Jazz Blues Chord Subs

m78w · #1 10-31-2011, 06:18 AM

Hey Everyone,
I just wanted to pass along a new article I just published talking about some of the more common ways to spice up your blues comping and soloing using subs and harmonic alterations.

Jazz Blues Chord Substitutions and Harmonic Alterations | MattWarnockGuitar.com

Check it out, thanks!

guitarplayer007 · #2 10-31-2011, 06:29 AM

Thx Matt
ken

m78w · #3 10-31-2011, 06:33 AM

No problem, hope you dig the subs!

youns · #4 10-31-2011, 07:40 AM

I don't write often on this forum, but now, I must tell you : wow !
This is a fantastic lesson, thank you a lot, your website is a goldmine !

Cheers !

jmstritt · #5 10-31-2011, 07:50 AM

I really like the F7 G7 A7 B7 over the first four bars, and the Stablemates changes on the last four bars. Very hip sounding stuff!

JakeAcci · #6 10-31-2011, 08:13 AM

Cool article, I always like funky subs in blues. The neat thing about a lot of these is that since blues is just I, IV, and V with ii Vs to each, you can apply these concepts to pretty much any standard tune.

A cute and simple one I heard Mick do actually on that recording I linked to in another thread: Play the last two bars as a iii IV ii V and the first two bars as iii VI ii V. Not at all harmonically outside, but it makes bar 3 sound like bar 1.

Joe Henderson's "Isotope" has some pretty cool harmony over a blues.

I also enjoy, when comping or soloing, treating a lot of the dominants as 7sus4.

Oh, last thing, sometimes if I'm taking 15 choruses of blues in F, I might play one chorus in the key of B or E or something.

m78w · #7 10-31-2011, 08:29 AM

Yeah that iii VI ii V is a cool one as well, Mick seems to always have a bunch of great harmonic tricks up his sleeve!

BigDaddyLoveHandles · #8 10-31-2011, 09:45 AM

iii IV ii V or iii VI ii V?

JakeAcci · #9 10-31-2011, 10:07 AM

sorry, typo, fixed

mr. beaumont · #10 10-31-2011, 10:47 AM

This is a very cool lesson.

I love when you can keep the essence of the blues but spice it up harmonically...I'm also thinking about using some of these changes as hip outside lines when playing over a simpler harmony...might try that tonight...

wizard3739 · #11 10-31-2011, 11:04 AM

Thanks Matt, this is another great lesson!

wiz

m78w · #12 10-31-2011, 12:13 PM

No problem guys, yeah like I was telling my students yesterday in our harmony class, where this article came from, over time you'll learn all of this and find the ones you like to use in your playing, the rest will sit dormant from time to time. But even if you don't use them in your own playing, others will, so it helps when jamming to react to bandmates subs, or when transcribing, especially chord solo stuff or changes.

Astronomer · #13 10-31-2011, 01:49 PM

Awesome lesson! Would these types of chord subs and harmonizations work in a traditional blues setting or would they sound too out of place?

m78w · #14 10-31-2011, 03:05 PM

Thanks! You could use them in a traditional blues but I would be very careful. Some will sound ok, others will sound way out of place. Try them out in the practice room and see what you think, some will definitely give you a blues fusion vibe that you might like.

jmstritt · #15 10-31-2011, 04:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Astronomer

Awesome lesson! Would these types of chord subs and harmonizations work in a traditional blues setting or would they sound too out of place?

Define traditional blues... Some of those changes are straight up Charlie Parker blues which is 70 years old so some folks might consider that to be traditional. The Coltrane stuff is 50 years old, some folks might consider that to be traditional. To some folks, traditional might mean, "Hey if you go into yonder radio building theres a man that will pay you a quarter to sing into a can!"

Try it, and if you like it use it! There are guys that play, "Rock Blues," that still imply these changes in their solos. Robben Ford comes to mind, as does Larry Carlton. It is just a matter of taste. If you want to sound like Albert King, playing Coltrane changes over a blues probably isn't going to be the ticket ;-) .

Astronomer · #16 10-31-2011, 05:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jmstritt

Define traditional blues... Some of those changes are straight up Charlie Parker blues which is 70 years old so some folks might consider that to be traditional. The Coltrane stuff is 50 years old, some folks might consider that to be traditional. To some folks, traditional might mean, "Hey if you go into yonder radio building theres a man that will pay you a quarter to sing into a can!"

Try it, and if you like it use it! There are guys that play, "Rock Blues," that still imply these changes in their solos. Robben Ford comes to mind, as does Larry Carlton. It is just a matter of taste. If you want to sound like Albert King, playing Coltrane changes over a blues probably isn't going to be the ticket ;-) .

Good point, I should have specified what I meant by traditional blues. I was talking about guys like Albert King, T-Bone Walker, etc. in addition to early Charlie Parker stuff. I guess traditional blues would actually be cats like Robert Johnson, but I wasn't going to go that far back. So anyway...I was trying to figure out how I can add variety to straight rock blues without sounding too jazzy.

I mean, I love the blues, but sometimes I just want to add a hint of jazz to make things more harmonically interesting.

Double 07 · #17 10-31-2011, 09:42 PM

Great stuff Matt digging the subs, very cool stuff.

m78w · #18 10-31-2011, 09:44 PM

Thanks 007, glad you dug the article, I love these kinds of subs, very fun to check out!

BigDaddyLoveHandles · #19 11-01-2011, 07:47 AM

I liked the two whole-step ideas for the first four measures;

| F7 | G7 | A7 | B7 |

and

| F7 | Eb7 | Db7 | B7 |

then i played them at the same time on the piano with polychords:

F7 | G7/Eb7 | A7/Db7 | B7 |

and it sounded like Charles Ives with a hangover!

m78w · #20 11-01-2011, 07:49 AM

Nice! Yeah there's some serious whole-tone harmony going on with those polychords!

FatJeff · #21 11-01-2011, 11:11 AM

Very nice lesson

JakeAcci · #22 11-01-2011, 11:15 AM

man, all this talk is making me want...

m78w · #23 11-01-2011, 11:18 AM

Jeff: Thanks!

Jake: I don't get it lol

FatJeff · #24 11-01-2011, 11:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by m78w

Jeff: Thanks!

Jake: I don't get it lol

It's a sub. Sandwich. (drum hit please)

BigDaddyLoveHandles · #25 11-01-2011, 11:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FatJeff

It's a sub. Sandwich. (drum hit please)

Hoagy Carmichael?

m78w · #26 11-01-2011, 11:58 AM

Groan lol

tubeswell · #27 11-02-2011, 01:08 AM

TFT Matt

Those are some great suggestions on your website. Thanks for sharing.

Franklin52 · #28 11-02-2011, 01:27 AM

Great stuff Matt, thanks.

Meggy · #29 11-02-2011, 03:06 AM

Matt, your website is one of the "must-have" free resources out there for guitarists like me working to improve their jazz playing - so just to say a big thank you, and may it go from strength to strength!

m78w · #30 11-02-2011, 05:22 AM

Thanks everyone, thanks for checking out the article and the site!