View post (Chromatic madness)

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noticingthemistake
Crime Fighter
Joined: 08/04/02
Posts: 1,518
noticingthemistake
Crime Fighter
Joined: 08/04/02
Posts: 1,518
01/19/2004 2:51 pm
Yeah I agree chromatics should not be used as a defining scale in a solo. But they are nice over a pedal or drone carefully placed and not overrly placed. Melodically, they should be carefully used not to create an unkempt passage. The fault here is playing them insistantly linear, the 12 tone system is a great way to use chromatics melodically or even harmonically if properly understood.

A tip, when writting a linear chromatic passage, try not to go in one direction for too long. It's boring. Ex. play 5 notes down, then go up. Zig-zag chromatic (not always a semi-tone either) patterns can be very lively, think flight of the bumblebee. I'm sure petrucci said something similar.

[Edited by noticingthemistake on 01-20-2004 at 04:26 AM]
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