BookatlasPiano Rabbit Hole: Improvisation Theory & Practice
8320 / 18210 · Workshop 66 — Melodic Development Through Guide Tones: Making 3rds and 7ths Sing, Connecting Chords Horizontally, and Building Lines That Explain the Harmony← prev⊞ allnext →

66.89Mini-composition exercise

Write 24 bars where the main melodic material is derived from guide tones.

Requirements:

  • one ii–V–I
  • one I–VI7–ii–V
  • one dominant chain
  • one minor iiø–V–i
  • one tritone substitution
  • one backdoor cadence
  • one borrowed IV→iv→I
  • one chromatic approach to a guide tone
  • one outside phrase that lands on a guide tone
  • one passage where roots are omitted entirely
  • two independent guide-tone lines at the climax

The piece should remain harmonically understandable even if the bass is removed for several bars.