What’s New?
Recently, I have been under a lot of stress due to finals, whether it be projects or test, however, under all that stress, I have managed to find something new to add into my music.
Chords!!!
Yes, I said it. Chords were the answer that I have been searching for. By playing a chord a half-step above, or below, the next chord in the chord progression, I was able to add color to my improvisation that I’ve never seen before.
Before, I used to search for a new scale in order to implement sounds that were not in the key of the song, but by using this method, I was able to simply outline the chord I was playing in order to get the sound.
That’s not even the best part. By outlining these chords, I eliminated the problem of figuring out how to resolve each scale to the chord tone of the chord that comes next in a song. Since the chords being outlined are always a half-step away from the chord tone it needs to resolve to, it’s easy to resolve the tension you introduce by going outside the key in the first place.
Cool, But What Else?
While some piano players may look at this as something limited to triads, it goes further than that. By deciding whether the chord quality of the outside chord you play will be major or minor, you get a whole new set of colors to use, all of which easily resolve to the next chord in the chord progression.
If you take things a step further, by choosing either major or minor, you can build extensions to the chord and break the extension into additional triads you can use over the chord a half-step above or below the target chord, the chord that comes next in the progression.
Unfortunately, while all this information is fun to know and try out, this concept of using outside chords a half-step away to give you outside sounds is a lot harder than one might think. Because you are not relying on a scale in order to give you outside sounds, you have to compensate for the lack of notes. In a triad, you only have three notes to use so it will sound boring if you simply play those three notes.
In order to make these triads sound amazing, you have to have a great sense of rhythm. By making these triads more rhythmic, you make your improvisation over the outside chord sound more complex than it actually is, not only impressing your audience, but also making life easier for yourself while you think of other things during the performance. Some of these things may include the form of the song, how much time is left during your solo, and reacting to what your band members are doing.