1-6 · Improvisation: E7 Vamp with the Minor Stack

Make your first real improvisation. Over the included E7 backing loop, you'll see where each E7 chord tone sits inside the stack, how consonance and dissonance give a phrase its shape, and the classic blues move on the minor third — then practice targeting specific notes so you can reliably land somewhere that sounds good. This is the payoff the whole module has been building toward.

The first improvisation exercise is to use the minor pentatonic stack shape to play over a dominant seventh vamp. Don’t worry if you don’t know exactly what that means yet. The details will come later.

There are four notes in an E7 chord: E (root), G# (third), B (fifth), and D (flat seventh). It’s worth memorizing where the four notes of a dominant seventh chord fall relative to the minor pentatonic stack. Note that these notes always fall in the same locations in the stack, so you can use them across the entire fretboard.

The root, fifth, and flat 7th are all part of the pentatonic scale, so they all sound consonant, meaning they fit well with the chord. The root (the red circle) and the fifth (the blue square) fit exceptionally well, so they are great places to end a phrase when you want it to feel like you’re making a statement. Ending a phrase on one of the other notes can sound more like a question.

The other notes in the stack (the ones in black) are best used as passing notes. If you emphasize them too much, they may clash with the backing track.

It is worth noting that you can bend the upper note on the upper string up a whole step (the equivalent of two frets) to reach another fifth one octave above the one in the stack. This bend sounds great and is widely used.

It’s also very common to give the lower note on the upper string a small bend into the grey area between its normal pitch and the note one fret higher. When you play this bend, make sure you choke off or mute the note before releasing your bend. Ideally, you will hear the pitch rise but not fall.

Exercise 1: In one stack position, over the E7 vamp backing track, practice creating phrases that end on the root.

Exercise 2: In one stack position, over the E7 vamp, practice creating phrases that end on the minor third (the lower note on the upper string). Practice giving this note a slight bend when you land on it, or hammer-on to the note one fret higher.

Exercise 3: In one stack position, over the E7 vamp, practice creating different phrases that target each of the chord tones.

Practice these exercises in different stack locations, ensuring that you get used to playing phrases and targeting notes when the stack lies across the warp.