Targeting Chord Tones

The next important step in improvising is to be aware of what chord is happening at any given time during the progression and target the chord tones of the chord that is happening at the time in the music.


So, obviously you play notes from the C major scale while the C major chord is happening. But what might not be so obvious is that you want to emphasize the notes c, e, and g because those are the notes of the C major chord. So, likewise when the A minor chord is happening, you still play the C major scale but emphasize the notes a, c, and e (the notes of the A minor chord).


Let's start by just playing chord tones in the order of the progression. We're going to play the chord tones in two octaves. We're going to play the chord tones for each chord in 1/4 notes. The chords change every 2 measures, so be ready for it!

Christopher Schlegel
Instructor Christopher Schlegel
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Difficulty:
Targeting Chord Tones song notation

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