melodic substitution concepts

Melodic substitution, why would we want to do this, to substitute one melodic scale color for another? Well for a number of reasons. First and foremost is perhaps to provide variety. Regardless of the styles of music we each love to play and share with others, after learning a couple of dozen tunes within a style, we oftentimes begin to encounter melodies and chords based on the same group of pitches, oftentimes with identical harmonic motion, this is especially true in the blues and it's 12 bar form. Thinking that "variety is the spice of life" we begin to explore possible substitutions as part of our own natural creative process.

Second, that in re-telling our stories during the improvisation sections found within the American styles, maybe we can expand upon the basic color of the original idea, so as to embellish and fine tune our own emotional statement of the song by using additional colors. So often players call tunes so as to provide an emotional environment for their improvisations. Once the emotional environment is created by playing the melody and harmony of the song over the chosen rhythms, the players will improvise in this musical setting. And once there, the sky's the limit as far as where a player might go. Thus, having additional melodic resources to substitute into a performance potentially expands a players range of expression of any song they choose to play.

Third, that once a player has command of the various melodic resources and a grasp of their emotional potential, we can take the music in unexpected directions to create suspense and surprises, add humor and such, to fully take advantage of not only the incredibly beautiful system of tonal organization but also the freedom of expression within the improvising, American musical art forms. Can a player work out what they will play in a solo? Absolutely. And although often termed improvisation, these solo improvisations are based on material the artist has prepared in the woodshed. Sometimes every idea is worked out, sometimes it's off the cuff so to speak, either way, when we hear exciting players improvising, it's probably safe to assume they have spent MUCHO TIME in the woodshed getting their ideas together, practicing all manner of whatever they can get their hands on and listening to the American giants that have created paths of artistic beauty which we all can follow, explore and expand upon.

In trying to remain consistent with the theory / style relationship throughout the discussions with the text, here are a few bookmarks for this page.

Do folk artists use melodic substitution? Well, for the most part no as the music is mostly diatonic, although shifting between the major pentatonic and major / relative minor colors is pretty common. As so much of this music contains a vocal line to articulate the melody, we do often hear other non diatonic pitches slipping in as the folk artist interprets the line. Oftentimes these pitches are the blue notes, and while they are not the predominant pitches of the line, they do add a nice flavor. Lest we forget perhaps that a musical style is oftentimes created by definite colors and that by adding additional colors, we change the style, character and purpose of a style.

Compare the following melodic ideas, first with the major pentatonic colors and then slipping in pitches from the major scale and a blue note. Example 1.

Here is the variation. Example 1a.

Slipping in the 7th degree in bar 6 and the 4th degree in bar 7 of the major scale, then a hint of the blues in the 8 bar. Kinda of a stretch I know, but many of the modern folk players, and perhaps more so the pop divas of today, have a church / gospel background, and in their vocal turns or embellishments, we often find a hint of non diatonic coloring.

In blues, rock, country rock and the myriad of genres based in these styles, melodic substitution is most often again a process of borrowing a pitch or two from a different color to enhance their lines. With the melodies of these styles oftentimes based in the blue colors and the pentatonic and major / relative minor scales, we often hear these colors interspersed within one song, especially in the improvisational sections. Chromatic enhancement of the lines is also becoming more common these days as more and more guitar players use a wammy bar and bend notes to find their pitches, the guitar being a popular instrument in creating these musical styles.

For instance, in songs within these styles in the minor tonality, we can sub a bit of the natural, harmonic or melodic minor or blue colors into a minor pentatonic idea and gradually alter the complexity of the following melodic line.

Minor pentatonic idea. Example 2.

Slipping in a blue note. Example 2a.

Adding in pitches to create the natural minor color. Example 2b.

Altering the pitches of the natural minor color to the harmonic minor configuration. Example 2c.

Adding the leading tone into the mix, or using the harmonic minor color is a popular rock melodic substitution.

Heading towards the major tonality by using the melodic minor scale. Example 2c.

Can you hear how the line is gradually changed in the last four ideas? Does it sound as if it is getting more complex artistically? Superimposing one melodic color for another is basically about knowing what's available, having a sense of the emotional quality created by a particular group and artistically deciding to add that element in our composition. Could we have tried to use some of the minor church modes? You bet.

In the realm of American jazz, melodic substitution is very much like the ideas above for other styles, although as the harmony gradually becomes more complex as we move towards a more jazz approach in the music, the opportunities for melodic substitutions are dramatically increased. So, in principle, we stay consistent with the idea of melodic enhancement in regards to melodic substitution while adding the dynamic of the American jazz language, which can basically encompass every nook and cranny of our entire musical resource coupled with the idea perhaps of anything from anywhere.

So, artists can simply enhance their lines by adding bits of different colors to flavor their lines. Another way into the world of melodic substitution is provided the principles of chord substitution, often an important component of a jazz artist's sound and concept. Substitution, both melodically and with chords, is so often concerned with increasing the theoretical complexity of the written music, creating a greater challenge for the players.

Compare the following ideas. Example 1.

Bars 1 and 2 above are diatonically generated from the chords. The second part is not, we subbed in a blues lick over the written changes that for the most part imply C major, not C blues. Cool with this? Even with the written changes being diatonic to C major, adding in a bit of the blue color is not at all unusual. Oftentimes when the rhythm section players hear this sort of line, they might try to quickly adjust their lines and chords to accommodate what the soloist is up to. Cool with this? In all of the styles of American music, even folk music, melodically subbing in a blues idea is probably the most common choice and is rarely if ever out of place if tastefully done. Is melodic substitution about superimposing one color over another, regardless of what the written changes are? Well, sometimes. Hip to the inside / outside concept of melodic ideas? Is working or writing out the substitutions you dig in a song with the other players of your group where it's at? If possible, absolutely.

In the major tonality, jazz players often use a couple of common ways to enhance their melodic ideas. The following idea starts with the basic major color and gradually evolves. Using the major pentatonic color. Example 3.

Evolving the major pentatonic color to the major scale. Example 3a.

Adding in the #4 of the Lydian color. Example 3b.

Chromatic enhancement of the above idea. Example 3c.

Blusifying the whole program. Example 3d.

Note the change in the harmony towards the dominant 7th colors of the blues in the above idea? Maybe this is more about melodic development than melodic substitution eh? You make the call. Click the button to hear the evolution of the above idea.

Does morphing from the pentatonic to the major scale seem to sort of "warm up" the idea a bit? Can you sense how the Lydian choice opens up the artistic environment created by the major scale? And by chromatically enhancing the line, we can disguise the direction of the line? Adding in the blue notes is very common in all of the American styles, both instrumentally and vocally. Jazz legend Charlie Parker loved this chromatic / blues approach to "jazz up" his lines. As if they needed it!

So, if we are jamming along in the major pentatonic environment and introduce additional pitches, does the emotional quality of the environment shift also? Pretty much. Why? Well for one thing, the quality of tonal gravity within the music changes as additional pitches are added. That both the major and minor pentatonic go way back in our memories, thus can easily recreate the essence of ancient indigenous music, especially the minor color. This minor mood is in a sense the "core" of our music, By adding pitches to either the major or minor tonalities, we can simply evolve outward from there, and of course can return to these core colors to re-ground our musical excursions. Cool with this? Comments? Could we have created ideas from the other diatonic church modes and used them in the major tonality? But of course, anything diatonic or nearly diatonic is an option, I guess the key to all this is that if we can still sing our lines, were cool.

With dominant harmony and it's resolving tendencies, we command a nice variety of substitution choices. Example 4.

Example 4a.

Example 4b.

Example 4c.

Cool huh, have a favorite dominant coloring? Can we mix two or more together? You betch cha, sky's the limit. So even if the written changes imply a vanilla G 7 chord, can we superimpose other melodic colors which alter the basic color of the dominant chord? Yep. The basic premise is that whatever colors I change or superimpose that I can hopefully sing the melodic idea I am playing, thus giving my line a sense of conviction regardless of the potential disparity of colors.

So, is the tricky part of melodic substitution how we choose which of the melodic colors to add when and where, especially when the written music implies something else? And is melodic substitution a way to enhance any of our popular creative environments? What other factors can figure into this "enhancing our creative environment" mix? So ...

"Happiness is good health and a bad memory."

Ingrid Bergman