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You can get the book and CDs here:
Originally Posted by hipjazzcat
Jazz School Online - Shop
I am not aware of anywhere to purchase and download mp3s.
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05-02-2017 07:03 AM
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I posted this elsewhere on the forum, but for those who are knew to the '6th diminished scale' concepts, Roni Ben-Hur's 'Chordability' DVD is an excellent introduction to this material and sits nicely alongside Alan Kingstone's book.
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I'm really just working on getting comfortable playing the chords and some of the movement over chord progressions but I have a question for those who may be still going through this. It has to do with something I mentioned previously.
On p. 28, AK talks about where diminished chords lead. He says that IVdim resolves to I6. Vdim resolves to IV6. And Idim resolves to I6 and IV6.
The result of this is that every dim chord resolves to every I6:
For example Cdim is C Eb Gb A. Those notes are also Ebdim Gbdim and Adim.
So using any one of those notes as IVdim, that dim chord resolves to Db6 E6 G6 and Bb6.
Using any one of those notes as Idim resolving to I6, that dim chord resolves to C6 Eb6 Gb6 and A6.
Using any one of those notes as Idim resolving to IV6, that dim chord resolves to F6 Ab6 B6 and D6.
Unless I am mistaken, That's all of the possible I6 chords that the same dim chord resolves to.
So when using dim chords to move to and from I6 chords, is there any benefit to thinking much about which scale degree the dim chord is on? Shouldn't I just be thinking more about voice leading? Seems like you could throw any dim chord you want moving from one 6th chord to another.
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I don't think that the three dim families are interchangeable. I think that they are used most satisfyingly when they resolve to their own family, and less so when they are a brief stand in for a different family.
There are three families of dims and related chords. He calls them Idim, IVdim, and Vdim. For me it is helpful to just think in terms of the related maj triads: I, IV, and V. Yeah, "louie, louie" right?
Each of these dims are mutually exclusive with no overlapping notes. As chords they are inherently unstable, so AK uses them as the bridge to lead you to from one major tone center to the other. But not randomly.
The dim chords lead best to the major sound (and maybe we find out later in the book minor, but that is not covered in section 2.6) associated with them. So the IVdim (or IIdim, or IVdim, or bVIdim --all the same) leads best to the I maj. The Vdim (or bIIdim, or IIIdim, or bViidim) lead to the IVmaj; and the Idim (or bIIIdim, or #IVdim, or VIdim) lead to the Vmaj.
I think to the extent that the Vdim and Idim resolve to I is only in that they imply the intermediary steps. But try it. To my ear it just isn't the same. The IVdim leads to the I6. The other two families don't really want to. Unexpected resolutions don't always sound bad, and if you want to do something that wakes up the listener you might lead to a major tone center from an unrelated dim. But to my ear it has a bit of a "surprise" element to it, whereas leading to the Imaj from the VIIdim/IIdim/IVdim/bVIdim is a natural sounding resolution.
Again, this is what my ear is telling me. YMMV.
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BTW, while I am enjoying the abstract applications of this sound and creating my own harmonies I am having a struggle applying this to existing standards. I would love to see these chords applied to a variety of existing tunes, so don't be shy about posting a video or two.
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I think that is a good idea. Maybe it would be fun to pick a standard and each post something that we put together using this method. Originally Posted by rlrhett
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See post no. 74. Originally Posted by rlrhett
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Yes, thank you. As I said to ColinO, please don't be shy about posting a video of you playing that arrangement. Also, I know in a separate post (#62, I believe) you discuss how you chose the chords. If you would like talk that over in a video as you play it, I know that would add a lot to the discussion here. Likewise, if you have used chords/concepts that are from material further along in the book than where we are as a study group, please let us know. Sometimes it is a bit confusing when people make reference to other material not everyone may have covered yet without first identifying the source. Originally Posted by grahambop
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I like that idea a lot. I think picking a tune that we agree on and working on the through the material together would be a great learning tool. I've bounced over "Satin Dolls", "You Can't Take that Away from Me", and "April in Paris". But I haven't really given any of them a serious treatment. Do you have a tune in mind you would like to arrange ala Barry Harris? Originally Posted by ColinO
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I wonder if it might be useful to post short patterns that an be pulled out quickly when improvising (while comping). There are endless variations that we can approach intellectually when arranging a tune, but there are some moves that I find myself going to time and again because they're easy on the fingers and the ears. I'm thinking literally like 1 minute of video: showing the move slow, then a brief explanation, then faster, then in the context of a tune. Might be easier to digest something of this length and get to using it in times right away rather than wading through an entire arrangement.
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Probably should be one that doesn't change chords more often than every bar. I have been kicking around random tunes and probably should concentrate on working one up for a start. All The Things You Are? Your suggestions are good too. You pick. Originally Posted by rlrhett
Last edited by ColinO; 05-02-2017 at 03:19 PM.
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I'm not really geared up to do videos easily (haven't even got a smart phone!). I could probably do an audio recording of it. If it helps I could play the chords for one chorus, then put a solo on top for the second chorus so you can see how it would all hang together. Originally Posted by rlrhett
I think everything in my PDF comes from the sections you've looked at. Maybe where I tweaked a few chords you could regard that as coming from the 'borrowing' section. However I don't really use it systematically like that, I just change a note in a chord by ear if I feel like it.
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I don't do videos either. I plan to do an audio and maybe a brief description of what I did. Should be easy enough to follow along. Originally Posted by grahambop
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Audio or video. I think the key is adding narration to what you are doing. Explanation + Demonstration = Communication, to use annoying corporate speak. Of course, video has the advantage of seeing the Fretboard. But I get that it's not trivial to do if you are not already set up for it.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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I doubt I'll talk, I'd rather just play it. Post no. 28 tells you the rules I followed, post 74 shows you the exact chord grips I used (both the original chord and the Barry Harris version), should be enough. Originally Posted by rlrhett
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A natural test tune for examination of this approach is "Ain't Misbehavin"...
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As the first to offer a tune we can work on together, I think you win the prize. Expect a man at your door with a comical oversized check and flowers. Originally Posted by pauln
Let's just take it and run with it. I have been working on Afternoon in Paris, but that defeats the point of a study group tune if I've been already hammering it out! For the sake of the study group, I'll take a stab using just the stuff in the book up to this point.
BTW, do you have a lead sheet you can share? That way we are all working of the same page... literally.
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I would just mention that Ain't Misbehavin' has 2 chord changes per bar, not perhaps the easiest type of tune to start with.
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grahambop has a point. However, I'm game. I think that posting a lead sheet may be against the rules here. However, I can PM anyone who wants to join in. The one I have is in Eb if that is ok with you. Originally Posted by rlrhett
As the first to offer a tune we can work on together, I think you win the prize. Expect a man at your door with a comical oversized check and flowers.
Let's just take it and run with it. I have been working on Afternoon in Paris, but that defeats the point of a study group tune if I've been already hammering it out! For the sake of the study group, I'll take a stab using just the stuff in the book up to this point.
BTW, do you have a lead sheet you can share? That way we are all working of the same page... literally.
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I'll take one please.
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If you google '557 jazz standards' you should be able to find a handy PDF fakebook going the rounds which has all the old standards. It's got Ain't Misbehavin' in Eb.
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Started working on the tune tonight. Just interesting to note that parts of the song already feel fairly Barry Harris-ed. Two chords per measure is tough to BH when the II-Vs already use diminished chords. I'm focusing on borrowing in these short II-Vs and interesting sounding subs that sprout from BH, like using the min6 a half step up from the V to get an altered sound.
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I play and perform exclusively by ear, so I rarely name chords, so I'm including how I play the first four bars. To my ear this tune is very chromatic. The chord change in bar three is just delightful...
[x][6][8][7][8][x] Ebmaj7
[x][7][8][7][8][x] Edim
[x][8][8][8][9][x] F7#9sus4
[x][9][10][8][10][x] F#dim
[x][10][10][10][11][x] G7#9sus4
[x][x][9][10][11][11] G7b13#9/F
[x][11][10][8][8][x] Abmaj7
[x][10][9][10][10][x] Gaug/F
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Here's my "Ain't Misbehaving" contribution. As I say in the video I tried as much as possible to only look at the devices presented thus far in the book (Roughly section 2.6). Also, I took the melody ONLY. I did not look at the fakebook chord progression.
I'm struggling with the analysis, but I will try to make sense of this later today.
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And, for what its worth, here is a breakdown:
EDIT: One small correction. I say early on that the move from the I6(Eb6) to Vdim should lead me to the IV6, but I didn't like that. I should acknowledge that Kingstone shows I6-Vdim-V6 not just Vdim-IV6. So I didn't totally break with Kinsgstone. However, going to the V6 sounded 'ok', but I still substituted the VIIb6.
Next I mumble something about how I used the VI6 instead of IV6, and speculate about the VI and IV being "sisters". I meant:
"My ear wants me to go to the VIIb6 rather than the V6. I suppose that works because they are 'sisters', but I don't really understand that part of the system yet."
The VIIb6 and V6 are "brothers and sisters", not the IV6 and VI6.Last edited by rlrhett; 05-05-2017 at 01:47 AM.
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