Six loops that go nowhere on purpose. Each one gets its chord voicings, a full-neck map of the scale with every note labelled by function, and separate notes on what to play over it and how to comp it. Hit Loop it and the chords sound as a slow pad with long tails — plug in and play along.
RootThe colour note — aim hereRest of the scale
Sounding—
Every vamp also ships as a four-track MIDI file at 68 bpm for Cubase — pad, bass pedal, a dotted-eighth arp that deliberately phases against the bar, and the colour tone on its own mutable track. See README-cubase.md in the midi folder.
1
Wide Open
Two chords a tone apart, neither of them going anywhere
The chords · Dmaj9 → E/D
Dmaj9 E/D
e| 0 4
B| 5 5
G| 6 4
D| 4 x
A| 5 5
E| x x
D Lydian
MIDI · s19-01-wide-open.mid — four tracks at 68 bpm: pad, bass pedal, dotted-eighth arp that phases against the bar, and the colour tone as a mutable guide.
Melody
The whole vamp exists for one note: G sharp, the #11. Land on it, hold it, let the delay carry it. It is the only thing separating this from an ordinary D major jam.
B is the 13 and the safest beautiful note. Start phrases there when you want to say something without committing.
Never play G natural. Not as a passing note, not by accident. It kills Lydian instantly.
Stay above the twelfth fret for most of it. Lydian sounds thin down low and enormous up high.
Comping
Both chords leave the top E string open. Never mute it — it is the drone holding the two chords together.
Let the E/D ring into the Dmaj9 rather than switching cleanly. Overlap is the sound.
Change on the third beat instead of the first every other time round. Nothing about this vamp should feel measured.
Volume knob swells on the entries. Pick the chord with the volume off, then bring it in.
2
Pedal
One bass note, three chords floating over it
The chords · Asus2 → G/A → D/A → Asus2
Asus2 G/A D/A
e| 0 3 2
B| 0 3 3
G| 2 4 2
D| 2 0 0
A| 0 0 0
E| x x x
A Mixolydian
MIDI · s19-02-pedal.mid — four tracks at 68 bpm: pad, bass pedal, dotted-eighth arp that phases against the bar, and the colour tone as a mutable guide.
Melody
G natural and C sharp in the same phrase — the b7 against the 3. That rub is Mixolydian and it is the entire flavour.
Over the G/A the C sharp becomes an outsider. Lean into that discomfort for a beat, then resolve down to B.
Over the D/A, F sharp stops being the 13 and becomes a home note. Land there.
The open A and E strings are in every chord. Use them as part of your lines, not just the chords.
Comping
All three shapes keep the fifth string open. The A never moves and neither should your thumb.
Only two fingers actually move between these chords. Find the minimum motion and the vamp plays itself.
Try strumming nothing for a whole cycle and just letting the previous chord decay. Space is a chord.
If you want it bigger, arpeggiate low to high across four beats rather than strumming.
3
Cold Light
Quartal minor, no thirds in the voicings, nowhere warm to sit
The chords · C#m11 → Amaj7 → Bsus2 → C#m11
C#m11 Amaj7 Bsus2
e| 4 4 2
B| 5 5 2
G| 4 6 4
D| 4 6 4
A| 4 0 2
E| x x x
C# Aeolian
MIDI · s19-03-cold-light.mid — four tracks at 68 bpm: pad, bass pedal, dotted-eighth arp that phases against the bar, and the colour tone as a mutable guide.
Melody
E is the b3 and the note that tells you it is minor. Use it sparingly — the voicings deliberately do not contain it.
A is the b13, the darkest note available. Over the Amaj7 that same A becomes the root and the sadness evaporates. Track it across the change.
The C#m11 is stacked fourths. Playing fourths in your line rather than thirds keeps you in the same world.
Long notes only. This vamp does not want sixteenths.
Comping
Barre at the fourth fret and one finger at the fifth — the C#m11 is nearly a single shape. Learn it as one grip.
Amaj7 and Bsus2 both keep the top two strings high and open-sounding. Voice-lead the top note only: G# to G# to F#.
Two bars each, minimum. Four is better. Let each chord fully decay before the next.
Chords on the wet amp with the BigSky wide, melody on the dry Badger. That separation is what makes this arrangement work.
4
Slow Orbit
Dorian pedal, deliberately ambiguous about whether it is minor at all
The chords · Gm11 → C/G → Gm11 → Bb/G
Gm11 C/G Bb/G
e| 5 0 x
B| 6 1 3
G| 5 0 3
D| 5 2 3
A| 5 3 x
E| x 3 3
G Dorian
MIDI · s19-04-slow-orbit.mid — four tracks at 68 bpm: pad, bass pedal, dotted-eighth arp that phases against the bar, and the colour tone as a mutable guide.
Melody
E natural is the 13 and the note that makes this Dorian rather than natural minor. It is also the note that stops the vamp sounding sad.
G minor pentatonic works over all of it, but it is boring here. Add the E and it comes alive; add the A as well and you have the whole mode.
Try an F major triad over the Gm11 — F, A, C gives you b7, 9 and 11 in one familiar shape. That is the Dorian sound in three notes.
Over the C/G the E is a chord tone. Over the Bb/G it is an outsider. Same note, two different temperatures.
Comping
The Gm11 is stacked fourths at the fifth fret — barre with one finger, sixth fret on the B string with the next.
The Bb/G contains no B natural and no E, so it is deliberately unresolved. Don't try to fix it.
Keep the low G under everything if you can, even through the C. That pedal is what makes three unrelated chords sound like one place.
Comp on strings 3, 4 and 5 only and leave 1 and 2 alone. The melody needs that register more than the chords do.
5
Half Light
One shape, moved one fret. No key, no home, no resolution
The chords · Fmaj7#11 → Emaj7#11
Fmaj7#11 Emaj7#11
e| 5 4
B| 5 4
G| 4 3
D| 3 2
A| x x
E| x x
F Lydian
E Lydian
MIDI · s19-05-half-light.mid — four tracks at 68 bpm: pad, bass pedal, dotted-eighth arp that phases against the bar, and the colour tone as a mutable guide.
Melody
Do not try to find a scale that covers both chords. There isn't one. Play F Lydian, then move the same phrase down a semitone.
That is the whole technique: a three or four note fragment, played twice, a fret apart. Your ear hears it as a modulation rather than a mistake.
Both chords have their #11 in them — B over the F, A# over the E. Target that note in both and the movement sounds intentional.
Slides between the two positions rather than lifting. The semitone shift should be audible as motion, not as two separate events.
Comping
One shape: root, #11, 7, 3 on strings four to one. Fmaj7#11 at 3-4-5-5, Emaj7#11 at 2-3-4-4.
Slide the whole grip down one fret and back. That is the entire comp part.
Four bars each at minimum. The slower you move, the less it sounds like a gimmick.
This is the one that wants the most reverb. Shimmer if you have it.
6
The Long Fall
A slow descent where one melody note fits everything
The chords · Am9 → Gmaj7 → Fmaj7#11 → Em11
Am9 Gmaj7 Fmaj7#11 Em11
e| 0 x 0 0
B| 0 3 0 3
G| 5 4 2 0
D| 5 4 3 0
A| 0 x x 0
E| x 3 x 0
A Aeolian
MIDI · s19-06-long-fall.mid — four tracks at 68 bpm: pad, bass pedal, dotted-eighth arp that phases against the bar, and the colour tone as a mutable guide.
Melody
Play one note. E. Hold it through all four chords. It is the 5th of Am9, the 13 of Gmaj7, the 7 of Fmaj7#11 and the root of Em11. Four meanings, no movement.
Once you have heard that, add a second note and do the same thing. B works over three of the four.
The descent does the emotional work. Your job is to stay still while the ground moves.
The F sharp inside the Gmaj7 is the only note in the whole progression that is not in A minor. That single borrowed note is what stops this sounding like every other descending vamp.
Save any actual movement for the Em11 at the end — it is the only chord that feels like an arrival.
Comping
Three of these four leave the top two strings open. The B and E ringing through the whole descent is the glue.
Only the bass note really moves: A, G, F, E. Play it as a bass line and let the top look after itself.
One bar each, or two if you want it to ache. Do not rush the Fmaj7#11 — the B natural inside it is the best moment in the progression.
Try it with only the bass note and the top two open strings. Almost nothing, and it still says all of it.
How to make any of these sound spacey
Play a third as much
Spacey is not a sound, it is a rate. The reverb does nothing if you keep filling the gaps. Count four beats of silence and mean it.
Land on the colour, not the root
The rust-coloured degrees on each map are the ones the vamp exists for. End phrases there and let them hang. Roots are for the bass.
Volume knob, not the pick
Pick with the guitar volume at zero and swell in. Removes the attack transient entirely, which is most of what makes a note sound like a guitar.
Chords wet, melody dry
Your rig already does this. Voicings through the Mesa with the BigSky wide, single-note lines through the Badger. The separation is the arrangement.
Move one voice
Between any two chords here, find the smallest change and play only that. Whole-chord jumps sound like changes; single-voice moves sound like weather.
Break the bar line
Change on beat three, or on the second half of four, or a beat late. Nothing on this page should sound counted.