In learning to improvise the ability to arpeggiate simple four part chords in the root position and inversion is absolutely essential. Choose a comfortable tempo and try to arpeggiate the underlying harmonious of the Blues for Alice chord progression. With two chords per measures, you're going to play eight notes arpeggiation and with one chord per measure, you basically use four quarter notes. Let's start with the metronome at quarter note equals 60. [SOUND] Actually half-note equals 60, so quarter-note equals half of 120, so clicks are on 2 and 4, okay? So I'm going to play the Blues for Alice progression and I'm going to arpeggiate on the underlying chords using root position chords only. One, two, one, two, three, four. [MUSIC] Okay, so the main point of this exercise is to be able to hear the underlying harmonies and familiarize yourself with various arpeggiation patterns. As you might have heard, these lines were not as smooth as one would expect. But the point of this exercise is to actually hear the underlying harmonies and familiarize yourself with different chord shapes. There are different ways of utilizing arpeggiation patterns. You can arpeggiate chords moving upwards, moving downwards. You can use different permutations of notes, all of which are extremely important to build your technical facilities and familiarity with different intervallic configurations. All right, so let me show you a few of the exercises that you can do with your chordal arpeggiation. We're going to use F major 7 chord, [SOUND] in the root position. And we can arpeggiate [SOUND] upwards and then we can actually displace certain notes to create different permutations of these notes. Instead of starting on scale degree one [SOUND], we can start on the third, [SOUND] then we can start on the fifth, [SOUND] and on the seventh. [SOUND] So, in fact, you have four different melodical configurations of the [SOUND] root position chord, right? And then you can do the same thing with first inversion, second inversion, and third inversion, so there are lots of options, using [SOUND] ascending pattern. With the descending pattern, you have the same thing, [SOUND] root position chord starting on the seventh. And then you can capitalize on different permutations, starting on the fifth, [SOUND], starting on the third [SOUND], and starting on the root, [SOUND]. Right, so we have as many as eight different arpeggiation pattern that you can use with your chord progressions. And I would strongly encourage you to do the same thing with inversions. So again, [SOUND] arpeggiating upwards with different permutations. For different permutations starting with third [SOUND], fifth [SOUND], and seventh [SOUND], all right? And then downwards [SOUND]. So we're basically exhausting all the possibilities. The reason why I emphasize inversions is because we are going to need them later, if you want to maintain a good voice reading between chords. On the screen, you can see auralization of the progression with four part chords utilizing root position chords and inversions. So again, we are using the Blues for Alice progression. [SOUND] And notice [SOUND], all right. So the voice leading between individual chords is very convincing. That is the subsequent chordal arpeggiation utilize notes held in common between chords and they capitalize on the step rise motion between chords. As you can see on the screen, I circled notes that begin each arpeggiation. And they form, as you might guess, they form a guideline, or a structural line that we've discussed in a previous segments. So, again, you can compose your own structural line and use these notes as a starting point of your upward arpeggiation or downward arpeggiation. So again, [SOUND] if I play the progression, instead of utilizing good position of chords and therefore creating breaks within your lines. You're maintaining parsimonious voice reading and very efficient motion between individual chords. So you need to utilize different inversions. [SOUND] Root position, [SOUND] first inversion, [SOUND] third inversion, [SOUND] first inversion, [SOUND] third inversion, and so forth. So the next step is to go starting on the root position chord [SOUND]. You can start [SOUND] first inversion, [SOUND] second inversion, [SOUND] third inversion. And try to maintain the same convincing voice even between chords. So for instance, if you start on the third inversion of F major 7, [SOUND] your next chord should really go down, right? [MUSIC] But by now, you will have practiced your inversions so you'll be ready for every possible eventuality that you may encounter. Now, the line that you see on the screen represents a line that capitalizes on some guide tones and some other chord members. But the main characteristic of that line is that the intervals between individual notes are not bigger than a minor third. So I try to keep everything very compact and try to maintain the same branch of my line. So if I start on the third right here, my last note of that line is on the half step away. So I kind of hover around the same register, right? So if you listen to that line, it sounds like this. [MUSIC] All right, so if you have that line, now, what you can do is to arpeggiate with four part chords and use this notes as a starting point for your arpeggiation. [MUSIC] And so forth, right? And the other way, you can do downward arpeggiations. [MUSIC] Okay, and you can be even more creative, use different permutations of the underlying chords, instead of arpeggiating [SOUND], you can do [SOUND], and so forth. So you notice that all of a sudden, my line begins to sound idiomatic even though I'm only using four part chords which are not as useful in improvisation. But getting comfortable with four part chords is absolutely essential before we move on to five part chords. So again, there are lots of options as far as how to elaborate these structural lines using different arpeggiation patterns. Again, I strongly encourage you to write your own structural lines and be creative in a way you arpeggiate these lines. And you utilize different inversions and different permutations of the underlying chords, and be also mindful of the direction of your buttons. And one final thing, being in control of what you're doing is also very important. So if you're not quite comfortable while playing at 60, you can slow down to maybe 45 and see if you can realize this progression's comfortable without stopping.
