Senorita was written and recorded in 2004 by Michael Shaw and George Stavropoulos. It was released as the first Ley Lynes demo. The song also features Jeff Armstrong on drums and percussion and Mike Rakusin on piano and organ.

Senorita Performance Notes and Lessons Part 1

I'd like to take this lesson to talk about some of the basics of music theory and their application to solos without getting too deep into advanced solo concepts. If you would rather learn more about the techniques I used to perform my solo in this piece you should check out the lessons under Electric Hoedown because very similar techniques were used.

How to Get Started

In order to improvise a solo you must first know what the chords are beneath your solo. Often musicians won't take the time to understand the chords beneath their solos. But if you take just a minute to figure out the chords you will understand the foundation you are soloing over and as a result focus less on staying in key and more on creating interesting melodies. For example, in Jazz a ii-V-I chord progression is very popular. ii-V-I just means the chords built off of the second, fifth, and first scale degrees of the key you are playing in. So if you were playing in the key of C Major it would be D, G, C. I want to also point out that some of the roman numerals shown above are uppercase and some are lowercase. Uppercase (the V and I) roman numerals means the chords are Major (meaning there is a Maj 3rd within the chord) and lower case (the ii) means the chords are Minor (meaning there is a Min 3rd within the chord). Therefore the ii-V-I simply means to play the chord progression Dminor, Gmajor, Cmajor. These chords together are also what we call a diatonic chord progression. Meaning the three chords are with the same key which is C Major.

Now lets take it one step further by forming the ii chord (Dmin). First form a Dmin triad by playing three notes each a third away from one another starting on the root (the D). So it would be D (root), F (3rd), A (5th). Specifically you need to form a minor third (3 half steps or 3 frets) between the D and the F and a major third (4 half steps or 4 frets) between the F and the A. To make this triad a Min7 chord which is more appropriate for Jazz (Jazz uses lots of 7th chords) just add another minor third (3 half steps or 3frets) above the A which would be C. So now the chord is D, F, A, C which is a Dmin7 chord.

When soloing over the Dmin7 chord or any chord for that matter you want to outline the chord in an artistic way. When solo well the listener will be able to hear the chord within your solo without another musician playing the chord beneath you. The most important notes to play are the chord tones which are the D, F, A, and C of the Dmin7 chord. One way to emphasize the Dmin7 would be to start or end phrases (musical ideas) on one of the chord tones. Of course you would first think of starting or ending a phrase on the D because it is a Dmin7 but that is redundant when the chord is being played beneath you by another musician. The listener is already having that D (the root of the chord) drilled into their head by the bassist, rhythm guitarist, or keys. Because of that it is much more hip to start the phrase on the F, A, or C of the Dmin7 chord. This will also create a nice harmony to the chord beneath you.

How to Choose the Right Scale

Now that you know to emphasize the chord tones while avoiding starting or ending phrases on the roots (especially within the jazz idiom) you need some notes to fill in between the chord tones. This is where knowing the related scale of the chord is important. First I want to say that choosing a scale to fill in your passing tones (notes between the chord tones) is really a matter of personal preference. This is because there are so many scales to choose from for any given chord that will contain the appropriate chord tones. You can even make up your own scales as long as you play the appropriate chord tones within your scales. I must emphasize that creative use of the chord tones is what you should focus on rather than running up and down scales. What makes each of the scales different are their passing tones. For a Dminor7 chord one would first think of playing a Natural Minor scale simply because the chord is Minor. The D Minor scale which is also called the Aeolian scale is D, E, F, G, A, Bflat, C, D. That scale would technically work over this chord but there is a better scale to use. If the Dmin7 chord plays the role of the ii chord within the ii-V-I chord progression then I'd use the Dorian scale which is D, E, F, G, A, B, C, D. It is just like the D Aeolian but with a natural B (6th scale degree) instead of the flatted B. Not only is this a great scale choice for the Dmin7 chord when it functions as a ii chord but is a great scale choice for any Minor 7 chord when performing Jazz. This may seem odd to some of you that already understand the basics of music theory because you may be thinking that one should use the Aeolian over a Min7 that functions as a vi or Phrygian over a Min7 that functions as a iii but within a Jazz context the Dorian scale is played often over all Min7s regardless of their function. This is because the natural 6th scale degree sounds smoother over the Min7 chord than the flatted 6th scale degree found in the Aeolian and Phrygian scales. Give it a shot and you'll see even if it sounds strange at first.

My Scale to Chord Relationship Chart

Next, rather than thoroughly explaining the V and I chord of the ii-V-I, I want to give you a chart of chords and their respective scales for soloing. Like I said there are so many scale choices so I'll just give you some of the most popular ones to start with. You can use the chart to form the V and I chords if you like. I'll give you both the jazzy sounding scales and the more pop sounding scales for each chord type. And don't forget that the creative use of chord tones is more important than noodling around on scales. Briefly, by creative I mean run a sequence of chord tones starting on the 3rd, 5th, or 7th. Or run a sequence skipping every other chord tone. You can do these bother ascending and descending but don't get stuck in a rut by only following these symmetrical patterns. Try really hard to make the chord tones form a melody. I'll talk more about this and other more advanced soloing concepts in future lessons.

C Major Triad- C E G/1, 3, 5 scale degrees or

C Major 7 - C E G B/1, 3, 5, 7 scale degrees

Ionian (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7) Great scale for Jazz or Pop when the chord functions as the I within the progression.

Lydian (1, 2, 3, sharp4, 5, 6, 7) Use in Pop when the chord functions as the IV but use over any Major Triad or Major 7 chord in Jazz. I particularly like the sound of this scale over most of my Major chords.

C Minor Triad - C Eflat G/1, flat3, 5, scale degrees or

C Minor 7 - C Eflat G Bflat/1, flat3, 5, flat7 scale degrees

Aeolian (1, 2, flat3, 4, 5, flat6, flat7) Use in Pop over most Minor Triads especially if the chord functions as the vi in the progression. Use in Jazz as a substitution scale over a vi chord (most often the Dorian will be used over all minor 7 chords).

Phrygian (1, flat2, flat3, 4, 5, flat6, flat7) Good for a iii chord in Pop and you can even experiment with it as a substitution scale over many Minor 7s in Pop and Jazz to give an ethnic or darker flavor.

Dorian (1, 2, flat3, 4, 5, 6, flat7) Here is the best chord historically and in my opinion for use over Jazz Minor 7s. Like I said before, it sounds much smoother than the popular Aeolian scale. I would also recommend trying this over some of the Pop Minor Triads and Minor 7s as well especially when the Minor chord functions as the ii chord. The main reason why it sounds smoother is because of the natural 6 rather than a flatted 6 in Aeolian. The flatted 6 in Aeolian is not harmonically pleasing and should only be played as a quick passing note. But if you raise the 6 which then forms the Dorian, all the notes sounded harmonize well.

C Dominant 7- C E G Bflat/1, 3, 5, flat7 scale degrees

There is no C Dominant Triad because Dominant means to add the flat 7th scale degree to the C Maj triad.

Mixolydian (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, flat7) A perfect scale for bluesy Pop music especially when playing over a V chord within a progression. Mixolydian is also great for Jazz blues and V chords.

Lydian Dominant (1, 2, 3, sharp4, 5, 6, flat7) I think this chord tends to sound a bit too jazzy for Pop due to the sharp4 but it is my scale of choice over V chords or Bluesy music in Jazz. Like the Lydian it too has the sharp4 which give more of a jazzy flair to the scale. The reason for the sharp 4 in both scales is because the natural 4 will want to resolve to the 3 due to the half step between them. This makes the natural 4 an avoid note, meaning you should only play it as a quick passing tone. When you sharp the 4 it rectifies the problem leaving you with no avoid notes.

How To Put It All Together

There are many more different types of chords especially within the Jazz genre but those should get you started for now. So now that you have equipped your musical toolbox with chord tones and scales it is now time to put them together and form solos. A great way to practice your solos is to play one chord at a time on a keyboard (or have a friend play the chord on his guitar) and practice your chord tones, then scales, and finally a combination of both over the sounded keyboard chord. What I personally like to do is sound a chord by using a keyboard tone that will indefinitely sustain by holding down the sustain pedal with my foot. I learned this long ago from a John Patitucci video. An organ or string section tone works great for this. First, I run up and down my chord tones, then my scale tones, and finally combine them artistically to form a melody which will be expanded upon as the solo develops. There are actually countless ways to run up and down your chord tones or scale tones such as sequencing and intervals but that is for another lesson. Again, feel free to email me with any questions.

Good Luck,

Mike