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 When constructing melodies over chord progressions, the chord tones, that is, the arpeggio notes, must be stressed. This can be done by playing chord tones on strong beats (generally 1 & 3) &/or stressing chord tones dynamically, i.e. louder. Of the 4 chord tones in a 7th chord, the 3rd is the most important by far (see sidebar). I think about chord tones, especially 3rds, as "target notes" - notes I want to aim for and hit by playing them on the strong beats, or stressing them dynamically.


Here's an example of a phrase on a single Dmi7 chord. I basically think about this as a Minor Pentatonic with a bunch of passing tones thrown in. But notice how the strong beats (beats 1 and 3) of every bar is a chord tone - root, 3rd, 5th, or 7th. The Dmi7 chord has been completely stated by the end of the phrase.


If you were to visualize the first 8 bars of Autumn Leaves using root position chords only, the 3rd of the 5th string rooted chords would be on the 2nd string and the 3rd of the 6th string rooted chords would be on the third string.

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Notice the 7th of the chord is directly under the 3rd of the chord.

1) Play through this progression using the full root-position chords.
2) Then play through it using only 3rds and 7ths.
3) Then play the 3rds and 7ths linearly (one-at-a-time).

You should be able to still "hear" the progression even though
roots and 5ths are omitted.


So...if you construct melodic lines that emphasize the 3rds and 7ths, you will be able to hear the chord changes in your line even with no chords being played.


Here's an example on the first 8 bars of Autumn Leaves. I'm using the 3rds of the above chord shapes as "targets" as it were, playing them on the first beat of each bar. Bars 5 and 6 are anticipated, that is, the target note (the 3rd of the chord) is played a half-beat before the chord begins. When you listen to the clip, notice that even though many times I don't play the 7th on a downbeat, I still stress it dynamically - especially if it's at the top of the contour of the phrase. A good  example of that would be the fourth note of the 3rd bar. 

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