Conundra

 

This will challenge you--as most conundra do.

Full Mix:

Mix Minus One:

It arises from a riff idea I had back in the early 90s (originally titled Trick of Life) when I was more into jazz. It is a repeating chord pair consisting of a major chord advancing up in fourths through all 12 keys. 

I composed a possible solo and highlighted the operative modes, but you can select your own.

The real challenge is to memorize the sequence moving up in 4ths (or down in 5ths) without the root always being there, while sometimes feeling unmoored and lost, then merging again at some point.  

Getting lost is inevitable, and is the point of the etude. It is also finding your way as a group.

It's okay to make mistakes--which could even be more interesting in a jazz setting where it expected that things sound "wrong".

The sequence also lends itself to pattern formation. For example, you can play the Phrygian mode across all of the chord changes, and move the shape either a minor 6th up or a major 3rd down. similarly, with the arpeggios,  you can simply move them up a minor second.

If you use the heuristic the "third becomes the 7th" in the chord pair, you can continue the pattern for each of the pairs, going a 4th up. The third of Dm7 is F and the seventh of Gbmaj7(#11) is also F. The third of Gm7 is Bb, and the seventh of Bmaj7(#11) is also Bb(spelled A#), and so on. This creates simplicity within complexity. If you are a guitar player and you want to create some kind of a solo within the sequence, you could use that by simply playing one note for each chord pair. 

There are other symmetries as well: The fifth of the second of the chord pair (the Gbmaj7(#11)) is a half-step below it (D/Db), and you can also continue that up a fourth through the sequence. 

You can use two extensions or color notes through the entire sequence. For example, E natural is the 9th of the Dm7. F natural is the seventh of Gbmaj7(#11). A  guitar player could play a sustained note for each chord, and you wouldn't even need to use a scale.

Bass players can use roots and fifths of chords, or perhaps thirds--not sevenths.

THE SPREADSHEET:

Linear Correlation (Scales)

Each chord pair as a list of possible chord scales, which you can either read horizontally on each row, or choose a chord scale at random, or simply follow the color coding: shades of blue are minor-type scales, shades of orange are major-type scales, the Phrygian mode is green, Lydian is a salmon color, and arpeggios are gray.

Linear Correlation (Pitches)

This worksheet correlates the quality of the pitch names (natural, flat, sharp) from chord to chord. The bold pitches are chord tones, the red pitches are extensions, which function as color notes--specifically the 9th of the minor seventh chord and the sharp-11 of the major seventh chord. You can play the pitches straight across one whole note per bar, ideally targeting a chord tone or an extension. The non-chord tones are usually not 'landmarks'. They can be used, but at longer durations become chord extensions, and probably should be used as passing tones only. That's why jazz sounds the way it does: any pitches outside the triad will thicken the sound vertically.

Single-Note Approach

Lists common tones in each of the chord pairs. For example in the first pair, the pitch F occurs in both, and you could hold that note across the entire four bars. Like the chord pairs themselves, the common tones modulate up a perfect 4th: In the second pair, Bb is the common tone. This approach can be used as an economy of means in a melody or solo. You don't even have to play the scale. The color notes for the minor-7 chords are in column C, and the color note (the #11) is in column D. Again, it is a simple symmetrical approach, with the melody consisting of whole notes a major third or minor sixth apart.

Common Tones

Lists the two common tones in the pair. As a guitarist or bassist, you could play these as double stops.