Chromatic Jazzy Connecting Scales?

[vikki]

I was looking for some chromatic jazzy style scales, connecting chromatic scales that connect one chord or note to the same higher up the neck.....e.g(just for example) something that connects the c note on the fifth string to the c note on the third string or c note on the ist string....does that make any sense? Thinking about this do you just use every note in between the destination notes? Any good internet sites or books covering this type of thing, i know its a minefield
Vikki(uk)

[Charlesinator]

Vikki the term chromatic means all the notes. So going up the scale chromatically would look similar to this: My attempts at tabbing failed. So ... starting on the 5 string third fret go 3, 4, 5, 6 frets, 4 th string go 2,3,4,5 frets and 3 rd string go 1,2,3,4,5 frets hitting all the notes! Jazz, country, rock, fusion, blues, etc cats tend to just use little chromatic passages within the scales or lines they are using. Believe me I'm no where near a master of this. And I myself would love to add more chromaticism to my bag of tricks. Any scale you know or can play, you can play any or all of the notes between the notes of the scale. Basically if it sounds good, do it. Also I had a teacher once who while demonstrating chromatics varied the rhythm, time and accents on stock chromatic scales. Whoa! It sounded incredible. I hope this helps. Also there was a guitar site called Guitar Masters which had some neat chromatic phrases, but I believe that site may be shut down.

[jazztele]

here's a lick for ya... just a C major scale, i guess...anything else that doesn't belong goes into the whole "chromatic" biz

--------------------------7-8------------------------
-----------------5-6-7-8-------------------------------
------------4-5--------------------------------------
---2-3-4-5---------------------------------------------
-3--------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------

[Charlesinator]

Jazztele, how'd you post the tab? It didn't work when I tried. And I love the Hunter Thompson quote!

[kludge]

I think of chromatic runs as fragments of certain lengths that get me from my starting note to my destination note. For example, it takes two beats to move from IV to V chromatically, or four beats to move from bIII to I. So I don't think about the chromatic part so much as the the source-destination part, and that's where the emphasis lies. The chromaticism is just color. Make sure you puncuate that sort of thing with accents, clean stops, or tonal differences (like landing on a double-stop).

Note that this attitude makes me a VERY chromatic player.

A lot of note groupings are odd numbers - think 1-2-3-4-1, beat-wise (just an example. That gets you from, say, I to III. This can be shifted slightly by adding a whole-step somewhere in the run... for example, go I-II-bIII-III-IV for a five-note run that goes up the circle of fifths.

Does this give you stuff to think about?

[Kingpin]

Throwing in some diminished sounds is a good way to add color when indicating chord changes. When playing a jazzy blues in C, a typical place to do this is the chord change from the IV(F) back to the I(C), where you can briefly play F#dim on the last beats of the IV (F) chord before reaching the I(C). If you look at the bass notes of this chord change you'll see a chromatic line...

F---F#---G

the F is the Root of your IV chord, the F# is your chromatic passing tone, and the G is the fifth in your C (I) chord. When you come to the F#dim in the progression, playing a simple diminished arp will give you some "outside" jazzy color and indicate the F---F#---G chromaticism.

F...............................F#dim............. C

---------------------------------------------
10-8----------------------------7-10--8-----
-----10-8---------------------8--------------
-----------10-7----------7-10----------------
-----------------10-8--9---------------------
----------------------------------------------

[kludge]

And more about note groupings... a lot of bop players use a sort of "jazz major" scale, that has 8 notes rather than 7, specifically so they can climb a scale by an octave in 9 notes.

Another common theme in jazz chromaticism is to approach a note from a half-step above or below, with the chromatic leading note falling on an off beat (the pickup beat in a swinging rhythm) and the target note falling on a solid downbeat. Listen to walking jazz basslines for that sort of thing... bass players can be brilliant at it.

And finally, another simple trick for an "out" sound is to shift your scale up by a half-step on the V chord in ii-V-I progressions. In that context, you can usually play any darn note you want over a V chord, but you really need to be solidly chordal when it cycles back to I.

[vikki]

Thanks everyone for the input on this, i'm really getting interested in the Jazzy style of playing. Its a style i would never have given a second glance at one time, must be old age creeping up
Vikki(uk)

[Telenator]

Here's a chromatic excersize just for ha ha's. Sometimes when I get a little too fixated on major/minor sounds, I'll play this excesize repeatedly to sort of "cleanse the palette."

E---------4----5----6----7----8----------------------
B--------------5----6----7----8---------------------
G--------------5----6----7----8--------------------
D-------------------6----7----8----9----------------
A------------------------7----8----9----10-----------
E-----------------------------8----9----10----11-------

I think that part of what you're talking about is to see/hear where the half tones from one scale preceed a set of halftones going into the next scale. This will often make a nice chromatic run when the chords change. It sounds really cool and allows you to effectively play over the changes without making it sound like "HERE COMES THE CHANGE!!!"

Here's a simple example:

Play a Gmaj7 chord to a Bbmaj7 chord. Count 8 beats per chord and play at a moderate tempo.

When playing over the Gmaj7 chord, try this.
E---------2------3------------------------------------
B----------------3-------------5------------------------
G---------2-------------4------5-------------------------
D---------2-------------4------5------------------------
A---------2------3-------------5-------------------------
E----------------3-------------5------------------------


Then play this over the Bbmaj7 chord
E---------------3------------5------6-------------------
B---------------3------4------------6-------------------
G--------2------3------------5-------------------------
D---------------3------------5------------------------
A---------------3------------5------6------------------
E---------------3------------5------6------------------


Together, the two scales look like this. Notice where the little chromatic runs appear. This where you can have some fun as the chords change.
E------------2--------3-3--------------------5--------6-------
B---------------------3-3---------4-------5----------6--------
G------------2-2--------3-------4--------5-5-----------------
D------------2----------3-------4--------5-5-----------------
A------------2--------3-3----------------5-5--------6---------
E---------------------3-3----------------5-5--------6---------

Boy I hope this helps! It sure was difficult posting it! LOL!

[boneyguy]

Another little chromatic guitar trick that I stumbled on some time ago is what you might call 'fill in the gap'. That's how I sorta think of it.

I tried using the TAB feature but gave up so I'll just have to describe it. It's pretty simple.

So for example take a basic Am pent scale position at the 5th fret.

5 -----------8
5----------- 8
5--------7
5--------7
5--------7
5------------8

Now to 'chromatisize' it just fill in the gaps.

5---6---7---8
5---6---7---8
5---6---7
5---6---7
5---6---7
5---6---7---8

You can use this simple idea to 'chromatisize' any scale, Maj, Min, Pent etc. This in a sense is more of a guitar trick than a strictly musical idea simply because of the way scales lay on the fretboard when played in position. But it works.

When using non scale tones the most important consideration is phrasing. You can get away with just about anything if it's phrased nicely. In general chord tones need to be stressed or played on the down beat. It gives the listeners ear a sense of structure and key. If that's what you want of course.

[Leon Grizzard]

I am usually chromatic in the sense of filling in the gaps, or being mostly chromatic, as others have suggested. If you want to try real chromaticism, here is the chromatic scale played in one five-fret position, which makes it easier to work in with other scales than the one described by Charlesinator, which keeps moving down the fingerboard. Since it is five notes on a string, you have to do a one finger shift somewhere. Shown here from A to a.

||---|---|---|-x-|-x-|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
||---|---|---|-x-|-x-|-x-|-x-|-x-|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
||---|---|---|-x-|-x-|-x-|-x-|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
||---|---|---|-x-|-x-|-x-|-x-|-x-|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
||---|---|---|-x-|-x-|-x-|-x-|-x-|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
||---|---|---|---|-x-|-x-|-x-|-x-|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|

Also keep in mind that if you subdivide your quarter notes into two eighths you will cover less ground in a measure than if you subdivide into triplets, which cover less ground than sixteenth notes. Seems like Steve Morse likes divisions of six: hectuplets, hexagonals, or whatever they are called.