How to always remember the chord changes whilst improvising! | TOM QUAYLE 

Hey everyone - I hope you're all well and enjoy this mini lesson on my strategy for internalising chord changes whilst improvising. I'd love to hear your methods for memorising chord changes - feel free to leave your ideas and discussions below! Thanks to everyone that's checked out the Ultimate Fretboard Visualization course and Solo 2.0 so far! Happy practicing and see you all in the next one. Tom

A FREE masterclass from a master!! Thanks so much Tom. I'm hopeless at remembering progressions so this is gold.

It's really great to hear a well know guitarist say they can't play everything they hear in their head, they didn't memorize The Real Book, and they can get lost in tunes--because that pretty much sums up my experience with playing jazz. I even studied jazz at a university and got a degree in it! lol My impression has always been that I should learn 200 jazz standards in all 12 keys. Learn all different scales, modes, and chords in all 12 keys and then forget it when you play. Only play what you hear. Transcribe and memorize a couple of great jazz artists' solos on a few standards. Twenty years later I still wonder when I will play something meaningful over Autumn Leaves! You've laid out some good techniques to practice, but your openness about your struggles as a musician is what makes this video nice for me. thanks

I have been struggling with this process like most guitarists and it is very nice to see how Tom breaks down the thought process of improvising on the fly and what you should and should not pay attention to while practising for this!! Very helpful.

Here's some tips. Taking All The Things You Are example. As guitar players we tend to follow the chords by the Roman numerals, if the change goes up, we go up, when it goes down we go down. But look at this progression 2-5-1-4. Don't follow the numerals try going up in 4ths for each chord. 4ths and 5ths are interchangeable. Going up a fourth is the same as going down a fifth. F up a fourth is Bb, F down a fifth is Bb.

Thank you, Tom. Makes perfect sense and is very useful. It is the only online guitar lesson I found that really tries to teach how to think ahead and its encouraging to hear that it doesn't happen with just a snap of the fingers.

Thanks, Tom, you're a great guitar teacher. When I was younger I would get completely lost when soloing and just play what I heard in my head. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't. It was only after I really started developing my ear that things started to change for the better. I had to slow down tremendously and just practice "listening" to the music underneath as I soloed (very slowly). I could recognize basic chord changes (1 4 5, 1 5 6 4, 2 5 1) and could target my solo notes on the changes. I'm good for the average pop/rock song, but Jazz is still way beyond me and easy to get lost, what with that walking bass. Keyboardists seem to have developed that better than us guitarists, because they do the chord changes on the left hand and melody on the right at the same time. Improvising is like multitasking, accessing at minimum two parts of your mind simultaneously, one for the chord changes and the music underneath, the other for the solo you are constructing. And the third part of the simultaneous multitasking brain (which is now the hardest part for me), linking the two to make a beautiful statement that fits perfectly, or at lest melodically. I even like my happy accidents now (the wrong note) so long as I now exactly where I am in the song!

"Horrible picking technique?" Nice tutorial. Thank you for producing it.

I so totally appreciate that you take music, if not as seriously as I do, then more so.

People say music is like speaking a language, but think about it - when you're speaking words, your mind thinks exactly the way Tom describes... you're thinking ahead to where the sentence is going, just like he's looking ahead to the next chord rather than thinking about the current chord too much. Awesome stuff as always man!!

Very cool. Bach Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin are my favorite pieces in the world. He was one of the greatest improvisers of his time. He and the lutenist/composer, Weiss, used to have fugue jam sessions.. Great lesson. Thanks!

Man Tom it’s always a treat to hear you play straight ahead, hoping to hear more of it!!

Wow, another year of work ahead of me! Your advice is greatly appreciated; what youre saying makes total sense.

Tom, Thank you! beautiful lesson and my favorite tip/instruction from you is "the more you practice the easier its gonna get".

Thank you so much. The new solo 2.0 has also actually improved my sight reading skills as well.

LOVE the honesty Tom, thanks so much for the lesson 👍👍😘🎸💥🤘

Thanks a million Tom. As well as being a magnificent player (one of the greatest, in fact), you’re also a wonderful teacher.

OMG, another guitarist that tunes in all fourths! not many of us out there. Just had to note that. Great video!

Amazing! When I started to play jazz that way you show, this consumed me a lot for a long time! But today, looking deeper, it really opened my mind to be able to deal with any type of accompaniment or solo! your tip is fantastic! 🙏😁🎶🙌

I also own an As103nt Ibanez. Such an under the radar guitar. Great lesson btw. 👍

Great topic Tom - this is exactly what I have struggled with. You have a great ability to clarify issues, explain them clearly and develop solutions - thanks a lot!

This is really great info.. I've been playing guitar for a few years but just started focusing on jazz about 8 months ago. Improvising over changes without getting lost has been probably my main challenge. I'm going to start incorporating this into my practice routine. Thanks!

Thanks for this Tom. Really been struggling internally with why it’s so hard for me to memorize some songs. This helps my man, you are the best❤

Discovered your giant steps improv from 10 years ago... very inspiring

Thanks! I've been waiting forever for this video. I'm actually a fingerstyle player/ singer, but I am required to solo from time to time, and keepint track of the changes has always been a problem. You outlined my difficulty with precision up to 6 minutes in, and I will definitely give your method a try. Cheers.

Love the Solo app, Tom. It's absolutely brilliant and I noticed fretboard nav improvement within days.

Tom Quayle rules!!Amaazing video

This is excellent ! I worked with David Beebee a few years ago to get the interval visualisation problem sorted, but this issue is still problematic for me. I have never seen this isolated so well. I still have to read charts for even simple tunes just so I can get through the solo sections. Thanks Tom you’ve inspired me to go back and work on this specifically. But also shows I’m not the only guitarist with years of playing under my belt to struggle with this

Amazing lesson, Tom.

Thanks! I can't just take this lesson without giving something back ❤❤

This is super helpful. I have the exact same issue when ever playing over standards. Your solo sounded great!.

That was a great lesson Tom it addressed an issue that I struggle with that makes me build little riffs to transition which interrupts any flow. Great stuff! Thank you!

Excellent Tom, thanks.

Killer improvisation Tom in this tricky song. 🍻🎸

Thanks for this lesson! Great way to learn the chords!

Great lesson. Right on time for me. Thanks!

Thank you Tom. Brilliant as always and just what I needed. I find that applying your system to just an alternation of just 2 chords (!) all over the neck is a challenge, but a very good one for me.

Great lesson Tom - the skill of anticipation whilst playing in the moment too! This is Jedi level stuff to work towards but this is a really great way to build a path towards it! I'll get to work on this, and love the Solo app by the way, really great way to work on so many aspects of playing.

In my experience, this problem disappears when you start seriously practicing chord note soloing. Just practice arpeggios starting from all chord notes up and down, then practice soloing with only chord notes, then add chromatic approach notes and last add scales. Total game changer for me, transformed my playing from sounding like scales to sounding like jazz. Also taught me to really hear chord changes and relate them to melody.

Respect for the amount of effort this man puts into trying to help others! Bought the app sometime ago but right now really trying it out. Finding some difficulties in finding structure in practicing it, but the way it works is amazing. The only thing I think it’s missing is like a step by step for every category. Like in this video. Some guidelines you can follow to find structure, and master every category. Thanks a lot man!!!🙏🙏

Great class, thank you very much brother!

Great lesson, Thankyou 🎸

Really REALLY good exercise.

Just what i needed, the struggle is real when it comes to playing lines and not forgetting the progression

OMG! My RU-vid algorithm magically landed on this video and you moved my world. Thank you for an unprecedentedly marvelous demonstration of cognitive modeling (this is what I’m thinking whilst I’m playing, and some of the troubles I might encounter, and it’s okay not to play in time and think ahead, etc.) and for modeling a practice technique that informs every chordal routine on the guitar. Thank you for a very informative and inspirational post. I am a fan! Bill

Good lesson! The only way for me to remember a jazz standard is to remember the melody in my mind, in this way you can also play songs in any key.. It works🎶

Interesting… Tom mentions that he “has to know” what the next chord will be. Also, I remember Larry Carlton saying “just give me a chord chart and I can play a solo”. On the other hand, it has been said that Chet Baker only wanted to know what the first note of the tune was, and then he just played the head and a brilliant solo, apparently just by listening. I’ve played with several horn players who seemed to be able to to that. So let’s do a little show of hands… which school of thought do you guys adhere to?

excellent lesson!

Much respect for you. No way that I can ever do that. Good to know!

Wow Tom! your helping my brain!! btw, your Solo app is very very,good cheers

Great playing! Wow!

Brilliant video, many thanks Tom :0)

What you have said, applies very well to the piano. Will certainly try it over some standards. Might try two bars at time to make remembering chords easier.

❤really helped me out

I think learning a song in its most basic form first is really useful even if it’s one strum per beat, it familiarises you with the changes and I always find it easier to hear and feel them later because of doing it, another good variation after the first one is alternate a bar of strumming and a bar of a scale or line, again this really emphasises the chords and the internalises the changes

I absolutely love how the answer is basically "walking bass"!

Good to hear you have a weakness! I’ve been doing something similar with nursery rhymes. There’s a pdf online of a jamey aebersold camp that contains about 50 basic tunes you can figure out by ear. I’m harmonizing those with chords that are manageable for my level. Just focusing on those strong beats and guide tones for now. Cheers

U R GEM man thanks

7 seconds in: subscribed. wow.

cool stuff

Lovely sound!❤. Don't stop impressing peoples Tom. Here From Indonesia❤

I must have a really good memory because I never forget the chords. E & D “I've been through the desert On a horse with no name” 🐴 🎸 If your song has more than two chords.., you’re playing the wrong song

I've pondered this problem for many years. I'm not sure many great, earlier players consciously used memorization. Maybe some did. More likely they used aural memory than visual (chord sheets), which came from how they learned tunes. If you had a memory lapse your cue was hearing the changes as they went by rather than imagining them as a sequence of chord symbols. That would then free up the brain from trying to do too many things at once. Just my tuppence worth.

Right at the exact point I'm at in my limited ability of learning the guitar. I'm gonna start working on this for sure ! Have visited your website and am seriously considering purchasing the Two-Point System...do you ever see offering the System at a reduced price ? It may be so popular right now that the "economics" of it just wouldn't make sense...but no harm in asking !

Fortunately I come from a generation who know this (ATTYA) as a song, and I just sang along with the the Ella Fitzgerald version and only fluffed the key change in the middle 8. I double checked with Frank Sinatra version and, as I suspected, he sings it in a different key. So probably best to learn the song (if there is one) and get it down in 251 chunks or whatever form suits, unless you're really good at chord transposition (which I'm not!), or just avoid any singers who can't sing it in the common key!

It’s worth finding Hank Garland’s version of this tune, for a great demonstration of Tom’s suggestions.

I play in a cover band, and use arpeggios all the time. But many times i have no idea about the chord changes, cause sometimes arpeggios dont outline the chord(often the low root note isnt in the arpeggio, so its hard to figure out) i would love to be able to solo over chord changes, but i just listen to the song, and slide to a note that works. Hope one day i can play the changes, but it seems too hard for me to learn.

can't go back to regular tuning after i tried and learned your idea of 2 note visualization. .Can you pls Tom make a course of 4th tuning non lame version of chords

Here's another tip that no one ever shows and that's how to get through the chords, don't just treat them in isolation. Look for the semi tonal movement between the chords. The m7th to major 3rd is really strong. Where you have a dominant chord going to a major chord you've got the minor 7th to major 3rd a simple semi tone away. The 12 bar blues is a great place to start to develop this stuff. Majority of jazz is based on the blues

So do i, feel didnt have connection between brain-ear-finger so i cant create lines using my instinct. Gonna try this lesson hopefully work well , thanks 🙏

Thank you Tom, I subscribed after 3 bars, it’s refreshing seeing music instead of shredding, Being self taught bass player, have struggled with motivation or progress, I put in about 2 x hours a day on apps etc I was an engineer on lots of Jazz Albums, when I asked many times what were you thinking while laying down the tracks! They all said I had no thoughts going on at all !

Thanks Tom this makes a lot of sense and I guess it will help lines to flow to the next nearest note of the chord to come...and so on. I usually play without sheet music but I was wondering what your thoughts are (and I know it's cheating) if I have the chord progression in front of me, won't this eliminates the necessity of the dual thought? Of course the problem that then occurs is the need to look up at the sheet music which will give new problems 😆

I've heard alot of musicians tell to not memorize chord for chord, rather chunks of progressions to simplify and think ahead easier. I guess there is no straight answer to this topic. Practicing etudes is another technique to internalize changes, but maybe not so effective for becoming aware of the isolated chord? But maybe in a context though playing in cautious manner with a set interval pattern.

Ojalá ésto pueda ayudarme. Muchas gracias

Thank you! Is an Android version ever coming of solo?

yoooooooooo this is the first time i see someone using the same guitar as mine :D

This is really helpful thank you Tom. by the way What a beautiful guitar what is the model number?

Yay!!!

Great video Tom, question. Why 3 and 5 and not 3 and 7? Just wondert

This is the thing I need to nail…. Well it’s about time I nailed something after 30 years

I need a coffee

Do you mind to share What is the model of this Ibanez guitar?

Exercise begins at 8:07

Very good, keyboard player

🤙🏼

What’s the model name for the Ibanez?

Is that an Ibanez AS103NT? It looks exactly like my guitar.

😁

😁😁

What's the tone at Tom? I mean the guitar is very bright

You're not a bad picker at all.

you can just do a one or two chord vamp then you dont have to worry about it

Is solo a one time payment or a monthly subscription

why are your B and E string a half note higher?

Hello Maj/Min/Dim Tom... 😀

🙏🌻🏵️🌼🌸🌺🌹🌞🌝

8:34 mic drop. :)

Hard to imagine you struggling with much of anything - nice to know you're in the same boat as the rest of us in some ways! 😂

Ciao, vedo con piacere che hai una chitarra uguale alla mia,ma purtroppo solo quella è uguale.

Got to be a better way?