Derivative thinking

[Terje]

Let's say you're improvising over a G7 chord. You could be thinking of the G Mixolydian scale, and the G7 arpeggio. If you wanted to add color to the chord you could use notes from the scale or add notes to the arpeggio.

 

You could achieve this by thinking of the D Dorian scale or the Dm7 arpeggio instead. The point being that instead of being centered around G you'd be centering around D which will often sound more interesting.

[Redsweater]

That or you could play whatever sounds good

[Terje]

Originally posted by Redsweater That or you could play whatever sounds good

There's really no conflict. The suggested superimpositions do sound good.