Tag: A minor

Using Triads in Melodic Solos (pt 2)

18/12/2022 Lesson No Comments

If you’re looking to improve your melodic soloing skills, then this lesson is for you! By the end of this video, you’ll be able to create melodic solos using triads on the B-G-D strings. Also, you’ll learn how to connect these chord tones in a meaningful way! Let’s get started!

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Melodic Guitar Soloing (Lesson 2)

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About this video

In this video, you’ll learn to find basic chord tones by thinking in triads on the B-G-D strings. This works over any chord progression. By adding those sweet chord tones to your guitar solos, you’ll sound more melodic, and the listener will feel the harmony of your song better.

Concepts that are present in this video: chord tones, triads, visualizing on the guitar neck, melodic phrasing, anticipation, rhythmic motifs & embellishments.

I sincerely hope that this 2nd lesson will provide you with some guitar inspiration for your own melodic guitar playing. If you like the content, make sure you subscribe &  give the video a thumbs up. That does help the channel. Thanks a lot for your support!

Featured Lick
melodic soloing with triads

Playing a melodic solo with chord triads shows you the best notes to aim for in your phrasing. In this example (bar 11 of the solo), the melody first aims for the C (half step bend up from the 12th fret on the B-string). On beat 3, the melody goes for the D on the 15th fret of the B-string. Both notes are part of the underlying chord triads. 

Jam Track

If you’re interested, I offer a high-quality version (CD-remaster) of this guitar jam track that you can use in your Youtube/Soundcloud/Instagram/Social media videos:

Gear
  • Guitar: Suhr Modern Pro HH
  • Amp: Fractal Audio AX8
  • Pedal: Crazy Tube Circuits Black Magic Mk2
  • Mixed with plugins from UA, Slate Digital & Plugin Alliance

Intense Rock Ballad Backing Track in A minor

24/05/2020 Backing Track No Comments

Dark, intense ballad rock guitar backing track in A minor. Play along with this melancholic guitar jam track on a rainy day. Tempo: 66 bpm. Download the chord chart that lays out the basis harmony below.

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Intense Rock Ballad Backing Track (Chord Chart)

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Improvisation Tips

On this backing track you can play:

  • A minor pentatonic
  • A minor blues
  • A natural minor (A Aeolian scale)
  • E Phrygian dominant (or A harmonic minor) on the E7 
About the track:

After a short acoustic intro, the A-section (verse) follows a dreamy, ambient chord progression in the key of A minor. In this section, you can use A minor pentatonic, A minor blues, or E Aeolian. 

In the denser B-section of the jam track, heavy distortion guitars and hard rock drums enter to amplify the dramatic mood. You can continue improvising with the A minor pentatonic, but watch out for the E7 chord (that has a G#). This chord comes from A harmonic minor. 

To write this track, I felt inspired by the work of God Is An Astronaut, Porcupine Tree, and even Anathema. This was another fun exercise in songwriting for me. I hope this jam track will inspire you to play screaming guitar solos, 

Thank you for watching and playing along, Check out some other backing tracks (jam tracks) on my channel. 

Twin backing track (Sunset Jam) here 

Keep on playing,

Maarten.

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Cover Art
Sad Rock Ballad Backing Track
Dark Intense Rock Ballad Backing Track Cover Art

P.S.: I’m quite happy with the way the cover art (video thumbnail) turned out. Featured is my Martin HD-16 R Adirondack and an AKG C3000B mic I lended from a friend (thank you Bart!).