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Can anyone recommend any tunes that have loads of major chords in please?
I know many different ways to approach improvising over them, and it's fine in isolation. But for some reason my mind goes blank when I see a major chord in a tune. I always end up playing the same ideas.
I think that if I had a few tunes with lots of major chords in, then it should help. For example, I used to use "time remembered" to practice minor chord tones/dorian modes all over the neck.
I'd rather not just record myself playing a random sequence of major chords though, as I'd like to kill two birds with one stone by expanding my repertoire at the same time!
Thanks!
Rob
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03-28-2012 05:04 AM
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I think I read somewhere that the Major 7th is Pat Martino's least favorite chord.
If I recall he sad he converts them to their relative minor and treats them as such.
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Bill Evans, Very Early
I see CMaj7, EbMaj7. DbMaj7, DMaj7, BMaj7, FMaj7. That's pretty good!
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In a Mellow Tone
Epistrophy
Jordu
Sweet Georgia Bright
Well You Needn't
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Maybe I'm misunderstanding the original post, but I think he's looking for major 7th chords, not dom7 chords. I know those Monk tunes are dom-fests.
Originally Posted by cosmic gumbo
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You could be right. Silentcityrob, what you lookin' for?
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Joe Henderson: "Inner Urge"; "Jinriksha".
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Maybe just major chords (i.e. not major 7ths)
Verses to 'Under the Boardwalk'
Brown Eyed Girl (must be 95% major chords, only has that one measure of a minor chord in each 24 bar verse)
Not sure of any jazz tunes with just majors though. Flip through the Real Book, maybe there's some.
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Woah! Loads of suggestions! Thanks very much!
Yep, sorry should of made it clearer. Non dominant major chords please. I've spent far too much time just playing Monk and can't seem to get out of playing whole tone!
BigDaddyLoveHandles - I've been using Very Early quite a lot, but I feel like I've just memorised different positions and that I've not truly understood what I'm doing. But exactly that sort of thing though. Thanks.
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Does this idea help? Consider a song with couple ii-V-I's in a row, like How High The Moon:
| GMaj7 | GMaj7 | Gmin7 | C7 |
| FMaj7 | FMaj7 | Fmin7 | Bb7 |
| EbMaj7|
I'm lazy and tempted to just shift down the neck by two frets at a time, but force yourself to stay in one fret position on the fretboard through the progression. Does doing that force you to come up with some different things? It helps me to think in terms of ideas more than licks.
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Ha! How High the Moon was another one I was working on too!
It's more a case of forcing myself to think much quicker. I know where all the chord tones are across the neck but it sometimes takes me a second to think where they are for a given major chord. I can just do it for minor chords.
The feeling is definitely mutual!I think I read somewhere that the Major 7th is Pat Martino's least favorite chord.
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It just sounds like something you need more practice on. If you can do it for minor chords, major chords will come in time, too. Originally Posted by silentcityrob
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When I was teaching guitar at Berklee many years ago, my students had to learn major scales for proficiency exams. They often asked a question similar to what you have asked: What can I do with major scales? I wrote a program that allowed me to store information about tunes and call up a list of tunes to answer just this kind of question. So, for your question, I used THoTH to generate a list of tunes that used just Maj7, min7, and dom7 chords only. Here's the list: Originally Posted by silentcityrob
Anthropology
Call Me
Dancing On The Ceiling
Doodlin'
Four
Giant Steps
Groovin' High
Here's That Rainy Day
I Cover the Waterfront
Jordu
Just Friends
Oleo
Portsmouth Figurations
Tune-Up
Watch What Happens
Oddly enough, I just came home from a solo gig where I played "Watch What Happens." So that's a useful tune!
SteveLast edited by SteveCarter; 03-28-2012 at 11:07 PM.
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Strangers in the Night
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The best of the genre:
Major | AllMusic
Oh...and don't forget "Louie Louie."
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Thanks everyone, that's been a big help. Looks I've got a lot of work to do now!
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This may not help you if you are playing stricktly modal. But I'm an old fart, rooted in pre-modal playing, so bear with me. I often find the strict modal approach limiting, because the modal concept tends to see each chord as an isolated items ("What's this chord and what scale can I play over it? What's the next chord and what scale can I play over that?"). That can especially be problematic if a major chord goes on for two bars or more which happens quite often.
With the older concept of functional harmony, chords comes in a logical flow from somewhere and goes on to somewhere - a more horizontal approach which lends itself to creating horizontal melody lines. With this approach one can for example reharmonize the tune with small turnarounds during sustained major chords to add some variaty (work it out with the other band members in advance or you may get a "huh?" look from them). One could also do some rhythmic variations over a repeating pattern utilizing, say, the 6th, the major 7th and the 5th, where the variation comes from the rhythmic subtleties, not the melodic. Variation can also be made by using various tone qualities even of the same note (may be easier to do on wind instruments that on a guitar, but it can be done by, say, playing the same note on different strings). Lester Young was a master of this. Also, don't rule out the option of playing "outside" of the scale. If your melodic line and the rhythmic approach is strong enough and it is performed with authority, it will likely sound "exiting" and "spicy", but not "wrong". As DuUke Ellington said: "If it sounds right, it is right!".
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"I'll Remember April" has a Maj7 for four bars. "The Best Things In Life Are Free" is another one.
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Green dolphin street is often played with all major 7th chords in teh first 8 bars.
Jens
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