Music Lessons

Superimposition - by Frank Jolliffe

When I solo over a tune I generally use the arpeggios of the chord progression as my source material. I play the arpeggio of the chord along with some approach notes to the chord tones (1, 3, 5 and 7th degrees). This mixture of arpeggios and approach notes gives my melodic line three things: a vertical sound; strong harmonic content; and some nice coloration of the basic harmony. If I want to spice it up a bit more, and the tune warrants a more modern sound, I'll superimpose different types of arpeggios over dominant 7th chords in the song. (The dominant 7th lends itself to the most alterations in sound.) One of my favorites is to use major 7th arpeggios over dominant 7th chords.

Start by building major 7th chords on the 2nd, flat 3rd, flat 6th and 6th degree of your dominant 7th chord. For example, on G7 they would be major 7th chords built on A, Bb, Eb and E. You are not adhering to any particular scale, just build major 7th chords off these root notes. Major 7th superimpositions off these scale degrees holds constant in all keys. Now try each major 7th arpeggio over the G7 chord. Just vamp on the G7 and get the flavor for each one. I find that A major 7th and E major 7th have a bright sound while Bb major 7th and Eb major 7th have darker sounds.

In the four examples below I've used each of the major 7 superimpositions over the G7 chord. Example 1 uses the A major 7th (with one passing tone), Ex 2 the Bb major 7th, Ex 3 the Eb major 7th and Ex 4 the E major 7th. Learn each three bar phrase and be able to play them at different tempos.

Try writing some melodic lines over two-five patterns using these superimpositions. This is a good way to understand how they work. Also try this: record a dominant 7th vamp and then pick one of the major 7th arpeggio superimpositions and use that as the basis of your improvisation. It works best if you alternate the superimposition with a more traditional sound, like a mixolydian scale. Go back and forth between the superimposition and the mixolydian scale. Sounds cool!

I'd like to acknowledge jazz guitarist and educator Bruce Arnold for teaching me this superimposition concept. I studied with Bruce for three years and he opened up a lot of doors for me. Check out his web site.

Download the PDF file.