Dm7 for 8 bars

[gypsyjazzer]

Probably a dumb question for you jazz'ers out there:

How would you go about making one chord--Dm7 in this case--sound i[b]nteresting[/b] for 8 bars?
--what percentage of the chord tones would you use?--passing notes?---playing in a scale'ic way?
--obviously knowing the scale of Dm7 inside out.

Look forward to your knowledgeable replies.

[Roland Rock]

I'm by no stretch a jazzer, but I'm thinking that modes are going to be pretty important here.
Dorian, Phrygian and Aeolean are good for playing over Dm7, as they are the minor diatonic scales.
I'd be sticking to chord tones for the majority of the time unless you're doing the odd passing tone or chromatic run.

[BADGAD]

What key is the piece in? What key changes? What genre/groove required? What tempo? What else is going on in the 8 bars?

Just some of the factors I should consider, before ignoring all of the above and parachuting in my favourite Dm7 go anywhere groove (Cantaloupe Island).

[Cyrene]

Hi.
Coming at this from a slightly different approach... I play for an outfit in which many of the songs are written in Ddim or half dim with only brief modulations through the bridge or chorus.
I feel somewhat obligated to not only provide that link with the drummer but also some degree of melodic interest. This is because the guitarist favours a lot of distortion to the point where chord changes are undiscernble.
I rely upon octave shifts, and use of alternating patterns between passing notes around the fifth. Many times i'll be using the m7, the min3 and then these repeated riffs taking in the Ab, A, Bb.
I'm not sure if this sounds correct but it seems to work with economy and timing in mind of course.

Edited July 7, 2013 by Cyrene

[Dad3353]

Learn the melody and work off of that. Play bits and pieces of it and throw in chord subtitutes and inversions to sound fancy if you like. Just don't start on the root note and perhaps write out a few of your first solos, plan ahead and such.
(...[i]but then again, I'm a drummer; what would I know..?[/i] )

[paul_5]

Imply an Em, A7 to add a bit more harmonic interest in bar 8, then you've only got 7 bars to worry about. You could do the same at bar 4 too, giving you even less "squeaky bum" time.

[Bilbo]

Think thematically. Build lines off what has gone before. Listen to the soloists and use their ideas to inform your own. Remeber chromatics. Remember you can play a note twice, three or even four times in a bar or even pedal for eight bars! Tempo can be a defining element here. The options are many.

[jakenewmanbass]

I don't mean this to be an obtuse answer but, first consideration... make it [i]feel[/i] good. Often overlooked, if it feels great then note choices are less pressurised with the 'must be interesting' notion which can lead to untold fretw***ery in my experience.

[wrinkleygit]

Couple of tunes I play have 16 bars with no chord change on the sheet, miles davis , so what & milestones,, look at playing 2 x 4 bar phrases or 4 x 2bar walks as a suggestion, depends on the number you are playing, listen to what else is going on, remember sometimes less is more & it can be good to leave space for other instruments, check out scott devines lessons as I think he may have covered something like this, mike b.

[gypsyjazzer]

Many thanks everybody for your knowledgeable help---very much appreciated.

gypsyjazzer

[xilddx]

It's hard to know without hearing the vamp, but in one band I have to play whole songs over one chord, a single three-note riff for example. It's a dance-electronica type thing where the vocalist and rhythm section drive the music, so the purpose is different. It would be very easy to over complicate it with notes, but the way I approach it is to keep it very simple, not be adding notes all the time. The trick for me is to mess with timing and leaving notes out to create interest.

In your situation (assuming this is more of a jazzy vibe) I think I'd find the two most beautiful notes, providing they fit the theme, and play around them. I think rhythm/polyrhythm and space is often neglected in favour of notes, so I would think more like a drummer than a melodic instrument.

I may of course be way off the mark here.

[Guest bassman7755]

[quote name='Bilbo' timestamp='1373200877' post='2134588']
Think thematically. Build lines off what has gone before.
[/quote]

Our rock set has a few long single chord vamps and I'm finding that I tend to stop to thinking harmonically and rely on my inner ear to feed my fingers with melodies. Its quite a difficult thing to learn to do systematically but for me intensive functional ear training did the trick.

[ubassman]

The challenge with us all is that pretty much anything that you play on an 8 bar loop has to be musically relevant and complimenting whats happening in real time with the other musicians. You don't want to be competing for attention and this is were musicality comes out - space and gaps can be very effective in the right place and context.

Sometimes just a pedal note builds tension and then you get the sense of release say when another soloist comes in and your off into something different . Its ok to repeat things and if something sounds good and relevant try it an octave higher with a drop . For me I just trust my ears and listen to the moment - you can't really have a formula for that !

[51m0n]

8 bars?

We sit on a chord for 20 minutes and aim to keep it interesting B-)

[EssentialTension]

I'd say that ...

[quote name='Bilbo' timestamp='1373200877' post='2134588']
... pedal for eight bars! ...
[/quote]

... usually beats ...

[quote name='jakenewmanbass' timestamp='1373201672' post='2134600']
... untold fretw***ery ...
[/quote]

... in a kind of Top Trumps way.

[Dad3353]

[quote name='xilddx' timestamp='1373357071' post='2136498']...rhythm/polyrhythm and space is often neglected in favour of notes, so I would think more like a [s]drummer[/s] musician than a melodic instrument...[/quote]

Fixed...

[quote name='51m0n' timestamp='1373396450' post='2137154']
8 bars?

We sit on a chord for 20 minutes and aim to keep it interesting B-)
[/quote]

Grateful Dead in your repertoire..? Jolly well done, lad..!

[51m0n]

[quote name='Dad3353' timestamp='1373403265' post='2137272']

Grateful Dead in your repertoire..? Jolly well done, lad..!
[/quote]

Nope, highly extended funk. It is completely self indulgent but has gone down very well so far. Shortest track in the last set was 9 minutes longest was 26 minutes! Although that was more than one chord.....