Playing “outside the changes”To illuminate techniques of “outside” playing, an excerpt of Herbie Hancock’ssolo on the standard tune There is No Greater Love will show its application within thecontext of a standard AABA song form. This performance from a live recordingdemonstrates Hancock’s skill at moving from “inside” to “outside” and back again withinthe space of three choruses.

Chapter 26 provides an analysis of Lennie Tristano’s “Line Up.” Based on this analysis,specific elements of his style of improvisation are codified

Playing OutsideAlong with rhythmic displacement, playing outside of the underlying tonality is anotherhallmark feature of Tristano’s style of improvisation and results in his highly originalapproach to chromaticism. In “Line Up,” the use of chromaticism is pervasive, yet themanner in which Tristano controls it deserves attention. Just like his use of rhythmicdisplacements, Tristano’s use of chromaticism is elegant and logical. When his linestemporarily leave the underlying tonal area and venture into a chromatic space, they retainstrong melodic and harmonic identities and remain inside of the outside key areas. Figure26.3 compares two phrases from mm. 25–27 and 63–68.“LINE UP” 395