oNTHE cD {l rmcxs sz-ss
sound of a chord progression through your
Targeting
Shaun Baxter shows you how to introduce
chromatic passing note ideas by placing various
approach notes around chord tones...
other as one Droeression is to
tneffiermore,
GO rarserins(a
Fc* technique that deals with
ffiffiffi
f"
tco
JrVxtoN,,Ji::'*dli:l: ;:?H"
impression that soloist was a
using scales. However, prior to
S\\\I/I
-' 'r-l tJle late 195os, j azz musicians
did not reallyuse (or indeed
know) any scales. More often
than not, the listener would be
hearing melodies created by
chord-tones being
embellished with a mixture of
passing notes (notes that
move by a tone or semitone
between two chordtones) and
neighbour tones (non-chord
notes situated atone or
semitone above orbelow a
chordtone).
The concept ofusing a scale
to improvise over a
progression (known as
modalism) is relatively new injazz.
Ironically, most modern pop/rock
oaoa Moderate/Advanced musicians who have been brought up in a
post-modal environment find it difficult to
base their playing around chordtones for
KEY; Am,F#m,Am a ADEgio knowledge the following reasons: the distance
TEMPO:91 bpm Z Harmoni( understanding between one chord-tone and ihe next
CD: TRACKS5T-59 7l.Jse of (hromatid5m (known as a'leap') is greaterthan t}te
MANY ROCK GUITAR players complain
distancebetween each scale note (klown
as a'step') and is technica\more difficult
that their solos always soundthe same. to play; most guitarplayers do not know
This is often because they are just thinking the various arpeggio shapes; furthermore,
in terms of one scale, rather than basing they are unaware ofwhich chords are
their playing around each chord in a being played in the accompaniment when
progression. However, ifyou develop an they are soloing at any given moment.
arpeggio-based approach to improvising. Instead, they are used to looking for one
not only will your solos be more melodic, scale that fits all, and sticking with that.
but they will also be as differentfrom each The acid test is to be able to convey the
If,ACI( [EC0R0 As merttioned, any pre-tg5o'sjazz will feature arpegio-based impr0visation. For melod ic glitar
players rIho don't Dlay too fast (and so ane Gasier to follow), try anything by Django nolnhardt, Charlie Chpistia[.
€s onqomory, Jimmy naney, J06 Pass on ilartin laylon
56 Guitallechniques Febr!ary 2009
soloing by targeting the appropdate
chord-tones even when the chords are not
present. The ability to do this is considered
by many as the comerstone oflearning to
play jazz. Consequently, many jazz
teachers andjazz colleges still starttheir
students offwith an arpeggio-based
approach to soloing over chords, rather
ttral using scales.
Some rock players also use targeting.
Yngwie Malmsteen uses many targetint
motifs from the Baroque and Romantic
period ofclassical music (targeting motifs
are so well established in that style that I
theyhave names, like'mordent'), and Joe
Satriani'swork has also featured several
obvious examples, such as his solo from
F$ng InABlue Dream
Finafu, when working on this aspect of
playing, tryto learn arpeggio shapes that
stay directly over the chord-shapes that
you know. This will make it easierto solo
over a tune by allowing you to follow your
chord'road-map'.
The ideas in this monttr's solo study,
called Bull's-eye, are based mainly around
the following arpeggios: Am (bars r-8);
F+m fbars 9-16); and Am (bars 17-24). In
lhe tab. all targeting mol ifs are shown in a
rectangular box and the approach notes
within each motif are shoun in square
brackets. These bracketed notes shouldbe
given a full note-value. They are merely
shown in brackets to show that they are
secondary to the main target note (the one
notinbrackets).3
ll Ifyou develop an arpeggio-
based approach to improvising,
not only willyour sohs be morr
melodic, but they will also be as
diffenent from each othen as one
progression is to the next tt
iS ,P
This technaque will workiust as well with
a clean sound as with a distorted one.
On the GT CD lused a relatively
straightforward rock sound, albeit quite
distorted. Uselheabove as a guide.
I
f-59
J IARGEIITIG mff

not
IEars l-21 [4any targeting motifs stem from established classical works,
or folk tunes, and l'm sure that you will recognise the fou r-note motif
lred used in the 6rst half of bar f, in which each note of an A minor triad is
to approached, firstly, from a tone above, and then a semitone below. The
principle of surrounding the target note with approach notes like this is
also known as enclosure. From the second half of bar 1, each note of the
Am arpeggio is approached chromatically from below (using either one
or two notes). Fina lly, towards the end of bar 2, it may look as thouqh a
sort of A aeolian blues scale is being used; however, all ofthese notes (an
be explained a! arpeggio notes belonging to the underlying chords.
lBars 3-41 lt i5 very common to place chromatic notes on offbeats;
however, here each chord tone is approached using a chromatic note
i pla<ed on a downbeatfroma semitone below This bold approa(h
tifs 3 to dissonance is quite reminiscent ofgypsyjazz artists like Djanqo
I Reinhardt and earlyjazz in general.
ioe lBar 5lThis barcomprises a descending 6ve-note A minor arpeggio
ilE =
1
G/B
tof
at
t
lo
rtll
E
sequence. Here, a chromatic note is used to lead to the highesi -.:: :.
eaah five note group from a semitone below.
lBar 6l When one starts with a chord tone and then passes to e:::-.-
note a semitone or tone away and then retutns to the same Chorc :: -:
(as in the three-note motifs used here), the second note is known .!
a neighbour tone (NT) or auxiliary tone. lt is possible to have upp€.
neighbour/auxiliary tones (a semitone or tone higher than the chc..
tone) or lower neighbour/auxiliary tones (a remitone or tone lower :-.-
the chord tone)
IBar 7]The first three motifs in this bar follow the same pattern oftT.
previous bar; however, the followinq three motifs all contain elemenr:
ofdouble chromaticism, in which ea<h <hord tone is approached usin.
notes both a semitone above and below.
lBar SlMore simpletwo-note motifs here;however, there are strinq ski.:
used between the various chord tones, producing either major or minor
sixth intervals-
G/B Am G

o
D
rnd
E

In
na
s

tbe

one

E
B
G
o

; E

PE

as
oile

o t_3, <:_ =-.

E
B
G
D

E
B
G
o

_l February 2009 Guitz.dTechniques 57

 r

EXAMPLE BULTS.EYE...CONINUED CDTRACX 5A

lBar9lTheshiftfrom Am to F#m. These classically-influenced five'note
enclosure motjfs are reminiscent of Yngwie Malmsteen. ln each motii the
target note isflanked byone note a single scale-note higher, and another
note a semitone lowet.
IBars 10-l6lThese bars contain very similar targeting motifs to the ones
already studied, only this time they all relate the chord tones of F#m, not
Am.Note the existence of a C# triad (C#, E#/F and G#) in the middle of
bar 10 (the seventh, eighth and twelth notes). ThiS is used as a means of
creating a temporaryform oftension leading to F#m (C# istheVchord
of F#, and has a strong pulltowards it). So far, sections like bars 1 and
3 havefeatured the same targeting motifbei11g used consecutively in
one continuous string. However, although this was indeed observed
in the early days of jazz, later on players tended to use the motifs more
sparingly, in a conscious efforttoavoid too much overtrepetition D

s 0--{2Fr0-{sF1
G
o
E

B
G
0

E
6
G
o
E

A/B 05 C{s Ffm EIG'-

8e_

E
B
G
0

Guitaxlbclmiques February 2009

L
 J TARGTIIIIG fi! n

t ofthe same idea. ln bars I1 l2,notehowthemoreselect(sparser)useof eachinvolveapproachingeachtargetnotefroranotat::,: : :

the motifs produce a more contemporary-sounding approach. Finally, semitone lower and then a tone higher.
note that the G# noteattheend ofbar 16is a chord tone, because it is
the 6fth degree ofthe underlying C#5 chord. lBar IE'24lFinallrtheremainderofthesolostudyre- ::.j::: :, :
the principles used throughout the solo so far. Note th;r :-: : I .- -
IBar l7] Bar l7 marks the return to Am. The fouFnote motifs used note targeting motifs that occur at the end of bar 20 are :^a ::- : j .-:
in this particular bar were a favourite ofjazz guitarist Joe pass. They =
fifth motif used in bar Z and feature double chromatrcis."

E
B
G
D

E
B

G/B G/B
IJM -

7j--' j-'
E
-'-
B
G
D

J!
(slow decay)
E BU
B
G
D 5-1 4-1 5-1 4 1 2-1 4-12-1 4
E