Workshop 62 — Harmonic Side-Slipping: Chromatic Planing, Approach Chords, Outside Playing, Semitone Detours, and Returning Home Without Sounding Random
Workshop 61 gave us a controlled way to create sophisticated tension through melodic minor.
Now we move to something more dangerous.
Not:
“Which scale fits this chord?”
but:
“What if I deliberately leave the chord for a moment?”
This is the territory of:
- side-slipping
- chromatic planing
- approach chords
- outside playing
- semitone displacement
- temporary tonal detours
- chromatic parallelism
- tension created by leaving the harmonic frame and returning
This can sound wonderfully modern.
It can also sound like random wrong notes.
The difference is almost entirely in:
- clarity of the original idea
- duration of the departure
- strength of the return
- rhythmic conviction
- voice leading
The central lesson is:
Going outside only sounds intentional when the listener can still hear what you went outside from and where you came back to.
62.1Start completely insideUse a Cm9 vamp.62.2Why establish “inside” first?Because outside playing is relational.62.3Level 1 — one chromatic approach noteTarget:62.4AnotherTarget:62.5First distinctionone outside note points directly toward a target.62.6Level 2 — whole motif displaced by semitoneCreate a tiny inside motif:62.7Do not analyze every outside note individuallyThe middle phrase works because the whole motif shifted.62.8This is side-slippingTake material that belongs to the current harmonic environment.62.9Level 3 — two-beat side-slipOver Cm:62.10The return is the pointSide-slipping is not primarily about:62.11Level 4 — slip downwardInside motif:62.12Upward often feels like pressureA semitone-above displacement can feel:62.13Level 5 — rhythmic identity must remainUse the same rhythm when you side-slip.62.14This is our invariant/variable principle againInvariant:62.15Level 6 — one-beat slipShorter.62.16Level 7 — one-eighth-note side-slipEven shorter.62.17Duration spectrumVery short:62.18Level 8 — chordal side-slipNow do the same with harmony.62.19Better physical drillTake any comfortable three-note voicing.62.20This is chromatic planingThe voicing moves as a unit.62.21Level 9 — do not resolve every voice conventionallyIn functional harmony, we often track:62.22Style determines acceptable motionClassical counterpoint might object to parallel intervals.62.23Level 10 — approach a chord from aboveSuppose target:62.24Approach from belowDo the opposite.62.25Level 11 — entire progression side-slipNow take a two-chord loop:62.26Why this worksThe relationship between the chords stays the same.62.27Do this slowlyTwo bars inside.62.28Level 12 — outside melody over unchanged harmonyKeep Cm9 accompaniment completely fixed.62.29This is riskier than chordal planingWhy?62.30Level 13 — outside phrase as quotation of itselfPlay phrase:62.31Outside playing should usually preserve somethingPossible anchors:62.32Level 14 — side-slip only the endingPlay an inside phrase.62.33Level 15 — side-slip as question/answerCall:62.34Level 16 — sequence versus side-slipCompare:62.35Level 17 — side-slip by whole toneSemitone is most characteristic.62.36More distance = more riskHalf-step: strong chromatic tension.62.37Level 18 — tritone displacementTake:62.38Why tritone can workBecause the motif identity remains.62.39Level 19 — side-slip over dominantNow use:62.40Be carefulG7alt already supports:62.41Level 20 — outside over majorUse:62.42Major context makes chromatic departure obviousBecause the inside harmony is bright and stable.62.43Level 21 — side-slip into bluesOn C major:62.44Example conceptInside:62.45Level 22 — planed dominant chord approachTarget:62.46The same sonority can have multiple explanationsD♭7→C may be heard as:62.47Level 23 — approach every chord from semitone aboveProgression:62.48Then reduceUse approach slide only before:62.49Level 24 — chromatic mediant detourNow a longer form of “outside.”62.50Common-tone logic helpsC major:62.51Level 25 — use common tone to make outside harmony believableCmaj7.62.52Outside harmony with an anchor is easier to hearAnchor can be:62.53Level 26 — pedal bass with chromatic upper triadsKeep C bass.62.54Hear E major/CE-G♯-B over C.62.55Level 27 — rhythmic placement determines acceptabilityTake a highly dissonant outside voicing.62.56This is crucialAn outside note on:62.57Level 28 — outside on weak beat, inside on strong beatClassic safe strategy:62.58Reverse it deliberatelyOutside note on beat 1.62.59Level 29 — outside phrase crossing barlineBegin side-slip on:62.60Level 30 — keep LH completely calmWhile RH goes outside:62.61Complexity budget againOutside harmony already consumes listener attention.62.62Level 31 — microtiming + side-slipNow combine with Workshop 59.62.63But keep the side-slip rhythmically precise“Outside” plus “laid-back” does not mean sloppy.62.64Level 32 — quartal side-slipRH:62.65Level 33 — triadic side-slipRH:62.66Compare quartal versus triadic side-slipQuartal: more ambiguous/modern.62.67Level 34 — bass side-slip, RH stays fixedReverse everything.62.68AnalyzeOver C:62.69Level 35 — semitone bass detourIn a bass line:62.70Level 36 — side-slip as climaxEstablish a motif for many bars.62.71Example architectureMotif in C.62.72This resembles modulation—but isn't necessarily oneIf each level lasts briefly and tonal home remains psychologically C:62.73Level 37 — one-bar outside ceilingFor now, adopt a rule:62.74Level 38 — 80/20 improvisationTry a chorus where:62.75If everything is outside......nothing sounds outside.62.76Practice Loop A — one-note approachesTarget:62.77Practice Loop B — one motif up a semitoneInside motif.62.78Practice Loop C — down semitoneSame exercise downward.62.79Practice Loop D — chord planingC pedal.62.80Practice Loop E — RH fixed, bass shiftsHold one RH voicing.62.81Practice Loop F — side-slip only on 4&Every fourth bar:62.82Practice Loop G — recording testRecord two versions:62.83Improvisation Challenge 1 — three inside notesUse only:62.84Challenge 2 — one side-slip per eight barsEight-bar Cm vamp.62.85Challenge 3 — outside but same rhythmWrite a four-beat rhythm.62.86Challenge 4 — stable top noteHigh G remains.62.87Challenge 5 — outside downbeatPlace a clearly outside voicing on beat 1.62.88Challenge 6 — double side-slipMotif:62.89Ear Drill — approach or structural chord?Play D♭7→C very quickly.62.90Ear Drill — same motif or random notes?Have someone—or your own recording—play:62.91Ear Drill — anchor detectionListen to side-slipping while:62.92Ear Drill — semitone directionCompare motif shifted:62.93Mini-composition exerciseWrite 24 bars around Cm9.62.94Apply it to “Happy Birthday”Keep the basic melody clear.62.95Apply it to “Mack the Knife”This is excellent during an improvisational chorus.62.96Apply it to “The Bare Necessities”Use it more comically.62.97The larger lesson from Workshops 59–62We now have several different forms of freedom:62.98The general rule of advanced playingThe farther one musical layer travels,•Workshop 62 mini-test1. What is side-slipping?
← PreviousWorkshop 61 — Melodic Minor as a Practical Color System: Altered Dominants, Lydian Dominant, Minor-Major Harmony, Locrian ♮2, and Choosing Tension by DestinationNext →Workshop 63 — Triad Pairs and Upper-Structure Improvisation: Getting Modern Jazz Color Without Thinking in Seven-Note Scales