Approach notes and enclosures
Decorate chord tones with chromatic approaches from below, diatonic approaches from above, double chromatic approaches and enclosures, then apply them to arpeggios and a ii–V–I so your chord-tone lines start to sound like jazz.
Why the wrong notes make the right notes sound better
Everything you have played in this module so far has been a chord tone. That is the right foundation, and it is also why your lines still sound a little like exercises. Jazz melody gets its forward motion from tension and release: a note that does not belong to the chord, placed on a weak part of the beat, pulling into a chord tone on a strong part of the beat. The non-chord note is called an approach note; the chord tone it pulls into is the target.
This lesson teaches the four approach devices every jazz guitarist uses: the chromatic approach from below, the diatonic approach from above, the double chromatic approach, and the enclosure, which surrounds a target from both sides. The rules are small and precise. The target is always a chord tone, usually the 3rd, 5th or 7th from the arpeggio shapes. The approach notes always resolve by step, and they always land on a weaker beat than the target. Keep those two rules and the approach notes never sound like mistakes; break them and they always do.
All of the examples sit in position II (frets 1 to 5) over the ii–V–I in C so that you can compare the devices directly. The chord tones are the ones in this table; every other note in the examples is an approach note, and the block options name each one explicitly.
| Symbol | Name | Formula | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dm7 | minor seventh | 1 b3 5 b7 | D F A C |
| G7 | dominant seventh | 1 3 5 b7 | G B D F |
| Cmaj7 | major seventh | 1 3 5 7 | C E G B |
Device 1: chromatic approach from below
Play the note one fret below the target, on the "and", then the target on the beat. It is the single most common sound in bebop, and it works on every chord tone of every chord quality because a half step below anything resolves upward convincingly.
In the line below the approach notes are: E (below F, the 3rd of Dm7), G# (below A, the 5th of Dm7), Bb (below B, the 3rd of G7, arriving across the bar line), C# (below D, the 5th of G7), Eb (below E, the 3rd of Cmaj7) and F# (below G, the 5th of Cmaj7). Every one of them is on an offbeat eighth; every target is on a beat.
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:8 r 2.4{ch "Dm7"} 3.4 1.3 2.3 5.3 3.2 1.5 | 4.3{ch "G7"} 4.5 5.5 3.4 5.4 3.4 5.5 1.4 | 2.4{ch "Cmaj7"} 5.3 4.4 5.4 4.3 5.3 4.3 5.4 | 3.5.2 r.2 |Two things to notice. First, the approach to the 3rd of G7 happens on the "and of 4" of the Dm7 bar, so the new chord is announced the instant it arrives; this is the targeting idea from the chord-tone lesson with a chromatic note as the path. Second, the approach note to the 3rd of Cmaj7 is Eb, which is the 7th of... nothing in this key. It is simply the note a fret below E. Do not look for a theoretical justification for chromatic approach notes; their justification is where they are going.
How to practise it: take the root-5 Dm7 arpeggio shape and play every chord tone preceded by the fret below it. Then do the same for the G7 and Cmaj7 shapes in the same position. Then improvise one bar on each chord in which at least one chord tone is approached chromatically from below.
Device 2: diatonic approach from above
Approaching from above usually uses the scale step above the target rather than the fret above, because in most keys the note a whole step above a chord tone is the diatonic one and the half step above would be chromatic. In C major the diatonic upper neighbours of the chord tones are easy: the note above F is G, above A is B, above D is E, above B is C, above E is F, above G is A.
In the line below the diatonic approach notes are: G (above F) and E (above D) on Dm7; A (above G) and E (above D) on G7; A (above G) and D (above C) on Cmaj7. There are also two approaches made with chord tones (C above B into G7, and F above E into Cmaj7, both guide-tone moves from the guide-tone lesson); those need no exemption because they are chord tones of the chord they sit in.
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:8 r 5.4{ch "Dm7"} 3.4 2.3 3.2 5.2 3.2 5.3 | 4.3{ch "G7"} 2.3 5.4 3.4 5.5 2.4 5.5 3.4 | 2.4{ch "Cmaj7"} 2.3 5.4 5.3 4.3 3.2 5.3 4.3 | 3.5.2 r.2 |Approaches from above sound gentler than approaches from below, more like a scale than a slide. Mixing the two is what gives a line variety. The bebop habit, which you will meet properly in Module 10, is diatonic from above, chromatic from below: that way the half-step pull always comes from underneath.
A chromatic note below a chord tone is a leading tone: the same pull that makes the 7th of a major scale want to rise to the tonic. A chromatic note above a chord tone is a different sound, the b9 or b13 colour, which is strong on a dominant chord and harsh on a major 7. Using the scale step above keeps that colour out of the way until you want it. On the G7 in the examples, the half step above B is C and the half step above D is Eb; both are usable, and the second one is a b13 sound you will add deliberately in Module 10.
Device 3: double chromatic approach
Two chromatic notes in a row from below: a whole step below the target, then a half step, then the target. It takes two eighths, so the target lands on the beat after the one the approach began on. The line below approaches the 5th of Dm7 (D) through C and C#, the 3rd of G7 (B) through A and Bb, the root of G7 (G) through F and F#, the 3rd of Cmaj7 (E) through D and Eb, and the root of Cmaj7 (C) through Bb and B. The exemptions in the block are C#, Bb, F# and Eb; the other approach notes (C, A, F, D, B) are chord tones of the chord they fall under, so they need none.
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\ts 4 4
:8 3.4{ch "Dm7"} 2.3 1.2 2.2 3.2 1.1 2.3 3.3 | 4.3{ch "G7"} 5.4 3.4 4.4 5.4 4.3 3.2 4.2 | 5.2{ch "Cmaj7"} 5.3 3.3 4.3 5.3 5.2 5.4 4.3 | 3.5.2 r.2 |The double chromatic approach is heavier than the single one; use it once or twice a chorus, not on every chord tone, and prefer it into the 3rd or the root of a new chord, where the extra tension has somewhere to go.
Device 4: enclosures
An enclosure surrounds the target: one note above, one note below, then the target. The standard form is diatonic step above, chromatic half step below, and it takes two eighths before the target. In the line below the enclosures are: B and G# around A (the 5th of Dm7); C and Bb around B (the 3rd of G7, across the bar line); F and Eb around E (the 3rd of Cmaj7, across the bar line); C and Bb around B (the 7th of Cmaj7); and D and B around the final C. The exempt notes are B and G# on Dm7, Bb on Dm7 and on Cmaj7, Eb on G7, and D on Cmaj7; C, F and B are chord tones where they occur.
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\ts 4 4
:8 3.4{ch "Dm7"} 5.5 4.3 1.3 2.3 3.2 5.3 3.3 | 4.3{ch "G7"} 3.2 1.1 3.2 4.3 5.4 3.4 1.4 | 2.4{ch "Cmaj7"} 5.4 5.3 3.3 4.3 5.4 3.2 4.3 | 3.5.2 r.2 |Enclosures are the sound of bebop more than any other single device, and the ones that cross a bar line into the 3rd of the next chord are the most useful of all. Three habits for practising them:
- Say the target before you play the enclosure. The enclosure is a path; if you do not know where it is going you will land on the wrong note.
- Play the target alone, then with the enclosure. Hear the difference the two extra notes make.
- Apply one enclosure per chord through a progression, always to the 3rd on beat 1, before you try to use them anywhere else.
Applying approach notes to arpeggios
The easiest way to put all this into your hands is to decorate the arpeggio shapes you already know. Here are the Cmaj7 and G7 root-5 and root-6 shapes with every chord tone approached chromatically from below. On Cmaj7 the approach notes are Eb (below E), F# (below G) and Bb (below B); the approach into C is B, a chord tone. On G7 they are F# (below G), Bb (below B), Db (below D) and E (below F).
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:8 2.5{ch "Cmaj7"} 3.5 1.4 2.4 4.4 5.4 3.3 4.3 | 4.2 5.2 2.1 3.1 5.2 5.3 4.3 5.4 | 3.5.2 r.2 |
:8 2.6{ch "G7"} 3.6 1.5 2.5 4.5 5.5 2.4 3.4 | 4.4 5.4 3.3 4.3 2.2 3.2 0.1 1.1 | 3.1.2 r.2 |Do this with all ten shapes from the arpeggio lesson, ascending and descending (descending, the approach note still comes from below: play the chord tone's lower neighbour and then the chord tone, moving down the shape). Then do the same with diatonic upper neighbours, and finally with enclosures on the 3rd and 7th only. That is a fortnight of work and it will change the way your lines sound.
The classic shapes in a line
Here is a ii–V–I in F that uses the devices the way players actually mix them. Bar 1 approaches the 5th of Gm7 (D) diatonically from above with Eb, then encloses the 3rd of C7 (E) with F above and Eb below across the bar line. Bar 2 ends with a double chromatic approach into the 3rd of Fmaj7 (A) through G and G#. Bar 3 encloses the final F with G above and E below. The exempt notes are Eb, G# and G; everything else is a chord tone of the chord it falls under.
| Symbol | Name | Formula | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gm7 | minor seventh | 1 b3 5 b7 | G Bb D F |
| C7 | dominant seventh | 1 3 5 b7 | C E G Bb |
| Fmaj7 | major seventh | 1 3 5 7 | F A C E |
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\ts 4 4
:8 3.3{ch "Gm7"} 3.2 1.1 4.2 3.2 3.3 3.4 1.4 | 2.4{ch "C7"} 5.4 3.3 5.4 2.4 3.5 5.4 1.3 | 2.3{ch "Fmaj7"} 5.3 5.2 5.3 2.3 3.4 5.4 2.4 | 3.4.2 r.2 |Play this line, then transpose it to C and Bb by moving the shapes, keeping the same devices in the same places. Then write your own line through the ii–V–I in F with exactly these requirements: one chromatic approach from below, one diatonic approach from above, one enclosure of the 3rd across a bar line, and nothing else but chord tones. Check it the way the course checks its examples: every note is either a chord tone or an approach note you can name.
Bebop players do sometimes put approach notes on the beat and chord tones on the "and" to create a different kind of tension. Until the version in this lesson is automatic, do not. If a recording of your playing has non-chord tones on beats 1 and 3 that you did not plan, that is not style, it is the thing this lesson is fixing.
Week 1 (one device per day, repeat the cycle). Day 1 chromatic from below, day 2 diatonic from above, day 3 double chromatic, day 4 enclosures, day 5 approach-note arpeggios, days 6–7 the mixed line in F, C and Bb. Each day: play the example at 90 bpm, then at 110, then improvise one chorus of ii–V–I in C, F and Bb using only that day's device plus chord tones, with the metronome on 2 and 4.
Week 2 (the blues). Take the chord-tone chorus on the F blues from the previous lesson and add one device per chord: an enclosure into the 3rd of Bb7 in bar 2, a chromatic approach into the 3rd of each chord in bars 8 to 12, and anything you like elsewhere. Play it at 120 bpm, then over a backing track at 140. Record a chorus each day and listen for approach notes that landed on strong beats.
Goal. By the end you can approach the 3rd of any chord in a ii–V–I or the F blues by all four devices without stopping to think, and your improvised lines contain at least one approach device per bar.