T Monk altered sus 7 chords

[Bobby Timmons]

A no brainer that I decided I should quit neglecting to use. I noticed he'd use these crazy sounding suspended 7 chords. All they are are a root, 7, and a 4 instead of 3, or no 3. Then add a bunch of altered, crunchy notes to taste. Like major 7, 13, b9, #9, b5, #5 etc. Maybe pauln can give us more insight on the specific notes.

5:45

[pauln]

[ragman1]

Thing about Monk was his rhythm, virtually perfect, extraordinary.

You should look at 6.00. Cigarette in one hand, handkerchief in the other, and he's still playing the piano :-)

Terrific film.

[pamosmusic]

Thing about Monk was his rhythm, virtually perfect, extraordinary.

while I hate to agree with ragman ...

when he's right, he's right

[Mick-7]

He is fond of dissonant intervals, particularly minor 2nds/9ths. Take an ordinary chord and pervert it.

Gmaj7(13) | x-10-9-11-8-(0) |

Cm#7 | x-x-8-8-12-8 |

E13b9 | x-11-12-10-(0)-9 | - One of my favorites, it's dim. so you can move it down in minor thirds and include the open string.

[Bobby Timmons]

^ Yes, that is the idea isn't it? Pervert the chord lol. The minor 2nds and clusters etc.

Thing about Monk was his rhythm, virtually perfect, extraordinary.

Imo, the thing about Monk was clearly his harmony. I think he was strongest in harmony, then melody, then rhythm. He was arguably one of the greatest jazz pianists of all time, some think the greatest, so it's not like any of those aspects were shoddy compared to your average player. But he did have rhythmic shortcomings compared to his peers, wasn't a technical virtuoso. His technical ability never held him back from being extremely musical though, always keeping time well and throwing in his trademark idiosyncratic rhythms.

You should look at 6.00. Cigarette in one hand, handkerchief in the other, and he's still playing the piano. Terrific film.

I like that part too. It is a great film, seen it too many times.

pauln coming through with the song tutorials and no other commentary. I don't know what I would have done without you. :P

[Bobby Timmons]

A more specific example of his alt sus 7 chords. 14 seconds. And further throughout the tune. Sounds pretty cool, way better than a regular sus chord. Sounds all metallic and slams the harmony to a halt. Cool effect.

[pauln]

pauln coming through with the song tutorials and no other commentary. I don't know what I would have done without you. :P

Both pianists are off the chart brilliant, both are referencing the Miles Davis recording version, and both go through in musical, mechanical, and theoretical detail, descriptions, chord names, constructions... two different perspectives in showing/explaining; hope you have fun with them.

[Christian Miller]

Just gonna park this here

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[Mick-7]

Just gonna park this here

Thanks, this book is chock full of difficult to play (wide stretch) Monkish chords:
Thelonious Monk for Guitar - Amazon.com

[Christian Miller]

To be honest, personally I’d always rather go direct to the source, use my ears. I’m not really into having people tell me where to put my fingers. (Sometimes it can be helpful admittedly.)

So I don’t tend to use books like this much, although I have the Sid Jacobs bill Evans one which I’ve looked at twice. Looks interesting - I’m sure someone would get a lot out of it.

Things that go in by ear stick better and longer or so it seems to me.

Sources for Monk - sometimes questionable. I would trust people like Steve Cardenas and Miles Okazaki on guitar. Ethan Iverson on piano, probably quite a few others.

Also, I learned a lot from Peter B’s approach because he doesn’t usually play Monk literally and exactly but has a way of putting it on guitar that sounds and feels authentic.

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[Mick-7]

To be honest, personally I’d always rather go direct to the source, use my ears. I’m not really into having people tell me where to put my fingers. (Sometimes it can be helpful admittedly.)

So I don’t tend to use books like this much, although I have the Sid Jacobs bill Evans one which I’ve looked at twice. Looks interesting - I’m sure someone would get a lot out of it.

Things that go in by ear stick better and longer or so it seems to me.

Sources for Monk - sometimes questionable. I would trust people like Steve Cardenas and Miles Okazaki on guitar. Ethan Iverson on piano, probably quite a few others.

Also, I learned a lot from Peter B’s approach because he doesn’t usually play Monk literally and exactly but has a way of putting it on guitar that sounds and feels authentic.

You're right, I was not all that fond of the arrangements in the book I mentioned, kind of stilted. Got a a couple of harmonic ideas from the book, that's about it. My copy says $14.95 on it, $25 would be too much.

Here's a video by the author on Monk's music: http://garywittner.com/js_videos/usm-faculty-jazz-ensemble-presents-the-music-of-thelonious-monk/

[Bobby Timmons]

Exactly why I shouldn't do everything by ear. The chord at 14 second on Body and Soul is an F-7 add 4 chord. F, C, Ab, Bb, Eb.