hlady, craig - octave displacement (gp jul 99)

Guitar Player Online - Archives file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Owner/My%20Documents/mu... 1 of 2 3/31/2007 2:12 PM >> ARCHIVES Octave Displacement By Craig Hlady Sessions From Guitar Player, July '99 You can breathe new life into your solos by using a simple technique called octave displacement. Move any note in a phrase up or down an octave or two, and you'll immediately add an element of surprise to your lines. Eric Johnson, John Scofield, Pat Martino, and Jim Hall all use this technique to create wide intervals in their solos. Let's start with a humble C major scale (Ex. 1). Contrast the first two bars with bars 3 and 4, and then bars 5 and 6. Amazing! Using octave displacement, you can turn the world's most boring scale into something resembling music. Generally, you only need to displace two or three notes in a phrase to create melodic interest. For instance, Ex. 2a is a common major scale sequence. Ex. 2b illustrates how you can transform it into something fresh using only three displacements. Octave displacement also works well on licks we all know and love. Take an A minor-pentatonic scale in the fifth position (Ex. 3a). Though not exciting played as a scale, the notes takes on a whole different flavor with some octave displacement (Ex. 3b). You've heard Jimmy Page and countless others play Ex. 4a to death. Add some octave displacement to these A minor-pentatonic triplets, you'll have a new lick (Ex. 4b). Take this one step further: Alter the rhythmic placement and phrasing by changing the triplets to sixteenth-notes (Ex. 4c). Displacing notes within arpeggios is another effective way to generate melodic interest. Ex. 5a shows a series of arpeggiated triads: G, C, F, B , E , A , F, B . Sounds like an exercise, right? Try Ex. 5b. Thanks to displacement, the passage now sounds musical. A double payoff. Octave displacement will open your ears to wider interval jumps. Displaced lines also make great technical studies that will improve your string-skipping chops and enhance your ability to recognize notes on the fretboard.

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Page 1: Hlady, Craig - Octave Displacement (Gp Jul 99)

Guitar Player Online - Archives file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Owner/My%20Documents/mu...

1 of 2 3/31/2007 2:12 PM

>> ARCHIVES

Octave DisplacementBy Craig Hlady

Sessions From Guitar Player, July '99

You can breathe new life into your solos by using a simple technique called octave displacement. Moveany note in a phrase up or down an octave or two,and you'll immediately add an element of surprise toyour lines. Eric Johnson, John Scofield, Pat Martino, and Jim Hall all use this technique tocreate wide intervals in their solos.

Let's start with a humble C major scale (Ex. 1). Contrast the firsttwo bars with bars 3 and 4, and then bars 5 and 6. Amazing! Usingoctave displacement, you can turn the world's most boring scaleinto something resembling music.

Generally, you only need to displace two or three notes in a phrase to create melodic interest. For instance, Ex. 2a is a common major scale sequence. Ex. 2b illustrates how you can transform it into something fresh using only three displacements.

Octave displacement also works well on licks we all know and love. Take an A minor-pentatonic scale in the fifth position (Ex. 3a). Though not exciting played as a scale, the notes takes on a whole different flavor with some octave displacement (Ex. 3b).

You've heard Jimmy Page and countless others play Ex. 4a to death. Add some octave displacement to these A minor-pentatonic triplets, you'll have a new lick (Ex. 4b). Take this one step further: Alter the rhythmic placement and phrasing by changing the triplets to sixteenth-notes (Ex. 4c).

Displacing notes within arpeggios is another effective way to generate melodic interest. Ex. 5a shows a series of arpeggiated triads: G, C, F, B , E , A , F, B . Sounds like an exercise, right? Try Ex. 5b. Thanks to displacement, the passage now sounds musical.

A double payoff. Octave displacement will open your ears to widerinterval jumps. Displaced lines also make great technical studiesthat will improve your string-skipping chops and enhance yourability to recognize notes on the fretboard.