Category Archives: Block chords

Soloing with Block Chords Part 6: Major

Posted on May 26, 2011 by admin

Good music should reflect life! Life has it’s ups and downs, happy and sad, rain and sunshine, winter and summer …tension and release. The beauty of anything is so much more vivid when seen in contrast to ugly. If I … Continue reading →

Posted in Block chords, Chords | Tagged Block chords, chord solo, Chord Voicings, vamp, Wes Montgomery | 2 Comments

Soloing with Block Chords Part 5: Altered Dominant

Posted on May 6, 2011 by admin

The ability to find new applications for old material is one of the greatest musical endeavors you can undertake. I had a teacher tell me one time that I already knew all the jazz vocabulary I ever needed, but I … Continue reading →

Posted in Block chords, Chords | Tagged 251, Block chords, chord solo, Chord Voicings, Wes Montgomery | 1 Comment

Wes Montgomery Chord Solo Transcription: ‘Round Midnight

Posted on April 26, 2011 by admin

With all the recent talk around here about block chords, I thought today we would go direct to the horses mouth, or should I say the master’s guitar. Wes Montgomery tastefully combines single lines, octaves, and block chords with incredible … Continue reading →

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Soloing with Block Chords Part 4: Whole Tone Scale

Posted on April 20, 2011 by admin

As I peered through the bushes the purple monkey driving a tractor spotted me. I knew I was in trouble when he climbed down asked me for a banana…”cue whole-tone dream sequence music”…”fade to black” Today we will be exploring … Continue reading →

Posted in Block chords, Chords | Tagged 251, Block chords, Chord Voicings, play-along, Wes Montgomery | Leave a comment

Soloing with Block Chords Part 3: Half-Whole diminished

Posted on April 15, 2011 by admin

One of my favorite scales to use over a dominant chord is the half-whole diminished. The symmetrical nature of this scale really lends itself to block chords. (half-step, whole step, half, whole, etc.). The tensions that we get over a … Continue reading →

Posted in Block chords, Chords | Tagged Block chords, chord solo, Chord Voicings, diminished, play-along | 5 Comments

Soloing with Block Chords: Part 2 (Unaltered Dominant)

Posted on April 12, 2011 by admin

“Gimme some block chords, Red” – Miles Davis If you listen carefully to the beginning of “You’re My Everything” on the album Relaxin’ with the Miles Davis Quintet, you can hear Miles stop Red Garland’s intro and tell him to … Continue reading →

Posted in Block chords, Chords | Tagged 251, Block chords, Chord Voicings, Wes Montgomery | Leave a comment

Chord Soloing with Block Chords:Part 1(Minor Chords)

Posted on April 8, 2011 by admin

In our quest for chord soloing freedom, I thought I would jump right into the deep end and begin a series of articles about harmonizing melodies. This harmonization is sometimes called block chords. The term “Block chords” is borrowed from … Continue reading →

Posted in Block chords, Chords | Tagged 251, Block chords, chord solo, Chord Voicings, play-along, Wes Montgomery | 1 Comment