The I-IV-II-VProgression

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I-VI-II-V Soloing (L#9)

Scott Devine

Copyright © 2013 Scott's Bass Lessons

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"In this tutorial I demonstrate how to play the I-IV-II-I progression. It's really common"In this tutorial I demonstrate how to play the I-IV-II-I progression. It's really common

and one you need to learn."and one you need to learn."

Parent Scale: C Major Scale

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Tab adapted for 4 string bass

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R

Chord I: C Major 7th

3rd

Arpeggios (Chord Tones) options for the I VI II V Progression

5th 7th R

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Chord VI: A Minor 7th

R 3rd 5th 7th R

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Chord II: D Minor 7th

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Chord V: G Dominant 7 th

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R 3rd 5th 7th R

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R 3rd 5th 7th R

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Chord Sequence

CŒ„Š7 A‹7 D‹7 G7

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3 5

2 3 5

2 4 5 5 4 2

5 3 2

5 3

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3

2 5

4 5

5 8

7

5 7

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5 8

7

5 7

2 5

3 5

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Ex.1

Ex.2

Copyright © 2013 Scott's Bass Lessons

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01:55 Solo example using the C major scale.

CŒ„Š7

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D‹7 G7

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05:00 Now just using the arpeggios. Remember we have these arpeggios over the entire neck.

CŒ„Š7 A‹

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D‹7 G7

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Etc

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10 12 14

10 12

9 10 12

8

10 9

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9 9 9 10 12 14

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14 15

16 15 16 17 16 17 19 17 16 14 12

15

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7 10

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7 9

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15 12 10

12 15

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12

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14 10

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19 16

17

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17 12

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9

2

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Copyright © 2013 Scott's Bass Lessons

Ex.3

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08:14 VI Substitute Chord: A Dominant 7th

"What you want to look at is altering the chords within the I-IV-II-V""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""Now the IV chord is acting as a dominant chord heading towards D minor"

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A Altered Scale

"Now the IV chord is a dominant 7th you can use the altered scale, which is the"Now the IV chord is a dominant 7th you can use the altered scale, which is the

same scale as Bsame scale as Bbb melodic minor" melodic minor"

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Bbb Melodic Minor

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03:00Solo example using the alterterd scale on the IV chord.

CŒ„Š7

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A‹ D‹7”“

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G7

Etc

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9 10 14 12 14 12 9

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15 17 18 15 10 6 5

14 15

12 14 16 17

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17 19 17 16 14 12

15 14 12

15 14 12

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Ex.4

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Ex.5

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01:55

“: ;

Solo example using D melodic minor scale on the V chord.

CŒ„Š7 A‹

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D‹7 G7

Etc

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08:25

Solo example using bbb melodic minor scale on chord II and abb melodic minor on chord v.

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CŒ„Š7 A‹

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D‹7 G7

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9 10 12

9 7 9 12

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6 10 14 17 15 14

11 11 15

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14 17 21 22 21 19 21 22 20 16

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21 12 19 17 16

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9 12 9 10

12 13 15 16

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15 17 18 14 10

11 12 14

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10 12 14 17 14

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10 11 14

13 17

15 13 12

15 14 12 14 10

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Copyright © 2013 Scott’s Bass Lessons

I-VI-II-V progression (L#9,10)

Your Action Plan

1. As always, start with chord tones. These are thefoundation to your fretboard knowledge andvisualization. Pick one key and make sure you cansolo over the I VI II V progression using chord tonesonly in one area of the neck. For instance you couldconcentrate on the key of C major and use only thefirst five frets of the fingerboard. Once you can playfreely over the chord progression within this area ofthe fretboard, move to another position. Your aim isto be able to solo using only chord tones only inevery 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 © 2013 Scott’s Bass Lessons

2. Once you can freely use the chord tones over theentire fingerboard it's time to try soloing using thekey center as a 'blanket scale' to solo over the I-VI-II-V chord progression. For instance, if we're soloingover a I-VI-II-V in the key on C major, we can use theC 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) asthey 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 © 2013 Scott’s Bass Lessons

3. You should now look at using scale substitutions overthe I VI II V chord sequence. You can substitute theminor VI chord with an altered dominant chord (asdiscussed within the video tutorial). When we do thisit gives us the ability to use the altered scale on the Vand 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