Do Nothing 'Til You Hear From Me

[MarkRhodes]

In an Aebersold book, (Volume 48, I think) C-/F is the chord for the pickup to measure one. ("Do nothing 'til you hear from", then "me" falls on the downbeat of measure one.) The tunes in Bb (this version anyway)

I get that C- is the ii-chord of Bb, and that F is the fifth of Bb and I know a few ways to voice this chord. But none of them sound particularly good to me. Perhaps I misunderstand the goal of this chord in this position...

Help, please!

Here's a Diana Krall version. Not the Aebersold but it works the same way: short intro then an empty measure where the vocal (melody) starts. But I don't see why C-/F (in Bb) is the chord chosen for it.

[mr. beaumont]

Reminds me of my favorite Chicago joke...

Whats the last thing Jesus said to Streets and San?

[matt.guitarteacher]

C-6/F or C-7/F are both cool...F9 or F11. Not sure about C-/F...

[sgcim]

Whenever I've played that song, the pickup measure is always left unharmonized, or with a V7 (in this case F7) played only on beat one as an 8th note, with the melody coming in on the & of one.
Great tune.

[matt.guitarteacher]

Just looked at the melody. It very much suits the ii. I'd probably still want the 6th or 7th though.

[MarkRhodes]

Thanks, guys.

Normally for something like this, I'd think about altering the V chord, but in this case the first melody note (in Bb) is Eb, the 3rd of C minor, so I get where it's coming from, but as a chord (all by itself, as here,) "it don't favor nothing" (as my dad used to say.).

At least now I know I'm not missing something obvious.

[matt.guitarteacher]

No. I'm with you Mark. Don't hear it as a minor Triad alone.

[sgcim]

I play it as a big band feature and the band drops out on the pickup measure, so I can do whatever I want there.
One thing I used was a pianistic thing, where I'd use a tonic pedal above the melody. Resulted in an Oscar peterson/Hampton Hawes type of sound.

[TiagoMiguel]

It sounds like a V7sus voicing where there's no 3rd or 4th. Maybe that's what they played on that particular version?


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https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpG...ehpkEjhFsr-FZQ

[KirkP]

I find Aebersold useful for ideas on how one might reharmonize a tune but I'll never play from an Aebersold chart. I feel it overspecifies chords, locking you into a particular way of harmonizing. I much prefer learning the "vanilla" chords, then reharmonizing myself on the fly.

That C-/F in the pickup measure is an example. I think that measure just wants some form of a V7 chord. I think of C-/F as an F9 chord with the 3rd omitted. But why drop the third?

C-7/F seems a more interesting choice, and could also be called F9sus4.

But when learning the tune, I'd just think of it as F7.

[MarkRhodes]

I find Aebersold useful for ideas on how one might reharmonize a tune but I'll never play from an Aebersold chart. I feel it overspecifies chords, locking you into a particular way of harmonizing. I much prefer learning the "vanilla" chords, then reharmonizing myself on the fly.

That C-/F in the pickup measure is an example. I think that measure just wants some form of a V7 chord. I think of C-/F as an F9 chord with the 3rd omitted. But why drop the third?

C-7/F seems a more interesting choice, and could also be called F9sus4.

But when learning the tune, I'd just think of it as F7.

I think of it as a V7, especially when I'm going through the progression playing just the 3rds and 7ths ("two-note chords" or "essence chords"). The (minor) 3rd and (flat) 7th of C-7 (--in Aebersold nomenclature, C- = C-7; Cm would indicate the C minor triad) would be Eb and Bb, while the 3rd and flat 7th of F7 would be Eb and A. I like that better.

[KirkP]

Several other fake books use V7 for the pickup measure, so Aebersold is the outlier.

[MarkRhodes]

Several other fake books use V7 for the pickup measure, so Aebersold is the outlier.

Good to know. Thanks.

[rcandro]

Hey, this progression is amazing. I was listening to this and, for me, it would look like this on the guitar:

| E7(b5)/D / / / | C#dim7 [A7(b9)/C#] / / Eb7 | D7 // Ab9 (omit 3) | G9 (omit 3) |

where

E7(b5)/D = D, G#, Bb, and E

C#dim7 = C#, G, Bb, and E

Eb7 = Eb, G, and Db

D7 = D, F#, and C

Ab9 (omit 3) = Ab, Gb, Bb, and Eb

G9 (omit 3) = G, F, A, and D

What do you guys think?

I love Diana Krall.

[sgosnell]

Ralph Patt's Vanilla Book uses a V7, as posted a D7 in the key of G. I find Ralph pretty reliable for the vanilla chords to tunes.

[KirkP]

Hey, this progression is amazing. I was listening to this and, for me, it would look like this on the guitar:

| E7(b5)/D / / / | C#dim7 [A7(b9)/C#] / / Eb7 | D7 // Ab9 (omit 3) | G9 (omit 3) |

where

E7(b5)/D = D, G#, Bb, and E

C#dim7 = C#, G, Bb, and E

Eb7 = Eb, G, and Db

D7 = D, F#, and C

Ab9 (omit 3) = Ab, Gb, Bb, and Eb

G9 (omit 3) = G, F, A, and D

What do you guys think?

I love Diana Krall.

Which measures of the tune and what key? I'm not sure I understand your notation.l - especially the brackets. How about posting a short recording of what you've written out?

[rcandro]

Which measures of the tune and what key? I'm not sure I understand your notation.l - especially the brackets. How about posting a short recording of what you've written out?

I will do it. The brackets on A7(b9)/C# was just a way, maybe stupid, to show the function of the C#dim7.
I wrote in the same key of Diana's video, in C major.

By the way, the C-/F, as discussed above, doesn't describe the correct chord. This is used, I believe, only to give a clue to the musician about how to get the sound of the chord. Let's take a look at the notes you get when thinking about C-/F:

F - C - Eb - G

and comparing this with F9(omit 3)

F - C - Eb - G

I didn't call this as G9sus4 because there is not no 4th in the chord.

[KirkP]

Hey, this progression is amazing. I was listening to this and, for me, it would look like this on the guitar:
| E7(b5)/D / / / | C#dim7 [A7(b9)/C#] / / Eb7 | D7 // Ab9 (omit 3) | G9 (omit 3) |

Looks like you're basically writing a 3-6-2-5 sequence, all dominant chords and jazzed up with inversions, b5s, b9s, and a couple of chromatic approaches from 1/2 step above. There are all kinds of ways to jazz up that progression, but that one sounds good. I don't think I've voiced E7b5 that way before, so that's a nice discovery for me.
Here's a quick iPhone recording of what I think you intended, followed by a couple of variations. Am I close?
https://app.box.com/s/s70wy0ms8gkmvso6hofwssxy95fz9uj0

[rcandro]

I was thinking only in the chords. Listening to the Diana's intro once again I've realized that the last chord is actually a G7(13). This is the progression as I've understood: