rhtyhm changes

[oleo20]

Hey there im new to here so Hi to all of you! this forums a great way to help each other out! i though id give my first post and see how you guys feel about rhythm changes?...any specific tunes? specific subs you make (especially on the bridge) how you go about outlining the changes?
cheers guys

[m78w]

A couple lesser known heads that have alternate changes are Serpent's Tooth and the Eternal Triangle. Cool bridge changes.

Also for the A section I love to back cycle over top of it:

F#7 B7/E7 A7/D7 G7/C7 F7/

Bb6 Bb7/Ebmaj7 Edim7/Dm7 G7/ C7 F7/

For the bridge I like Eternal Triangle:

Bm7/E7/ Bbm7/ Eb7

Am7 D7/ Abm7 Db7/ Gm7 C7/ Gbm7 B7/

MW

[Jake Hanlon]

I'm a big fan of the Eternal Triangle bridge, it's so much more interesting then the V of V bridge on most other rhythm Changes.

The Bridge is the key though. I think a lot of people address Rhythm Changes backwards and spend way to much time focusing on making every change of the A sections then on the Bridge start to mess with it. I think it should be the oposite and if you listen closely to the real great players they play all their insane hip shit over the A's and then nail that b section.

Backcycling is the best thing for R'Changes I think, it really creates some awesome tension!!

[On Sugar Hill]

Lots of subs you can do considering their all fives. If you have a long rhythm change such as in "Scrapple from the Apple", you can always think of like this


Instead of:

A7 - D7 - G7 - C7
You can use:

Em7 A7 - Am7 D7 - Dm7 G7 - Cm7 C7

You can get that major to minor sound, or in this case, dominant to minor.

[Sailor]

Try googling rhythm changes! I did and there are infinite variations, history, solo material etc... too much!!

Also does anyone know why this is usually played so fast??

Sailor

[m78w]

RC is normally a "cutting contest" tune. It was used by the beboppers at jam sessions to weed out the "unhip" players. It's one of those tunes like Cherokee that's always used to see whether players can hang or not.

I myself like to play RC's at all speeds, I love a medium rhythm change as much as a burning one.

MW

[Sailor]

How about a nice cool version for us "unhip" classical guys? Ever play it real slow??

Is it a good idea for the guitar to leave off extensions when playing with soloists/vocalists so you don't screw up the melody line? i.e 7b9 becomes di, instead of do, etc..(or si instead of sol, whatever)

sailor

[Stackabones]

Is it a good idea for the guitar to leave off extensions when playing with soloists/vocalists so you don't screw up the melody line? i.e 7b9 becomes di, instead of do, etc..(or si instead of sol, whatever)

sailor

It's even a better idea to leave them off when playing with pianists: they have ten fingers and tend to use them all.

I prefer simpler voicings when I solo. For me, it allows greater harmonic/soling freedom. I rather comping be stronger on hip rhythms than hip voicings.

[Jake Hanlon]

I've played R Changes at around 120 a bunch of times, really really swinging. The Challenge is to play it fast since the chord progression of I VI ii V appears in so many standards one should be able to have enough vocab to hang. The faster tempo becomes the challenge.

I don't call Rhythm Changes often only because for my own admitance I only know a few heads over the changes. If I knew more heads I probably would be more gun ho about playing over the changes. But it's enevitably called on pick up gigs and stuff like that. Which is fine.

Drums love it because they can just play fast without consequence.

[Stackabones]

I don't call Rhythm Changes often only because for my own admitance I only know a few heads over the changes. If I knew more heads I probably would be more gun ho about playing over the changes. But it's enevitably called on pick up gigs and stuff like that. Which is fine.

Do you play with singers much? RC show up a bunch in my experience with singers

[Holmes Monaco]

can someone explain to me what back cycling is?

[On Sugar Hill]

can someone explain to me what back cycling is?

Back-cycling is simply this:

Take a chord
Take the 5th of it
Put it before that chord
Repeat

So for example, the rhythm change:

A7 D7 G7 C7


A7 is the 5 of D7 is the 5 of G7 is the 5 of C7

Look at the C as the root and the chords before it are backcycling. G7 is the fifth of C, D7 is the fifth of G, and A7 is the fifth of D. It's basically a way to add a lot of tension that's easy to resolve.

Another common backcycle thats similar to rhythm changes is the vi ii V I

Am7 D7 Gm7 C7

It's backcycling in 5ths, but using the C major scale chords instead of all dominants.

[Jake Hanlon]

Do you play with singers much? RC show up a bunch in my experience with singers

I do play with singers quite often. Sometimes it comes up, most of the times no. Then again, it's always up to a particular singer's book.

[robbro@coastwifi.com]

bob.b We've been having a lot of fun with of all things, the flintstones theme a good basic rc tune

[gremboul]

Back-cycling is simply this:

Take a chord
Take the 5th of it
Put it before that chord
Repeat

So for example, the rhythm change:

A7 D7 G7 C7


A7 is the 5 of D7 is the 5 of G7 is the 5 of C7

Look at the C as the root and the chords before it are backcycling. G7 is the fifth of C, D7 is the fifth of G, and A7 is the fifth of D. It's basically a way to add a lot of tension that's easy to resolve.

Another common backcycle thats similar to rhythm changes is the vi ii V I

Am7 D7 Gm7 C7

It's backcycling in 5ths, but using the C major scale chords instead of all dominants.

Any examples? Tunes or vids? thanks

[Stringbean]

For: / Bb∆7 Gm7 / Cm7 F7/
Try: / Dm7sus4 G13/ Cm7sus4 F13 / in measures 3&4


Dm7sus4- G13--- Cm7sus4--- F13
---------------------------------------------
--8----------8----------6----------6-------
--5----------9----------3----------7-------
--7----------9----------5----------7-------
--5----------8----------3----------6-------
---------------------------------------------

[derek]

bob.b We've been having a lot of fun with of all things, the flintstones theme a good basic rc tune

I play that one solo. My fav of all the RC tunes. People always look around at me when I play that, because they recognize it, but can't place it.

If someone is seated close to me and gives me a quizical look when I am done, I will say, "Willlllllllmmmmmma". Always makes them crack up.