The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
Reply to Thread Bookmark Thread
Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast
Posts 1 to 25 of 26
  1. #1

    User Info Menu


  2.  

    The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
     
  3. #2

    User Info Menu

    Thanks Chris

    nice chords..good melodic minor use..and the E7#5b9 chord form (Bb9..Dmi7b5..Fmi6) - Ex 6- is a nice gateway into many other chords that can cycle back into GM7 type chords

  4. #3

    User Info Menu

    Useful info. Tight demonstration of the idea.

    No excessive verbiage.

    Excellent video. Thanks for posting.

  5. #4

    User Info Menu

    Interesting, definitely sounds like Bill Evans

    Would not have guessed it sounds so complete, but leaving out the bass, you have V to i progression in the upper three notes

    quibbling a bit, but not sure chords 'come' from scales, and even if so, it could have just as likely come from the augmented scale?

  6. #5

    User Info Menu

    To look at with less theory, let's take the notes.

    Am9 A C E G B

    Dmaj7#5 D F# A# C#

    Gmaj7 G B D F#

    Suppose you play Am9 like this ... x 12 10 12 12 x that's A C G B. (the E isn't played but is heard, faintly, as an overtone of A). Or move the lowest note to E as follows 12 x 10 12 12 x.

    Then you play Dmaj#5 like this 10 x 11 11 11 x that's D C# F# A#.

    You have B and G moving down a half step. This is the key movement. It makes the voice leading smooth.

    You have C moving up a half step. Another half step. Moving up, not down like the others but still smooth.

    And, you have bass movement, which depends how you play it. Could be E to D. Could be A to D. Whichever way you play it doesn't the voice leading sound very different, to my ear.

    Then to get to Gmaj you move the A# a half step in either direction. You can leave the F# alone. The C# moves to D. Low D moves to low G.

    Anyway, the point is, one of the most common options to lead into a chord is to slide into it from a half step up. The Dmaj7#5 can be played with two notes at the top of the chord that do exactly that.

    OR (EDIT)

    Am9 A C E G B

    Dmaj7#5 D F# A# C#

    Gmaj7 G B D F#

    Notice that Dmaj7#5 contains an F# major triad. It slides up one half tone to become a Gmaj triad. And, the other note, D, stays the same.

    For that matter, the Am9 contains two notes that slide up a half step to become part of the Dmaj7#5 chord.

    This is, from one point of view, F#/D (same notes as Dmaj7#5, D F# A# C#) going to Gmaj.

    Or, it could be spelled F#/D to Bm/G. V-I in the bass. V-im in the rest.

    Voice leading from a half step above or a half step below. The bass note can be treated in a few different ways, changing the sound, but not the concept.

    Experiment: Focus on F# triad going to G triad. Nice half step movement. Let's put a G beneath both of them. Now, we've got F#/
    G going to G/G.

    Next, a D under both. Or a D to G. Or, an Ab going to G. Then, make it an Ab triad going to G and try all the usual suspects for the bass notes.

    Next, try it with whole step or b3 movement.

    My point is that what makes all this work, or not, is the smooth voice leading.
    Last edited by rpjazzguitar; 09-28-2021 at 06:16 PM.

  7. #6

    User Info Menu

    Man sounds great, thanks for this fantastic idea!

  8. #7

    User Info Menu

    Quote Originally Posted by Chris Whiteman
    Every chord has a "parent scale" from which 3rds are stacked. it is called tertian harmony and the basis of Western harmony. The Augemented scale would not give you the major 7th. It gives you the flat 7th.
    the augmented scale is two augmented triads a half-step apart, no?

    I also think chord-scale theory came after the wide use of certain alt chords

    anyway there is no scale in classical music for a French 6th chord, to give one example

    anyway, very interesting video, thanks for posting

  9. #8

    User Info Menu

    Quote Originally Posted by BWV
    the augmented scale is two augmented triads a half-step apart, no?
    Wouldn't it be 2 aug triads a whole step apart? The whole tone scale in other words?

  10. #9

    User Info Menu

    Quote Originally Posted by Runegitane
    Wouldn't it be 2 aug triads a whole step apart? The whole tone scale in other words?
    then it would be the whole tone scale

    https://www.thejazzpianosite.com/jaz...gmented-scale/

  11. #10

    User Info Menu

    Interesting. I haven't been exposed to that particular synthetic scale. I still consider the whole tone scale to be a true "augmented" scale though. After I play around with this new one I will probably understand it better. Thanks.

  12. #11

    User Info Menu

    Quote Originally Posted by Chris Whiteman
    Every chord has a "parent scale" from which 3rds are stacked. it is called tertian harmony and the basis of Western harmony. The Augemented scale would not give you the major 7th. It gives you the flat 7th.
    A bit confused on the maj 7..please clarify

    the Aug scale .. C Eb E G Ab B

    Maj7 chords--C--CEGB. ||..E--E G#/Ab B Eb || Ab--Ab C Eb G

    minor triads--C--C Eb G || E--E G B || Ab--Ab B Eb

    and every note in the scale can be the root of a Aug triad

  13. #12

    User Info Menu

    Quote Originally Posted by wolflen
    A bit confused on the maj 7..please clarify

    the Aug scale .. C Eb E G Ab B

    Maj7 chords--C--CEGB. ||..E--E G#/Ab B Eb || Ab--Ab C Eb G

    minor triads--C--C Eb G || E--E G B || Ab--Ab B Eb

    and every note in the scale can be the root of a Aug triad
    Sorry, I read augmented scale, but turned it into whole tone scale in my mind, so my answer was incorrect.

  14. #13

    User Info Menu

    Quote Originally Posted by Chris Whiteman
    One of my absolute favourites.

    So I've also seen this chord written as B/G; which is more familiar to me in this type of context. This is also a variant of Errol Garner Misty chord, which is B/C moving to Cmaj7 similar thing, different bass note. So there's the B triad in there obviously - B F# D#, in both cases.

    Errol uses it to harmonise the major 7 of the key 'look at meeee..'. And it does move very satisfyingly to Cmaj7, with the B melody sustained through both chords (transposing from the original.)

    Adam Neely did a video on this fairly recently; (IIRC) I think he interpreted it as a variant of the 'common tone diminished' or cadential diminished you get in some tunes like Corcovado and When You're Smiling. Usually it goes with a blues b3 melody.

    Dm7 G7 Co7 C

    To me there's a strong connection to what I call the 'Mood Indigo' or 'Cherokee' dominant, which obviously also comes from the b3 melody over the V creating an augmented triad. Very common in pre-war jazz... this also acts as a doorway into the very pre-war whole tone sound.

    Dm7 G+ C

    The Gmaj7#5 sound sort of combines these two into a more modern sound, and could be used in any of these tunes.

    as with all subs it's about the melody, and I think in discussions of Bill Evans that sometimes gets overlooked. Herbie too. You can use any sub you want provided it complements the melody. So, I find it useful to think 'this chord sounds great with a melody that sits on 7, #4 and b3 of the key'

    That said, a lot of modern harmony is about making dominant chords sound less dominant anyway, because it makes the music float more..

    Scale wise, I also like G diminished whole-half and E harmonic minor.
    Last edited by Christian Miller; 09-28-2021 at 05:57 AM.

  15. #14

    User Info Menu

    The B triad is also a great choice for an Ebo7 chord.

  16. #15

    User Info Menu

    From a the point of view of 'quadradic' harmony (Jordans triad + tension note thing), it's quite interesting how much the quality of the sound is changed whether you add a G or a C to the B triad

    Baddb6 - definitely melody minor-ey
    Baddb9 - definitely more diminished-ey

    So I suppose you could say B/G and B/C are actually profoundly different *sounds* despite the similarity in voice leading. Obviously from a textbook CST perspective melodic minor doesn't fit the B/C. The triad + tension tone 'quadrads' fit either though.

    Hmmmm... *strokes beard*

  17. #16

    User Info Menu

    Errol, and Misty, and Misty chord rulez :-)

    ***

    I am wonderig how it is related to what I've heard recenty in Autumn in New York:

    Gm7 Am7 | BbMaj7 C13 | E/F ->FMaj7...

    It was played on piano, but using the not moving F in the A string, and also not movig E in the B string makes perfect sense as a delayed resolution, very similar concept to the delayed resolution used by Errol Garner to resolve to EbM7.

    The remaining tense on the first bar (where the listener expects the resolution) adds an extra twist to the tension chord quality and uniqueness.

  18. #17

    User Info Menu

    Quote Originally Posted by Christian Miller
    From a the point of view of 'quadradic' harmony (Jordans triad + tension note thing), it's quite interesting how much the quality of the sound is changed whether you add a G or a C to the B triad

    Baddb6 - definitely melody minor-ey
    Baddb9 - definitely more diminished-ey

    So I suppose you could say B/G and B/C are actually profoundly different *sounds* despite the similarity in voice leading. Obviously from a textbook CST perspective melodic minor doesn't fit the B/C. The triad + tension tone 'quadrads' fit either though.

    Hmmmm... *strokes beard*
    Exactly this is what recently makes me wondering that inversion kind do matter. Hearing what Kreisberg and Bobby Broom could do with triads with added bass note...it is a whole (new) world. I conclude inversion do matter in means one is great, other is totally inappropriate...

    In my prev post I mention E/F which is great in the inversion having F as bass note. However interpreting it as E-something-9b (well 7 is missing) and putting the F to the top is a complete disaster...

  19. #18

    User Info Menu

    Quote Originally Posted by Gabor
    Exactly this is what recently makes me wondering that inversion kind do matter. Hearing what Kreisberg and Bobby Broom could do with triads with added bass note... I conclude inversion do matter in means one is great, other is totally inapprpriate...

    In my prev post I mention E/F which is great in the inversion having F as bass note. However interpreting it as E-something-9b (well 7 is missing) and putting the F to the top is a complete disaster...
    Inversions definitely matter. I think Peter Bernstein makes that point very clearly.

    (We may not think they matter because mostly bass players take care of it, but when we play without bass, we might not realise that our approach has to change. You have to think and hear like a composer or arranger, and that means taking stock of the whole music, not just a chord chart.)

    An example I was thinking about last night. So the, first chord of the Matrix score (Don Davis) is a Low Em chord against a C chord fading in and out of each other. The C chord I think is sounded first.



    In theory I should hear this as an inverted Cmaj7 chord? In practice I hear it as Emaddb6. b6 of course is also an 'avoid note'. In fact it sounds super menacing and tense, very powerful. Another score that leans into this sound is 'Twin Peaks' by Angelo Badalamenti. So not like a Cmaj7 at all lol.

    Let alone C/B which is a whole different vibe again.

    Anyway I am studying baroque harmony ATM, and to them a 6 3 chord is different animal from a 5 3 - even though modern theory says they are different inversion of a triad. A 6 4 chord for instance G/D is actually a dissonant chord. Once you start hearing inversions this way there's no going back haha.

    It's all about the counterpoint, even in jazz. Melody and bass.... unless you are playing with a pianist who learned harmony from the Levine book, in which case, you better play your chord scales haha.

    TL;DR Rameau was an idiot

  20. #19

    User Info Menu

    ...meanwhile I realized how my example of E/F related to the OP Maj7(#5) or Christian's example of B/G : the bass note goes up to a fourth -> B/C... so no wonder the two chords are functioning similarly
    Last edited by Gabor; 09-28-2021 at 09:30 AM.

  21. #20

    User Info Menu

    Thanks Chris W
    very nice indeed , I will use that idea
    for sure

  22. #21

    User Info Menu

    Quote Originally Posted by Gabor
    Errol, and Misty, and Misty chord rulez :-)

    ***

    I am wonderig how it is related to what I've heard recenty in Autumn in New York:

    Gm7 Am7 | BbMaj7 C13 | E/F ->FMaj7...
    In that case, the melody rests on the 6th of the key ('D' in the key of F or the missing b7th in the 'E something b9). I'd add that step to Christian's b3, #4 and 7 as a common melodic option. A possible guitar voicing might be:

    x 8 9 9 9 10

    BTW, many people choose to play b13 over the C dominant chord in the opening bars of Autumn in New York - for instance, 8 x 8 9 9 10 - and it segues nicely to the chord shown above as they share three common tones.

  23. #22

    User Info Menu

    I agree that in this context, the chord in question doesn’t sound like E7b9 with the b9 in the bass. Probably makes more sense to treat it as a common tone diminished with a borrowed note.

  24. #23

    User Info Menu

    Quote Originally Posted by PMB
    In that case, the melody rests on the 6th of the key ('D' in the key of F or the missing b7th in the 'E something b9). I'd add that step to Christian's b3, #4 and 7 as a common melodic option. A possible guitar voicing might be:

    x 8 9 9 9 10

    BTW, many people choose to play b13 over the C dominant chord in the opening bars of Autumn in New York - for instance, 8 x 8 9 9 10 - and it segues nicely to the chord shown above as they share three common tones.
    Such a pre war whole-tone chord, love it.

  25. #24

    User Info Menu

    Thanks, great sound! Interesting note about the "wrong" 7th. That's the added note in the Mixolydian Bebop scale, right?

    Another thing: in transcribing, I've noticed a lot the "wrong" 3d. For example, minor 3d on a Dom. I really think the point of jazz is to play *against* the changes.

  26. #25

    User Info Menu

    Quote Originally Posted by JazzinNY
    Thanks, great sound! Interesting note about the "wrong" 7th. That's the added note in the Mixolydian Bebop scale, right?

    Another thing: in transcribing, I've noticed a lot the "wrong" 3d. For example, minor 3d on a Dom. I really think the point of jazz is to play *against* the changes.
    Yeah 100%; for instance the ‘7#9’ chord is often handled as if it were a m7 chord. Often it actually sounds better to do that than use the ‘right’ scale. More in the idiom.

    (Or perhaps more accurately- 7#9 is probably what later theorists called a dom7 chord with a minor third on…)

    Major sevenths on V7 chords are not uncommon.

    Theory tries to tie everything together neatly, tidy everything up - but music isn’t and shouldn’t be neat. Chord scales are useful until they are not.

    TBH I’m getting less and less interested in theory-as-excuse. We should all remember what the Duke said :-)