In this column, we'll be learning a few new licks... and we'll also be establishing, beyond all scientific doubt, that ANY note can be made to sound good over ANY chord, so long as you put it in the right place!

THE TRACK

The basic chord progression for this track is; Gm-Dm (x2), Eb-F (x2) The most conventional scale choice for a chord progression like this one would of course be the G minor pentatonic; G Bb C D F 1 b3 4 5 b7 If you wanted a broader palette of notes to play with, you could look at the composition of each chord in the progression. As it turns out, Gm contains the notes G, Bb and D, Dm contains the notes D, F and A, Eb contains the notes Eb, G and Bb, and F contains the notes F, A and C.

If you put all these notes in order and look at them in the context of G minor (the key of the track) you get the following seven note scale; G A Bb C D Eb F 1 2 b3 4 5 b6 b7 This is the G aeolian mode, also known as the 'natural minor'. (Its component notes, incidentally, are the same as those of a Bb major scale, but they have a very different effect when you hear them in the context of G minor. In other words, 'G aeolian is a mode of Bb major'.) This mode give you considerably greater freedom in your improvisation, for the simple reason that you now have the choice of seven notes, rather than five.

If you've always been a pentatonic based player, I would urge you to spend some time getting familiar with the sound of the modes before pursuing the chromatic ideas which follow...

THE CHROMATIC SCALE

Hopefully, you'll agree that the extra two notes of the aeolian mode can enrich the playing of anyone who wishes to expand on their pentatonic vocabulary. The next logical step would be to add a couple more notes - ones that aren't included in the G aeolian mode. But which ones?
If you fire up the accompanying backing track and try out each of those five remaining notes (Ab, B, Db, E and Gb), you probably won't feel much inclination to include any of them; they are, without exception, horrible sounding. Despite this, the chromatic scale cheerfully accommodates all five of these 'forbidden' notes, and the key to making them sound good lies in using them tastefully. If you end a phrase with a long, screaming chromatic note, it won't sound 'clever' or 'jazz' - it'll just sound like you're playing in the wrong key!

The simplest and safest use for a chromatic note is as a means of approaching a better sounding note one semitone higher or lower. For instance, try playing an ascending G minor arpeggio (G, Bb, D, G) by approaching each note from a semitone below (ie Gb-G, A-Bb, Db-D, Gb-G). The results should sound strongly reminiscent of G minor (it's like a Gm version of 'Hey Jude', in fact) even though half of the notes you played weren't in the chord and three of them weren't even in the G aeolian mode! This works because it creates a 'tension and release' effect; first the chromatic approach note (for such is its technical name) creates a slight tension, then the chord tone next door steps in and diffuses the situation before things start sounding too weird!

Typically, jazz players use this idea a lot to keep the momentum and interest levels up when they're playing those long sixteenth note lines, but anyone can find a home for it if they use it sparingly... Taking this idea one step further, you might use a string of chromatic notes to connect two good notes. In G minor, for instance, you could join up the chord tones G and Bb by playing the chromatic run G, Ab, A, Bb. (The technical name for that would be chromatic passing tones.) This sounds good because the notes are all in a row, and the notes of the chromatic scale make a strange kind of sense when you hear them played in the right order - so long as the notes at the start and the end are good! ('The Pink Panther' and 'Flight Of The Bumble Bee' spring to mind...) If you fill in the gaps like this, using a minor pentatonic scale shape to dictate your highest and lowest notes on each string, you'll find lots of Steve Morse style licks waiting to be discovered!

THE DEMO SOLO

In the interests of keeping things vaguely musical, I tried to play a 'proper' solo over the backing track, rather than merely illustrating a series of chromatic licks. The idea was to mix the chromatic ideas with a few slightly more 'traditional' rock moments - this way I figured you could hear the effect in a musical context, which hopefully provides you with more incentive to experiment with these ideas in your own playing. If you just want to learn a few chromatic ideas to get you started, try bars 1, 9 and 13-14 (don't be put off by the speed of that last one; those notes work equally well at slower tempos!)

As you scan the rest of the transcription for other ideas worth borrowing, bear in mind that the most chromatic intensive moments are those where you see the most sharps and flats in the music notation. The best long-term policy is to break these down into smaller licks, always starting and ending with good, solid G minor chord tones; that way, it'll be easier for you to incorporate them successfully into your own style. One final tip; the most effective note of a chromatic lick is the last one, so try starting each short lick at various places in the bar. You'll probably agree that it sounds most effective when the last note falls on a main beat. (Food for thought!) Guthrie Govan

File 1 File 2 File 3 File 4 File 5