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So the standard I am currently working on is Bye Bye Blackbird. I just wondered if I am totally stupid for looking at the tune this way? How do you look at the harmony?
So basically the song consist mostly of II-V-I movement, in either G minor or F major. The tonic is F for the song. The chromatic bar I drawed in is in G minor, and ends on the G-7, which also acts as a ii chord for the II-V-I in F major again. This happens several places(pretty normal for jazz, from what I have learned? Can also be seen in Autumn Leaves).
Would you say the song is a AB form?
Also, why does iRealPro list chords above the other chords. Is this just alternative chords you can play?
The Real Book version is a little simpler, but still switches between F major and G minor.
Sorry for novice questions.
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10-12-2018 07:10 AM
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Listen to the lyrics, they outline the musical form much better than any set of chords. This song is a fine example of words and music really fitting together, not one grafted onto the other.
From that it follows that the tune is a modified AA'BA form. The second A part is basically the first part transposed to G minor.
The chords listed in iReal Pro are indeed alternative chords. Be that as it may, I don't really like these changes, nor the subs. All the II-Vs seem a bit contrived to me...
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Originally Posted by docsteve
Do you have any good vocal performances of the song I can listen to? I have been listening to Miles Davids version mostly.
Which chord progressions are considered the standard out there? I guess iRealPro also are wrong about the form then, since you say it is a AABA modified form?
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My wife (a classically trained vocalist and self taught pianist) and I perform this one as a vocal piece we use a quite different chart, although, she may have rewritten this one somewhat. Anyway, here it is, if you’d like to compare.
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You'll find there are a LOT of slightly different
Harmonic ways round this time ...
For example i like four bars of Fmaj at the top ...
Whatever ... try this For bars 5-8
For bar 5 5x356x
Bar 6. 4x3453
Bar7. Gmin7
Bar 8. C7
Edit just seen TRMs post
There you go !
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But still, I would love some feedback on my harmonic analysis as well. That’s the progression my teacher gave me.
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Line 4 should be ii V ....
Just a typo probably
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Can’t read the doc on my phone, but the basic harmonic analysis is that the tune is mostly in F, tonicises Gm for a bit (ii) and then there’s the classic I7 IV7 ii V7 move. That’s nominally what o would think of as the middle 8
F | % | % | %
F | D7b9 | Gm | %
Gm | % | % | %
Gm | C7 | F | %
F7 | % | % | D7
Gm | % | Db7 | C7
F | % | % | D7
Gm | C7 | F | %
Not much there really. There’s a decoration Db7 C7 of the V7 chord.
There’s not a huge amount of agreement about what the definitive changes of this tune are. There are some heavily subbed versions but the basic changes are very simple, traddy.
Comparing other versions like theRhythmMan to the simple template can teach you about chord subs.
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Originally Posted by znerken
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Musical analysis of “Bye Bye Blackbird”
Original Key F major Form A1 - A2 - B - A3 Tonality Primarily major Movement Generally downward by step with occasional upward leaps. Comments (assumed background)Almost folk-like in its simplicity, this is a great favorite of “trad” jazz and Dixieland players. With a range of less than an octave, there is only one potentially awkward interval in the entire piece. In the third measure from the end, there is a downward leap of a tri-tone. However, because the second note of the tri-tone is the “leading tone,” resolving to the tonic, it poses little problem for the novice.
Harmonically, there are few surprises. Most of the song is either I- IV - I - V7 or ii7 - V7 - I or some variation. In “B” and “A3,” there are instances of iiiø7- V7/ii cadences in which the iiiø7 is replaced by a ivm6 (Cm6 substituting for A ø7 in the original). The only real difference between the m6 and the ø7 chord in this case is the placement of the bass note; harmonically, they serve the same voice-leading function.
Jazz Standards Songs and Instrumentals (Bye Bye Blackbird)
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The Abo7 is nice too
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Originally Posted by znerken
Really - and I guess Christian could go on and on about it - this is just a tension chord that releases back to F eventually. I listened to Miles doing it, since this is your reference point. The piano comps very sparsely, and then with voicings that create a tension that s neither fully IIm nor V.
Anyway, this is one way of looking at the tune. I don‘t say it‘s more correct than yours, it just happens to be mine.
Funny, I hadn‘t played that song for ages, and just yesterday pulled it out again to work on a solo version. I won‘t finish it during the time of an average forum thread, though, so don‘t hold your breath.
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Originally Posted by djg
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Originally Posted by pingu
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Originally Posted by docsteve
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Food for thought (from Ted Greene):
https://tedgreene.com/images/lessons...1989-06-29.pdf
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Originally Posted by djg
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Originally Posted by znerken
It could be an Abo7, in fact that probably fits the melody (G) better, so is probably a better choice. This isn't actually a tune I've spent much time with, if I had I probably would have noticed that (that's my story and I'm sticking to it.)
In the case of Am7b5 D7 you are tonicising Gm7 - modulating to Gm effectively - yes. So you think of a local key (Gm) acting as part (ii) of global key (F)
But you might not tonicise it. Abo7 doesn't really tonicise Gm in the same way, so it becomes less of a new key.
Soloing, you can choose either approach. If you go Am7b5 D7 Gm, you are moving strongly into Gm, it's like putting a highlighter pen on that chord.
If you choose instead to go with Abo7, it feels more like a prolonged ii chord, as mentioned above.
Anyway, it's true of any chord in a tune, you can always tonicise a chord. That's kind what bebop does TO DEATH.
Woo hoo creative freedom.
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The analysis looks ok to me.
I'd add that the chromatic chord movement is cycle of fourths, sort of, as if it were B7 E7 A7 D7, with tritone subs on the B7 and A7.
The Db7 is a tritone, but I kind of hear it as a chromatic slide into the C7. It's true that a tritone sub is a kind of chromatic slide, so it's two ways of describing the same thing -- but, I sort of hear them as different, so I might tend to focus on the half step movement in a solo line.
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I don’t really think of the bVI7 chord as a sub for anything, it’s so common
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Anyone know of any good solos performed by any of the old legends on guitar?
What's your favorite Bye Bye Blackbird performance? I guess many will say Miles.
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The first Blackbird I heard was a live performance by John Coltrane. It made quite an impression. Since then, I've found Miles' version weak in comparison.
I've never really sought other versions out, but we did a -quite traditional - recording some years ago. Sorry, no audio available online.
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Here is something less soppy, from my favorite TV show, when TV still showed these things:
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Originally Posted by docsteve
This?
RIP Nick Gravenites
Yesterday, 05:48 PM in The Players