SESSION 3: Chop-Chord-Shape Licks

from: Improvising for Mandolin and Fiddle with Joe K. Walsh

This lesson is part of the course Improvising for Mandolin and Fiddle with Joe K. Walsh.

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Learn to improvise on fiddle tunes, create new melodies over chord changes, practice the arpeggios and scales you need to play jazz tunes, and more. Joe lays out his approach to improvising and practicing improvising, with exercises and solos that illustrate his unique, widely acclaimed, freewheeling style.

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SESSION 2: Playing Song Melodies and Solos in Closed Position

In this video, Joe shows you Dan Tyminski’s mandolin solo on “I Can’t Get You Off of My MInd” and talks about playing song melodies and solos in closed position with different songs.

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SESSION 3: Chop-Chord Shape Licks

SESSION 3: Chop-Chord-Shape Licks

Arpeggio Exercise: Root Position

Arpeggio Exercise: First Inversion

Arpeggio Exercise: Second Inversion

SESSION 3: Chop-Chord-Shape Licks

In session three, Joe works on finding sounds and vocabulary out of the chop-chord shape. So much vocabulary comes out of this shape, especially blues-inflected sounds, and it complements the "first finger root note" shape well. He shows you a couple of solos from Sam Bush and Aubrey Haynie so you can internalize some chop-chord shape language, and you’ll also work on shifting between the two shapes.

"Jambalaya" Chop Chord Solo MP3 (Available to subscribers)

"Jambalaya" First Finger Root Note Solo MP3 (Available to subscribers)

"Jambalaya" Jam Track in Four Keys MP3 (Available to subscribers)

Aubrey Haynie "Forty Years of Trouble" Notation/Tab (Available to subscribers)

Sam Bush "I Wonder Where You Are Tonight" Solo Notation/Tab (Available to subscribers)

Sam Bush Chop-Chord Vocabulary Notation/Tab (Available to subscribers)

"Jambalaya" Solo Ideas Notation/Tab (Available to subscribers)

Triad Arpeggios Second-Inversion Diagram (Available to subscribers)

Chop-Chord Patterns Diagram (Available to subscribers)

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