.customer sign in.
G9 Line
g9 Logo
g9 Nav
offer
offer  offer
G9 Nav
g9 Nav
g9 Nav
g9 Nav
G9 Nav
g9 Nav
g9 Nav
g9 Nav
Guest Column: Concepts For Playing "Outside": Part 1 g9 Line
g9 pix
g9 Line
 
pix Concepts For Playing "Outside": Part 1 pix
pix
pix pix by Martin Behr  

Page added in April, 2003

 
pix About the Author    
pix

Martin Behr is a guitarist from Germany who has studied at M.G.I. (Munich's Guitar Institute), released two solo CDs, and stays busy with studio sessions.

cd


His latest CD is entitled "Law Of The Jungle", which documents his command of many musical styles, his great technique, his tone and feel.

Send comments or questions to Martin Behr.



© Martin Behr
Using some "outside" phrases will inject a nice fusion touch to your soloing.

In general, playing "outside" means playing notes that are not contained in the diatonic scale. This will create tension and can help make a phrase sound more exciting. An "inside" phrase may sound even better if it succeeds an "outside" phrase because of the contrast. This technique is one of many keys to get a jazz or fusion sound.

One cool way to play "outside" is using the whole tone scale. It works best over dominant7-chords like G7 and altered dominant7-chords like G7b5 or G7#5. Let's take a look at the patterns for this scale:

pic


There's a short form (in one position) and a long form that spans three octaves (and twelve frets). The whole tone scale is symmetrical so there are no other patterns: It repeats every two frets.

For example the G whole tone scale consists of the following notes:

G A B C# D# F

Due to the symetrical nature of this scale, the A whole tone scale would be: A B C# D# F G.

That's just 6 notes in contrast to the major scale's 7 notes. The resulting intervals are:

1 2 3 #4 #5 b7 or
1 2 3 b5 #5 b7

Now let's try some whole tone scale licks:

pic


MP3 - Lick 1

This lick starts and ends on the (inside) chord tone B as the third and in the middle goes through a sequence in fourths, so it goes "in and out" and can be played over a regular G7 chord.

pic


MP3 - Lick 2

In the third bar of Lick 2, bend from C to D then hold the bend and tap on the fifteenth fret, pull off to the thirteenth fret and finally release the bend back to C. Bar two is whole tone scale and the ending phrase is all Mixolydian mode.

pic


MP3 - Lick 3

Lick 3 has a more rhythmic approach and is a completely whole tone scale. It ends on a short G7#5 arpeggio.

I hope you had some fun with these licks. I'll be back in June with another concept for playing "ouside". Feel free to contact me via email with any questions or comments. Also, check out the soundfiles of my two solo CDs and my web site.

pix Additional Columns by Martin Behr pix
line
  • And 1 more in the Guest Columnists series, view the index
line



Home | RSS | Guitar Instruction | New CDs | Bargains | Ordering Info | G9 BackStage! | Word of Mouth | Vote | Guitar Heroes
CD Info: Charts | Listening Room MP3s | Track-By-Track | Recommendations | Sites | Reviews | Cover Art | Price List
Blog | DVD | iTunes | Gift Certificates | T-shirts | Guitar/Vocals | Who's Who | Search | BCCM | HCCM | Contact Us | Content Index
Copyright © 1996-2008 Guitar Nine Records All Rights Reserved
Any redistribution of information found at this site is prohibited
Use of this web site constitutes acceptance of the Guitar Nine Records Terms of Use. To read our Privacy Policy, click here.