Voice-leading Lines

[pamosmusic]

This is probably a Christian magnet, but here goes …

I’m trying to think of big, common voice-leading embellishments a la CESH-line cliche. Ones I’ve thought of:

Line cliche: 1 7 b7 6 (b6) … over minor
Line cliche: same over major
Line cliche: modified 1 b7 6 b6 over major
James Bond: 5 #5 6 #5 over minor
Basie Ending: 1 2 #2 3, or 1 4 #4 5 (or both together) over major
Little Brown Jug: 1 3 4 #4 5 over major
Hit the Road: 1 b7 b6 5, over major or minor, going to IV over back to I.

ADDITIONS:

Sunny Side: 5 #5 6 b7 6 (per Christian)
Pedal thing: 3 b3 2 over a pedal fifth. (per PMB)
Mickey Baker Major: 1 7 6 7 over major (per Allan)
The Blues Turnaround: 5 b5 4 3 ... below ... 3 b3 2 1 over major. Separate or together, like the Basie ending.
The Van Eps 6 chord: 7 6 #5 6 over any chord type. (per PMB)

Basie, Jug, and Road are maybe a bit different in that they imply a different set of chords. Then again, the line cliche can too. Anyway.

Okay what else do you guys have?

[Mick-7]

I'd have to think about it but I often discover such movements when I compose chord melodies, for example:

Here's that Rainy Day phrase:



When Sunny Gets Blue phrase (well, just diatonic to F major, but chromatic movements could be inserted)



And you can connect chords with augmented and diminished chords.... and then there are the possibilities within quartal harmony.

[Christian Miller]

This is probably a Christian magnet, but here goes …

I’m trying to think of big, common voice-leading embellishments a la CESH-line cliche. Ones I’ve thought of:

Line cliche: 1 7 b7 6 (b6) … over minor
Line cliche: same over major
Line cliche: modified 1 b7 6 b6 over major
James Bond: 5 #5 6 #5 over minor
Basie Ending: 1 2 #2 3, or 1 4 #4 5 (or both together) over major
Little Brown Jug: 1 3 4 #4 5 over major
Hit the Road: 1 b7 b6 5, over major or minor, going to IV over back to I.

Basie, Jug, and Road are maybe a bit different in that they imply a different set of chords. Then again, the line cliche can too. Anyway.

Okay what else do you guys have?

Moving fifth - I got this YEARS ago from a book about Tal Farlow

5-#5-6-b7-6

It’s a line cliche over what (and probably only me) calls a jazz Romanesca, where you have I III7 VIm I7 IV.

This is the progression used in many standards including Confirmation, Blues for Alice, There Will Be Another you, Georgia on my Mind etc


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[Tal_175]

The thread title says voice-leading but you are asking about a very specific form of CESH style voice leading, ie a moving line inside a static harmony, is that right?

[AllanAllen]

Instagram

This Matt Munisteri clip may be relevant.

[pamosmusic]

The thread title says voice-leading but you are asking about a very specific form of CESH style voice leading, ie a moving line inside a static harmony, is that right?

I think yeah, more or less.

That was the original title and I changed it because a couple of the ones I listed imply moving harmony (like Christians and Micks suggestions) and I want to include them.

But yeah, you’re picking up what I’m putting down.

[Christian Miller]

Not sure if I see a distinction

Anyway you can totes do 5-#5-6-b7 on a static major chord. Or a minor

OTOH ‘line cliche’ can also suggest a chord progression it just depends on the melody and other voices. But that’s a reharm possibility. Melody is usually 5-4 either way

The difference is mostly a pedal. Is the “CESH” line going into the bass or the middle voice etc.

It’s good to look at this away from the filter of chord symbols but rather as melodic lines working together. When it’s just three voices for example the distinctions can be surprisingly small but we’d write them as very different symbols.

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[pamosmusic]

Not sure if I see a distinction

Yeah that's why I changed the name ... they also all could map onto turnaround or four and back type progressions, that are essentially fancied up tonic chords anyway.

Potaytoh potahtoh

[Christian Miller]

Yeah that's why I changed the name ... they also all could map onto turnaround or four and back type progressions, that are essentially fancied up tonic chords anyway.

Potaytoh potahtoh

Indeed… we can superimpose turnarounds on tonic chords of course which is the next step up from CESH I guess. Should probs practice that more


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[pamosmusic]

Indeed… we can superimpose turnarounds on tonic chords of course which is the next step up from CESH I guess. Should probs practice that more


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Yeah so I’ve had some students working on minor substitution stuff. Just collecting minor licks and throwing them over their tunes. Tons of great minor triad vocabulary. We’ve recently started using the cliche and the bond move as ways to get a little more mileage out of those licks.

Like the cry me a river lick … you can use that line cliche at the end, or throw it in after the second note or replace the root with one of those notes or use it in part rather than in full. That’s been quite cool.

[AllanAllen]

Please define CESH. I’m still not sure if my link is relevant.

[pamosmusic]

Please define CESH. I’m still not sure if my link is relevant.

Chromatic Embellishment of Static Harmony.

Its sometimes used specifically to refer to the minor “line cliche” (descending chromatically from root to six a la Stairway to Heaven, Sentimental Mood, Funny Valentine, etc).

Also sometimes used as a general term for other moves like that.

I haven’t had a chance to watch the whole video but I skipped to the middle just to see what he was getting into and it seems like it probably is?

[pamosmusic]

Indeed… we can superimpose turnarounds on tonic chords of course which is the next step up from CESH I guess. Should probs practice that more


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I mean … we might be able to just back jack this and take any harmonic move used to embellish a long tonic chord and pull cool guide tone lines out of it and use it the same way?

[PMB]

Here's a common major lick (in C) that alternates a pedal on the 5th degree with a chromatic descent: 3, b3, 2. Would that qualify?

[James W]

One of the central sections of 'Witchcraft'.

[djg]

Moving fifth - I got this YEARS ago from a book about Tal Farlow

5-#5-6-b7-6

It’s a line cliche over what (and probably only me) calls a jazz Romanesca, where you have I III7 VIm I7 IV.

This is the progression used in many standards including Confirmation, Blues for Alice, There Will Be Another you, Georgia on my Mind etc

[Christian Miller]

I mean … we might be able to just back jack this and take any harmonic move used to embellish a long tonic chord and pull cool guide tone lines out of it and use it the same way?

Yes

Or remove the harmonic movement and replace with a pedal of course

I’m thinking now of the Bill Evans, Chet Baker and songsheet versions of Like Someone in Love


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[pamosmusic]

Here's a common major lick (in C) that alternates a pedal on the 5th degree with a chromatic descent: 3, b3, 2. Would that qualify?

Why not. I’m going to modify the OP.

[pamosmusic]

One of the central sections of 'Witchcraft'.

Tell me more.

[James W]

Tell me more.

I think it's similar to the James Bond one - 5, #5, 6, #5, over A minor.

[AllanAllen]

Here's a common major lick (in C) that alternates a pedal on the 5th degree with a chromatic descent: 3, b3, 2. Would that qualify?

I like this one a lot.

[Tal_175]

The Bond thing is also a ii-V device, chromatically connecting the 5th of ii with the 3rd of V while pedaling on the root of the ii in the bass (which becomes the 5th of V).

[rpjazzguitar]

Mentioned before, but I'll post them anyway. Not sure if they count as CESH, a term I learned a few minutes ago.

The Secret Agent Man lick, 5 #5 6 #5 over Im is also used in Aquarela Do Brazil (aka Brazil).

There are some line cliches I usually hear in the bass. Like Dm Dm/C Bm7b5 E7b9 Am. I recently saw Dm(7?)/Bb instead of Bm7b5. Seems like a Bbmaj7, but maybe they named it that way to suggest that the upper voices remain static.

[Christian Miller]

Mentioned before, but I'll post them anyway. Not sure if they count as CESH, a term I learned a few minutes ago.

The Secret Agent Man lick, 5 #5 6 #5 over Im is also used in Aquarela Do Brazil (aka Brazil).

There are some line cliches I usually hear in the bass. Like Dm Dm/C Bm7b5 E7b9 Am. I recently saw Dm(7?)/Bb instead of Bm7b5. Seems like a Bbmaj7, but maybe they named it that way to suggest that the upper voices remain static.

Yah that stepwise descent to 6 usually used to modulate to the dominant (V) in minor. Used all over.

Whisper Not is like a thorough study of that but it’s so common. GDS, Black Orpheus, etc etc

The latter is a move I associate with JS Bach. He uses it in the prelude BWV999 (the one in Dminor). Also first three chord of Knives Out by Radiohead which is a clever set of changes.

A lot of stepwise bass motions… really don’t seem discussed as much as cycle progressions but they are the backbone of loads of stuff. Jobim springs to mind too.


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[AllanAllen]

The Bond thing is also a ii-V device, chromatically connecting the 5th of ii with the 3rd of V while pedaling on the root of the ii in the bass (which becomes the 5th of V).

Very nice, I wrote it out below

Dm - G7

Dm7 x532xx
Dm+7 x533xx
G7 x534xx