eldeni

and notice.. the reason why most people would add a #9 to G7 is because the following chord is Cm which could have that Bb... but, that's not what we're doing here.. we're looking at the whole.. the phrase... otherwise, we could have used G7 resolving to Cm with a major 7th (harmonic minor scale)... instead we look at the big picture and see clearly there's a Bb that fits in at least half of the chord progression.

alright, we're going to start with some basic important harmonic studies until we reach a point where we might call it complicated.. lord sorasen, i don't know how familiar you are with jazz, since i haven't met you in person and jazz is one of those languages in which you can only judge by jamming with the other person.. i would like to start with basic diatonic knowledge and take it from there.. we'll take a chord progression: C maj, Em Dm G, Cm F, Bb Maj, Dm, Cm F, Bb first of all... we modulated to the key of Bb, and we used Dm in the key of C and the key of Bb because, based on harmonic structure, the chord belongs to both keys.. (pivot chords or however you learned it in college) but the catch for us, composers and performers, is to make music out of it.. so, if we start writing a motif, or pattern, or scale, or whatever passing tool, we'll come to a point in which the chords are no longer major or minor but seventh, ninth, etc.. these are called "extended chords"... at least in the jazz world.. so the same progression with 7th's and 9th's could look more like this: C maj7, Em7 Dm7 G7#9, Cm7 F7, Bb Maj7, Dm(b9), Cm7 F7, Bb Maj7 why did we add a #9 to G?.. well, it's optional, it could have been just a G7, but i added that #9, cause i knew we were going to the key of Bb.. so i wanted to imply that the Bb was coming.. but how can we do it?, randomly?, nope.. as soon as I saw the C minor, it was the best chance for me to make emphasis of the Bb that is the 7th degree of C minor in which in this case is working as the dorian mode of Bb.. or second mode.. however you want to call it.. so, adding a #9 to the dominant chord is allowed.. but it's up to the composer if he/she wants to tell the listener that the piece is about to modulate.. that is what we call in music "COLOR".. sometimes we can even imply we're going to a key but we don't resolve the chords, or we don't go where the ear wants us to.. but we'll cover that later.. notice i also used Dm7 in the key of C (which would have had a 9th if we stay in C) but i then used it as a Dm7 (b9)... and i did that to imply that since we are now in the key of Bb, that D minor is the phrygian mode (or 3rd degree) of the scale.... as I said.. is up to the composer... music is abstract anyways, right? :whistling: so, you can see where we're going.. assignment for you is.. write down a chord progression of a tune you like (could be jazz, rock, pop, or whatever you like).. try to choose something tonal or diatonic.. don't bring in Schoenberg cause i will not come back to this forum anymore :toothygrin: once you have chosen a "SHORT" chord progression.. write down a melody using quarter and/or 8th notes... and over each note, justify what function implies in the chord.. for example, you could write the notes, if in the key of C, for the chord G = G, B, D, F, A, C, and their function would be 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11 let me know if this is too confusing or too easy, or too complicated... otherwise, i expect the lesson soon :thumbsup:

nino, let me know how are things for you

Parallel Chords... This lesson is focused on chords that are the same letter but different function over a tonal center... we see this in all types of music... it was a common thing to end a minor piece with a major chord even in Baroque times... but, in jazz, we use parallel chords in a way that it is also a shadow.. the chord is not really there let's say C maj7 (key of C major)... goes to Dm7 and G7 in the old fashioned II-V7-I progression, but... people often think in the key of C# as a neapolitan chord or b2nd degree... what happens with this is that We find a temporary progression, even if we dont resolve to the chord so.. If you are improvising, and the chord progresion is Dm7, G7, then simply think D#m6, G#7b9 Notice that te tensions change a little.. why is this?, simply because almost all the notes of that D#m are going to collide with Dm7, and the extended tones such as 6, 7, 9, 11, 13 should be closer to the key because your root chords 1, 3rd, 5th are already "outside"... it's just the opposite.. you know how in jazz if we see a chord Dm to G7 we add tensions to the EXTENSIONS?, so instead of Dm we play Dm9#11, G7b9#5... well, for chromatic harmony (which is most of the times embelished over a imaginary parallel chord) think the opposite.. add tension to the triad (which already is tensed) and keep the extensions (7, 9, 11, 13) in the key... is tricky anyways.. for this lesson i want you to take a blues progression (which ever you want) and write down chromatic lines, not only the chords but lines, phrases.. i want to see how you make the melody flow with the lines focus on resolutions, counterpoint, harmony, melody, and everything we have talked in previous lessons.. i will be waiting.. :thumbsup: oh, and write like 2 or 3 chorus.. not too long cause I want you to develop ideas as fast as you can...

nino, this is a really nice phrase sequence.. :thumbsup: i really like the movement of the lines and how you keep them close, it is almost like counterpoint... I have no problems with anything.. im just going to point out that you have some kind of parallel 4ths between the second beat of the 3rd measure, and the first beat of the 4th measure... if it was intentional then its ok.. remember, in jazz there are no "rules"... in classical music this would be a little rare... but we are doing jazz.. at the A7 sus, you never added a G in the whole phrase which could have given a little more tension, specially if you have a sus resolving to the third, is the perfect moment to add some more tension and resolve the next bar.. the thing with dominant chords is that you really want them to create tension... we will talk in the next lesson about this... how important dominant chords are and how they can trick the human ear... great job!... and yes... the question you asked, you also answered yourself. ;)

i hope this is a joke... i mean, why would soundclick buy an orchestral composing site?, ;)

next lesson is about harmonic analysis of a Song form: for this we have to make sure we know how to deal with modulation and/or secondary dominants, parallel harmonization.. a quick overview: Secondary Dominants: Dominant chords (that means a major triad with a b7) usually resolve to the tonic key... for example G7 resolves to C major "most of the times"... It is also very common that it could resolve to C minor (being a harmonic or melodic scale)... how do we know if a G chord is major or minor in the key of C? well... if it is G major that means it would have B natural... therefor.. in the key of C harmonic minor or melodic minor we have a B natural... So.. G7 could resolve either way to C major or minor... GREAT! Secondary Dominants: Secondary Dominants are Dominant chords (major triad with b7) that resolve either to major or minor chords.. BUT, they don't belong to the original key.. they are only a "transition" for leading into a chord function... for example: in the key of C major... we are hanging out in the key, playing a bunch of notes.. but lets say we play the second degree of the scale.. that would be D minor7.. right?.. D+F+A+C = D min7 So... lets "create" an auxiliary dominant chord... Logically.. since G7 is the fifth degree of C major.. then guess what?.... We need to find the 5th degree of D minor.... A7 is the dominant chord (major triad b7 chord that happens to be the 5th chord starting from letter D)... so... for that "measure or BAR" we can outline either the scale, arpeggio or chord comming from A7 just before we resolve to D minor... why can't we resolve to D major?... well, F# is not in the key of C.. and as i said before, dominant chords can resolve either to major or minor... although D minor in the key of C does not have a leading tone.. it is still treated as a minor chord for that ammount of time.. so... we can have Dominant chords EVERYWHERE EXCEPT the 7th degree.... why?? because the seventh degree of a major scale has the b5 alteration, also happens to be an altered chord with a b9.. so a dominant chord resolving to a triad that is already meant to resolve up a step to C major doesnt sound too good... although some people do it.. there are other theories that also make a lot of sense... so.. lets take a progression: C maj7, D min7, E min7, F maj7, G7, A min7, B min7b5, C maj7 it goes up the scale, but what if we add the secondary dominants on each of the chords?? it would sound like this: C maj7, A7 Dm7, B7 Em7, C7 Fmaj7, D7 G7, E7 Am7, B min7b5, C Maj7 notice how B min7b5 already resolves to C major so no need for another resolution... now... lets talk about the famous II-V7-I progression II-V7-I progression the name says it all... instead of G7 to Cmaj7 we do Dmin7 (second chord of C), to G7 (5th chord of C) to C maj well.. same can be applied to all those chords Em7 A7 to Dm7 F#m7 B7 to Em7 and you know the rest... why the 2nd degree and not the 3rd or 6th? theory 1: since the second degree of a major scale happens to be the fifth degree of the Fifth chord (Dm7 is the 5th letter note of G7).. it gives that motion of "fifth to first" even tough it is not a major chord... Theory 2 the second degree (in the key of C is D min) has all the chord tones that belong to the fifth degree (in the key of C is G) so G7 = G, B, D, F Dm7 = D, F, A, C A happens to be the 9th or second note of G, which already wants to move up to B (third note of G) or G (first note)... both notes B and G are extremely important in G7.. they outline the chord basically... and having an "A" is almost having a G7 chord because it moves to either chord tone in the chord... up to B, down to G.. C happens to be the 4th degree of G... it is also a strong chord tone that wants to resolve to B (the third of G) and D (the fifth of G) so... Dmin7 has all the alterations and resolutions that G7 is expecting to have.. therefor... use it. Modulation Man, i would give a whole webpage about modulation.. but for now i will only talk about it.. it is mainly going to another key using a chord from the original key.. this is only "one" way of modulating but there are several and I will cover them later... so.. in the key of C.. we have Emin7 lets talk about this chord... Emin7 also exists in the key of G... right? so this is a chord that can take us to a different key example: Cmaj7, Dmin7, G7, Cmaj7, Dmin, Emin, F#min7b5, Gmaj7 see? so, sometimes in jazz pieces or songs we see all this chords that dont belong to a key.. they are either a secondary dominant chord (major b7 chord that only works for that measure to resolve to a chord degree in the key) a modulation (a chord progression that does not belong to a key and colours a new tonal center) or parallel chords... Parallel Chords they are a chord that exists on a different dimention with the same letter name example C major is parallel to C minor... G7 is parallel to Gmin7 so if we play C minor and Gmin7 we are in the key of?: AbMaj that means that there also exists parallel keys like AbMaj being parallel to C minor if we use only those 2 chords.. it depends on how you approach it.. but we are not getting into that yet.. i just want you to know about them.. So, that is it... lets get to work.. Assignment I have attached a PDF file of a Jazz Standard song.. you will first write each chord on a separated Paper... below or on top of each chord write the function.. analyze!!! is the chord a secondary dominant.. did it modulate?, if you find a weird case in which there is no modulation and no secondary dominant but a chord that just doesnt fit just name it PARALLEL example : C maj, Dm7, F#m, G7, Cmaj that seems to be in the key of C major.. that F #min does not belong anywhere... so, we will call it a parallel chord.. not necessary parallel to F#maj because it is not in the key of C either.. but you will see later on why.. for now just do the 3 things covered today... after you have done this, write a melodic phrase using eight notes, just as we did in the first assignments.. and be creative but also be aware of the key, secondary dominants, and modulation.. have fun.. my foolish heart1.pdf

excelent! :cool: we will do the next lesson

i just listened to your example again and I think it sounds the way it should sound... if you dont want it too dissonant then try what I explained but i like that dissonance :)

hi, most of it is good... I think you hear a dissonance with the Dm7 because of the change of registers... at the 3rd measure you had an F as the last note of the scale and you jump nicely with an E on top... that really works if you are doing something tonal... since the Dm7 is off the tonality here, you might want to play a more closed structure melody.. so instead of jumping up a 7th from F to E, jump down a minor 2nd to E... it also sounds dissonant because there is a Bb that C7 is using... Since you are using E natural for both the BbMaj7 (making it a #11) and the Dm7 (making it a 9th).. when you go to Dm7/C7 the ear needs to have that Bb because you went out with the Eb to E natural... why?, because Eb is almost everywhere in the exercise... Eb and Bb are really close to each other in terms of tonality... and if you play an E natural without making the Bb clear is going to sound like as if you had modulated to a different key, and that is not the intension.. so try this... for the Dm7/C7 measure leave the E natural but add also a Bb to the melody and as i said before.. dont go too high on the register... once you fix that, post it here in the forum... if it still sounds dissonant i will show you another way of fixing it... :thumbsup:

lesson 4: i was working on a couple of films, sorry for the delay.. first i will introduce you to the explanation, next, what to do... now that you have the base or root of visualization for chord changes we will deal with "Melodic leading" and this is very similar to VOICE LEADING but instead of chordal movement of the voices of a chord (voice leading) we deal with melodic movement of the voices of a progression thru the chords... in this exercise I want you to focus on extensions..... so, first we will do a little quiz and then the lesson... in this quiz,, i will ask you to, for example, write a melody using only 9ths and 11ths... does that mean all 9's and 11's have to be natural?.. NO.. you have to alter the 9ths in order to make them fit, not in the key but in the melody.. how do we know the melody will ask for a b9 or a #11 instead of a #9 or natural 11?... BY BEING AWARE OF WHAT WE ARE DOING, what i mean by this is that you should know wether you are trying to make a flowing melody of tight intervals and close voicings or an open harmonic melody... we will talk about that as we continue working.. so, for this exercise i want you to BE AWARE THE MELODY WITHIN THE FLOW OF THE CHANGES... that means that if you played a D minor chord and added a 9th.. in this case lets say you added an E natural as the 9th of D.. then you see in the next measure a Emin7 chord... for the E minor chord you should see what chord comes before and what chord comes after... that means that if the next chord is a Fmaj7... most likely you are in the key of C major because it was followed from Emin7, so the 9th of E would have to be a b9... (F is the b9 of E) Lesson#4: (quiz and then later on i will give a longer version) i will give you a progression and you should write a melody using eight notes..... the melody could contain any note you want, but make sure you add 9ths and 11ths at least once on each measure or chord division... have fun. :thumbsup: lesson4.sib lesson4.pdf

yes, i understand.. well, I said the b9 as an example... for now i want you to focus on tonality first, so, dont add any alterations outside the key.. but, give some color to the chords... now you added a 2 and 6 for the last chord... it sounds good, but since we are dealing with quarter notes you might want to add a 3rd or 7th... i would suggest 7 to 6... or 6 to 7.. 3 to 2,, remember, it is jazz so dont be strict about rules.. there arent any... you did well in writing a 2-6 for G at the end... im just giving my opinions of what i would do, but that doesnt mean mine will sound any better.. so good job :thumbsup:

hahaha, well, getting lost is good, getting confused is not.. so please tell me if you are confused.. anyways.. i saw the assignment.. It is well done harmonically, but musically it can get a little more interesting... lets go bar per bar.. 1st bar: you start of with E and G for E min7.. that is great F# and E for the next chord A7... great E and D for Dm7.... it is good, but watch for the registers... in real life it would sound better an octave higher.. but it is still good.. in fact i would do the same there.. G and B for G7... that is great.. althouh i would have gone to F to target the 7th instead.. then i would have resolved to E when we hit the C maj chord... it makes it smoother and not too scalar.. you repeat the same melody C, B, A, G for 2 bars... there is a problem with this... when we write jazz we want to repeat phrases, not scales.. and if we repeat scales we would rather do 8th or 16th notes.. and most likely we would start on an off beat... it is not bad harmonically but in a jazz concept this should not happen.. the last bar D7 to G maj i also found a problem... you end the tune like a classical piece.. targeting 5-1 and 1... this would work in a romantic symphony, not really in jazz... for most jazz players.. the end is the release of climax and we always add a little tension to say "ok, we went thru all this difficult changes and finally we are in the tonal center but it was not too easy.." so you leave a little off note there.. like.. try to end on the 9th, or #11, or 7th... even 3rd, but not the 1... and the D7, when we do our last dominant chord we really throw a nice tension.. like a b9 or 9, or 7th, not 5-1... remember, it is not mandatory, but if you want your music to sound jazz then add more tension to the endings... it helps overall, you did the assignment, and didnt have wrong notes or anything.. i saw some nice resolutions with suspensions and passing tones.. really nice.. :thumbsup: i will give u your next assignment this weekend.. it is going to be a little longer but before i do it i will post a lesson about this that i just explained...

great job, now that we have covered the basics in just a few hours let's get to the fun part, :) finish lesson 3 and we will do some jazz... NOTE: however you hear modes is fine, you dont have to hear them the way other people do... it is what works best for you.. as long as you do the work..

lesson #3 now that we have seen and studied the modes with a jazz perspective let's apply this to a jazz situation... I will add a typical jazz progression of chords... in it, i will be improvising on paper... The art of improvising comes from many decades, but the fact about improvising on paper and knowing how each notes functions comes from the Romantic Impromptus... Pieces written at the moment.. improvised themes and variations, mainly for piano... I have focused on Franz Schubert's impromptus's regarding this situation. if you can, listen to any of his 8 impromptus... this is not homework, it is just a suggestion. ................................. How does it work? you have to keep in mind all the knowledge you have in order to improvise at your highest level... there is no THE BEST IMPROVISER OF THE WORLD... but there is the highest level of improvisation within each person's knowledge... If a young 4 year old kid only knows C, D, E, F and does not know about G, A, B, or flats or sharps... he can improvise rhythms, structures or play really dynamically with those 4 notes (C, D, E, F) in jazz there are not limitations in your creativity when it comes to improvising.. but there are limitations in skills, knowledge, and human aspects... example: a guitar player cannot play a chord of 10 notes... a pianist can... so, if you are improvising and feel like playing a C MAj 9 with a sharp 11th and b15 you are going to have to leave some notes out... in this lesson we will learn how to deal with this shortcuts and find a way out when stuck in traffic... Traffic: lets take a chord.. such as... C maj C Maj is a major 3rd chord, with a fifth that means C maj = C, E, G, E min is a minor chord with a fifth that means E min = E, G, B lets put C maj and E min together... C maj (C, E, G) + E min (E, G, B) = C maj7 ok, that is basic basic basic harmony... substitutions of chords, imposition of the third degree, relative major, however you learnt it in college.. but... in a jazz situation, we are going to actually superimpose notes from the extension, even if they are not there... that means, adding D, or F as C maj9 or C maj11...... how do we know what extensions to add? answers: 1-based on the tonality or key signature 2-based on how the voices will resolve in the next chord 3-using escape notes or neighbor/passing tones to create chromaticism. which one should we use? ALL OF THEM... in order.. in real life, you use more than 3.. like advanced substituions, secondary leading tones, outside playing, bitonality, but we will get into those in lesson 5 or 6... for this assignment lets focus on those Example for assignment: I will create a progression Em7, A7, Dm7, G7, Cmaj7, Bm7, Em7, Am, D7, G Maj. ok, in what key are we in??? at the beginning it looks like C maj7.... why? because Em7, belongs to C maj, so does Dm7, and G7 is the dominant/mixolydian chord that really tells us what to do... note: everytime you want to analyze a piece, try to target the dominant chords first to see where and how many times or where in the piece they hit an ionian chord... if the piece ends with ionian, it is most likely that this is the key signature... what happens with A7?... well, it is just a secondary dominant chord functioning as a passing chord to Dm7 which happens to be the second degree or dorian mode of C maj... We will have a whole chapter for secondary leading tones, chord tones, secondary dominant chords, secondary diminished chords, etc in next lesson, but before we do that we have to find ourselves lost, remember that.. this is jazz, not classical training. so, if the first 4 bars are in the key of C and it ends with Gma7, maybe they modulate.. remember Cmaj is an ionian mode in the key of C but is also a lydian mode in the key of G.. I will explain there are basic chordal with extended 7th functions in tonal music... those are: Maj7 (usually the first and 4th degree of every major scale) min7 (usually the 2nd, 3rd, and 6th degree of every major scale) 7 or Dom7 "stands for dominant 7 chord" (always the 5th degree in major tonal music) min7b5 or half diminished (7th degree in major scales) so, we started with Em7, and end with Gma7, we could think we are in the key of G, except for the fact that Em7 goes to a chord that resolves to Dm7... that chord is A7, the fifth degree of Dm and Dm7 does not belong to the key of G.... therefor Em7 belongs to C maj this will all make sense as you continue working on it... Assignment: in order to correct and see what to do with this i will encourage you to write a phrase of quarter notes over each chord Em7, A7, Dm7, G7, Cmaj7, Bm7, Em7, Am, D7, G Maj. try to stay tonal, and make sense out of it... you can apply classical music rules like "resolve the leading tone up a leap", Target 3rd, no parallel fifths, etc but, if you are going to do this tell me, so i can correct this, otherwise it will still be considered improvisation.. 1-post a PDF file and a MIDI file with the notes you are using... 2-on top of each note, write the function of the note related to the chord, example: if you play over Em7 the notes G, F# you should write 3, 2 3-do it only once.. i will correct them and we will do several more but i need to correct them before we advance... finally it is explained... good luck. lesson3.pdf lesson3.sib