Look beyond playing the “right” notes.
Theory: Intermediate
Lesson Overview:
• Understand how to phrase “outside” notes.
• Learn how to add tension to speedy passages.
• Strengthen your alternate-picking technique. Click here to download a printable PDF of this lesson's notation.
In my earlier years as a guitarist, I was intimidated by the idea of expanding musical lines with notes that weren’t in the scale that was diatonic to the progression or chord I was playing over. What helped me get pass this fear? Studying how some of my favorite players incorporate non-diatonic notes in a systematic way. In this lesson, I’ll share some of the ideas I discovered. We’ll explore the concept of chromatic playing and see how you can include non-diatonic notes in your phrases. I’ll examine how a couple of my favorite players have used the chromatic concept—Steve Morse (Dixie Dregs and Deep Purple) and Ian Thornley (Big Wreck). I’ll also show you an example of how I incorporated chromatic playing into a solo from one of the songs on my latest album. Okay, let’s get started.
First off, let’s define the term chromatic. A quick internet search gives us this definition: Music relating to or using notes not belonging to the diatonic scale of the key in which a passage is written.
When we think of using notes that are outside of a given key, it’s easy to think they sound wrong or that we’ve made a mistake. Well, that could be the case, but it’s also possible to use those “outside” notes in a musical way. So how do we use chromatic notes musically? One way is to use chromatic notes to “fill in” spaces between the diatonic scale tones.
For instance, if we were playing an A minor pentatonic (A–C–D–E–G) scale, it would be easy to simply fill in the notes between the root (A) and the b3 (C). An important thing to remember: Don’t dwell on the chromatic, or outside, notes. Instead, emphasize the diatonic notes.
You can accomplish this by playing chromatics with shorter note values or just as part of a faster musical line. Aim to land on the diatonic notes on important rhythmic points in your musical lines—possibly on downbeats or even the “and” of a beat when dealing with 16th- or 32nd-note passages.
Using some musical examples, let’s take a look at how the aforementioned players handle this.
First up is the incredible Ian Thornley. We’ll dissect a musical line reminiscent to a phrase from his solo on the Big Wreck song “A Million Days.” In Ex. 1, I simply outline the G# minor pentatonic (G#–B–C#–D#–F#) scale that Ian seems to be using as a foundation for the solo.
Click here for Ex. 1
Ex. 2 illustrates how he fleshes out the musical idea by using many chromatic notes. Ian does two things: He plays the chromatic tones very quickly and doesn’t dwell on any of them. Also, he lands the diatonic notes on the more important beats. Because he’s playing the line using 16th-note sextuplets, those points would be the first and fourth note of each group of six. Only once does he play a chromatic note on an important beat, but he gets away with it because of the sheer speed of the line.
Click here for Ex. 2
Now let’s see how Steve Morse uses similar concepts. I’ve chosen several lines similar to what he plays in “Simple Simon.” In Ex. 3, I simply outline the G minor pentatonic (G–Bb–C–D–F) pattern that underlies the next phrase.
Click here for Ex. 3
Ex. 4 shows how Steve uses the concepts we’ve discussed. One interesting point: Steve adds tension to the first 16th-note line by starting on C# over the C5. This creates a unique sound, and since Steve keeps this line moving until ultimately resolving by landing firmly on G, it works out well. In the faster sextuplet line that closes out the example, Steve passes very quickly through the chromatic notes and lands the diatonic notes on the important beats.
Click here for Ex. 4
The final musical examples are from “Twisted Impression,” a song from my latest album, Brief Eclipse. In Ex. 5 and Ex. 6, I outline the scale fragments of A minor pentatonic and A Dorian (A–B–C–D–E–F#–G) that I use as my foundation scales.
Click here for Ex. 5
Click here for Ex. 6
In Ex. 7, we have an Am–C progression with a long 32nd-note line that uses the same two principles that popped up in Steve and Ian’s lines: chord tones on strong beats and keep it moving!
Click here for Ex. 7
Ex. 8 demonstrates a simple A minor pentatonic shape that’s great to have under your fingers.
Click here for Ex. 8
Finally, Ex. 9 is a pretty twisted line that wraps up everything we’ve talked about in this lesson. Even though we’re hearing a stream of 32nd-notes, our ears latch onto the tones that land on the strong pulses.
Click here for Ex. 9
I hope these examples can help you incorporate chromatic sounds into your soloing and spark some new and inspiring ideas.
Don't be scared of diminished scales.
Advanced
Intermediate
• Understand the mechanics of the half-whole diminished scale.
• Use basic triads to break from the fear of symmetrical sounds.
• Learn how to use bebop phrasing with wide intervallic leaps.
It's nearly impossible to improvise over a tune without hitting a dominant chord. They are ubiquitous in rock, pop, jazz, country, and nearly every other type of Western music. I'm sure you've heard the phrase about how all music is based around tension and release? Well, I want to teach out how to make the tension cooler and the release more musically satisfying.
Instead of walking through basic 7th chord arpeggios, which have their place, I want to investigate the half-whole diminished scale and the four major triads that are inside it. We can all get our head around triads, right? Let's start with a quick review of the half-whole diminished scale.
The half-whole diminished scale is a symmetrical scale created by alternating half- and whole-steps, which creates an eight-note scale. In C this would be C–Db–Eb–F#–G–A–Bb. The other defining factor is that—much like diminished chords—this scale repeats every minor third. In other words, the C, Eb, Gb, and A half-whole diminished scales all contain the exact same notes. Not coincidentally, those four notes also outline the major triads included in the scale.
Because of the symmetrical nature of the scale and the fact that it repeats itself, there are a total of three half-whole diminished scales: C (which is the same as Eb, Gb, and A), Db (which is the same as E, G, and Bb) and D (which is the same as F, Ab, and B). In essence, once you've learned all three scales and have gained a strong sense of how this scale sounds, you will able to apply it to any dominant 7 chord from any root.
Why Not Just Play the Scale?
Great question. While there is absolutely nothing wrong with using scales to improvise, I find that isolating and combining the major triads in the scale can provide a fresh perspective and distinct color when playing over dominant chords. It gets me away from familiar sounds and patterns. Using the triads in combination creates a strong dominant sound that's begging to resolve, while also often sounding mysterious and far less like you're just running up and down the scale.
Diminished Resolutions
In the following examples we'll be looking at how to use major triads from the diminished scale in combinations of two to four and hear how they resolve to major chords, minor chords, and other dominant chords. Worth noting is that for most of the examples we'll be using the G, Bb, Db, E major triads to resolve to some sort of C, Eb, Gb, or A chord. The reason we're able to do that is because the scale repeats in minor thirds. Therefore, G7 can be treated the same as Bb7 (and can resolve to any type of Eb chord), which can be treated the same as Db7 (and can resolve to any type of Gb chord), which can treated the same as E7 (and can resolve to any type of A chord). Let's get started!
Feel free to learn these examples using positions and fingerings that feel comfortable to you. As long as you're paying attention to the quality of your sound and playing the lines with a strong sense of rhythm and phrasing, there is no single "right" place to play these on the guitar. The tabs are merely a suggestion.
We'll start off simply in Ex. 1 with a IIm-V7–I in the key of C. On the Dm7 chord we have a line essentially constructed around the arpeggio with a bebop sensibility. Once we arrive at the G7 chord, notice that while there is no major triad played in its entirety sequentially, the line is constructed using the notes of a Bb major triad and a Db major triad. As we resolve to Cmaj7, there is a slight suspension of the #5 (G#) that quickly resolves to the natural 5 (G).
Dominant Chord Domination Ex. 1
In Ex. 2 we clearly outline and connect a C triad to a Gb triad over the A7 chord resolving to Dm7. This time on the G7 chord we use the two other major triads from the scale that we did not use in Ex. 1: E and G. In this measure the E triad is played in its entirety in 2nd inversion and for the last two beats we use a combination of notes from the E and G triads resolving to the 7 (B) on the Cmaj7 chord.
Dominant Domination Ex. 2
Ex. 3 changes key, this time playing over a IIm7–V7–I resolving to Ebm6. Notice that we're able to draw from the same pool of triads for Bb7 as we did for G7. We're still using two major triads on the dominant chords, this time E and Bb, resolving to the natural 6 (C) of the Ebm6 chord.
Dominant Domination Ex. 3
Next, we get a chance to hear the other two triads (G and Db) played over the Bb7 chord, this time resolving to Ebmaj7 instead of Ebm6 (Ex. 4). It's worth noting how well this dominant sound can resolve to both major and minor chord qualities. Here, we also begin to break things up with eighth-note triplets and larger intervallic leaps.
Dominant Domination Ex. 4
Ex. 5 gives us our first chance to hear a dominant chord moving to another dominant chord before resolving to the I chord. Pro tip: You can change any IIm chord to a dominant chord to create a half-step move to the V7. On the D7 chord we hear a syncopated Ab triad followed by a B triad with a D natural leading into it (the note is not outside of the chord, but in this instance still functions like an approach note). Next, the line combines the notes of an E and Db triad on the Db7 chord, finally resolving to Gbmaj7 with a line built around seconds and fourths and highlighting the #11 (C).
Dominant Domination Ex. 5
In Ex. 6 we have a similar progression to the one in in Ex. 5, but this time each dominant chord is two measures long instead of one and we resolve to a minor chord instead of a major chord. Because of the longer duration of the dominant chords, we're able to utilize all four major triads on each dominant chord (F, B, D, and Ab on B7; G, E, Db, and Bb on Bb7).
Dominant Domination Ex. 6
This one tackles a tricky part of George Shearing's song "Conception" using our triadic approach on the quickly descending dominant chords (Ex. 7). I find this approach helpful on this type of progression in terms of playing a line where the trajectory moves independently from the downward direction of the chord movement. In this example we get into some more challenging rhythmic phrasing and generally use only one major triad on each dominant chord.
Dominant Domination Ex. 7
Finally in Ex. 8 we see an often-encountered progression where the root motion is V–I from beginning to end. Here, we are back to using two triads per dominant chord (but this time with some approach notes) mixed with a strong bebop sensibility.
Dominant Domination Ex. 8
As you can see, the diminished chord gets a bad rap for being overly complicated and too pattern based. By thinking of more melodic fragments (triads!) you can tackle more difficult harmonies with ease and give your lines a fresh perspective.
What happens when the rug of the rhythm gets pulled out from under you?
Chops: Advanced Theory: Intermediate Lesson Overview: • Understand basic rhythmic elements and how to manipulate them. • Learn to transform “vanilla" phrases into something more interesting. • Never get bored playing over a vamp again! Click here to download a printable PDF of this lesson's notation. |
Todd Rundgren's A Wizard, a True Star is probably the greatest example of the synthesis of epic '70s prog-rock grandeur and high-minded pop songwriting. Rundgren sets the vibe with the dramatic opening track “International Feel," which begins with a slow, pulsing synth that builds into a pummeling drum in the first verse. But it's at the end of the first chorus where Rundgren really sells it. The hard-hitting 4/4 groove is pulsing along when he drops the last two and a half beats of the phrase, making for a surprising and bombastic entrance to the first line of the song's second verse. If you don't know it's coming, it's a thrilling gesture that'll have you going back to count beats and figure out what happened. And if you are a superfan of the record–such as myself–it's the kind of thing you point out to friends when you're trying to prove how cool Todd is. Check it out below around the 1:28 mark.