---
date: 2026-04-25
---

# Jam over Am7 groove

:::{video} https://f.aydos.de/videos/2026-04-24_jam-over-am7-groove.webm
:::

Recently I bought [Creative Arpeggio Phrasing for Guitar by Greg Howe](https://www.fundamental-changes.com/book/creative-arpeggio-phrasing-for-guitar/) and tried some of the arpeggios in the book over a simple Am7 backing track.

Backing track by [Guitar Improvisation](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZ8JLCpGADs) (Creative Commons license).

## Recording details

The guitar effects are applied using [Ardour](https://ardour.org/). [This video by SudoMetalStudio](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m4lIoqpNGek&t=48s) helped me to set up a nice distorted effect chain. I had many difficulties during the setup and sometimes it was just a single switch that was the reason for the muted sound.

My guitar is connected to an older generation of [Focusrite Scarlett Solo](https://eu.focusrite.com/products/scarlett-solo), whose signal is processed by Ardour. Ardour can record sound but not video; it allows aligning video with sound later. I used OBS Studio for recording the video and used [AV1 codec](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AV1) to minimize the video size. 

Here is the script I use for AV1 encoding with FFmpeg:

```sh
[[ ! $# -eq 1 ]] && echo Usage: $0 VIDEO_FILE.ext  && exit
OUT=$(echo ${1%.*}.webm)
echo Input: $1
echo Output: $OUT
echo
VIDEO_CODEC=libaom-av1
AUDIO_CODEC=libopus
ffmpeg -i "$1" -c:v $VIDEO_CODEC -c:a $AUDIO_CODEC "$OUT"
```