Stepping Out (Harmonic "Outside Playing" Concepts) - minor chords + backing track

Stepping Out (Harmonic "Outside Playing" Concepts) - minor chords

In this short study I present to you a harmonic concept I like using very often when trying to “step outside” while playing over minor sonorities, vamps and modal sections of tunes.

The concept consists of taking a minor chord (fully extended) and breaking it down into the 3 basic minor sonorities within its structure. My personal preference for minor chords is the Dorian sound and so here I am presenting the ideas and techniques applied in that manner but you can choose your favorite minor hues and colorations and approach them in the same fashion.

Once I break down the original chord into its three primary minor colors then I can tonicize each one of the resulting chords with its own ii-7(b5) and V7alt.

As all three tonicized minor chords are really the same harmony, each one of their preceding ii and V chords can serve as a vehicle to push us towards a resolution into the original sonority with a different degree of dissonance and outside tension.

Materials Included:

PDF of "Stepping Out" Harmonic Study  (TAB and Standard Notation).

Backing Track: Gmin9 (Dorian).

For more info please e-mail: hristo@hristovitchev.com