Introduction
Targeting and Passing Notes are a great improvisation technique when wanting to build and resolve tension quickly.
Passing Notes
Passing notes are literally just that – notes that you pass through on your way to more important notes. They are generally played quickly.
We learned in a previous lesson that the strongest sounding notes are the chord tones. For example, playing C, E, G or B over a CMaj7 chord will sound very harmonically strong. So a passing note can be thought of as any other note(s) that you play on your way to a chord tone. They can be inside the scale (say the note ‘D’ in the above example) or outside the scale (say the note D♭ in the above example). They can be used to briefly create some tension and then quickly resolve back into the scale or chord (to a Guide Tone or Chord Tone or a Melody Note).
Because passing notes are generally played quickly (and are therefore relatively unimportant), they are allowed to be Avoid Notes.
Passing notes:
- Are notes you pass through quickly and are not important to the harmony of your improvisation/melody line (similar idea to Passing Chord)
- Can be diatonic or chromatic (1 tone or 1 semitone from the target note)
- Can ascend or descend
- Can be one note or multiple notes
Target Notes
Targeting is the opposite of passing notes. It is the specific note you want to play (i.e. target). Target notes should generally be a Chord Tone (especially a Guide Tone), an Available Tension or a Melody Note. You play through passing notes to get to your target note. If passing notes are the journey, then your target note is the destination.
Below is an example of a simple phrase in C Major.
- The notes highlighted blue are chord tones, and are therefore being targeted
- The notes circled red are the passing notes
- Notice that the passing noted are:
- Both diatonic (in the C Major Scale) and chromatic (outside the C Major Scale)
- Both ascend and descend to a target note
- Can be single notes or multiple notes
- Are generally shorter in duration than the target notes.
Conclusion
An improvisation always sounds stronger if it finishes on a harmonically strong note (a chord tone). But it can sound boring if you don’t create a bit of tension by playing outside notes. Playing chromatic passing notes on your way to a target guide tone is an easy way to create a strong sounding solo. Keep this in mind.
