Ain't Misbehavin' bridge harmony

[darby]

Hi,

I'm trying to understand what's going on harmonically in the bridge of Ain't Misbehavin'.
Assuming the song is in C major, and the A minor in the bridge indicates a modulation to the relative minor, then how do you account for the chords immediately following the A minor (F7, D7, A7). These chords don't really appear in C major, nor do they exist in A melodic or harmonic minor, with the exception of D7.

Thanks!
Jonathan

[christianm77]

If you find out can you let me know :-)

My thoughts.....

So, in C:

Am6 | F7 | D7 | A7 | G etc

If we look at them Roman Numeral wise I think of it this way, it's a key change to G and we start on II

IIm7 | bVII7 | V7 | II7 | I

That a little better - so it's kind of like a backdoor dominant type thing but we come back to the ordinary V (a bit wierd.) You could get a away with thinking of the first three as a sort of IIm7 V7b9 type of deal. But then you have the crazy II7.

The II7 going straight to I is not a completely unusual thing in Early Jazz - we have something similar in After You've Gone and Limehouse Blues for instance. The #4 of the key resolves to 5 - it's akin to a #ivo7 I progression which is pretty common in even bebop (Rhythm Changes, 12 Bar Blues for instance, though many leave it out and just play IV7 which is the same thing more or less), and I usually hammer the b3 over those, or the #4, so you could do a blues scale here which is not inappropriate for the vibe of the tune.

If you are thinking #ivo7 (C#o7) then you can also think Go7 and this progression - Am7 D7 (sort of) Go7 Gmaj7 is not unusual. I find myself embellishing ii-V-I's with a Io7 before the I6 a lot in early jazz/swing. It just sounds good and has a very bluesy quality. There's the same progression (in F) in the Real Book changes for Corcovado (going to the IV of the tune in this case, which is in C.)

Harmony was crazy before the boppers came along and simplified everything. It does make these tunes a bit of pain to solo through - you just have to practice them. At least the Misbehaving (so to speak) bridge has a reasonably slow harmonic rhythm. In practice I just play the changes. Haven't needed to shed it too much..

Ideas anyone?

[Eddie Lang]

Source: Ain't Misbehavin' analysis on Jazz Standards dot Com

The harmonic movement of “A” as originally written is fairly simple, based on I -ii7 -V7 and I -V7/IV -IV -iv progressions and variations. More recently, jazz players use an ascending progression of I - vii°7/ii -ii -ii°7, etc., almost identical to “Doin’ the New Lowdown” and similar to the opening measures of “Memories Of You.” The transition to the relative minor in the “B” section is not unusual or difficult, but there is one spot in which a secondary dominant resolves straight to the tonic of the moment without the traditional V7 in between. This happens in mm. 20-21, in which Waller goes directly from A7 to G without using the F7*. It is jarring to say the least. Players should take care not to get thrown off at this point. Because of where the melody sits at that point, it is possible for the rhythm player(s) to insert a V7 on beat four, but this may be awkward (perhaps the reason Waller omitted the V7 here). Another solution might be to put a vii°7 under the melody note here (in the original, C°7, Eb°7 or F#°7), which might make for a smoother transition to the new key.

* Editor’s note: A visitor suggests this should read, “A7 to G without using the D7.”

[jads57]

I was looking at the original in the key of F. And at least for me, I tend to think of the B section like a "Blues" in a realtive minor. There is also G7,G#dim/Amin7 D7/G7 D7/D7 G7 so for me it translates to 5,#5/6,2/ 5,2/2,5/ bass movement. Again it just seems all relative to the original key (sort of)

[christianm77]

The second half is avery stock for this era, hardly worth talking about;-)

The G#dim7 is of course, the same functionally as E7b9, so it's a I-VI-II-V:

G E7 Am D7 G

Not where you got the G7 from. I would play G6 and that's what I've always seen...

Followed by a:

A7 D7 G7 (VI7-II7-V7 in the original key of C, so a bunch of backcycling dominants taking us into the A Section key.)

When I get to the G I just play my turnaround language in G over that bit and set up a dominant back into C if I cant be bothered nailing all the 7th chords at the end (G7 for a couple of bars). It works pretty well I think and I play this tune a lot on gigs.... No point getting too caught up in every chromatic, fast dominant cycles are quite hard to play (try Lulu's Back in Town, for example) I should probably practice them more :-)

Bear in mind this is a Swing tune. Swing improv was less about picking out every harmony, more about melody. Later bebop playing got very much about articulating every change (Bird not so much, though Bird played a fairly small repertoire of pet chord progressions) but to do this they boiled a lot of the harmony down to ii-V formulae to make it easier. Bop guys can struggle with swing changes in fact - in part because they feel they need to play all the harmony - but swing changes are a lot less formulaic from the point of view of root movement which makes it hard to use typical descriptive bop language over them.

If in doubt, play something bluesy....

[JonR]

Hi,

I'm trying to understand what's going on harmonically in the bridge of Ain't Misbehavin'.
Assuming the song is in C major, and the A minor in the bridge indicates a modulation to the relative minor, then how do you account for the chords immediately following the A minor (F7, D7, A7). These chords don't really appear in C major, nor do they exist in A melodic or harmonic minor, with the exception of D7.

Thanks!
Jonathan

As pointed out above, the odd thing about the bridge is the change from the 4th bar to the 5th, where an A7 chord resolves into G, with no intervening D7.

The first 4 bars meanwhile are quite easily explained (IMO) without resorting to functional analysis. There's a repeated melodic phrase: C-A-C-A. It's harmonised in different ways, with a chromatic rising bass line or inner voice (check out the original to hear it):
C-A plus E bass = Am
C-A plus F bass = F(7)
C-A plus F# bass = D7
C#-A plus G bass = A7
All pretty straightforward - enough "explanation" IMO (with the 7th on the F merely a bluesy embellishment). The alteration to the melody on the 4th time adds intensity, preparing the ear for a resolution in bar 5. The melody does indeed jump to D as we're expecting - but the chord beneath, bizarrely is G, not D; and for no apparent reason. (A D chord would sound fine there.)
Of course, subverting our expectations would be right in character for Fats, but my guess is he wanted (as well as to avoid the obvious) to set up yet another rising bass line:
|G - G#dim7 - |Am7 etc. (Melody D throughout, descending the scale beyond there)

Remember that in the usual "circle progression" where we apply functional analysis, there's a general sense of descent through the voices (at least the 3rd and 7th guide tones). "Cadence" comes from the Latin for "fall", suggesting the sense of decreasing tension or relaxation - of tonal gravity - that such sequences convey.
Rising lines, in contrast, create tension, and that's clearly Waller's intention, in the first part of the bridge at least. So to look at any one chord in terms of its function relative to the following chord (even arguably to the local key) is mistaken; its missing the point. Not every chord needs to have a functional explanation (ie in terms of roman numerals). We can usually assign a number to a chord if we want, but it may not tell us anything useful or revealing.
The answer to almost any chord change - functional or not - is in the voice-leading.

With conspiracy theories, they say, you should "follow the money". With harmony, follow the voice-leading.

[christianm77]

It might be worth pointing out that fats thought of himself as an organist first. Organists are all advanced harmony aliens from another planet and they can do the feet. See also js bach.

Just saying it is likely that the harmony of such a being will likely be beyond the reckoning of mere plank spankers such as us.

Serious musician - don't be fooled by the fact that he was also a master entertainer....

[PMB]

That's right Christian. The remastered reissue of the RCA Victor recordings highlights just what a great touch Fats had at the piano. Like Hawk, he loved classical music and recounted his greatest musical experience as playing the organ at Notre Dame, Paris.

Just had a thought regarding the voice-leading of the bridge. As JonR noted, the chromatic rising line from the 5th (Am=E, F7=F, D7=F#, A7=G) is a prominent feature but there's also a contrary motion chromatic descending line at the same point (Am=E, F7=Eb, D7=D, A7=C#).

[PMB]

For anyone here about to become parents, I'd recommend buying some Fats Waller recordings instead of the usual muck reserved for toddlers. My son became obsessed by a Fats collection I bought when he was barely out of the cradle - thought it was the hippest and played it to all his school friends. He was initially attracted to the lyrics and inimitable singing style but was soon taken by the superb piano playing. He's now 15 and plays for hours each day, everything from Bach and Debussy to jazz and pop.

[JonR]

That's right Christian. The remastered reissue of the RCA Victor recordings highlights just what a great touch Fats had at the piano. Like Hawk, he loved classical music and recounted his greatest musical experience as playing the organ at Notre Dame, Paris.

Just had a thought regarding the voice-leading of the bridge. As JonR noted, the chromatic rising line from the 5th (Am=E, F7=F, D7=F#, A7=G) is a prominent feature but there's also a contrary motion chromatic descending line at the same point (Am=E, F7=Eb, D7=D, A7=C#).

Yes! That explains the Eb on the F.

[christianm77]

Contrary motion - didn't spot that. Very nice!

Here's a nice contrary motion thing.

We have C-E-F-F#-G
And C-Bb-A-Ab-G

Both are classic basslines/ending cliches for tunes. Put the together and you get this:

C C7/Bb F/A Ab7(#11) G7 or C/G

That got me thinking - what about Limehouse Blues?

C7 --> A7 --> G --> B7 --> Em

C C# D D# E against
Bb A G F# E

[dortmundjazzguitar]

If you find out can you let me know :-)

My thoughts.....

So, in C:

Am6 | F7 | D7 | A7 | G etc

If we look at them Roman Numeral wise I think of it this way, it's a key change to G and we start on II

IIm7 | bVII7 | V7 | II7 | I

i don't know what it is either, but i don't hear the first half in G. often i just play Adim, Cdim, Ebdim, Edim

[JensL]

For anyone here about to become parents, I'd recommend buying some Fats Waller recordings instead of the usual muck reserved for toddlers. My son became obsessed by a Fats collection I bought when he was barely out of the cradle - thought it was the hippest and played it to all his school friends. He was initially attracted to the lyrics and inimitable singing style but was soon taken by the superb piano playing. He's now 15 and plays for hours each day, everything from Bach and Debussy to jazz and pop.

This is exactly how I always thought about it.

Jens

[darby]

Thanks for the responses, everyone!

[Nate Miller]

just something to add...the words for the B section are

"Like Jack Horner
In the corner
don't go nowhere
but what do I care

your kisses are worth waiting for
Be-lieve me"

and the chords in question are supporting the "be-lieve me" part which is all on half notes and sung pretty loosely

so what's going on is a sort of lush turnaround to bring you back to the last 8

[jayv999]

FYI: three new arrangements of Ted Greene's "Ain't Misbehavin'" was recently posted on the tedgreene.com site.
Check em out: TedGreene.com - Teachings - Arrangements
There's also a comping page for this tune as well (Ted called this one a "Walking Chords" version:
http://www.tedgreene.com/images/less...1984-10-07.pdf