In today's exercise, I'll show you the best exercise to practice target notes. This is
an exercise you should practice every day. It'll not only help you memorize tunes, but
will also give you insight into the harmonic progression from a more linear perspective.
Choose any Jazz standard, let's say: "Alice in Wonderland" Step One: Chord-tones. This is a prep
step, or a prerequisite if you will. If you can do this step with ease, I'd recommend starting on
step two, but if you're struggling with this first step, keep at it until you master it. I would not
try step two until then. Choose any chord-tone, and play the entire tune by just playing that
chord-tone for every chord in the progression. Remember a chord-tone is any of the notes in a
chord, up to the 7th. So, if you see an A7b9, the chord-tones will be: the root (A), the 3rd
(C#), the 5th (E), and the 7th (G). In this step, we're not going to worry about tensions;
such as the b9, found in this chord. So, you can think of chord-tones as: root, 3rd (or 4th), 5th,
and 7th (or 6th). For example, if you choose to work on the 3rd of the chord,
you would play the major third (E) over a Cmaj7, but over Cm7 you'd have to play
Eb (the minor 3rd), and for a C7sus4 you'd have to play an F (the sus4). Remember,
there's no third on a C7sus4. Same goes to the 7th (or the 6th); on a Cmaj7
it played B (the 7th), but on a C6 you'd have to play an A (the 6th). I like to play the tune
four times in a row, to cover all the chord-tones. So, here's "Alice in Wonderland" playing the root...
the third or the fourth...
the fifth...
the seventh...
So, as I said before, if this step was too hard, or just really challenging, you can just practice this
step. You don't need to move on to step two. In fact, it might be better for you to repeat step one over
a different tune, rather than moving on to step two. And by the way, we have a collection with all the
Jazz Standards from the real book, all laid out for you with chord-tones, tensions, and lines. So check
that out on our website mDecks.com. I'll put a link to these books in the description down below, because
you might find that material really helpful. And of course, all of our members will have access to
a PDF, with all the steps applied to "Alice and Wonderland". If you find that PDF useful, you'll
know how valuable having the entire real book with target-notes will be. Step two: guide-tone
lines. This is the best step in today's exercise by far. If you know your chord-tones really well,
you can certainly skip step one and start with this step. The guide-tones are: the third
(or the fourth, in a sus4 chord) and the seventh (or the sixth, in sixth chords). So, your goal is
to create a line, as smooth as possible, that goes from guide-tone to guide-tone across the entire
tune. Why do we want to do this? Well, the essential, or most fundamental color in a chord is defined by
the guide-tones. You can just play the guide-tones on your left hand, on a 2-5-1 for example,
and have the essence of that progression present. When you create a guide-tone line, you're tracing
the harmonic progression in the most effective way possible. A good guide-tone line reveals the
secrets behind the chord progression. It offers the best picture of what a tune's harmony is all
about. This is an ear training exercise like no other. Learning how to walk these guide-tones is
one of the best things that you can do to improve your improvisational skills. Let's
just do a guide-tone line over a 2-5-1, let's say Dm7 - G7 - Cmaj7. What
are the guide-tones on Dm7? Well, F (the 3rd), and C (the 7th). On G7 we have B and F
and on Cmaj7 we have E as the 3rd, and B is the 7th. Now you can see the smoothest
lines are F F E, and C B B. These two lines are tracing the 2-5-1 in a way that reveals
what a 2-5-1 progression is all about. Check it out! I can just add the root of the
chords and play the guide-tone lines, and the essence of the 2-5-1 really comes to life...
Notice how the third of the Dm7 chord, turns into the seventh of the G7. And then moves down to
the third of Cmaj7. Or the seventh of Dm7 moves down to the third of G7,
which then turns into the seventh of Cmaj7. Try your best to move between 3rds and
7ths, while creating a smooth line. In other words, target the third and the seventh avoiding
big leaps. Don't worry if you play a few leaps. Not all progressions have a smooth solution like the
2-5-1. Just try your best to move as little as possible from note to note. If you want, you can
write the lines down at first, or get the target notes book we mentioned before, we have an entire
volume in that collection with lines over every single tune in the real book. Also, there are two
starting points for every song. You can start by targeting the third on the first chord...
or the seventh...
by the way, if you're going to practice any of these steps, this is the most important one. So,
don't skip it! So, step three: tensions. This is a more advanced step, since ideally it requires that
you consider the chord scale for each chord in the progression. So, if you're not ready for this step,
don't worry, just practice steps one and two. Let me first explain this step, so that you can decide
whether or not you're ready for it. Remember, you can come back later to this video by just clicking
on the cover of the PDF. So, the word tensions is actually an abbreviation for the term "extensions".
These are the notes in a chord that go over the octave: the 9th, the 11th, and the 13th. What makes
these notes a bit harder to manage, is the fact that they're not always available to you. Even
further, some chords require that you alter these tensions. For some chords the b9 (or the #9)
are better than the regular 9. Or the #11, or b13, could also be better options. And
many times these tensions are avoid tensions, and shouldn't be used at all. The hardest part of this
is that most of the time these tensions are not indicated in the chord symbols. But that doesn't
mean that they aren't available to you. This is a huge misconception among many musicians, mostly
Pop or Rock players; that the chord symbol alone represents the entire chord. When you see a C7 to
Fmaj7, you should look at it as a V to 1 in major, and that implies that C7 offers any
note from the mixolydian scale. In other words, that C7 is a C7 9 11 13. All tensions are natural in
that C7 chord and, while the 9 and the 13 are available tensions, the 11 is an avoid tension
because it's a half-step above a guide-tone. F (the 11th) is a half-step above E (the 3rd). We did a
great video on this topic, for our upper structures course, that you should watch, if you're interested
on how tensions really work. Anyway, on this step we're going to choose one of the tensions. Let's
say: tension 9. Make sure you play the correct alteration. Some chords, like this Dm7 Dorian,
will take tension 9. Others, like this A7b9, will obviously take tension b9. And by the way,
if it takes tension b9 it also takes tension #9, and vice versa. Remember, b9 and #9
are always interchangeable. If tension 9 is an avoid tension, like in this Em7 Phrygian, just
play the root of the chord. Yes, this is a harder step to master! And the same goes to the 11 and
the 13. Remember to substitute the 11th with the 3rd, and the 13th with the 5th, if they aren't
available. So, I like to play the tune three times in a row, one with the 9th (or the root)...
then the 11th (or the 3rd)...
and finally the 13th (or the 5th)...
And finally, of course, it's time for free play. Before you finish your practice session, remember to
always practice free play. Improvise over the tune of your choice. Don't overthink it! you'll see how
your ears will start guiding you towards these target-notes, without you even trying. Do this
exercise every day and see how your understanding of the harmonic progression, via target-notes, takes
the way you improvise to the next level. We hope you appreciated today's video. All of our members,
like I said, will have access to a PDF of today's exercise. If you'd like to become a member, go
ahead and click on the join button, or the link down below. You can also check out our website
mDecks.com, for all sorts of useful music tools. YouTube seems to think you're gonna like one
of these two videos here, so go ahead and stick around. Watch one of those. Leave a comment down
below, it really really helps out the channel. We'll catch you next time. Thanks for watching