Squeak
Verified buyer
11/08/25
Very happy with it. Robbie is a very talented teacher and guitar picker.
Sweet Notes
The Art and Science of Chord Tone Improvisation for All Styles and Levels
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About this course
How many times have you been blown away by one of your favorite players' solos and then find yourself wondering why you don't have those 'notes' on your own fretboard? Well, of course we have those notes on our guitars -- we just need to learn how to play the right notes, at the right time. Sweet Notes to the rescue!
Most of us have been taught to solo and improvise by learning how to play specific scale patterns over certain chords and progressions. The classic example of this is the minor pentatonic scale, which we are told works beautifully over any I IV V progression. And sure enough, millions of guitar players blow minor pentatonic scales incessantly without worrying about the 'chord changes.' For the most part, those notes do indeed work BUT there's still something missing. Where are those 'sweet notes' that our guitar heroes are playing? Sweet Notes to the rescue!
The next challenge that most of us face is playing over the chord changes and progressions commonly found in rock, jazz, country, R&B, and other popular music. This is usually a big wake-up call reminding us how little we know about harmony and improvisational theory. And to make matters even more daunting, we need to learn how to play over those changes in position rather than moving all of the fretboard chasing those 6th and 5th string rooted scale forms that we tend to be more comfortable with. Sweet Notes to the rescue yet again!
Robbie's developed the Sweet Notes approach that he presents in this series of guitar lessons over many years of study and application on the stage and in the studio. "The essence of the Sweet Notes approach is the chord/scale relationship and knowing which notes to target as resolution points when we are soloing. For example; playing a G major scale (G, A, B, C, D, E and F#) over a G chord is really solid advice but then why do the A, C, E and F# notes sound weak when we end a run on them? Because they are not as strong as the notes that make up the G chord itself (G - B - D), which are the ideal resolution points for lines within an improvisation."
Robbie's definition of a 'sweet note' is a note that is found both in the scale being played, and also in the chord that the scale is being played over (AKA chord tones or arpeggios). Just learning how to identify and target those sweet notes as resolution points, will singularly take your improvisations from B&W to color. But there's so much more to dig in to.
Each "chord tone" has its own character and you will learn how to spice up your improvisations accordingly. You'll also learn how to apply the approach with extended and altered chords, and it's here that you will likely find those "missing" notes on your fretboard. Of equal importance, you'll learn how to apply the Sweet Notes approach in a single position so that you can improvise over any set of changes without having to move all over the fretboard.
You will play your way through Robbie's Sweet Notes curriculum without having to work your way through tedious theory and exercises. In addition to all of the video guitar lessons, Robbie's also prepared 31 practice rhythm tracks, transcriptions and a ton of charts to practice with and use as reference material - an 80-page manual of charts, tabs and notation is included!
The Sweet Notes approach can be applied to all genres of music and is designed to guide, inspire and push your capabilities as a guitarist regardless of your level and playing ability. Put your time in with the course and Sweet Notes will prepare you how to play and improvise over any chord changes, and progression, and across any style of music.
Most of us have been taught to solo and improvise by learning how to play specific scale patterns over certain chords and progressions. The classic example of this is the minor pentatonic scale, which we are told works beautifully over any I IV V progression. And sure enough, millions of guitar players blow minor pentatonic scales incessantly without worrying about the 'chord changes.' For the most part, those notes do indeed work BUT there's still something missing. Where are those 'sweet notes' that our guitar heroes are playing? Sweet Notes to the rescue!
The next challenge that most of us face is playing over the chord changes and progressions commonly found in rock, jazz, country, R&B, and other popular music. This is usually a big wake-up call reminding us how little we know about harmony and improvisational theory. And to make matters even more daunting, we need to learn how to play over those changes in position rather than moving all of the fretboard chasing those 6th and 5th string rooted scale forms that we tend to be more comfortable with. Sweet Notes to the rescue yet again!
"This course is the holy grail for every lead player. If you're wondering why your pentatonic scale just doesn't sound like the pros, and you really want to lock in with every chord in the harmony... this is the course you need. With the Sweet Notes method it doesn’t matter if the harmony is in one key or every chord is from a different key. This is probably the most important fretboard knowledge you can learn for your lead playing. It doesn't matter what style you play. And Robbie Calvo is also a very good instructor. He puts all the information in small pieces so you don't get overwhelmed and he really takes the time to tell you everything there is to know."Nashville session player, singer-songwriter, educator and all around six-string maestro, Robbie Calvo is the musician's musician whose work is described as "flawless and inspired." Robbie has earned the respect of his peers as a "consummate guitarist, with the sensibilities of a producer and composer that only moving beyond one's own technique can allow."
- Teus D., TrueFire Student
Robbie's developed the Sweet Notes approach that he presents in this series of guitar lessons over many years of study and application on the stage and in the studio. "The essence of the Sweet Notes approach is the chord/scale relationship and knowing which notes to target as resolution points when we are soloing. For example; playing a G major scale (G, A, B, C, D, E and F#) over a G chord is really solid advice but then why do the A, C, E and F# notes sound weak when we end a run on them? Because they are not as strong as the notes that make up the G chord itself (G - B - D), which are the ideal resolution points for lines within an improvisation."
Robbie's definition of a 'sweet note' is a note that is found both in the scale being played, and also in the chord that the scale is being played over (AKA chord tones or arpeggios). Just learning how to identify and target those sweet notes as resolution points, will singularly take your improvisations from B&W to color. But there's so much more to dig in to.
Each "chord tone" has its own character and you will learn how to spice up your improvisations accordingly. You'll also learn how to apply the approach with extended and altered chords, and it's here that you will likely find those "missing" notes on your fretboard. Of equal importance, you'll learn how to apply the Sweet Notes approach in a single position so that you can improvise over any set of changes without having to move all over the fretboard.
You will play your way through Robbie's Sweet Notes curriculum without having to work your way through tedious theory and exercises. In addition to all of the video guitar lessons, Robbie's also prepared 31 practice rhythm tracks, transcriptions and a ton of charts to practice with and use as reference material - an 80-page manual of charts, tabs and notation is included!
The Sweet Notes approach can be applied to all genres of music and is designed to guide, inspire and push your capabilities as a guitarist regardless of your level and playing ability. Put your time in with the course and Sweet Notes will prepare you how to play and improvise over any chord changes, and progression, and across any style of music.
What you'll learn
- Apply semitone bends to target chord tones (E to F, A to Bb)
- Apply the sweet notes concept across blues, rock, R&B, country, and jazz
- Understand what 'sweet notes' are (chord tones within scales)
- Learn to identify and target chord tones when soloing
- Understand which notes are 'sweet notes' for resolving phrases
Release date: 07/14/2010 • 4h 25m runtime
Sample lessons
Am7 Dm7 F9 E9
Blues Progression
E9 Chord Tones
Blues Progression
Sweet Notes Review
Blues Progression
G7 Bb7 C7
R&B Progression
What's included
28 lessons • 26 charts • 16 Jam Tracks
Sweet Notes
Welcome to my TrueFire guitar Instructional Data DVD called "Sweet Notes". I have formulated this course from my years of experience as a guitar student and as an instructor and hope that the knowledge that I have gained on the journey so far will impart some gems of wisdom into the development of your playing. You should know that I will always consider myself to be a perpetual student of the guitar and the writing of this course alone has been invaluable to my development as a musician and guitarist. Thank you for helping me improve what I love to do!
This course is applicable to all genres of music and was designed to guide, inspire and stretch the capabilities of the guitarist regardless of playing ability.
The "Sweet Notes" concept in principle is incredibly simple to grasp but will take some time to really master across the whole fretboard. Once you understand and hear the power of approaching guitar improvisation with the Sweet Notes concept you will wonder how you ever got by without it. So without further delay let me explain to you what a "Sweet Notes" is and why you should care!
When we are learning to play lead guitar we are shown scale patterns and told that certain scales work over certain chords and progressions. This is a fabulous starting point but doesn't really define the most important aspect of improvisation and the chord/scale relationship - the resolution points! For example; playing a G major scale over a G chord is really solid advice. This is usually where we are left to our own devices and end up wondering why the A, C, E and F# notes don't sound so good when we end a run on those tones. That should work though, right?! The G chord is made up from notes of the G major scale? Well, yes it is, but if you were told however that you could use the G major scale but the best tones to resolve to, or end your licks and phrases on are the notes found in the G chord, G - B - D. This would eliminate years of searching and wondering why certain information just doesn't add up and why other guitarists that you admire seem to have notes on their guitars that just don't exist on yours! They exist and I am going to show you some incredible concepts that may just blow your mind!
So, my definition of a "Sweet Notes" is a note that is found in the scale being played and also in the chord that the scale is being played over. The ultimate definition then of a "Sweet Notes" is a 'Chord Tone' (a note that is in the chord).
So, the scale tones A - C - E - F# that we mentioned earlier from the G major scale could be considered stepping stones that add flavor to a journey. The chord tones G - B - D could be considered as 'Home' and great resting places at the end of a journey.
I can almost guarantee that when you 'hear' the "Sweet Notes" approach you will love how it sounds. New options will be opened up to you from scales you already know and you'll be shocked at why it hadn't been explained to you before. You will need to put some work into this and possibly break some habits but with some focused energy and some guidance from me, your playing will advance exponentially.
Let's begin with a slow minor blues in A to practically reinforce the "Sweet Notes" concept.
This course is applicable to all genres of music and was designed to guide, inspire and stretch the capabilities of the guitarist regardless of playing ability.
The "Sweet Notes" concept in principle is incredibly simple to grasp but will take some time to really master across the whole fretboard. Once you understand and hear the power of approaching guitar improvisation with the Sweet Notes concept you will wonder how you ever got by without it. So without further delay let me explain to you what a "Sweet Notes" is and why you should care!
When we are learning to play lead guitar we are shown scale patterns and told that certain scales work over certain chords and progressions. This is a fabulous starting point but doesn't really define the most important aspect of improvisation and the chord/scale relationship - the resolution points! For example; playing a G major scale over a G chord is really solid advice. This is usually where we are left to our own devices and end up wondering why the A, C, E and F# notes don't sound so good when we end a run on those tones. That should work though, right?! The G chord is made up from notes of the G major scale? Well, yes it is, but if you were told however that you could use the G major scale but the best tones to resolve to, or end your licks and phrases on are the notes found in the G chord, G - B - D. This would eliminate years of searching and wondering why certain information just doesn't add up and why other guitarists that you admire seem to have notes on their guitars that just don't exist on yours! They exist and I am going to show you some incredible concepts that may just blow your mind!
So, my definition of a "Sweet Notes" is a note that is found in the scale being played and also in the chord that the scale is being played over. The ultimate definition then of a "Sweet Notes" is a 'Chord Tone' (a note that is in the chord).
So, the scale tones A - C - E - F# that we mentioned earlier from the G major scale could be considered stepping stones that add flavor to a journey. The chord tones G - B - D could be considered as 'Home' and great resting places at the end of a journey.
I can almost guarantee that when you 'hear' the "Sweet Notes" approach you will love how it sounds. New options will be opened up to you from scales you already know and you'll be shocked at why it hadn't been explained to you before. You will need to put some work into this and possibly break some habits but with some focused energy and some guidance from me, your playing will advance exponentially.
Let's begin with a slow minor blues in A to practically reinforce the "Sweet Notes" concept.
Additional Assets
Use the CHART button to view and download the entire 89-page Sweet Notes manual of charts, tabs and notation. Use the JAM button to download 31 MP3 Practice Rhythm Tracks.
Am7 Dm7 F9 E9
The demo you just heard consisted of me using the A minor pentatonic scale over all of the chords but targeting the chord tones in each of the chords and not just randomly playing phrases. I also added in some chord tones from chord arpeggios that are not in the scale to outline the harmony and I will be showing you this in detail too. Hang in there it's pretty simple really!Play the Am 7 chord in 5th position and name the notes that make up the chord A C E G. Now play the A minor pentatonic scale shape in 5th position and name the notes. A - C - D - E - G. Notice that the scale shape outlines the chord shape and that four of the five notes are in the chord. These are your "Sweet Notes". Lick 1 resolves to A, the root note, Lick 2 resolves to C the minor 3rd, Lick 3 resolves to E the 5th and Lick 4 resolves to G, the b7. Let's try resolving to D, the non -chord tone. Do you hear that it is unsettled or unresolved sounding? That's because it's not a "Sweet Notes".Let's learn and play an Am 7 arpeggio shape in 5th position. The definition of an arpeggio is 'a chord broken into its individual tones'. The arpeggio shape only contains the four notes in our Am 7 chord therefore we don't need to worry about resolving to a bad tone like the D if we want to just use this approach. Are you digging it so far?
D minor 7th Chord Tones
Play the Dm 7 chord shape at the 5th fret and name the notes in the chord D F A C. Now superimpose the A minor pentatonic scale over the Dm 7 chord and name the notes in the scale. We can see that A minor pentatonic has three of the four chord tones of Dm 7. The "Sweet Notes" are D A and C. So when you improvise over this chord using this scale you should try to target those notes when you resolve your phrases.Lick 1: Notice that the notes that have the longest value are all "Sweet Notes". We start on D the root, then C the b7th, A is next and ties across the bar line and the lick finally resolves to D. Play this lick again and resolve to the C on the 3rd string.
D minor 7th Arpeggio
Let's learn and play a Dm 7 arpeggio in 5th position. As we play through the arpeggio shape, name the notes D - F - A - C. We now have four chord tones to use as resolutions instead of the three we found in the A minor pentatonic. We can still use the A minor pentatonic scale shape but we can add in the F tone from the chord arpeggio too. This will really define the chord and the value of this can be realized fully when a solo begins and there isn't an instrument playing chords underneath the solo. Lick 2: A Dm 7 arpeggio lick resolving to the D (root). Play this lick again and resolve to the F. (b3)
F9 Chord Tones
Play the F9 chord shape and name the notes in the chord F A C Eb G. Now superimpose the A minor pentatonic scale shape over the F9 chord and name the notes. We can see that the scale has three of the chord tones A C and G. Target these "Sweet Notes" when using A minor pentatonic over an F9 chord. Lick 1 I borrowed the b5 (Eb) from the A blues scale to hit the b7 of the F9 chord and then resolved the lick to the 9th (G). The E natural from the A minor pentatonic scale sounds tense over the F9 due to the fact that it is a major 7th over a chord with a b7th. Be careful not to resolve here on the F9 chord! Lick 2 This sassy little lick resolves nicely to the 5th (C) of F9. Be careful not to over bend the semitone bend at the beginning of this phrase. Bending flat is usually better than bending sharp when playing blues.Lick 3 A minor pentatonic lick resolving to A, the major 3rd of F9.Play the F9 arpeggio shape starting at F, the root note and name the notes in the arpeggio. F-G-A-C-Eb. These are all really strong resolutions over the F9 chord and make for some tasty licks.Lick 1 This is a 16th note descending F9 arpeggio lick with some chromatic passing tones added for flavor before resolving to the b7 (Eb). The chromatic phrase is from the F - E - Eb.Lick 2 This is an F9 arpeggio lick that culminates with a semi-tone bend to the Eb (b7). I have chosen to resolve to the b7 as it is a little more unusual to resolve here but sounds fabulous all the same!
E9 Chord Tones
Play an E9 chord shape at the 5th fret and name the notes in the chord E G# B D F#.Superimpose the A minor pentatonic scale over the chord and name the notes. We can see that the scale has only two of the chord tones, E and D. These are the "Sweet Notes" to aim for when resolving phrases from A minor pentatonic over an E9 chord.Lick 1 Try not to rush the triplet figure after playing the 16th note phrase. The lick culminates with a whole tone bend from D up to E. Lick 2 This lick really reinforces the chord tone resolution of the E and D notes. I added the Eb chromatic passing tone just for flavor.You are probably beginning to realize now why I am teaching you chord arpeggios. Scales we have been taught to use in our everyday practical guitar playing sometimes have limited resolution points and "Sweet Notes". Learning and using chord arpeggios to improvise with gives us more choices for stronger resolutions and the ability to outline the harmonic structure regardless of a harmonic instrument in the musical arrangement. Let's learn the E9 arpeggio at the 5th fret and create some licks to use.Lick 1 A simple one bar E9 arpeggio phrase that begins and resolves to the F# which is the 9th in the E9 chord.Lick 2 This is an E9 arpeggio phrase that resolves to the G# which is the major 3rd. Play this phrase again but this time resolve to the B (5th) on the 3rd string, and one final time resolving to the root (E) on the 5th fret 2nd string.
+ 21 more lessons
Reviews
23 results
Addahia
Verified buyer
12/07/24
Practice the target
Robbie is an amazing teacher and player. The course is older than most of his course i ve done so far, and the structure of this one is a bit over the place to my liking. In each lesson he will eplain concepts, then play a jam to a target sweet note for a couple of bars, then is your turn and so one. Each lesson covers a couple of target notes related to a chord of a scale.
jkeith
06/23/22
It’s all about improvisational resolution points.
This was one of the first courses that I purchased from TrueFire. The G7 Bb7 C7 R&B Progression lesson had me hooked. The course combines a great set of licks with useful theoretical explanations that focus on resolution points. Robbie Calvo is a seasoned music educator whose teaching is clear, thorough and immediately useful.
shoebox5t5
Verified buyer
08/15/21
Right On Target
Exactly what I needed to get my improv melodies working better. The 'basics' are covered, and much more. One of the best courses I've worked with.
taylorts
Verified buyer
04/14/21
Sweet Notes by Robbie Calvo
I am thoroughly pleased with Robbie Calvo’s ‘Sweet Notes’ course. I now understand the techniques to finding the best notes to land on against the backing track chord structure instead of relying solely on the pentatonic scale for the appropriate key. This course is going to help me form solos that express feelings that are musically meaningful and sound great.
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