ENCLOSED (Melodic Enclosure Ideas for the Modern Jazz Guitarist) + backing track

ENCLOSED (Melodic Enclosure Ideas for the Modern Jazz Guitarist)

The most basic explanation of an “enclosure” is the insertion of the surrounding pitches (above and below) of a selected note before the note is sounded. The relationship of these surrounding notes to the target note can be diatonic, chromatic or both. In some of the classic melodic vocabulary of the be-bop era this process was applied often on the chord tones of the various harmonic structures that were commonly used in tunes but the same process can be applied to any melodic fragment, scale, etc.

The order of the surrounding notes can also be changed. You can start with a pitch above the target note, then a pitch below the target note and then resolve to the target note. Vice-versa, you can start with a pitch located below your target note, then follow with a pitch above the selected note and finally descend to your target pitch.

Another way to use enclosures is to surround a “non-diatonic” note with pitches that are diatonic (fit within the harmony or scale system at play).

I call this type of melodic ornamentation “Negative Enclosures” as it shifts the focus of the melodic cadence from the inside/consonant character of the harmony or scale to its outside/dissonant side.

The “Negative Enclosures” are a great tool that can be used to create a more modern “outside” sound even when playing over basic major and minor sonorities.

In the following pages I present some of my vary favorite enclosure ideas and concepts over the entire range of the fretboard.

In this volume I am concentrating on the major scale (key of G major) as my melodic reference point but keep in mind the same concepts and ideas can be applied to any scalar system.

For more info please e-mail: hristo@hristovitchev.com