lesson with nino_rajacic

nino_rajacic is a classically trained musician.. he has knowledge about jazz and wants to increase his skills on orchestration, complex harmony and so on.

in this lesson we will start with basic harmonic and scalar concepts but in a jazz perspective... nowadays most musicians learn harmony, counterpoint and theory at college, later on in life they either take it too serious or forget about it at all... my focus on today's jazz is about balance, finding your self in lost situations.. in order to accomplish this, we need to feel lost... for example... playing GIANT STEPS at 200 without knowing the tune but with a lead sheet as a reference... it's like trying to read a map while in the freeway.. you dont have too much time, but for sure you can get something out of it.... although this is a performance issue... I have done exercises myself about "composing motifs" over lead sheets such as giant steps... it is almost the same challenge as performing it...

nino_rajacic will finish an assignment that i posted under "lesson with smarty" that smarty never submitted... we will start from there..

:cool:

This is the lesson you will be continuing from the other threat... i will be using sibelius, i am no longer a finale user... but if you want to work with finale then post the midi files and PDF...

We are going to start with basic Modes while we get used to learning keys...

Modes are variated scales that are related to a scale.. depending on the scale and degree of the scale you are in...

a Major scale (tonal) can be studied in many ways..

C major is the best example...

1,2,3,4,5,6,7 (all white keys in a piano)

between C and D there is a whole step.. because C and D share C#...

E to F dont share anything so there is a half step in between..

I guess you know all of this but I want to make sure that is explained well before we go on...

So, a mode would be, if we start a scale from a degree.. lets say the 2nd degree of C is D (or second note of the scale)... so if we start a D scale without changing the key, we would still have C major but starting with D.. that is called D dorian

Dorian would be 1, 2, b3, 4, 5, 6, b7

notice how we use flat numbers but in classical writing there are no flats, it is just a way of saying that if we had to play a 3rd note starting on D, it would be F... and F is a minor third if we think in D...

this is how it would be if we are in the key of C:

C = C, D, E, F, G, A, B = 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 Ionian

D = D, E, F, G, A, B, C = 1, 2, b3, 4, 5, 6, b7 Dorian

E = E, F, G, A, B, C, D = 1, b2, b3, 4, 5, b6, b7 Phrygian

F = F, G, A, B, C, D, E = 1, 2, 3, #4, 5, 6, 7 Lydian

G = G, A, B, C, D, E, F = 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, b7 Mixolydian

A = A, B, C, D, E, F, G = 1, 2, b3, 4, 5, b6, b7 Aoelian

B = B, C, D, E, F, G, A = 1, b2, b3, 4, b5, b6, b7 Locrian

dont get confused with scales... a D scale contains F# and C#, so a D mode in C does not contain any accidental...

the circle of fifths are perfect fifth intervals starting with C

so..

C does not have accidentals

the 5th of C is G

G contains F#... how do we know that??

we start by going from C.. so after that... whatever comes after would have an additional note that is previous to the previous note... I know it sounds complicated but it is not

This would be a circle: F, C, G, D,

so, G has a C previous, you dont change that but the previous to the previous would be F... so now you need an F#

so, D, has a G previous, we dont change that but the previous to the previous would be C, so now we add F# and C#... and so on..

Circle of fifths:

C (___)

G (F#)

D (F#, C#)

A (F#, C#, G#)

E (F#, C#, G#, D#)

B (F#, C#, G#, D#, A#)

F# (F#, C#, G#, D#, A#, E#)

C# (F#, C#, G#, D#, A#, E#, B#)

right now i want you to focus on the circle of fiths and later on we will work on 4ths..

learn the circle of fifths...

so... your assignment would be the next:

I have attached a PDF and .MUS (finale file).. and a MIDI file... check out the PDF first if you cant open it in finale...

in the PDF I use the C scale through the whole circle of fifths... it starts going to C# instead of C when the circle hits D..

I also added what C is as a mode in every tonality (or Key or scale, however you want to call it)

So, write on Midi or Finale, the D scale using it through the whole circle of fifths the same way i did with C major.. and when you are done.. do all the other ones until C#

dont use flats, unless your sequencer dont let you use sharps for some reason.

if you can, write here or anywhere else, what function is the scale doing

example D in the key of G would be the fifth degree, therefor it should be called a D mixolydian

lesson1.mid

lesson1.mus

lesson1.pdf

Here it is. I hope I understood well this task. I wasn't going on G#, D#, A#, E#, and B# (which is enharmonically C) because I supposed that is what we'll do with circle of 4 and scales with flats.

Hardly waiting next assignment.

Modes_5_circle.pdf

D_modes.MID

E_modes.MID

F_modes.MID

G_modes.MID

A_modes.MID

B_modes.MID

hi nino, great job... E# is great enharmonically because of the key signature, so dont worry...

the assignment is exactly what i asked for... congrats :thumbsup:

since i dont know the procedure of how you work with your software i want to make it clear for future reasons.

1- always, always, ALWAYS sing the notes you write or play when practicing a exercise or song...

2- be aware of each interval without using tricks like "ok, in the key of G there is an F# so i just need to write the scale of white notes and add an F# and I have my mode done"... because you would only trick yourself and if you dont know every single thing you do, then later on it wont become natural.

3- i dont think you do this but just in case.. ... if i ask you to write something in different keys do not use the "transpose" option on your midi sequencer, hehehe

so, nino, i think you did a great job and you already told me you were going to sing the lessons, everything is great.. i will be posting your new lesson soon.

lesson #2:

Flat keys.... most sax players prefer to read flat keys in a paper instead of sharps.... this happens because of the nature of their instrument... I am a guitar player and i love to play sharp keys instead.. but everytime i had to read a lead sheet or big band sheets back in my college years, i would always read in Flat Keys, because jazz is abundant of saxophones... sometimes i had to transpose myself or sometimes it was already transposed... either way... flat keys happen, whether or not you play jazz or classical music..

basic concept:

if the circle of fifths goes up perfect 5ths... it must come down with perfect 5ths... but, when you go down an interval of the same length it becomes it's parallel or relative interval, like a 5th down means an interval of a 4th... I assume you know this..

Example:

starting with C, down a fifth is F... F in C is an interval of a 4th...

fact:

C

F (Bb)

Bb (Bb, Eb)

Eb (Bb,Eb,Ab)

Ab (Bb,Eb,Ab,Db)

Db (Bb,Eb,Ab,Db,Gb)

Gb (Bb, Eb, Ab, Db, Gb, Cb)

Cb (Bb, Eb, Ab, Db, Gb, Cb, Fb)

so, we build up intervals of 4ths, or down intervals of 5ths (however you see it)...

this system works like this:

*F is the 4th of C.. F has an accidental with the following 4th interval which is Bb....

*Bb carries his accidental which is Bb followed by the next 4th interval which is Eb

*Eb carries from the first altered note of the circle which is Bb.. F is not being altered from the beginning so it is not touched yet..

so it carries Bb, Eb and the following 4th note is Ab

it goes like that until it hits Cb because Cb already has all the 7 notes flatted...

Assignment is... the same as the first one,... write all the modes starting with Bb, Im using the F as an example, i will be posting a PDF with the example...

the catch this time is:

1-DONT USE A KEYBOARD...

2-try to sing each note and interval separation... if you get stuck or think you are out of pitch then play the first note of the scale/mode with the keyboard....

3-at the top of each note, write its function numerically:

1, 2, 3b,4, 5, 6, 7b

D, E, F, G, A, B, C

i will be posting the 3rd lesson in a couple of hours

lesson2.pdf

lesson2.sib

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

Flat keys.... most sax players prefer to read flat keys in a paper instead of sharps.... this happens because of the nature of their instrument...

Yes I know that trumpet literature is mainly in flat keys (not counting C trumpet). And Bras ensemble gives best sound when playing in flat keys. Therefore most of brass players roll they eyes when see sharps in the score :D

the catch this time is:

1-DONT USE A KEYBOARD...

2-try to sing each note and interval separation... if you get stuck or think you are out of pitch then play the first note of the scale/mode with the keyboard....

3-at the top of each note, write its function numerically:

1, 2, 3b,4, 5, 6, 7b

D, E, F, G, A, B, C

i will be posting the 3rd lesson in a couple of hours

1. I used only Speedy tool in finale with sound turned off

2. I did that. Although I still hear modes as minor/major scaled with alterations. Maybe that's ok for the beginning?

3. Check. :thumbsup:

Here are the files:

Modes_4_circle.pdf

C modes.MID

D modes.MID

E modes.MID

F modes.MID

G modes.MID

A modes.MID

B modes.MID

Yes I know that trumpet literature is mainly in flat keys (not counting C trumpet). And Bras ensemble gives best sound when playing in flat keys. Therefore most of brass players roll they eyes when see sharps in the score :D

1. I used only Speedy tool in finale with sound turned off

2. I did that. Although I still hear modes as minor/major scaled with alterations. Maybe that's ok for the beginning?

3. Check. :thumbsup:

Here are the files:

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..

Ok. Here it is. I'm not sure that this was the task.

You are great teacher! We're on third lesson and you got me totally "lost" as you intended. ;)

Lesson3.pdf

Lesson3.MID

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...

Ok. I must admit. I was confused with "Improvising on the paper" thing so I did lesson In 2 minutes without listening and trying to improve it.

Also I taught that if you said G7 I shouldn't use 7, 9 etc. I know that Dominant chord is played in jazz with 9b, that sounds great, bu as you said before I'm classically trained so I must start to think different.

Here is new one:

Lesson3b.pdf

Lesson3b.MID

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:

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

Here it is. I think this time I got it right. This was very useful although i didn't know what to do with Dm7/C7 measure. This sound very dissonant to my ear.

Anyway I tried to make melody sound good. I hope it's Ok.

Exc4.pdf

Exc4.MID

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:

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,

I saw your post last night but it was to late.

Just to make it clear, I think too that first post on this exercise sound pretty well. The Dm7/C7 measure sounded to me dissonant without melody.

After you explained to me what to do i think now is better.

(bad English, me Tarzan :blush:)

P.S.

Could you please install Finale Notepad (it's free) so I could post you Only *.mus file? this could make working easier, I think.

FINALE Notepad download page

Exc4b.pdf

Exc4b.MID

excelent! :cool:

we will do the next lesson

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

Hi Rod,

thanks for the new lesson. I'm quite busy these days so I hope I'll do my homework next week.

Hey Rod,

Here is excersize. I'm not sure about chord symbol +7 (G+7)? How it should look maybe G-B-D#-F?

Exc5.MID

Exc5.pdf

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. ;)

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...

Hi. I was busy these days and I hope I'll finish my homework soon. Sorry.

nino, let me know how are things for you