JamTrackCentral CREATIVE CHROMATICS MASTERCLASS: INTERMEDIATE INTRODUCTION Welcome to this JTC masterclass! ‘There are three parts: Beginner, Intermaciate and Advanced. You can choose your level, but consider working through the whole mesterciass. Even if you can play the licks or exercises from the Intermediate or Advanced parts, you might still learn something new from the easior parts, The formatis similar for all three parts. Wo'llstart by looking at some theoretical concepts, \with exercises to develop your technique fretboard knowledge. Next well see how these concepts can be used in & real musical situation, using @ series of short licks and a longer solo, ‘are you ready?SIAM. THE CONCEPT OF THIS MASTERCLASS ALGENIE LATE ROME WASTES: NTRNEDATE ‘This masterclass is all about the OTHER notes. The notes outside of the scale or erpeggio, the notes betwoen the scale notes. The wrong notes? Wall, maybe, but wore going to show you how you can make them sound interesting, nat wrong, We're going to work with these other notes in a few different ways, but the general term we use for this is “chromaticism’ or “chromatics”. This refers to the fact that all the notes in our musical system can be found in the chromatic scale. For an introductory guide to the chromatic scale, check aut the Baginner section! MORE CHROMATIC TRICKS In the Beginner section, we looked at passing notes and approach notes, two of the most common ways of adding chromatic notes. Lot's add @ couple more device NEIGHBOUR NOTES ‘These are a Ittle ike approach notes in that they quickly resolve to a terget note, out with nelghbour notes we actually START on the target note (the chord tone or whatever). ‘Am chord tones ‘Wim nagnnour notes ENCLOSURE This is the most complex concept because there's quite a lot of room for variation. The standard explanation is this. The chord tone Is preceded by the notes above and below it. So let’s say wo're playing over Am? and our target note is E, There are difforent typos of enclosure, For the simplest diatonic enclosure (assuming we're using A Derian) we'd play D-F#-€ or F#-D-£, using the notes next to € in the scale. However, our concern here is the CHROMATIC enclosure, so we take the notes above and below E In the chromatic scale... Di FE or F-D#-E, SHS | RB aH, a= WWW.JAMTRACKCENTRAL.COMSTAM ETE EENIAL Sse NASTCUSS: WTNCE You can also have a mixed enclosure, where one of the notes Is a chromatic neighbour and the thers a diatonic neighbour (from the scale). And taking things even further, you don't have to use just a single note above or below the target note. You can create much more complex enclosures (also see Exercise & below), "0 °-$ £ &6( +, S#( 4909 #7Y,S 4 " a) 2—) SIDE-SLIPPING This is a concept with a few different interpretations in improvisation, but for this masterclass, ‘we're talking about shifting whole phrases or melodies up or down chromatically. So if youre playing in A Dorian, you might move a phrase into Bb Dorian or Ab Dorian. #, £0/)-RL— S40 2, Be careful how you do this. If you simply play a coo! lick in the wrong key, peoole will think you're crazy! It's all about the context... with any inside/outside playing, the listeners need to bbe able to hear what is inside and what is outside. This is why a lot of players use side-slipping in the middle of a longer phrase, so it's clearly a temporary change. You can also do a “call- response" type thing, where you play @ phrase in the “correct” scale and then sice-slip the exact same pattern up or down. A WORD OF CAUTION Aswe mentioned briefly in the Beginner section, it's important not to be too rigid in interpreting these chromatic notes (or non-diatonic notes, or auxiliary netes... there ara different terms for them depending an your musical background). Cansider the approach note pattems we played in Beginner exercises 7 and 8, approaching each note of @ triad arpeggio from a semitone below. If we do that with an Am? erpeggio (A CE G) we get the following sequence of notes. G#-AB-C D#-E FFG GHA ‘WWW.JAMTRACKCENTRALCOMSTAM TLE STIL CATE AROMAT MASTERS EREDTE and that second G# looks like a passing note between G and A. The context is important, and this example demonstrates how you can’t analyse chromatic notes according to their position in a scale or key. You have to consider each case individually. As you work through the exercises and licks in this masterclass (and especially the solos, where we're not providing specific guidance) spend some time analysing the chromatic notes... what function do they porform? THE PHYSICAL ELEMENT (One of the challenges in working with a new set of melodic ideas Is that you have to force your fingers into new patterns. We all spend hours working on scale and arpeggio shapes, so it can bbe @ challenge to start adding the “wrong” notes without hesitation. With that in mind, a lot of the exercises in all three parts of this masterclass are designed to work on @ physical level, Increasing your ‘lexibility.. the physical flexibility of your hands AND your knowledge of the fretboard layout, INTERMEDIATE EXERCISES Xt: Like Baginner Exercise 3, this is one of those sequenced patterns you may already have used for scale practice. The sequence runs 2-1-3-2-4-3-5.4, otc. When epplied to the chromatic scala in a 4-note-per-string fingoring, it makes for a groat fingor independence oxorcise, EX2: Another pattern-based exercise, this is based on a six note sequonce that ascends and then descends. It's a handy reminder that when you play the chromatic scale in a 4-note-per- string sequence, you shift down one fret each time you ascend to the next string... except between G and B strings. EX: To make things harder, ty playing these full chromatic scale exercises using legato techniques. For whatever reason, many people stiugale with rhythmic accuracy with the left hand when playing these blurry chramatic runs, so this is something to help even out those lines. EX¢: Just a straight run up and down the chromatic scale, lke we dic In Beginner Exercise 1, butnow it's much faster. Also, we're in open position, playing 5 notes on most strings (making it harder to synchronise both hands) AND there's a series of quick position shifts up and down tho ‘st string. When you've played the 4th fret, quickly jump up and play 5-6.7-8, then jump again and play 9-10-11-12 before reversing the whole sequence. I's always good to keap in mind that the open strings are available, even when thinking chromaticelly; this is an area that’s agically underexplored in most peoples piaying. EXB: Hero's an example of enclosure, Our first target note is the C (8th fret) but we're approaching it via B-D-C#-B. The line then continuas through @ C major triad (C-E-G) and then the 7-note pattern repeats an octave higher, and then descends. EX6: We studied approach notes in the Beginner section, but here are double approach notes. This exercise is based around a C major triad (CE G) arpeggio but we're approaching each note via the two chromatic notes below... Bb-B-C, D-Dé#-E, ete, EX7: The same principle as Exercise 6, but approaching each chord tone via the two chromatic notes ABOVE. WWW.JAMTRACKCENTRAL.COMSVAN TRCN CREAT COMATES WASTERCLSS: NTMI XB: As In the Beginner exercises, this slide symbol (without the curved slur line] doesn’t signify a slide, it means that you play both notes with the seme finger. This exercise is besed on. {a repeating 9-note pattern. The position shifts are good practice for helping you see beyond the box shape. XG: For finger Independence exercises like these, It's always a good Idea to disconnect the rhythm from the note pattern. When you have ¢ three-note descending sequence like thi the obvious thing is to play itin triplet rhythm, but for an extra challenge, try playing even 16th notes, so you have 3 against 4. X10: Now lat's try some side-siipping, We're playing 6-note chunks from C minor pentatonic (C Eb FG Bb) and then shifting them up to C# minor pentatonic (C# E F# G# B). On the descent, we play 4 notes in C minor followed by 6 notes in C# minor. EXttt Hore’s 2 veriation on Exercise 9, taking an ascending throe-note pattorn this time, and running it up and down the 1st string. X12: Another variation on Exercises 9 and 11, now alternating between ascending and descending three-note patterns, working up end then down the neck. INTERMEDIATE SOLO AND LICKS It's up to you how you use the solo. You could study it in detail, analysing all the chromatic notes, or just steal your favourite licks. Whatever you do, be sure to play your own ideas over the backing track. The only way to master this stuff is to make mistakes, learning what works and wnat doesn't. Itwas possible to play over the Beginner backing track with just one scale (C# minor pentatonic) but this time we have a more complex chord progression. This means you have to switch scales occasionally, and it means you'll need to use different notes as chromatic passi notes, approach notes, etc. Most of the progression is a repeating Am7-D9 change, which Is classic A Dorian stuff (AB CD EF# G). You can also use minor pentatonic (A C DE 6). Dor't just run through scales, though; a with any solo practice, it's important to be able to use chord tones as a framework for your melody lines. This is especially true when you're working on chromaticism - the “outside” Sound of the chromatic notes is thrown more starkly into contrast with the “Inside” chord tones. ‘The Dm7-G13 change simply transposes the whole thing to D Dorian (D EF GAB C) but you could also stay within the A minor tonality and interpret this as a switch to A Aeolian (same notes as D Dorian, but with A es the root). The same goes for the Fmaj7-Em7 chango.. it's up to you whether you interpret it as F Lydian or A Aeolian ‘The last bit of the progression is @ short run (backwards) through the cycle of fifths, with a seties of dominant chords: F47, B7 and 7 ultimately resolving back to Am?. The best approach here is to work around chord tones for each chord individually. The shorter licks contain many of the ideas from the solo, along with even more cool uses of chromatics, Let's take 4 look in more cetail WWW.JAMTRACKCENTRAL.COMSTAM CEU CREATE CNOMATS MASTERS: TERETE LUCK 4: You could consider t reminder af everything we did in the Beginner section, with various combinations of passing notes and approach notes. Check out the first phrase., Jake slides into the B note from the Bb approach note, but that 8 could also be part of an enclosure leading to the C (10th fret) of the Am? arpeggio! LICK 2: The Dorian tonality of the Am7-D9 change means we can comfortably use minor pentatonic, also adding the good old flat Sth “blue note” as a chromatic passing note. LICK 3: The G¢ note in bar 4 gives us an example of a mixed enclosure, approaching the A via the diatonic B and the chromatic Gf. LICK 4: There's a couple of examples of neighbour notes here, in bars 4 and 5. LICK 5: Check out the side-slipping over D9 in bar 4, quickly switching between A minor pentatonic and Bb minor pentatonic. LICK 6: Here's the value in judging evary chromatic note individually. In bar 7, the first Eb note (8 on the G string) is used as @ neighbour note between two E notes. But when it reappears, it's ¢ passing note in a descending E-£b-D line. In bar 8, i's then an approach note ascending to, LICK 7: Some bold side-slipping here. Just one C note, and then we're up a semitone into Bb minor pentatonic. LICK 8: Here's that tricky sequence of dominant chords at the end of the progression, each chord requiring a different interpretation of outside/inside notes, LICK 9: Here's a vibe that Jake also explored in one of the Beginner licks - the b9th (Bb), used as both a passing note and neighbour note, giving quite a Texas blues sound over the Am7 chord, LICK 10: A long series of neighbour notes ornementing the A minor arpeggio in bars 1 and 2. LICK 11: The first phrase has a very slippery moder sound, sliding smoothly into the B (a diatonic neighbour note) and the Bb (a chromatic neighbour note). LICK 42: Jake superimposes an A7b9-flavoured lick over the Am?, giving a V7-I resolution into the D9, and causing us to reassess which nates are ‘chromatic’. The 8b, for example... is it row 2 chord tone? LICK 43: You can access interesting chromatic notes simply by adjusting one of the familiar blues bends. Instead of bending the D all the way to E, you can push it up a semitone to Eb. LICK 14; In this ick, side-slipping actually takes us into tritone substitution, alternating between Am7 and Difm7 arpeggios. ‘Take your time and remember to work carefully on the exercises, When you're ready, well see you In the Advanced section! WWW.JAMTRACKCENTRAL.COM