The I-IV-II-V Progression

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Scott Newman
5 years ago
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1 The I-IV-II-V Progression

2 I-VI-II-V Soloing (L#9) Scott Devine "In this tutorial I demonstrate how to play the I-IV-II-I progression. It's really common and one you need to learn." Parent Scale: C Major Scale Tab adapted for 4 string bass Arpeggios (Chord Tones) options for the I VI II V Progression Chord I: C Major 7th Chord VI: A Minor 7th R rd 5th 7th R R rd 5th 7th R Chord II: D Minor 7th Chord V: G Dominant 7 th R rd 5th 7th R R rd 5th 7th R ? Chord Sequence 4 CŒ Š7 A 7 D 7 G7???????????????? Copyright 201 Scott's Bass Lessons

3 2 01:55 Solo example using the C major scale. Ex.1 CŒ Š7 h Ó # J s s # j A h s s D 7 G7 # :00 Ex.2 Now just using the arpeggios. Remember we have these arpeggios over the entire neck. 4 CŒ Š7 A Ó D 7 G7 Etc Copyright 201 Scott's Bass Lessons

4 "What you want to look at is altering the chords within the I-IV-II-V" "Now the IV chord is acting as a dominant chord heading towards D minor" 08:14 VI Substitute Chord: A Dominant 7th # "Now the IV chord is a dominant 7th you can use the altered scale, which is the same scale as Bb B melodic minor" A Altered Scale Bb Melodic Minor :00 Solo example using the alterterd scale on the IV chord. CŒ Š7 Ex. Ó j Œ Œ A D 7 Œ G : ;? Etc Copyright 201 Scott's Bass Lessons

5 4 01:55 Ex.4 : ; Ó Solo example using D melodic minor scale on the V chord. R CŒ Š7 A j Œ D 7 G7 : ; # # Etc :25 Ex.5 Solo example using bb melodic minor scale on chord II and ab melodic minor on chord v. CŒ Š7 A : ; Œ j Œ n R D 7 G7 R n n Etc Copyright 201 Scott's Bass Lessons

6 I-VI-II-V progression (L#9,10) Your Action Plan 1. As always, start with chord tones. These are the foundation to your fretboard knowledge and visualization. Pick one key and make sure you can solo over the I VI II V progression using chord tones only in one area of the neck. For instance you could concentrate on the key of C major and use only the first five frets of the fingerboard. Once you can play freely over the chord progression within this area of the fretboard, move to another position. Your aim is to be able to solo using only chord tones only in every area of the fretboard. Make sure to concentrate on only one key at a time. For instance start with C major and study that key center using the above exercises for at least a week. The more time you spend on one exercise the more you will ingrain the techniques and visualizations within your playing. This not only makes this exercise easier - it makes every exercise easier. Copyright 201 Scott s Bass Lessons

7 2. Once you can freely use the chord tones over the entire fingerboard it's time to try soloing using the key center as a 'blanket scale' to solo over the I-VI-II- V chord progression. For instance, if we're soloing over a I-VI-II-V in the key on C major, we can use the C major scale to solo over the entire chord sequence. But, the aim here is to make sure you're hitting the 'juicy notes' within the chords (i.e. the chord tones) as they pass, without thinking 'chord tones only'. This can be tough. But without it you will just sound like you're running up and down scales aimlessly. For each of the chords within the I VI II V progression, the chord tones can be found within the C major scale, it's just a case of making sure you know where they are within the scale. So for instance the F of the C major scale will sound great over the II chord (D minor) as it's the minor third of the II chord. The B of the C major chord will sound great over the V chord (G7) as B is the third of G7. Take one position. Visualize the major scale within that position. Now as you play the chord sequence look at the fingerboard and concentrate on visualizing the roots of each chord within the C major scale. Then see the thirds of each chord within the C major scale and so on through each of the chord tones within each chord. Copyright 201 Scott s Bass Lessons

. You should now look at using scale substitutions over the I VI II V chord sequence. You can substitute the minor VI chord with an altered dominant chord (as discussed within the video tutorial).

Remember that we can also think of these altered chord substitutions as simply a minor/major 7th chord up a half step from the root (as discussed within the video tutorial).

8 . You should now look at using scale substitutions over the I VI II V chord sequence. You can substitute the minor VI chord with an altered dominant chord (as discussed within the video tutorial). When we do this it gives us the ability to use the altered scale on the V and VI chord. Take one key and practice altering these chords every time they pass. Remember that we can also think of these altered chord substitutions as simply a minor/major 7th chord up a half step from the root (as discussed within the video tutorial). So over G7alt we would play Ab minor/major 7th arpeggio and over A7alt we could use a Bb minor/major 7th arpeggio. Sing this technique you will get a very pure sound of the substitution, whereas the scale can be more ambiguous. Scott Devine Copyright 201 Scott s Bass Lessons

How To Practice arpeggios

How To Practice arpeggios Scott Devine How to Practice Arpeggios Part 1, 2 & (L#,,) How to Practice Arpeggios Part 1 (L#) Start Point 00:6 The Arpeggios of a II V I Progression in the Key of C Major. 4