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axgrinder · 06-27-2005, 10:44 PM

I've been playing guitar for about 12 years, and only recently have i gotten into jazz playing. My short term goal is to be able to successfully improvise in a ii V i progression (one of the main jazz progressions). I've learned my major 7th, minor 7th, dom 7th, 6th, 9ths chords and i know that i should focus around the chord tones while improvising (primarily the 3rds and 7ths).

My question is: When improvising jazz solos, do i use any scales/modes or can i just play anything, as long as i focus around the chord's target notes? I notice alot of jazz solos use chromatic notes, which makes me wonder if any scales are used. What can i do to make my jazz improv sound more "jazzy", as to my current approach, which is using the major/minor scales over this progression?

Example of what i'm doing over ii V i Progressions...

Dm7 > D Dorian, focusing on F notes (the 3rd of D)
G7 > G Mixolydian, focusing on F (the 7th of G)
Cmaj7 > C Major, focusing on E (the 3rd of C)

This just doesn't sound "jazzy" to me. Should i just forget about scales and concentrate on just playing anything (chromatic lines) between target notes?

06-27-2005, 10:44 PM	#330
axgrinder guitar Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 2	Jazz Improvising I've been playing guitar for about 12 years, and only recently have i gotten into jazz playing. My short term goal is to be able to successfully improvise in a ii V i progression (one of the main jazz progressions). I've learned my major 7th, minor 7th, dom 7th, 6th, 9ths chords and i know that i should focus around the chord tones while improvising (primarily the 3rds and 7ths). My question is: When improvising jazz solos, do i use any scales/modes or can i just play anything, as long as i focus around the chord's target notes? I notice alot of jazz solos use chromatic notes, which makes me wonder if any scales are used. What can i do to make my jazz improv sound more "jazzy", as to my current approach, which is using the major/minor scales over this progression? Example of what i'm doing over ii V i Progressions... Dm7 > D Dorian, focusing on F notes (the 3rd of D) G7 > G Mixolydian, focusing on F (the 7th of G) Cmaj7 > C Major, focusing on E (the 3rd of C) This just doesn't sound "jazzy" to me. Should i just forget about scales and concentrate on just playing anything (chromatic lines) between target notes?