theory behind chromatic riffs anyone?

ok... I've been learning to play "hey joe" (all of it, rythem, solo, and little riffs)... What i dont understand is the chromatic riff in there... It used notes in the key, yet sounds very cool... and it uses all 12 notes... this isn't exact, but it's something like this

A-3--------2-3-4-5---------4-5-6-7---
E--0-1-2-3---------3-4-5-6-----------

and then there's a turn around... but that's not what I'm intrested in...
Is there any theory I could learn about these type of riffs? (i mean even nirvana use a chromatic riff... on Anyrisum).. Or am I now entering the world of Jazz?:)
help would be much appreciated... cos i think little riffs like the above are very cool...

he's playin in the key of G...the chords is the
relative minor: Em ...he plays IV I V II ( without the
third) then vi....the vi is the Em in the key of G.
the chromatic walk simply lets the bluesy one 3 4 flat 5 introduce each of the next chords....the flat 5th of each is the maj7 of the next ...ya see ?

i neva knew that!! i have been playing that riff for years but neva understood the theory behind it. thanx river!!

sorry river.... I dont understand... in major key, there are no 3 notes in sucsession (eg, fret 8,9,10 on the same string)... so how come that works?
I'm still in the early stages of music theory here :)
Some one told me it's called a "secret" chord change, which Stevie Ray Vaunaugahl;hdf;lksdflka (what ever his name is ) uses them... and basically start playing notes from one chord, and then take them out, and play ones from the next chord, and you get a chromatic sequence type thing... but i dont get it... all the chords in Gmaj, can only be made of G,A,B,C,D,E,F#... and in that riff he throws in other notes... that's the part i have trouble with

[Edited by educatedfilm on 03-04-2002 at 06:05 PM]

well,when yer playin blues, the 2, flat 3 and maj3
the 4 play if yer tasteful. the flat third is the
'identifying' characteristic of all the oldest blues.
the flat 5,5, and 6th is deeper blues...if yer
careful ya can flavor it with the flat 7, maj 7, then
octave, which is essentially wut hendrix did in that
tune. check out ...
---------------------
----------------------
---------------------
-----2---3---4-2----1-----
--3--------------3----3
-------------------
this is C ....blues...ya got yer flat 5th( F
and yer flat 3rd ( Eb) ya see? blues likes to
play with the 3rd..flatten it ...even HALF flatten
it ( stretch the 2nd halfway to the flat third)
same with the 5th..flat it...play the 5th sharp
and ya get another flavor....
if yer only playin the notes in the key its bland.
by playin around tastefully ya get to break the rules
with a big smile : )

aw dammit.gonna have to start readin wut i write before
i submit it....the flat 5th is the F#.thought id typed
it that way but .......

ooooooooh... I'm beging to understand...
sorry i was looking at it as if it were a normal key type thing... sorry, I know about flattened 5th and 6th... not 3rd though (which would explain why MY blues sound, sounds odd)...
ah, right, so basically it's yer noraml key type thing, but with added flattened 5ths (3rds, 6th etc)... oh *slaps forehead*, how could i miss it... espeicailly with an Em jobbie...
THANK YOU :)
(i was worried it was some Jazz trick... ah, jazz, something i dont feel ready for yet...)

i'll give ya somethin to think bout...
-------0-1-2--3-4-5-----------------------------
-3-4-5-1---------------------------------------
-4-----0----------5---------------------------
-5-----2----------4---------------------------
-------3------2---5----------------------------
--------------3----------------------------
G 6 b7 G D7/9
#5 C 7 b9
the numbers represent their place in the key o G
ya can see im walkin between the NATURAL notes
in the key . just playin I IV V , and doin a
chromatic run from the 5th ( D, 3rd fret 2nd string )
up to the A( 5th fret 1st string) which is the dominant
dominant ( 5th of the 5th ) which makes it wanna go
back to G again . ya see ? its D, D#, E,F,F#,G,G#, A ?
aint blues a blast ? : )

hmmm. I get kinda what your saying... but that tab hasn't come too well... but, yeah I'm impressed :)... very very cool, I just need to understand it properly...
When you say dominant of the dominant that would be *thinks* um...
G A B C D E F#
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
So the dominant tria would be... D, F#, A... The dominant of that would be A.. ok..
and it your playing i, iv, v, then that would be G, C, D... and A... ok i get that part... and flattend fifth (C#)?, flattened 6ths (D#) :), flattened 7th (F) :).. but what about the G#? ...sorry about this... I'm still pretty new to music theory..
thanks for yer help..
"im walkin between the NATURAL notes
in the key" ?????????????? I get the flattened 5th etc, is THAT what your doing?

"which makes it wanna go
back to G again ." How? and why? ok... G, B, D, then D, F#, A... shouldn't it then be, A, C, E... i thought you were taking the fifth of the last chord, and then using it as a root, and then taking the 5th of that chord, and making it a root?... Basically take a chord, make it's 5th the root of the next chord, is that what your doing?

well, actually, sorry bout the bad tab.i played a
G chord, letting the 5th ( D, 2nd string 3rd fret)
start the chromatic run. i 'tweened' a D# before the
E note and stuttered that E in a C a chord. F, F#
introduced the G chord and i kept goin up with G# to
introduce the A included in a D7/9 chord, D being the
dominant to the G, which resolves the phrase if ya
choose to , or , since its a 9 i coulda kept goin because
it aint like a 7 chord which practically demands resolution.
i chose to stop there . coulda done a A# note to introduce
a G chord , with the third (B) ending the note run. or on
further, its a taste thing.
and the dominant dominant thing is...well,ya can
substitute the 5th 5th for the 5th. just strummin sounds
kindo beethovenish but pluckin round ya can get cool
flavors. and hey! ya ask good questions. : )

Jimi connects the 3rd to the 5th of each chord chromatically.
C chord EFF#G
G chord BCC#D
D chord F#GG#A
A chord C#DD#E
the 2 most impotant notes the ear percieves is the ist note and last note of the phrase. The chromatics in between are known as approach tones that resolve to the chord tone, which is why the line doesn't sound "out" to us. Check out some James Brown bass lines for a good example of this.

yeah chris , he's goin 5th to 5th. and yeah the 3rd
thing, all the old rock and roll seemed to not be able
to play without 1 3 5 bass lines.but to simply dismiss
the 'tweens' as 'intros' would not have anwerered the
man's question i think.sometimes more is less; sometimes
less is more. i was answerin in a way i thought would be
easy to see...you answered in a way a person who
understands would follow. if he understood he wouldnt have
asked? : )

Thanks guys,
I get what he's doing (By playing 3to 5th chormatically).. but my question is..
He uses (In order of lowest to highest):
E, F, F#, G, G#, A, A#, B, C, C#, D, D#, E... THAT'S ALL 12!!!!.
and I dont get where he got G, D#... and how he uses them without creating a clash... or nasty sound...
So if i play the notes in the chords of the same key will they not clash? (i'm off to try this :) lol)..
I know funk players use chromatic riffs, but i've not heard one where they use all 12 notes...
thanks you've been a great help :)

"the 2 most impotant notes the ear percieves is the ist note and last note of the phrase. The chromatics in between are known as approach tones that resolve to the chord tone, which is why the line doesn't sound "out" to us."

OOOOOOOH. I UNDERSTAND!!!!!!! :D :D :D

Good Grief!