The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
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  1. #1

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    Static Dominant Chord

    altered scale (melodic minor 1/2 step up from root)
    whole tone scale
    mixolydian
    blues scale
    diminished


    Static Minor Chord

    Dorian mode
    ???
    any other other ideas?

  2.  

    The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
     
  3. #2

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    m6dim

  4. #3

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    Melodic minor sure can work.

  5. #4

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    Whatever you're playing are you sometimes side-steppin' (going up a half step then back down) for some tension?

    Also, if you think of the minor chord as the "ii", you could think ii V ii V ... over the minor chord.

    In short, try adding something non-static to it.

  6. #5

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    Static Minor Chord

    Dorian mode
    ???
    any other other ideas?
    How static? You mean like So What? That's 24 bars of Dm7 (or Dm11) between choruses!

    And which kind of minor chord? Ordinary, m7, m6, m9, m69, m11, m7b5, m/M7 ? Depends on the chord, doesn't it?

    Sorry, don't mean to complicate it but it does depend.

  7. #6

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    Quote Originally Posted by alltunes
    Static Minor Chord

    Dorian mode
    ???
    any other other ideas?
    Buy Pat Martino’s ‘Linear Expressions’ book and learn every single line in it (they are all essentially minor lines).

    Should give you loads of ideas.

  8. #7
    Dutchbopper Guest
    Quote Originally Posted by alltunes
    Static Dominant Chord

    altered scale (melodic minor 1/2 step up from root)
    whole tone scale
    mixolydian
    blues scale
    diminished


    Static Minor Chord

    Dorian mode
    ???
    any other other ideas?
    Joe Pass has excellent etudes over static major, minor and dominant chords in his 1996 book "On Guitar." (Warner) You really cannot top these because he is actually PLAYING fantastic sounding lines instead of verbalising about scales only. He (or rather, the editor, I don't think Joe did it) does explain what happens in these etudes with annotations, so the theory is all there too. Fantastic book.

    Here is one of them, the major etude. I am playing along with Joe.


  9. #8

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    One more thing...

    Say a Dm ... eventually ... goes to a Gm ... a common minor progression... sprinkling some D7 flavour on the transition makes sense... what might that look like, for example?

    Dm -> D melodic minor
    D7 -> D altered (the same note set ... as Eb melodic minor!)

  10. #9
    Thanks for the ideas everybody.

    I had not heard of the particular Joe Pass book Dutchbopper recommended. I guess it is a synopsis of that last video Joe did? Anyway despite my intention of breaking my jazz instruction book habit I did just purchase it. It looks great and on point.

    What is m6dim?

    A Barry Harris thing?

  11. #10
    Dutchbopper Guest
    Quote Originally Posted by alltunes
    Thanks for the ideas everybody.

    I had not heard of the particular Joe Pass book Dutchbopper recommended. I guess it is a synopsis of that last video Joe did? Anyway despite my intention of breaking my jazz instruction book habit I did just purchase it. It looks great and on point.
    The book is related to the video "An Evening with Joe Pass."

    DB

  12. #11

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    alltunes -

    You haven't defined static.

  13. #12

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    Say you've got a lot of bars of D dorian. Pianist is playing Dm(something).

    D dorian is all the white keys on a piano.

    Other posters have suggested ways to use the black keys, but I'm going to specifically focus on just white keys.

    You can play stuff that you would ordinarily play on Dm chords.

    But, you can also play stuff that you might associate with Fmajor, Am, Cmaj6 or Cmaj7, Bm7b5 and G9.

    If you play a short idea (called a sequence) on Dm, say 1 2 5 4 (D E A G), you can move that up through all the other chords. So, next, you might play 1254 starting on F: F G C B. Then do it on C: C D G F.

    Then you might think, why not put in a passing chord between the D and the F? So you could add in E F B A.

    When you play them one after another, the ear stops hearing "vanilla Dm" and starts hearing the melodic idea cycled through different harmonic contexts.

    If that's too vanilla still, then you could think about a short idea with big intervallic leaps. Like, say, 1 7 6 2, and cycle that.

    In fact, if you play a C major scale with every other note in a different octave, it ends up sounding kind of outside.

    If you want to include some black keys, you can replace a note in the sequence with a black key. The repetitive quality of the sequence still captures the ear and then you can add bitonality. If you replace those F's with F#s, the sequence will still sound like a sequence and the harmony will pit major against minor. Replacing Bs with Bbs might be a little easier on the audience.

  14. #13

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    When playing over a D-7 Dorian, you can start thinking of other chords in the key. Fmaj7, A-7, B-7b5, G7, Cmaj7..

    Play their arpeggios over the original D-7 chord. Once this starts to feel comfortable, play lines around these chords.

    Eventually you can create progressions with your lines, again over the D-7 chord. Say a II-V (E-7b5 A7) resolving to D-7. This will start sounding a bit outside, since you start to use notes and chords outside the key, but the familiar chord progression carries it.

    Then you can start practicing alternate II-Vs. Instead of a II-V in D-7, you pick some other relative chord of the key (say Fmaj7) and you play a II-V there, so over D-7 you'd practice G-7 C7 Fmaj7.

    This whole way of thinking moves away from scales and uses chords and harmony, and it's very bebop sounding. If you analyze solos of the great players of the era, you see all these chords over other chords all the time.

  15. #14
    Look at chord patterns associated with Dm etc. Do some "Advanced Search" for some discussion from forum user: Reg, on "chord patterns", in quotes like that.

    CESH is a very common pattern for minor. Dm - DmM7 - Dm7. Reg would always say that you could abstract that same pattern to Dm - A7alt - Dm7 and so on. Basically the same thing at a different level.

    You could then add in the ii Em7b5 to the pattern to elaborate further and develop subs for those chords, such as Eb7#11 for A7 etc.

    He's also always talking about the related 2-5. Dm7(dorian) Dm7 - G7#11 - Dm7

    You'd be thinking of these as a bracketed pattern comprising that single chord of Dm7. Jazzers always play lead lines which go far beyond diatonic, and thinking of these chord patterns as a way of organizing tension/release and harmonic rhythm can be really helpful. It's a level of organization beyond the common: "basically you can play anything". Both views are somewhat true, but the second doesn't give as much direction if you're trying to learn and see relationships in common language.

    Anyway, I like this way of looking at it. It's somewhat a "jazz as a tessellation" view. Mostly anything which works as macro level harmonic movement will also work as micro chord patterns for establishing movement, tension/release and harmonic rhythm.

    The short answer for me before reading a lot of Reg's posts on this was CESH on minor chords. It's certainly something to plug in, but it's only one level of the analysis of what that chromatic lead-in cliche might imply.
    Last edited by matt.guitarteacher; 11-19-2021 at 06:14 PM.

  16. #15

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    I got an idea lately. Once you are able to play whatever you're feeling, you can expect this happen with the solo.
    So. Feel good. Or sad. Or have some complex relationship with your mother... like that.. and that gets played.
    So, can you play what you feel already? Or do you need scale-theory to make you feel something?

  17. #16

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    It's really easy to find tonalities/scales for minor.

    1st determine what chord it is and its function.

    If you want it to be a tonic or like one you can use natural minor, melodic minor, dorian. Dorian works well for everything.

    If it's a subdominant in major - the ii - ie a minor 7 - dorian is the main choice. You can experiment with ways to embellish it, will accept some dissonance like melodic minor.

    If it's a subdominant in minor - a half diminished - locrian or locrian natural 2. Easy ways to run those are major a half step up for locrian or melodic minor a minor 3rd up for locrian natural 2.

    You can play bluez scale.

    You can get nutz and try exotic sounds like phrygian, or harmonic minor, or harmonic minor with the #4 (hungarian minor).

    Lots of stuff to do, just figure out what the purpose of the chord is and what sound you want to create.
    Last edited by Clint 55; 11-19-2021 at 05:59 PM.

  18. #17

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    aaltunes -

    The question is too open-ended.

    Repeat:

    What do you mean by static?

    What kind of minor chord?

    Give an example in a tune (e.g. So What).

  19. #18

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    I'm new to this forum, and maybe I have a jazzy feel on some of my music, but I am not a jazz player. I have not learned the inversions and jazz scales. But I have somehow been booked steadily for some years, prior to covid. I apologize to the jazz theorists for my uneducated opinion.

    The writer complains his guitar sounds 'dead;..' bummer. So in my humble opinion here are a few things to take into consideration instead of just buying something else.

    Tone: Have you tried different strings? Different gauges? Do you use flat wounds? They can easily sound dead. What about pickup and pole height? Sometimes simple adjustments make for good results.

    Note: you must know your instrument.

    A high degree of control is largely in the fingers. When I am on stage, I don't always touch my volume knob to control volume. Soft to harsh can be to a high degree controlled by your touch; The fingers of your fretting hand in concert with the picking hand.. Attack, decay, muted, semi muted, plucking sounds, ghost tones, sustained tonality with clear ringing tone, or semi muted - are all controlled with the fretting hand's finger pressure in unison with the palm/wrist of the picking hand. The control or the release or how much ring or decay is in the left hand. (joined with right hand, but this is only an example. Experiment with this idea. The timing of the right and left hand is awesome to master, and it is not so difficult. With a little experimentation and practice. Then you have another level of tonality, 'Where' you touch the string with the right hand; toward the neck produces a more round sound, touch toward the bridge you get a sharper brighter sound.

    Do you use a pick? What pic makes a giant difference. Thicker pics with smooth edges makes a rounder, softer tone,

    Important to learn in the native factors or latitude of your instrument. Each guitar has a way it wants to be played to bring out its fullness. Two weeks ago, I pulled one of my electrics I've had for more than ten years. I never was able to feel good on it or get what i needed, so I never used it. I'd put it on to practice, then i'd take It off and just not use it. One day, I had a change in my 'feel' approach. I used that guitar and wow, my friends and my musician daughter said it kicked ass. My personal evolution heard something in it and suddenly, I felt it. That guitar was not used for years, now i use it. I learned how it needs to be played. Then I took my GL6 power tubes out, and put in EL34 tubes. Wow.. like a new guitar of great tonality. Moral is So many ways to draw tone out of a guitar.

    Before you give up on it think of this... (really, it happens) Imagine you had ONLY that guitar to play, and you had an important gig. What could you do to enhance your tonality, all things equal, guitar. amp, and you. There are so many ways to nurture tonality .. You say it does not have a 'ring or beautiful decay?' How do you touch the strings with the fingers of your left and right hands?

    In closing, consider this. You know what a harp is, strings tightened on a form, with no frets, So you pluck the strings necessary for your sound or tune.

    Similarly, a chord, a static chord, is only static if you don't play the strings. We don't strum across the stings all the time. I hold my flat pick with thumb and index finger, while my middle and third pluck other notes in the 'static' chord position. You talk about the different scales. Well, I am not a jazz guy, but the notes of the scales are also found in the chord position. I am not offering a way, and i saying there is more to tonality and making pleasing tones than many guys know. Notes in a scale, make a chord. The chord has the of the scale, depending on your style or approach. I am not putting this in stone, just offering some ideas to ponder. Learn the idiosyncratic uniqueness of all of your instruments. They will serve you well

  20. #19

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    Quote Originally Posted by alltunes

    What is m6dim?

    A Barry Harris thing?
    Yup. 8-note scale built from a minor 6 chord and its related diminished. So: Cm6 = C Eb G A ; Bdim = B D F Ab ; Cm6dim scale = C D Eb F G Ab A B

    In other words, scale degrees 1 2 b3 4 5 b6 6 (maj)7 -- melds melodic and harmonic minor scales into one

    Used to solo over tonic minor and also to harmonize dominants (on the fifth of the dominant) and altered dominants (on the b2 of the dominant)

    A Swiss Army knife of a scale ...

  21. #20

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    Quote Originally Posted by ragman1
    aaltunes -
    The question is too open-ended.
    Repeat:
    What do you mean by static?
    What kind of minor chord?
    Give an example in a tune (e.g. So What).
    We all knew what he meant.

  22. #21

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    Quote Originally Posted by grahambop
    We all knew what he meant.
    That's because you're much, much smarter than me.

    Dynamic and Static Chords | Anton Schwartz - Jazz Music

    The word static doesn't only refer to repeated chords but specific kinds of chord and, probably, specific usages.

    Given the simplicity of the OP's question, I doubt if he understood that.

  23. #22

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    Here is an excellent presentation of what means to use when improvising on one chord /static chord or one chord vamp/.
    Chad LB is a great musician and educator:


  24. #23

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    Quote Originally Posted by ragman1
    That's because you're much, much smarter than me.

    Dynamic and Static Chords | Anton Schwartz - Jazz Music

    The word static doesn't only refer to repeated chords but specific kinds of chord and, probably, specific usages.

    Given the simplicity of the OP's question, I doubt if he understood that.
    Musicians who take their profession seriously know exactly what's going on and don't have to rummage through the internet.

  25. #24

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    Quote Originally Posted by ragman1
    That's because you're much, much smarter than me.

    Dynamic and Static Chords | Anton Schwartz - Jazz Music

    The word static doesn't only refer to repeated chords but specific kinds of chord and, probably, specific usages.

    Given the simplicity of the OP's question, I doubt if he understood that.
    We still all knew what he meant.

  26. #25

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    By the way I am fully aware of the stuff in that article. Learned those terms and useages from Emily Remler years ago.