and this is the first vid I saw. Very, very helpful!

[@Ezekio3160]

Finally after a long month!!!!! Thank you for great content!

[@josemrivera6481]

I must say your explanations make it so much easier to make sense of improvisation.

[@orlandomcallister]

I have played flute for over 35 years and was never taught your approach. It was succinctly delivered, and will definitely help my playing by running patterns of 4ths and 5ths with the chord tones. Thanks once again Jeff.

[@howumighthaveanimatedthat2159]

Welcome back I've been reviewing a lot of your old videos. I find how you teach is better for me. I understand music much better. I still suck at playing but I understand it technically at least. Hopefully we'll see more of you in the future.

[@gabethebabe8187]

We’ve missed you! Thanks a lot man!!

[@jackgriffith9229]

Jeff, Thank You for this post as I happen to be very skilled and talented at finding the worst possible sounding note and then playing that note multiple times During a solo but only if there are 60 people at the bar listening carefully and then saying that they could probably play solo at least as crappy sounding as mine !! To top it off I have a Jazz gig in Manhattan coming up and let’s hope that chord tones help me !! Tuesday April 19th 730 3rd Ave 22nd floor Rooftop terrace 12noon to 3pm. Jazz standards I’ll try not to butcher the tunes to badly!!

[@AbelJames]

dig the animation, welcome back Jeff!

[@JeffSchneiderMusic]

Thanks, Abel!

[@MaryReiber-w9t]

You always make learning so much simpler!

[@mad_j1749]

Dude I have been playing classical piano since I was 4 years and played well into my high school years but when I went to college, I wanted to switch it up and learn jazz. Scales were already a part of my repertoire, and even after applying complex scales like the lydian dominant, half-whole and super locrian scales, I never knew how to use them comfortably. Thank you so much for breaking it down and teaching the simplistic way to learn it. From here I can now build a foundation for which to apply my knowledge and create better solos. Thanks man! Keep it up! Liked and subscribed!

[@Lurco8]

Great content, but I'm also blown away by the amount of top quality editing here!

[@thomasgangsta]

This an absolutely fantastic demonstration, very good man!

[@Eri.kikuchi]

Great information for people just starting to improvise, and it’s nice that you take a deeper dive into your composition! Thank you!

[@Malchior_Rises]

I agree its more about easily improvising well and then putting your flavor into it after so LESS MISTAKES MORE CORRECT MUSCLE MEMORY.

[@TheChrist117]

Excellent Jeff! Glad to see you're doing well. Kind regards, Chris.

[@hearpalhere]

That Hemingway story is crazy! I hadn't heard that one before.

[@enzopoggi2037]

Thank you, Jeff. It´s very useful for piano player "more or less" like me. Warm regards

[@zingardoh1]

You are a good teacher. Stay safe.

[@MrPianomonster]

Sir, you're a genius! This is an extremely simple and easiest way to make a solo sound good. Thanks )

[@crashkahuna]

This is just the kind of thing I'm practicing now after years of scales approach. Fun going back to basics. Good presentation here.

[@0e0]

the production of your videos have become phenomenal over the years

[@purnimasdutta]

Wonderful music lessons. Now it will be easy to practice on the guitar for me.

[@chriscopeman8820]

This is brilliant! I really wasn't going to buy any more practice material. I already have way more than I need but I now have to hit the buy button on Chord Tone Magic.

[@geoffstockton]

Beautiful video! Definitely worth the wait.

[@laurielyon7740]

Hi Jeff, You invariably offer great content. For that I wish to thank you. And I’m a subscriber. I’m an old guy………74…….and returned to my clarinet 10 years ago after a lengthy hiatus. Still learning how to improvise. So this is a good clip. I also transcribe a whack of clarinet solos to see what the ‘big dogs’ were doing. I’m getting better……..but that call from Lincoln Centre has yet to arrive.

[@jazzed2b]

You have summed up my 20 years of music study in 15 min. Wish I saw this 20 years ago! Maybe this is a secret that allows teachers to charge students jazz improv lessons for 19 years

[@26Kingrich]

Welcome back and think you.

[@zimberlin9978]

This is awesome. Speaking some very clear language here! You're a great teacher

[@soyfelipedonoso]

You're such a great teacher, Jeff!! Got every idea even though english isn't my first language PS: The edition is brutal!!!

[@2002jorgeparr]

great stuf Jeff! THANK YOU SO MUCH!! KEEP ON TRUCKING!!!!

[@nikigba]

Your videos are actually so goood

[@lorenzosyquia4769]

This video is FRICKING AWESOME. and I'm not even done watching! GOOD JOB

[@ramseyvoicestudio]

What an amazing video! So helpful, thanks Jeff!

[@CJonathan013]

Your way of wording things & breaking it down makes it all easier to understand. Looking forward to the rhyming melodies video!

[@BillyMac812]

I am glad you released something new! I enjoy your take on music.

[@MikeYousman]

Jeff: this is really great from every perspective: musically, visually, educationally. I am planning to seek out much more of your content!

[@babawawayoyo]

This video is one of the best I’ve ever seen. Thank you! You’re a genius!

[@vinimedina91]

As a guitar player, I generally prefer the melodic choices sax/trompets player do when improvising. I think it has to do with the way you guys are taught to think the sound before playing, instead of following a finger pattern (which is what we do when begin to play the guitar and struggle to overcome later on).

[@piktormusic2538]

Helpful concept and explanation. Thanks Jeff.

[@bassplayer9432]

That's top-notch tuition right there - thanks for this!

[@NigelCasey]

I got mine yesterday, it’s super! If you play sax and want to improve buy it. Thanks Jeff

[@jeffreydelisle7337]

Excellent explicating, I thank you. I will be back for more.

[@davelester1985]

good explanation, and really good use of motives to show people how to be creative. good video

[@dj.merci1]

Amazing! Always felt like I couldn’t grasp what makes a good solo compared to a spaghetti one, this is helping so much! Cheers man

[@pogchamp7983]

Yay you're back really high effort video dude nice job!

[@charlieruisseau2476]

Wow, looks great! I'll have a look to your methods, I love the simplicity of it and the way you explain things. 25 years of guitar, still absolutely unable to play an improv (other than randomly glueing random links I learnt along the way and noodling like an italian mama...)

[@Handle2point0]

You’re a great teacher man!

[@thephunk1]

Excellent lesson, Sir Schneider! Thank you!

[@SuikaCider]

Hey man! Just saw one of your videos from five years ago and this one. Just wanted to say you’ve improved a lot! Hope you’re having a merry Christmas.

[@akashboinpally4389]

Thanks for the video Jeff, very insightful content

[@wonder6789]

Love your retro graphics.

[@musamor75]

A very interesting approach- just coming back to basics, or essentials. A healthy approach. Actually, the visual effect this gives would be like considering chords tones as capitals, and scale tones as small letters. It is obvious, however, that BOTH are needed to make coherent sentences. Thanks for sharing.

[@zecalimazeca]

WHAT A GREAT TEACHER. HUGS AND TKS FROM BRAZIL.

[@RodBulmer-gn7yg]

Very good How I was taught I wish I new how to buy the book mentioned Cheers Rod

[@Cvarier-channel]

Great content and explanation, Jeff! I've been meaning to practice soloing with chord tones for a while now, but this made the thought a lot more concrete. Definitely going to apply this to a couple standards.

[@osirus211]

Awesome video, Jeff. Thanks!

[@davidj6008]

Good info, my dude Very, very useful for any level Thank you

[@twinturbohenry]

Great video! Totally helpful and excellent production. And you look smokin cool too!

[@ChrisTurnerDublin]

Great advice. Thanks Jeff!

[@kevinhornbuckle]

This is my first video of your to have watched. Very interesting. Good concepts and well presented.

[@SRHMusic012]

Jeff - This is excellent. I could have used this about twenty years ago(!). Thanks!

[@griffinwojtowicz6961]

this is video that approaches this concept weaving though multiple disciplines and connecting the reasons WHY to use chord tones. I love lateral thought patterns. brilliant

[@jjiacobucci]

Awesome ! Loved the analysis. Beautiful explanation ! Now subbed ! Thank you !

[@markedwards5454]

Great video lesson, very instructive. Thanks. Now I have to try it on my guitar.😊

[@jfgaert]

You are such a good teacher!

[@joddiebaylas9541]

So talented! More covers please!!!

[@dougshankle7946]

This was incredibly helpful. I need to watch this a few times.

[@joshuacrowlesmith3164]

6:18 I Found Someone Else!! I’m dying 😂

[@jussijusajunttila7824]

Thanks, man! I was listening to this while driving, really makes me wanna go home and practice!💪😀😀👍

[@yaroslavtarnavskiy7721]

Thank you Jeff. This is very useful video-lesson. Specially about sense of music, idea that solo brings. Do you have some more video about this topic?