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In our first installment of Think Outside The Box, We looked at adding additional chords to keys to give us more options. In this article we are going to be using multiple keys in one song (sometimes even one riff!) to give a more interesting sound.

What is Pitch Axis

The concept of pitch axis is using multiple keys or modes that all share the same root note. This means that if we were playing in the key of A minor, we could switch to A Major, A Dorian, A Phrygian, etc. You can hear an example of this Joe Satriani’s song Not of This Earth, which has a chord progression of Emaj13 - Em7#5 - Emaj17 - E7sus4. His playing goes through the keys of E Lydian, E Minor, back to E Lydian, then E Mixolydian.

Pitch Axis and Songwriting

A common method of using the pitch axis is to use different keys in different parts of the song. The most common way of doing this is to the have the verses be in a major key, and the choruses in a minor key. Another good application is to have all of the song except for one section be a certain key, and then have one standout section such as a solo or bridge.

Using Pitch Axis in Soloing

When soloing over chords, you can use some pitch axis in your playing even if the other musicians are not. This is best when you are playing over a one chord vamp. If you are playing over a Gm chord for example, you could start throwing in some licks from G Dorian and G Phrygian. If you wanted to make it really interesting, you could also use some non-diatonic scales, such as G harmonic minor and G melodic minor.

So, what are some of your favorite songs that use pitch axis? Did you find this article helpful? What would you like to see in future Think Outside The Box Features?