NOODLING LIKE KEITH
===================

A Tutorial Essay by Ken Taylor

There are a number of approaches to use to get right inside the music of Keith Emerson or, for that matter, ANY musician you enjoy listening to and want to play like. Getting hold of some sheet music is an obvious approach but, as many of you know, this is not necessarily easily available. In any case I highly recommend transcribing at least bits and pieces even if you have sheet music as this is the surest method to build your skills as a musician. Another approach, and one which I also highly recommend, is the subject of this essay. It's the taking of ONE idea used by Keith (or whoever) and using it as the basis of a practice session. Keith calls this type of practice "noodling" and it's an approach to learning music which all the great players incorporate into their practice schedules. "Experimenting" would be another way of describing what I'm about to talk you through.

For this particular "experiment" I'm going to concentrate on one thing: a scale often used by Keith. It's an 8-note scale known by various names depending on who you talk to about music theory. For the purposes of playing with it it's not really important what you call it just as you recognize its form of steps and half steps. From the note C the scale looks like this:

[Ex: 1]

C Db D# E F# G A Bb

There are a number of interesting things about this scale. For starters note the interval pattern of steps and half steps:

C (half) Db (full) D# (half) E (full) F# (half) G (full) A (half) Bb (full) C etc.

The second most important thing to note about this scale is the fact there are only THREE possible variations of it that can be played before it starts repeating itself - the two others being from Db as in:

[Ex: 2]

Db D E F G G# A# B

and from D as in:

[Ex: 3]

D D# F F# G# A B C#

If I start from D# (Eb) I'm back where I started in the first example.

Another way to conceptualize the scale is to think of it as being "symmetrical". In other words it divides the octave (12 half-step intervals) into a pattern of identical sized intervals - in this case, 4 minor third intervals:

[Ex: 4]

C D# F# A

If you look at the notes ommitted you'll see they form another diminished chord which interlocks with the first:

[Ex: 5]

C# E G Bb

Both these diminished chords are important for another reason which gives a clue as to their function and that of the scale from which they were derived. Using the note C as a root note of a chord, the diminished chord in Ex:5 becomes the chord C7b9. The same four notes also yield three other b9 chords - Eb7b9, F#7b9 and A7b9. The fours notes of the diminished chord in Ex:4 yield four more different b9 chords. In all, this one scale contains the harmonic information for 8 out of a possible twelve b9 chords.

If we go back and look at our original scale example:

C Db D# E F# G A Bb

you will notice it contains all the harmonic information not only for C7b9 but for C7#9 also. From the root note:

[Ex: 6]

C E G Bb D#

The same multiplicity applies here as it did above for the b9 chords. In other words that one scale contains within it all the building blocks for 16 Dominant seventh chords. What this means is the scale is incredibly versatile.

For the purposes of performance the note G can be dropped and the resulting chord (sometimes called "the Gershwin 9th") is one you'll begin to recognize often when you listen to Keith Emerson.

The accompanying midi file (Tarkuz01.mid) was composed using nothing more than the scale notes in Ex:1 and three #9 chords - C7#9, Eb7#9 and A7#9.

ANALYSIS OF "TARKUZ"
====================

(1) In composing the tune I used the rhythmic accents of ELP's original Tarkus which breaks up the 5/4 time bars of 10 eight notes into 4+3+3 for the foundation of the piano comping (which is heard unaccompanied in the introduction)

(2) When the bass enters it outlines the scale in 8th notes alternating one bar of:

C Db D# E F# G A Bb Dd C

and from the #9 back down to the root:

D# Db C Bb A G F# E D# Db

(3) The organ melody begins by playing a statement of ELP's original Tarkus/Eruption melody. It's been altered slightly to conform modally with the scale source played by the bass.

(4) There's then a short improvisation constructed using nothing but notes pulled from the scale source. The really great thing about this scale (and this type of improvisation) is it doesn't matter which notes from the scale you play or which order you play them in - they ALL work harmonically against the scale/riff being played in the bass and the comping played with the left hand on the piano. From a practice and performance point of view, by knowing what notes are going to work leaves the mind free to concentrate on rhythmic elements to impose on the improvised melody.

(5) After the improvisation comes a short quote from another 5/4 riff (Mission Impossible) played in the bass - the melody altered slightly to conform to the scale source. The organ picks up with a variation of the scale the bass has been playing before the next section.

(6) In this section the organ melody plays a riff based very closely on the original Tarkus/Eruption riff. It's been modally altered to conform to the scale source and it essentially outlines two major triads and a diminished chord (C major, F# major and Eb diminished). The two major triads in this case, a tri-tone apart (C - F#) is vaguely reminiscent of the end of "The Endless Enigma Part 2". You'll find the use of "quoting" like this to be an important ingredient in giving your improvisations reference points which in turn give an overall sense of continuity to your improvisations.

(7) The tune ends with a return to the opening comping riff played by the piano, this time joined by the organ emphasizing the C7#9 chord.

SUMMARY
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This scale is incredibly versatile and, because of the way it combines with so many Dominant 7th chords and accentuates the "color tones" (the b9th and the #9th as well as the #4/b5) you'll find it has a lot of musical uses. In this particular case I got a bit carried away with composing/improvising more of a tune than an exercise but I hope you will see by its construction how you can apply the same principles and invent your own exercises from it. Most importantly, here's a couple of the main things to "experiment" with:

1. Create a simple bass pattern using nothing but notes from the scale. It could be as simple as an alternating root - 5th (C to G) with a "country rock" beat and nothing but a C major triad comping. But once you overlay a melody based on this scale you'll instantly sound "interesting".

2. With this simple accompaniment as backing, work on short fragments of melodic ideas using a small number of notes from the scale. You might try incorporating a phrase from a tune you know well - a nursery rhyme tune even - and alter the notes as necessary to conform to the scale source. By using existing melodic ideas like this your mind will be free to concentrate on making the necessary alterations to force the idea to fit the scale. You also won't have to think too hard about the rhythmic construction of the phrase if you begin by using something you already know well.

3. Each time you play an idea you like, play it again and again until it falls easily under your fingers. Once you're really happy with it, try changing the bass/comping (again using nothing but scale source notes) and hear how your phrase works with it.

4. Try running two melodic ideas together either back to back or linked by a short statement of the scale.

5. Recreate your bass/comping using more advanced rhythmic ideas such as syncopation and then play along to it using one or two simple phrases you've constructed from the scale source.

Finally, you can never spend too much time practicing this way. You'll be amazed at how quickly the time flies as you experiment with little ideas like this and how quickly your playing and harmonic understanding advances. Happy noodling!