Summary of use of common tensions and extensions

[JakeAcci]

What do you guys think of this as a rough summary of "common practice" extensions and tensions? Shooting for brevity. edited to add: just referring to chord voicings for a 'beginner' - not soloing/lead playing.

Conventional Extensions/Tensions for seventh chords
A quick “drive by”.

Any note can have a musical use over any chord.

This is a list of commonly used extensions and tensions for different chord types. They are part of conventional jazz harmony. As you listen to and play more tunes you find musical exceptions and additions to these guidelines.

Be mindful of half step and flat ninth intervals between your chord voicing and the melody note (or the soloist’s note)

Maj7:

most common: 9, 13

bright: #11

be mindful of: #11 clashing with melody’s perfect fifth, and 7 clashing with root

Min7:

most common: 9, 11

bright: 13. Initially, I would avoid adding a 13 to the ii chord in a ii V.

Be mindful of: 9 clashing with melody’s b3, and 13 clashing with melody's b7

Note: Min7 is often played as min6 or minmaj7 if it is the "i" chord in the sequence (not the ii in a ii V)

m7b5 (half diminished):

most common: 11

bright: 9

Be mindful of: 11 clashing with melody’s b5, 9 clashing with melody’s b3

Diminished Seventh:

9, 11, b13, and 7 are all possible but be mindful of clashing with melody as well as general context; trust your ears.

7Sus4:

9, 13

Bright: major third

Be mindful of: 13 clashing with melody’s b7, major third clashing with melody’s 4/11

--

Tensions and extensions for dominant chords are more complex.

Dominant seventh as the V7 in a ii V, or when resolving a fourth up (G7 to C, D7 to G, A7 to D, etc) :

9 and 13 are common extensions

Tensions for "altered dominant" (simply more tension before a resolution) :

b9, #9, b5, #5

A combination of b9 and 13 is also common in this context.

A combination of 9 and #5 is also common.

Look at the melody for clashes and an indication of whether to use tensions or extensions. It is often at the player’s discretion.

Dominant seventh as a I7, II7, IV7, bVII or when resolving down a half step (Db7 to C, Ab7 to G, Eb7 to D, etc) :

9, #11, 13

Note that #11 and b5 are the same note - "enharmonic equivalent" - but that note combined with 9 and 13 has a different function and sound than when combined with b9/#9, and #5.

[christianm77]

I'll read it in a second, but I'll just get this off my chest.

I really really hate the term tension.

Why? They are not (always) tense. F on a Cmaj7 is tense. An F# an octave above the Cmaj7 is an ex-tension. It's not tense.

It's a common term, but I still think it sucks.

[JakeAcci]

In a sense I agree. To be honest, I often have to think about it to remember the distinction. It's a little silly, but if I chose to not be pedantic I'd have to engage in thought processes that make me extremely uncomfortable.

[christianm77]

OK this is my criticism, which is a general criticism of CST, of which your post appears to be a good representation.

Extensions in straightahead jazz playing depend on their function within the key. As has been pointed out elsewhere, #11 is a much more common extension of chords II7 or IV7 than V, not to mention chromatic dom7 chords.

The reason for this, of course, is most extensions in standards originate from diatonic melody notes (either major or minor key) on various chords, and with chromatic chords, this can get complex looking. Unwrap something like this (Jobim):

C/Bb Fmaj7/A Fmin(maj7)/Ab C6/9/G F#7#11 Fmaj7 Bb7#11

And you will often find most of the upper voices are diatonic to the key while the bassline moves against them - bassline aside the only chromatic note in the example above is the Eb in the F#7#11 (spelling as a French sixth, rather than a dom, so as to maintain it's function as a secondary dominant to IV right?) and the Ab in the Bb7#11 chord.

Furthermore these voices can voiced as moving against each other in diatonic scale steps.

The chord symbols look messy, so it's easy to be fooled. Jobim's harmony is actually constructed around a modern development of classical preparation/suspension/resolution approaches rather than the usual ii-V-I post-bop Real Book stuff which is perhaps why many jazz improvisors find it a challenge. Jobim might use more dissonance than JS Bach, but the concept is the same.

So I would organise my list by diatonic function (or chromatic bass note), not chord type. Could get long, but the basic ones shouldn't be too bad.

In fact to me the use of extensions - stacked tertial structures such as Dm11 say - in the jazz history appears to have mostly been in melodies and single note solos rather than chords, at least until the '60s when both hands of the piano started to become somewhat unified and CST really took off.

So the idea of the extended chord is a somewhat modern concept, let alone an extension/chord relationship? Certainly students of Barry Harris will note that he doesn't use compound numbering of intervals. The extension concept doesn't really exist in his teaching. You may end up playing what could be though of as CST extensions but they are certainly not couched that way.

None of which is to say CST thinking is a 'bad thing' or that we should play music as it was played in the past but I do think you have to bear the key, and the melody in mind, and this is often passed over...

[JakeAcci]

Christian, doesn't seem like anything you wrote there contradicts my post, though those are interesting considerations, especially historically.

For a little context, I'm taking about beginner jazz students. As in - learning their very first chord voicings and developing some independence (re: not needing MY help) to be able to figuring out some passable and workable voicings for real book type of tunes.

When an inversion is written into the chart, like in your Jobim example, we're kind of in different territory.

I'm thinking - Autumn Leaves, ATTYA, Stella, There Will Never Be Another you, etc.

I think these types of things can operate on a few different levels. One level is "what can a beginner start using and working on TODAY that will sound at least ok and not screw up his development or understanding of the music?" and a somewhat opposite level is "what is the truest understanding of the music with the most nuance and consideration to all variables?" in the long run, the latter may be the more important question, in a sense, but also doesn't supply the student with a system.

[Jonah]

For me tension is the idea of motion connected with harmonic context and voice leading...
And these to depend on musical language...

What is tension in classical could be quite stable jazz

There are no tensions as they are, there are tension/release relations


But even if we take it within jazz style
I do not think it is possible to hear tension as something static.. I mean even if we do not have context but hear tension that means we unconciously imagine some harmonic context

But anyway.. why did you call it tension/extension?

Extension is also vague and arguable term but I can accept its conventional use in the context.
But why do you mix it here?

[JakeAcci]

My understanding was simply that the vocabulary was that 9 11 13 are extensions and, on a dominant, b9 #9 b5 #5 are tensions.

The distinction makes zero difference to me - it was just a labelling device. I could have just as easily said "uses of 9, 11, and 13, and also flat and sharp fifth."

[Jonah]

My understanding was simply that the vocabulary was that 9 11 13 are extensions and, on a dominant, b9 #9 b5 #5 are tensions.

On a dominant all the tones can be tensions

This shows exactly what I mean... when we add b9 to Cdom7 this enforces its harmonic function...

Yes b9 is tension and if it wants to realease to C, it will be the C of another chord - Fmaj7.. but not tha same Cdom7

[JakeAcci]

On a dominant all the tones can be tensions

This shows exactly what I mean... when we add b9 to Cdom7 this enforces its harmonic function...

Yes b9 is tension and if it wants to realease to C, it will be the C of another chord - Fmaj7.. but not tha same Cdom7

I don’t believe the distinction of the two terms to be significant or relevant to the topic. It was just a labelling device.

[christianm77]

Something like this. Starting with triads.

Major key. Diatonic:

I Maj - 7, 9, 6/13 - #11 (lydian), #5 (major augmented) or both (lydian augmented) - see VI minor

II Minor - b7, 9, 11, 6/13 - nat 7 (melodic minor)
NB: IV, II and V are inversions of each other.
III Minor - b7, b9, 11, b6/b13.
NB: b13/b6 tends to make this chord sound like an inversion of I.
IV Maj - 7, 9, #11, 6/13. A 'pan-diatonic chord.'
NB: IV, II and V are inversions of each other.
V Dom - b7, 9, 11, 13. Another 'pan-diatonic chord.'
NB: IV, II and V are inversions of each other.
Also
b7 b9 #9 11 b13 'Parallel Minor/Backdoor - uses both harmonic and natural minor sounds on I)
b5 b7 b9 #9 b13 'Altered'

VI Minor - b7, b9 . 6/13 (dorian), 7 (harmonic minor) or both (melodic minor)
NB: (b6 makes this chord sound like an inversion of IV.) Also modally connected to I. Check the notes.
VII Diminished - b7, nat 9 (Locrian natural 2)
Any diatonic extensions will make this chord sound like a inversion of V

(BTW notice how many of these chords are related to V? The other three are major, inverted I major and VI (relative minor) - the main modal colours available - #4 and #5 of I - are related to the relative minor.)

Now draw up the same thing related with degree VI as the tonal centre...
Extend with rules for secondary dominants, dom7s with chromatic roots and other chromatic chords...

And so on....

[christianm77]

My understanding was simply that the vocabulary was that 9 11 13 are extensions and, on a dominant, b9 #9 b5 #5 are tensions.

The distinction makes zero difference to me - it was just a labelling device. I could have just as easily said "uses of 9, 11, and 13, and also flat and sharp fifth."

True - but one problem I run into is that any dissonant chromatic note can be used on any chord as a 'tension' - but some 'tensions; are systematised into seven note scales, such as the altered. I don't have a problem with this btw - some sounds are used harmonically in this context - 7b9b13 for example - in a way that F# against G7 probably wouldn't, but we lack a good name for them. They are not extensions in that sense.

[jasaco]

Man, I'm gonna just have to accustom my ear to all this; there's no way I'll be able to remember a whole rulebook like that... YMMV.

[christianm77]

[QUOTE=JakeAcci;722101]Christian, doesn't seem like anything you wrote there contradicts my post, though those are interesting considerations, especially historically.

For a little context, I'm taking about beginner jazz students. As in - learning their very first chord voicings and developing some independence (re: not needing MY help) to be able to figuring out some passable and workable voicings for real book type of tunes.

I'd keep beginner jazzers the hell away from this stuff. But that's me. I'd be teaching rules of thumb - e.g. family of four etc - and how to apply them to play lines, no overarching harmonic theory till later.

'Brain dead CST' as I call it (i.e robot CST - I see a 7 chord, so I apply lydian dominant every time etc) is actually really useful for developing a more contemporary sound. I wonder why? But again, this would be later.

When an inversion is written into the chart, like in your Jobim example, we're kind of in different territory.

I'm thinking - Autumn Leaves, ATTYA, Stella, There Will Never Be Another you, etc.

I just wouldn't teach these tunes that way. For example the Fm7 chord in ATTYA in the first A is a different animal to the same chord in the second A... But in any case, they would not be soloing over every chord in splendid isolation. My approach (after BH) is much more chunked.

BTW ATTYA, Stella and TWNBAY are not beginners tunes IMO. I'd start with Blues, Rhythm tunes, Honeysuckle, Lady be Good changes, maybe some simple modal tunes.

I think these types of things can operate on a few different levels. One level is "what can a beginner start using and working on TODAY that will sound at least ok and not screw up his development or understanding of the music?" and a somewhat opposite level is "what is the truest understanding of the music with the most nuance and consideration to all variables?" in the long run, the latter may be the more important question, in a sense, but also doesn't supply the student with a system.

To me all of this is far too complicated.

I just wouldn't even bother with extensions. Maybe 9ths. Subs on 3rds are good once you have addressed the basic triadic stuff on the roots. Like Em on C, etc. Later perhaps, scales in steps, scales in thirds.

[christianm77]

BTW, if you are improvising lines as opposed to playing chords, basic scale syllabus is straightforward:

Major = major scale (not too much of this please.)
Minor = minor scale (with whatever 7 or 6 you want.)
Dominant = dominant scale or minor scale a fifth up.
Dominant b9 = dominant scale a minor third higher, raise the 1 if you like.
Altered Dominant = tritone dominant or minor a half step up
Half Diminished = dominant scale a major third lower or a minor scale a minor third up.

Not much info. Takes a while to apply :-)

Might word it slightly differently - I tend to focus on where the dominants are GOING, for instance :-) Three basic scales (two important ones), many applications.

We start with dominant scales.

[JakeAcci]

yikes I should have specified - this is just for voicings, not lead playing.

[christianm77]

Man, I'm gonna just have to accustom my ear to all this; there's no way I'll be able to remember a whole rulebook like that... YMMV.

Don't. With all due respect, it's a waste of time.

It's much better to learn tunes and notice patterns. Perhaps the handout can be a useful companion for your learning of actual music.

[christianm77]

Something like this. Starting with triads.

Major key. Diatonic:

I Maj - 7, 9, 6/13 - #11 (lydian), #5 (major augmented) or both (lydian augmented) - see VI minor

II Minor - b7, 9, 11, 6/13 - nat 7 (melodic minor)
NB: IV, II and V are inversions of each other.
III Minor - b7, b9, 11, b6/b13.
NB: b13/b6 tends to make this chord sound like an inversion of I.
IV Maj - 7, 9, #11, 6/13. A 'pan-diatonic chord.'
NB: IV, II and V are inversions of each other.
V Dom - b7, 9, 11, 13. Another 'pan-diatonic chord.'
NB: IV, II and V are inversions of each other.
Also
b7 b9 #9 11 b13 'Parallel Minor/Backdoor - uses both harmonic and natural minor sounds on I)
b5 b7 b9 #9 b13 'Altered'

VI Minor - b7, b9 . 6/13 (dorian), 7 (harmonic minor) or both (melodic minor)
NB: (b6 makes this chord sound like an inversion of IV.) Also modally connected to I. Check the notes.
VII Diminished - b7, nat 9 (Locrian natural 2)
Any diatonic extensions will make this chord sound like a inversion of V

(BTW notice how many of these chords are related to V? The other three are major, inverted I major and VI (relative minor) - the main modal colours available - #4 and #5 of I - are related to the relative minor.)

Now draw up the same thing related with degree VI as the tonal centre...
Extend with rules for secondary dominants, dom7s with chromatic roots and other chromatic chords...

And so on....

This sheet wouldn't be much use to a beginner BTW.

[JakeAcci]

This sheet wouldn't be much use to a beginner BTW.

Exactly.

I think with teaching there is always a balance of how accurate and thorough we want to be vs giving a student something they can actually play or use and not get discouraged.

Looking back, I think I should have provided more context for where I would give my original sheet. It is at a specific point in our voicings 'curriculum' that it comes up, and then is accompanied by extremely specific and manageable assignments.

[christianm77]

yikes I should have specified - this is just for voicings, not lead playing.

I'd probably just do 1 3 7 for a bit (or grips) - this is the first lesson I had in jazz - from Dave Cliff. Kept me going for a while!

I find it's quite nice if you get students to but a notes on top of these sort of things

7 x 7 7 x x
x 7 6 7 x x
5 x 6 6 x x

For example keep it the same:

7 x 7 7 5 x
x 7 6 7 5 x
5 x 6 6 5 x

Go the same way

7 x 7 7 7 x
x 7 6 7 6 x
5 x 6 6 5 x

Go the opposite way

7 x 7 7 5 x
x 7 6 7 6 x
5 x 6 6 7 x

Playful, creative rather than - here is theoretical information. Start with the sound.

You can play around with the bass too. Maybe experiment with how you move the inner voices,

Theory wise, could point out the relationship to the key. (4 goes to 3, 1 goes to 7 etc.. what about if we go b2 to 3 instead? 1-7-6? etc)

Later on you can tell them how to write it down in chord symbols. But chord symbols are a bad system (IMO) for understanding voice leading. You need a lot of prior knowledge.Reading wise I'd start with the bottom of the chord.

Again, IMO it's best to start with swing tune for precisely these reasons. Swing charts lack the clutter of later stuff.

Also I would encourage students to try and put melody notes on chords.

Anyway, that's my teaching philosophy. People get intimidated by theory.

[christianm77]

Exactly.

I think with teaching there is always a balance of how accurate and thorough we want to be vs giving a student something they can actually play or use and not get discouraged.

Looking back, I think I should have provided more context for where I would give my original sheet. It is at a specific point in our voicings 'curriculum' that it comes up, and then is accompanied by extremely specific and manageable assignments.

It would be a good handout to prepare students for assignments in 'jazz theory' like they might run into at jazz school.

Again, this is not a criticism of the handout, which is fine. It's a good reflection, AFAIK, of this kind of thing.

I just dislike this type of theory personally. That's a wider conversation. Apologies for derailing.

[JakeAcci]

I'd probably just do 1 3 7 for a bit (or grips) - this is the first lesson I had in jazz - from Dave Cliff. Kept me going for a while!

I find it's quite nice if you get students to but a notes on top of these sort of things

7 x 7 7 x x
x 7 6 7 x x
5 x 6 6 x x

For example keep it the same:

7 x 7 7 5 x
x 7 6 7 5 x
5 x 6 6 5 x

Go the same way

7 x 7 7 7 x
x 7 6 7 6 x
5 x 6 6 5 x

Go the opposite way

7 x 7 7 5 x
x 7 6 7 6 x
5 x 6 6 7 x

Playful, creative rather than - here is theoretical information. Start with the sound.

You can play around with the bass too. Maybe experiment with how you move the inner voices,

Theory wise, could point out the relationship to the key. (4 goes to 3, 1 goes to 7 etc.. what about if we go b2 to 3 instead? 1-7-6? etc)

Later on you can tell them how to write it down in chord symbols. But chord symbols are a bad system (IMO) for understanding voice leading. You need a lot of prior knowledge.Reading wise I'd start with the bottom of the chord.

Again, IMO it's best to start with swing tune for precisely these reasons. Swing charts lack the clutter of later stuff.

Also I would encourage students to try and put melody notes on chords.

Anyway, that's my teaching philosophy. People get intimidated by theory.

yes this is more or less what I do, starting with shell voicing then adding a note on the B string. Then this is meant to give some guidance as to what may get added on that second string.

[christianm77]

yes this is more or less what I do, starting with shell voicing then adding a note on the B string. Then this is meant to give some guidance as to what may get added on that second string.

Why not just start with a diatonic note belonging to the A major scale that stays through all three chords and introduce movement and chromaticism from there?

You could also suggest they find a note that sounds good to them. YOu can explain what it actually is later.

I think it's an important lesson that something fairly simple on the fingerboard can often be quite complicated when you write it down. Classic example, for instance:

7 x 5 7 7 x
6 x 5 6 7 x
5 x 4 4 5 x

My students play this progression (it's a classic) - they may not exactly know what chord 2 is called (I call it an Ab dim7 with funny note in the melody, 3rd of the key in this case) but they know the function of this progression, which is a ii-V-I in D with a more interesting bassline. It's also clear (hopefully) that it relates to this:

x 7 5 7 7 x
5 x 5 6 7 x
x 5 4 4 5 x

And they know that's basically Dm G7 C with a certain set of colours (that they can experiment with) and that the resolution is driven by 4 going to 3.

And that this bit:

x x 5 7 7 x
x x 5 6 7 x
x x 4 4 5 x

Is the guts of it and all they need play with a bass player.

Anyway...

[Jonah]

I don’t believe the distinction of the two terms to be significant or relevant to the topic. It was just a labelling device

You wrote yourself

My understanding was simply that the vocabulary was that 9 11 13 are extensions and, on a dominant, b9 #9 b5 #5 are tensions.

The words we use are not always lables, they often represent the essence of notion.

From my point of view the distinction you show youself here is very crucial.

And it is connected with this topic strongly...


TBH I can call all of them either tensions or extensions.. depends on the context.

But tension is dynaminc notion, it makes sense only in context. It is sound in progress, going from/to.. it does not belong to any chord in a way...

And extension is static, it belongs to the chord extended....

(By the way I would also distinguish anticipations from extensions (sometimes the two can be mistaken when there's zero context)

just musically very different devices.

And in concern of this topic it is even more important to distinguish these two.

[JakeAcci]

Why not just start with a diatonic note belonging to the A major scale that stays through all three chords and introduce movement and chromaticism from there?

kind of splitting pedagogical hairs here.

[JakeAcci]

You wrote yourself





The words we use are not always lables, they often represent the essence of notion.

From my point of view the distinction you show youself here is very crucial.

And it is connected with this topic strongly...


TBH I can call all of them either tensions or extensions.. depends on the context.

But tension is dynaminc notion, it makes sense only in context. It is sound in progress, going from/to.. it does not belong to any chord in a way...

And extension is static, it belongs to the chord extended....

(By the way I would also distinguish anticipations from extensions (sometimes the two can be mistaken when there's zero context)

just musically very different devices.

And in concern of this topic it is even more important to distinguish these two.

But really when we’re talking about supplying a beginning guitarist with a handful of passable voicings just to wrap their heads around a tune, I don’t think any of those distinctions are relevant or helpful - just my opinion and no offense meant by it. Like I was writing in response to Christian, I should have provided more context for this post for it to make sense or folks to understand its purpose.