Originally, I thought I could keep up with my Exercise of the Week lesson, but I just don't have the time to be doing that on a weekly basis. So here is a toned down version - the Exercise of the Month. You can expect to see quite a wide variety of exercises here that will help you in many areas of your playing.

One of the most common progressions in rock/jazz/pop is the so-called I VI II V. In Bb Major, for instance, the chords Bbmaj7 Gm7 Cm7 Fmaj7 make up a I VI II V progression (you could also play the progression with triad chords or with a mixture of triad and 7th chords, etc). Now let's look at the relative minor in Bb. Recalling the diatonic scales lesson, you should recall that the 6th note (mode) of a major scale corresponds to the relative minor. In Bb, that gives us G. So we could create a I VI II V progression with a minor flavor, by thinking of the G as the I chord. One resulting chord progression would be Gm Ebmaj7 Am7b5 Dm7. But let's not stop there - let's give it an even more interesting sound by playing the harmonic minor equivalent. All we do is replace the Dm7 with a D7b9. In a later lesson I will cover the fundamentals of harmony, but for now just trust me that this is a I VI II V progression in harmonic minor.

The harmonic minor has a tainted reputation thanks to Yngwie Malmsteen and his endless cadre of copycats. You may have heard the word "Neoclassical" used to describe these players. While these players rely heavily on the harmonic minor scale, they only brush upon its potential. To truly appreciate the potential of harmonic minor, listen to some jazz and flamenco. I think you will find that the musical expression afforded by harmonic minor and its modes is endless. And you can certainly use harmonic minor without sounding neoclassical...

This chord progression (and many others) has a certain quality that I think lends itself to improv. With that said, this exercise multi-faceted. On the one hand, it is introducing you to some chords that may not be part of your chord vocab. Secondly, it gives you an appreciation for the harmonic minor, and lastly, it aims to improve your improv skills.

Here are the 4 chords that make up the progression. When I play the progression, I tend to embellish some of the chords by adding notes. For instance, with the EbMaj7, try adding a C on the high E-string, and with the D7b9, add an A on the high E-string.

The tab shows a basic quarter note strumming pattern to use for this progression. As you get comfortable, try making it more complex rhythmically. After you the nail the progression, record yourself and improvise over the chords. When listening to the audio file, you will notice that I play the chord progression first with no lead, and then at the second repeat I play some improvised lines using G harmonic minor and its modes. Have fun with this one, and I hope it opens new doors for you as I did for me not too long ago!