Jazzing up Traditional Chinese Songs

[SmoothOperator]

I have been learning many Chinese songs. I am wondering are there any good ways to Jazz these songs up. For the most part they are pentatonic or the pentatonic notes of scales are emphasized(sometimes they sound bluesy but then they don't resolve the same way). The songs don't modulate keys(except maybe to the fourth but the pentatonic notes are the same), in fact the very popular Guzheng is tuned pentatonically. Also for chords they use suspended seconds and suspended fourths very much, curiously the pipa is tuned such that many fourths and fifths are perfect, and the frets aren't equal tempered but based on 3/2's and 4/3's intervals. Traditional Chinese harmony would be considered monophonic, or based on fourth and fifth intervals, and generally they don't mark chords. Evidently Kenny G was able to do some great things with Jasmine Flower, so I think it is possible. In someways it seems like free jazz to me, without a chord form, but with heavily ornamented melodies. I am just wondering if there is anyway to adapt more familiar jazz harmonies to these melodies.

Is there any particular scale chord that sounds good over suspended seconds or forths?

[jdaguitar2]

That is really cool how you are interested in Chinese music fused with jazz. I would start by notating the melody of the original tune and experimanting with different chords and progressions. I have a hunch that a mixture of major, minor and diminished sevenths as well as some quartal voicings may sound good.

I will also suggest the follwing link for the discussion regarding suspended chords:

http://www.opus28.co.uk/suschords.pdf

[bako]

Meg Okura, Jason Hwang and Fred Houn are a few Chinese American musicians that have at times mixed elements of Chinese music with jazz.

Here's Christian Howes playing "Erhu Song" by violinist/composer Mark Chung.

Christian Howes - The Erhu Song - YouTube

[SmoothOperator]

Thanks for the info on suspended chords and modern infusions!

Here is an interesting link on the Chinese tuning system. When I tried to play western harmonies(rhythm changes) on a pipa, it sounded very weird, though the fingering was pretty easy.

Musical Mathematics: China's Ch'in

[bako]

Min Xiao-Fen is a Classical Pipa player that has been hanging and playing with some of the jazz and improvisor communities in NYC.
I saw her perform a few Monk tunes including "Ask Me Now" on pipa.

[mr. beaumont]

I'm certainly not an expert in Chinese music, but what I've heard has yes, had the pentatonic melodies that seem to hover around a key center or drone.

Any jazz approach would be more "modal." Quartal harmony would be a great place to start as it "hovers" more than resolves...

You might consider playing the scale of the melody on one string and stacking fourths below it to come up with chord voicings for starters...

[SmoothOperator]

Originally Posted by mr. beaumont

I'm certainly not an expert in Chinese music, but what I've heard has yes, had the pentatonic melodies that seem to hover around a key center or drone.

Any jazz approach would be more "modal." Quartal harmony would be a great place to start as it "hovers" more than resolves...

You might consider playing the scale of the melody on one string and stacking fourths below it to come up with chord voicings for starters...

I played around with that a little. Its the west coast cool sound stacking the fourths and maybe a third on top like "So What".

[mr. beaumont]

I'd also recommend some of Charles Lloyd's recent recordings...he's doing a lot of stuff tht has an "eastern" influence (well, maybe a litle further est and more like the arabian peninsula and north africa, but the idea of a static harmony is similar)

I really like a record called "jumping the creek" where you can hear the woefully underrated Geri Allen tearing into some of these ideas on piano.

[SmoothOperator]

I don't think Arabic Peninsula, North Africa, or India are similar to the Chinese music at all. The Chinese micro tonal system is completely different. The Arabic Peninsula and North Africa both have a quarter tone system, and the Indian system has the raga system for tuning.

[SmoothOperator]

Originally Posted by mr. beaumont

but the idea of a static harmony is similar

Also I wouldn't think of Chinese music as static harmony a little more like monophonic with parallel fourths and fifths than anything.

[mr. beaumont]

Static's a bad word...I'm on the same page as you regarding non-western harmony, but you're explaining it better!

I guess what I'm going for is the idea that the harmonic backdrop is not moving and changing key center as often as western music...the backdrop may also not truly be "major" or "minor" as western harmony defines it...

[SmoothOperator]

Originally Posted by mr. beaumont

changing key center as often as western music...

Guitarists keep changing the key because the only one they know is Em.

[jdaguitar2]

Mr. Beaumont, I like how you worded that, not truly major or minor. This is good because it helps those who have a foundation in traditional theory realize how fundamentally different eastern music can be.

[SmoothOperator]

Originally Posted by bako

Meg Okura, Jason Hwang and Fred Houn are a few Chinese American musicians that have at times mixed elements of Chinese music with jazz.

Here's Christian Howes playing "Erhu Song" by violinist/composer Mark Chung.

Christian Howes - The Erhu Song - YouTube

I like that. The two string fiddle song.