Playing Outside

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Instructor: Tom Quayle Level: Advanced Topic: Improvising Style: Fusion

Excerpt: Hi Guys and Gals! Welcome to this months tutorial which is all based on 'outside' playing. Now I'm not suggesting that you all find a nice field somewhere and play in the fresh air. Rather the way in which fusion and jazz guitarists (and these days many rock musicians) play phrases and ideas which are unrelated to the key they're in at the time. But why on...

Media Length: 1:24

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Instructor: Tom Quayle Level: Advanced Topic: Improvising Style: Fusion

Excerpt: This first method is based on an idea I took from Greg Howe's playing and is a very 'open' and simple concept. It's based on the idea that music is divided into simple phrases which are then combined into longer sentences. What Greg tends to do is to think in 4 bar sentences and creates his tension at the end of the sentence - almost like a cliff hanger in ...

Media Length: 2:22

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Instructor: Tom Quayle Level: Advanced Topic: Improvising Style: Fusion

Excerpt: I've transcribed the first section of each improvisation leaving you some left to work out and transcribe yourself if you want to. Each transcription should give you an idea of the kind of phrases I play and their placement with in the bar. Have a good look at every 4th bar to see where I've used an Eb Dorian scale and pay close attention to the phrasing an...

Media Length: 2:30

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Instructor: Tom Quayle Level: Advanced Topic: Improvising Style: Fusion

Excerpt: Okay, how did you get on with that then? Hopefully it was okay... Our second method is really simple to understand and I'm going to call is 'side stepping'. This is a method which is tailor-made for guitarists as it's a very visual method of playing out used by John Scofield a great deal. The idea is simple - whatever phrase you just played, shift it up a ...

Media Length: 1:29

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Instructor: Tom Quayle Level: Advanced Topic: Improvising Style: Fusion

Excerpt: Here's the transcription for the first section of my improvised solo. I use Am Pentatonic and A Dorian throughout.

Media Length: 1:56

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Instructor: Tom Quayle Level: Advanced Topic: Improvising Style: Fusion

Excerpt: Using shapes refers to the idea that we can use material other than scales to play out. In order for an outside phrase to work, the listener simply needs something to latch on to. In this way we can use 'shapes' on the guitar which we can then sequence up or down the neck to create tension and then resolve them back into our original key to create release. ...

Media Length: 1:33

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Instructor: Tom Quayle Level: Advanced Topic: Improvising Style: Fusion

Excerpt: With this method I've written out the shapes I've used and their sequence method without the rest of the solo so that you can stick them into your own improvisations. Hopefully they'll spark your imagination so you can come up with your own shapes. Each example has a time label so you can see where exactly it occurs in the video. Good luck.

Media Length: 1:32

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Instructor: Tom Quayle Level: Advanced Topic: Improvising Style: Fusion

Excerpt: Now, this method should really have a tutorial all of it's own but we'll leave that for the future. For our outside playing in this example we'll be using two symmetrical scales - the wholetone and diminished scale. The whole tone scale is constructed from only tones (major 2nd intervals) and the diminished is constructed from a tone then a semitone repeate...

Media Length: 2:21

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Instructor: Tom Quayle Level: Advanced Topic: Improvising Style: Fusion

Excerpt: In this example video I use A Dorian for my inside playing and A Wholetone and A diminshed for my outside playing. I've included the scales for your convenience too. I also sneaked in an A# diminished line at the end.

Media Length: 1:34

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Instructor: Tom Quayle Level: Advanced Topic: Improvising Style: Fusion

Excerpt: The final method we'll use for playing out relies on the following idea, "Anything will work if you play it fast enough!" This may sound like a bit of a cop out but in fact it's a very effective method for creating tension and release. There are a few ways you can approach this. Here's a few ideas, 1. Play random scales without outlining any particular ha...

Media Length: 2:21

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Instructor: Tom Quayle Level: Crazy! Topic: Improvising Style: Fusion

Excerpt: Haha! This isn't my best playing ever but presents some interesting ideas about just how out you can go when you're shredding. I think this is an idea you should use sparingly if possible - it gets a bit much as in this video! However, as a tension and release device it's second to none. Just find a sonic shape or chromatic line and play fast and furious seq...

Media Length: 2:09

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Instructor: Tom Quayle Level: Advanced Topic: Improvising Style: Fusion

Excerpt: Here's the backing track outlining an Am7 chord throughout. The 4th bar has a drum fill in and this is the one you want to use primarily for your outside playing! Good luck and remember to concentrate on your phrasing and just go for it! See you next month

Media Length: 3:02