Blue Skies Solo Composition · Marc's Jazz Guitar Academy

Blue Skies Solo Composition

In support of a micro goal to play Blue Skies live this Sunday, I decided to compose my own solo. This is the first solo composition I have put together. The idea was inspired by the weekly Q&A group talking about 3rds and playing the changes. It was also inspired by Etude 4.7 which is about targeting 3rds.

I had the melody and comping down for this tune but didn't have a great solution for improvising over the tune. Additionally, I wanted to improve my understanding of "landing on 3rds" which I have been struggling with.

I have attached the chart and a track with the composition playing with iReal. The ideas I went into the exercise with were:

-Landing on 3rds

-Quoting the melody

-Emphasizing Bm Aeolian "D" Position

What I found was:

-I didn't use the 3rds at every change

-I used a lot of triplets

-It was fun

-The ideas seem to transfer to practical application a bit easier.

-It's kind of like learning a new language through writing and talking.

What I'm thinking now:

-Add more melody incorporation