Two Kinds of Chords...

[dbacon]

DB

[Erin C]

That's an interesting point of view... but what about chords that don't fit the description either "V7" or "I"? I'm not trying to shoot down your statement, because it's certainly interesting, I'm simply a curious trumpeter who needs to learn to improvise better ... thanks.

Erin -iii<
_________________
"If it is true that love makes the world go round, then of course there'll always be music to spark the romance of life."
-Rex Stewart

[Nicholas Dyson]

I'm thinking that he was just using the V7 and I as examples, since in regular tertian harmony, those would be the 'ultimate' go from or go to chords.

I think what he meant is strictly that there are 2 kinds of chords, chords you go to, and chords you move from.
_________________
Nicholas Dyson
Ottawa, Canada

[dbacon]

DB

[mark936]

Interesting.

Does this next statement on how I think fit in with what you're saying?

You get yourself out on a limb and then get yourself back in.

Or-- those chords that leave you with that unfinished feeling and then you resolve it.

And then you feel better and go, "Ahhh, yeah."


mm

[mark936]

Re: Improvising.

Today I stopped out at Bob Reeves to buy a bottle of their special H2oil. I was just about out.

And try out a V-Raptor. I only played it for a minute in the lobby.

I didn't want to interrupt a lesson going on in the practice room.

I heard some tasty 16th note licks and then Howie Shears' voice, "Now what kind of dominant chord would you choose to play here?"

Musical improv and the desire to improve is alive and well in the world.

mm

[Quadruple C]

[ This Message was edited by: Quadruple C on 2003-09-29 17:31 ]

[PH]

This would be easy to demonstrate if I could get you all to gather around a piano with me. I fear it will lose something in the translation to the net.

There are a lot of different ways to approach jazz harmony in improvisation. Some players change scales with every chord regardless of the chord's function (for the most part this is how Bill Evans played-for one example).

Some others tend to simply generalize all the chords into just a few key areas (generally this is how Lester Young and Dexter Gordon played).

Of course there are many others (most others?) that tend to combine the two approaches and/or blend them (Charlie Parker for example).

If you look at the way David Baker or Barry Harris teach the language of bebop you will find that Dave is right on. 95% of the time you are thinking of a chord as either a dominant or a tonic. The tonic can be major (in a major key) or minor (in a minor key). The way you approach the dominant areas depends on the quality of the tonic target.

Other chords are generalized and approached like the chord sound they most resemble...especially if they are followed by that chord. ii- chords & IV chords are treated like the V7 chord they usually travel with. iii- chords and vi- chords are often treated like the tonic. viidim7 and vii-7b5 are treated like first inversion V7 chords, etc.

I first figured some of this out by observing how Horace Silver, Jackie McLean, Sonny Stitt, et al would play a whole-tone scale or a diminished scale over the ii- chord in a ii- V7 I. Those scales aren't supposed to fit a minor 7th chord according to most chord/scale theory books, BUT THEY DO!! You simply treat the ii- chord as if you are already on the V7 chord and start playing the appropriate whole-tone or diminished scale. In the key of C that means that you play the G whole-tone scale over the D-7 AND the G7 before resolving to the sound of the CMaj7.

I know this is more theory than Dave probably wanted on this thread, but if you understand what I'm saying then you'll know he is right on!

[ This Message was edited by: PH on 2002-07-16 10:24 ]

[Erin C]

Ok, thanks for the clarification!

Erin -iii<
_________________
"If it is true that love makes the world go round, then of course there'll always be music to spark the romance of life."
-Rex Stewart

[dbacon]

DB