4-6 · Improvisation: Building Phrases That Target Two Chords

In the outro section of “Stairway to Heaven,” the chord progression is:

Am - G - F

Because all three chords come from the key of A minor (or, equivalently, C major), and A sounds like “home,” A minor pentatonic is a good scale choice for improvising over this vamp.

As noted in the video, we can ignore the G chord because it passes quickly, and our ears are most closely attuned to what we hear at the beginnings and ends of phrases.

Exercise 1: Practice creating phrases that start on a target note from the A minor triad and end on a note from the F major triad, using the A minor pentatonic scale in between. Your phrases should last for one pass through the chord progression. Start by doing this inside a single rectangle or stack.

While you practice, use all of the articulations you have at your disposal (bends, hammer-ons, pull-offs, slides, etc.). Try practicing call-and-response over this chord progression, perhaps ending your first phrase with a non-chord tone and then responding with a phrase that ends on a chord tone, or playing a mini-“call” over the first measure (Am-G), pausing briefly, and responding over the F triad.

Exercise 2: Branch out and use the techniques you’ve learned for moving around the neck: vertical alternation of rectangles and stacks, diagonal stack pathways, and playing along one string. Practice each of these techniques in isolation.

As you practice improvising over this chord progression, practice switching improvisation strategies frequently. Switch from rectangle to stack, from Form 1 to Form 4, and from playing in position to playing along one string. These are all techniques you can interleave to increase the difficulty in a way that will build your skills faster in the long run.

Exercise 3: Spend a little time improvising freely, drawing from all the techniques you’ve learned in the course so far. Then go back and focus on the areas you’re finding most challenging.