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Adam Nitti Technique Series – PRACTICING WITH CHORD TONES: ARPEGGIO INVERSIONS
Meet Adam Nitti
A lot of bass players are intimidated by the idea of improvising over chord changes. Although it would be beyond the scope of a single installment to present a complete and comprehensive guide to improvisation, I wanted to try and shed some light on some simple concepts that you can work on to improve your soloing. In subsequent columns, I’ll elaborate on these some more and demonstrate more of their application.
For any improviser, it is essential to have a working knowledge of chords. Chords are the building blocks of harmony, and they essentially act as ‘signposts’ that help an improviser to navigate through a chart. Most of us who have experience playing improvised walking bass lines or solos probably have at the very least assembled and memorized a collection of scale forms or patterns that we have used to play over particular chord types. Scales can be useful in the creation of musical phrases, but for any improviser is very important to have a thorough and complete understanding of chord tones and how to find them on the fingerboard.
A true test of whether or not a player can improvise effectively is to see if they can outline the changes for the listener without having any accompaniment playing underneath them, whatsoever. If you can outline the changes and harmony of a tune using nothing but your bass, then you probably are on the right track to further developing your improvised voice. It is very difficult to do this relying on scales alone… Take for example, a common 4 bar ii-V-I progression. For this example, let’s use the key of F major:
G min7 – C 7 – F maj7 – F maj7
Using modal concepts, the easiest way to navigate through this entire 4 bar phrase would probably be to use a single F major scale (F Ionian). All of the notes included in the F major scale are compatible with each of the 3 chords (G min7, C 7, and F maj7), because all 3 of these chords come from the harmonization of the F major scale. If you were playing with a band, you could simply improvise using the F major scale while a keyboard player or guitar player was comping the changes and you would sound as if you were playing ‘in key’ over the entire progression. However, if you were to just improvise using that same F major scale without any accompaniment, to the listener it would sound as if you were just noodling using a major scale in a more static fashion. In other words, you would not be effectively outlining the changes, even though you might be ‘in key.’
Now, imagine if you were to use arpeggios instead of scales to improvise over this same ii-V-I. Arpeggios are just broken chords, so obviously they are going to be the structures that most accurately mirror the sound and color of the chords they are built from. This is because they are built using chord tones only. Following the order of each chord in the F major ii-V-I progression, you could use the following arpeggio forms to improvise over each chord change:
G min7 arpeggio – C 7 arpeggio – F maj7 arpeggio – F maj7 arpeggio
Since each arpeggio only includes notes that are found in each corresponding chord, you are effectively outlining the changes in the most literal way possible.
Now, obviously the great improvisers do not rely on arpeggios alone… You would never want to improvise on a gig using nothing but chord tones. That would sound quite unseasoned and amateur-like! If you listen to a great solo in which the improviser is outlining the changes effectively, you will notice a couple of things. For one, you will hear that in many cases, they will use a chord tone or other type of guide tone on the downbeat of a chord change. This signifies harmonic transition and creates a smooth connection between phrases as these chords pass beneath them. Another thing you will notice is that rarely will a great improviser play phrases that are exclusively made up of scale fragments or sequences. Quite often, he or she will build phrases that incorporate greater intervallic distances exhibiting contour and changes in direction. Usually these intervallic distances are based on movement among connected chord tones that imply a particular color or harmonic mood.
The value of mastering the application of chord tones in the practice shed cannot be overestimated. For this reason, I have spent a lot of time over the years working on chord tone exercises. In fact, I still practice in this way today, especially in cases in which I am learning to navigate through some challenging chord progressions for the first time.
For this installment, I want to present you with some basic arpeggio form exercises that you can work on that will help you navigate the fretboard more effectively. Many of you will already be familiar with various arpeggio forms that are played starting from the root, but I want to share with you some additional patterns that can be played from any chord tone included in the arpeggio. I call these arpeggio inversion exercises.
ARPEGGIO INVERSIONS
Here are some forms you should memorize up and down the range of the neck. What’s great about them is that they allow you to play ideas that don’t always sound so ‘root-centric’. That is a big problem for many bass players starting to improvise. Because we bass players almost always have foundational roles in an ensemble, we have a tendency to want to build ideas from the root because that is what we do most. When you are improvising, you want to think more like a singer or sax player. Let go of the foundation and try to play ideas that are more rhythmically and melodically independent. Taking care to avoid using the root as a starting note for your phrases will help you to do this a little more effectively. Arpeggio inversions can help with that because they offer forms that start on the 3rd, 5th, and 7th, instead. Here are the forms for maj7, min7, and dominant 7 chords, along with example videos that demonstrate the fingerings:
CONTINUOUS 8TH NOTE EXERCISES
Using single static chords, practice playing non-stop swing 8th notes using only notes found in each arpeggio. This will feel very awkward at first, so it is imperative that you start these exercises VERY SLOWLY, taking care to only include chord tones and nothing else. Here is an example of how you might play this exercise over a C7 chord using only notes from the C7 arpeggio inversions up and down the fingerboard:
After you are able to do this at a variety of tempos for each chord, then it’s time to start practicing the same approach over more complex progressions, and then ultimately over complete tunes. Here is an example of me demonstrating how to practice continuous 8th notes using chord tones only over a ii-V-I progression in C major:
As you can see, this is a challenging way to practice over chord progressions and tunes. Be patient as you work on these. Learning how to target chord tones both with your ears and your eyes on the fingerboard will take some getting used to, but the payoff is immense. The key to becoming great at this is thinking and looking ahead as much as possible. Next time around, we’ll expand on chord tone practice strategy a little more. Until then, keep it bassy-
Adam Nitti
Bass Videos
Interview With Bassist Erick “Jesus” Coomes
Bassist Erick “Jesus” Coomes…
It is always great to meet a super busy bassist who simply exudes a love for music and his instrument. Erick “Jesus” Coomes fits this description exactly. Hailing from Southern California, “Jesus” co-founded and plays bass for Lettuce and has found his groove playing with numerous other musicians.
Join us as we hear of his musical journey, how he gets his sound, his ongoing projects, and his plans for the future.
Photo, Bob Forte
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www.lettucefunk.com
IG @jesuscsuperstar
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FB @lettucefunk
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Working-Class Zeros: Episode #2 – Financial Elements of Working Musicians
Working-Class Zeros: Episode #2 – Financial Elements of Working Musicians
“These stories from the front are with real-life, day-to-day musicians who deal with work life and gigging and how they make it work out. Each month, topics may include… the kind of gigs you get, the money, dealing with less-than-ideal rooms, as well as the gear you need to get the job done… and the list goes on from there.” – Steve the Bass Guy and Shawn Cav
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This Week’s Top 10 Basses on Instagram
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Bass CDs
New Album: Jake Leckie, Planter of Seeds
Bassist Jake Leckie and The Guide Trio Unveil New Album Planter of Seeds,
to be released on June 7, 2024
Planter of Seeds is bassist/composer Jake Leckie’s third release as a bandleader and explores what beauty can come tomorrow from the seeds we plant today.
What are we putting in the ground? What are we building? What is the village we want to bring our children up in? At the core of the ensemble is The Guide Trio, his working band with guitarist Nadav Peled and drummer Beth Goodfellow, who played on Leckie’s second album, The Guide, a rootsy funky acoustic analog folk-jazz recording released on Ropeadope records in 2022. For Planter of Seeds, the ensemble is augmented by Cathlene Pineda (piano), Randal Fisher (tenor saxophone), and Darius Christian (trombone), who infuse freedom and soul into the already tightly established ensemble.
Eight original compositions were pristinely recorded live off the floor of Studio 3 at East West Studios in Hollywood CA, and mastered by A.T. Michael MacDonald. The cover art is by internationally acclaimed visual artist Wayne White. Whereas his previous work has been compared to Charles Mingus, and Keith Jarrett’s American Quartet with Charlie Haden, Leckie’s new collection sits comfortably between the funky odd time signatures of the Dave Holland Quintet and the modern folk-jazz of the Brian Blade Fellowship Band with a respectful nod towards the late 1950s classic recordings of Ahmad Jamal and Miles Davis.
The title track, “Planter of Seeds,” is dedicated to a close family friend, who was originally from Trinidad, and whenever she visited family or friends at their homes, without anyone knowing, she would plant seeds she kept in her pocket in their gardens, so the next season beautiful flowers would pop up. It was a small altruistic anonymous act of kindness that brought just a little more beauty into the world. The rhythm is a tribute to Ahmad Jamal, who we also lost around the same time, and whose theme song Poinciana is about a tree from the Caribbean.
“Big Sur Jade” was written on a trip Leckie took with his wife to Big Sur, CA, and is a celebration of his family and community. This swinging 5/4 blues opens with an unaccompanied bass solo, and gives an opportunity for each of the musicians to share their improvisational voices. “Clear Skies” is a cathartic up-tempo release of collective creative energies in fiery improvisational freedom. “The Aquatic Uncle” features Randal Fisher’s saxophone and is named after an Italo Calvino short story which contemplates if one can embrace the new ways while being in tune with tradition. In ancient times, before a rudder, the Starboard side of the ship was where it was steered from with a steering oar. In this meditative quartet performance, the bass is like the steering oar of the ensemble: it can control the direction of the music, and when things begin to unravel or become unhinged, a simple pedal note keeps everything grounded.
The two trio tunes on the album are proof that the establishment of his consistent working band The Guide Trio has been a fruitful collaboration. “Santa Teresa”, a bouncy samba-blues in ? time, embodies the winding streets and stairways of the bohemian neighborhood in Rio de Janeiro it is named for. The swampy drum feel on “String Song” pays homage to Levon Helm of The Band, a group where you can’t always tell who wrote the song or who the bandleader is, proving that the sum is greater than the individual parts. Early jazz reflected egalitarianism in collective improvisation, and this group dynamic is an expression of that kind of inclusivity and democracy.
“The Daughters of the Moon” rounds out the album, putting book ends on the naturalist themes. This composition is named after magical surrealist Italo Calvino’s short story about consumerism, in which a mythical modern society that values only buying shiny new things throws away the moon like it is a piece of garbage and the daughters of the moon save it and resurrect it. It’s an eco-feminist take on how women are going to save the world. Pineda’s piano outro is a hauntingly beautiful lunar voyage, blinding us with love. Leckie dedicates this song to his daughter: “My hope is that my daughter becomes a daughter of the moon, helping to make the world a more beautiful and verdant place to live.”
Bass CDs
Debut Album: Nate Sabat, Bass Fiddler
In a thrilling solo debut, bassist Nate Sabat combines instrumental virtuosity with a songwriter’s heart on Bass Fiddler…
The upright bass and the human voice. Two essential musical instruments, one with roots in 15th century Europe, the other as old as humanity itself.
On Bass Fiddler (Adhyâropa Records ÂR00057), the debut album from Brooklyn-based singer-songwriter and bass virtuoso Nate Sabat, the scope is narrowed down a bit. Drawing from the rich and thriving tradition of American folk music, Sabat delivers expertly crafted original songs and choice covers with the upright bass as his lone tool for accompaniment.
The concept was born a decade ago when Sabat began studying with the legendary old-time fiddler Bruce Molsky at Berklee College of Music. “One of Bruce’s specialties is singing and playing fiddle at the same time. The second I heard it I was hooked,” recalls Sabat. “I thought, how can I do this on the bass?” From there, he was off to the races, arranging original and traditional material with Molsky as his guide. “Fast forward to 2020, and I — like so many other musicians — was thinking of how to best spend my time. I sat down with the goal of writing some new songs and arranging some new covers, and an entire record came out.” When the time came to make the album, it was evident that Molsky would be the ideal producer. Sabat asked him if he’d be interested, and luckily he was. “What an inspiration to work with an artist like Nate,” says Molsky. “Right at the beginning, he came to this project with a strong, personal and unique vision. Plus he had the guts to try for a complete and compelling cycle of music with nothing but a bass and a voice. You’ll hear right away that it’s engaging, sometimes serious, sometimes fun, and beautifully thought out from top to bottom.”
While this record is, at its core, a folk music album, Sabat uses the term broadly. Some tracks lean more rock (‘In the Shade’), some more pop (‘White Marble’, ‘Rabid Thoughts’), some more jazz (‘Fade Away’), but the setting ties them all together. “There’s something inherently folksy about a musician singing songs with their instrument, no matter the influences behind the compositions themselves,” Sabat notes. To be sure, there are plenty of folk songs (‘Louise’ ‘Sometimes’, ‘Eli’) and fiddling (‘Year of the Ox’) to be had here — the folk music fan won’t go hungry. There’s a healthy dose of bluegrass too (‘Orphan Annie’, ‘Lonesome Night’), clean and simple, the way Mr. Bill Monroe intended.
All in all, this album shines a light on an instrument that often goes overlooked in the folk music world, enveloping the listener in its myriad sounds, textures, and colors. “There’s nothing I love more than playing the upright bass,” exclaims Sabat. “My hope is that listeners take the time to sit with this album front to back — I want them to take in the full scope of the work. I have a feeling they’ll hear something they haven’t heard before.”
Available online at natesabat.bandcamp.com/album/walking-away
Interview With Bassist Erick “Jesus” Coomes
Working-Class Zeros: Episode #2 – Financial Elements of Working Musicians
Tour Touch Base (Bass) with Ian Allison
New Gear: Spector Woodstock Custom Collection Volume II
New Gear: The Dingwall John Taylor Signature Model
This Week’s Top 10 Basses on Instagram
Working-Class Zeros: Episode #2 – Financial Elements of Working Musicians
Interview With Bassist Erick “Jesus” Coomes
Debut Album: Nate Sabat, Bass Fiddler
