Vinni Smith
09-13-2005, 08:53 AM
For those of you that had any interest in the last post I started about playing "Out of the Pocket" by using a diminished scale over a IV chord, lets look a little bit about playing a "whole tone" scale over a V chord. I use this exquisite little trick to get attention of my listener and also to add a lot of color and humor at times to my work.
Once again, lets look at this from the Blues point of view. We are in the key of E. E=I A=IV and B7=V. I like using the Blues when I am learning something because they seem to be the basis of EVERYTHING that I play. They are very cool and hip and even though they are about as simple as could be, they still have the ability to be as complex as we care to make them, just by changing a few things here and there. They can become a maze that any smart rat could have a heck of a time finding his way out. I also like using the Blues as a tool of explaining a concept, expecially when I am not there to play it for you . It is very hard for me to explain a concept of sound and harmony over the internet.
Anyway, enough said on that. Let's look at the V7 chord. B-D#-F#-A. Not much there really. However, if we play a whole tone scale (meaning the scale goes up a whole tone, that is two frets, from a starting point to infinity). If we start on the V tonic, that would be B. The scale would be as such, B-C#-D#-F-G-A-B. This covers some very cool territory. I personally like to play this sequence of notes and in this order. Starting on the B on the 4th string, 7th fret with my index finger B-C#-D#-F-G-A-D#-F-G-A-B-C#-D#-F-G-A-B-and then down to G- and then down again to the tonic E. One little note about my technique here, I just play 2 notes on each string until I get to the 1st string and then go up every 2 frets on the 1st string all the way up to the B way high on the neck. A little thing I do at times to make it swing a bit more and make it a little more groovey is to put an open E string in between each whole tone once I have gotten to the 1st string whole tones. Am I making any sense at all here? I have such a hard time talking in person without messing up my words. I have even a harder time expressing this stuff in writing.
Let me know if you are interested in this type of stuff at all. I have lots of little ditties that I have collected over the last 30 years that I would like to share with others. Some of it is very cool stuff and some is just crap but it is all fun to have in your arsenal. Producers really like this stuff when you go into a studio because it not only gives him more to choose from but it also keeps him on his toes and that is a fun thing to do to those guys. Always keep them guessing and they will always call you back.
If anyone takes this to a different level and idea, please let me know. I could use a few more licks in my perverted little pea-brain. Heh Heh Heh
Cheers to you all. Do good things.
vinni
Once again, lets look at this from the Blues point of view. We are in the key of E. E=I A=IV and B7=V. I like using the Blues when I am learning something because they seem to be the basis of EVERYTHING that I play. They are very cool and hip and even though they are about as simple as could be, they still have the ability to be as complex as we care to make them, just by changing a few things here and there. They can become a maze that any smart rat could have a heck of a time finding his way out. I also like using the Blues as a tool of explaining a concept, expecially when I am not there to play it for you . It is very hard for me to explain a concept of sound and harmony over the internet.
Anyway, enough said on that. Let's look at the V7 chord. B-D#-F#-A. Not much there really. However, if we play a whole tone scale (meaning the scale goes up a whole tone, that is two frets, from a starting point to infinity). If we start on the V tonic, that would be B. The scale would be as such, B-C#-D#-F-G-A-B. This covers some very cool territory. I personally like to play this sequence of notes and in this order. Starting on the B on the 4th string, 7th fret with my index finger B-C#-D#-F-G-A-D#-F-G-A-B-C#-D#-F-G-A-B-and then down to G- and then down again to the tonic E. One little note about my technique here, I just play 2 notes on each string until I get to the 1st string and then go up every 2 frets on the 1st string all the way up to the B way high on the neck. A little thing I do at times to make it swing a bit more and make it a little more groovey is to put an open E string in between each whole tone once I have gotten to the 1st string whole tones. Am I making any sense at all here? I have such a hard time talking in person without messing up my words. I have even a harder time expressing this stuff in writing.
Let me know if you are interested in this type of stuff at all. I have lots of little ditties that I have collected over the last 30 years that I would like to share with others. Some of it is very cool stuff and some is just crap but it is all fun to have in your arsenal. Producers really like this stuff when you go into a studio because it not only gives him more to choose from but it also keeps him on his toes and that is a fun thing to do to those guys. Always keep them guessing and they will always call you back.
If anyone takes this to a different level and idea, please let me know. I could use a few more licks in my perverted little pea-brain. Heh Heh Heh
Cheers to you all. Do good things.
vinni