half step lead in

Perhaps not a "true" substitution due to it's usual momentary appearance in performance, the half step lead in motion is one powerful harmonic trick. All we are doing here is approaching our target chord by half step from either direction, above or below, with a chord exactly like our target chord, so in a sense a parallel motion, constant structure situation. In this first idea, we create a two chord vamp in the minor environment, using half step motion from above as we move back and forth between tonic and it's subdominant. Example 1.

Let's analyze each of the half step lead in motions. Example 1a.

Can we mix and match directions in the above idea, from above and below? Sure, why not. Example 1a.

So, how do we choose which way to go? Maybe talk with your bass, piano and guitar player. We find this half step motion used commonly in almost all of the popular styles of American music, though it's not something folk players generally do. Most blues and jazz players love to do it. The half step lead in can accelerate the motion of one chord towards another and is oftentimes used in getting things to swing, that rhythmic plane of consciousness so sought after by emerging players. So, where can we use this motion? Perhaps a better question is "where can't we use the half step lead in?"

Let's add in the half step motion into the Two / Five motion and try to trick this digital thing to swing a bit. In this next idea I'll try to program this thing to wait till the last possible moment to articulate the chords, anticipating the change of chords by ever so slightly, part of the rhythmic magic of swing. Example 2.

Not swinging to hard is it? Oh well, such is the digital sound world at least at my programming level. Let's examine each of the four bars. Example 2a.

The swing thing is based partially on this anticipation of the beat. Maybe if we extended the anticipation to an 8th note ... Here goes, looking to get a digital swing. Example 2b.

Well, no swing again, at least the melody is still sort of cool eh? Anyway, are all we really doing here is to harmonically accent the striking of the target chord? Yepper, pretty much. Simply setting things up to really accent a chord. Sounds simple I know, but once mastered, this half step thing is very powerful, especially when articulated against a steady rhythmic groove of bass and drums, piano and all. So simple so cool, so powerful in getting things to swing is this half step lead in thing! Oh oh, now poetry too, must be break time...

Are you already hip to the half step lead in? No? Cool. Now you are eh? It's always nice to add one simple technique that works with just about every element on a players palette. Can you now sense how the addition of one concept can greatly expand all of the existing elements on a players palette? That with the addition of one simple new idea, the whole body of knowledge shifts to a new level? So cool is the way our minds absorb, function and work n'est pas? Know any other such simple musical devices that can shift a players understanding? Read on.

Chromatic enhancement. As the above ideas were mainly dealing with the harmony, can we apply the half step lead with melodic ideas? Well yes, but you knew that of course. Is there a fancy theory term for this? Is it chromatic enhancement? Master of the obvious I am. So, we can apply the half step coolness to our melodic lines any number of ways yes? Check out this next idea where we simply encapsulate the pitches of the major triad with their chromatic neighboring tones. Example 3.

Pretty stodgy huh? This last idea was more illustrative of the concept of chromatic enhancement than perhaps a workable melodic idea. Here is a sleeker version of this last idea. Example 3a.

Better huh? I agree. Is it that the chromatic color is a pretty strong element, overpowering those around it? I think so, once our lines become chromatic, things can go blurry in a hurry and most of the American styles can't support too much of it. Even the free jazz players, who perhaps are potentially the most chromatic of all the American musical artists, tend to use it sparingly and as a compliment to their more tonal ideas to obscure the overall tonality and tonal direction. At least the ones I hear anyway.

In this next idea, we simply chromatically enhance a basic Two / Five / One lick. Example 3c.

Here a bit of the blue notes venturing in? So cool is this chromatic enhancement. Is there any kind of line that cannot be chromatically enhanced? Hard to say but I don't think so. It's more about style I think and being able to sing our lines to sound cool and convincing. Oh, can you accurately sing the chromatic scale? Usually a big learning step for most players of any of the popular styles in getting their ear / pitch thing together. Example 3d.

Got it? Cool. No? Simply click and try again. You'll be amazed at how much more your ears will aurally understand when this ability is acquired. Hip to the theory of this chromatic grouping of pitches? Can any scale or chord in our equal tempered tonal universe come from the chromatic group of pitches? Yep. Really? Yep. Hip to the 7 / 5 / 12 concept?

Leading tone. Is the leading tone the ultimate power broker of the half step lead ins? It probably is as it directs the lines towards the tonic pitch. In this next idea, we milk the leading tone for all it's worth. In C major, illuminating the leading tone B and it's resolution by half step to the tonic pitch C. Example 4.

What about the blue notes? Like # 4 / the tritone? Ah, the blue notes, very powerful persuaders in the American sounds. Perhaps the easiest way to ground the wildest chromatic flight is by the sounding of a blue note? Works for me. Anyway, the # 4 / tritone is a classic half step lead in that is so cool it hurts. Check it out. Example 5.

Cool huh? The tritone pitch in the above idea is the grace note on beat 2 of bar 37. We see the same idea in bar 39 then as a quarter note on beat 4, moving by half step up to the dominant in bar 40. Even in the digital world the # 4 / tritone is a powerful cat.

Inside / outside. Hip to these terms from the jazz players vocabulary? "Inside" playing generally infers that a player is staying within the tonality of the song being played, using pitches from the written chords to create their melodic ideas and generally staying "inside" of the music. "Outside", as perhaps you can now imagine, simply implies that the player is looking for and using pitches not generally associated with the current key scheme of the music to create their melodic and harmonic ideas. They are moving outside the tonality of the song by using non diatonic pitches etc. So, what's the easiest way for a player to venture outside? Well one sure way is through chromaticising their lines. Here is a variation of a popular, diatonic melody, created by thinking inside the changes. Example 6.

Easy enough eh? Now we chromatically enhance this last idea and take it outside the tonality. Example 6a.

Definitely not the best example of "taking it outside" but the sound of this idea is bad enough to hopefully give the reader the sense of what the expression implies: to musically move outside the diatonic sphere of the tonality or key center of a song. Sense how quickly the addition of the chromatic colors alters the sense of tonality and musical direction, they sound like wrong notes eh? Thus, we must handle this chromatic altering of the lines with love. Easiest way? Simply sing the line, play the line. If we can't sing it, chances are it won't be coming from the heart. Are there other ways to get out there? But of course, click here to go there.

"Remember, you're always just a half step away from your nearest tritone". Dave Grippo