Do you think vertically or tonally?

[ragman1]

Tonal and A-tonal music. What? Music without tones?

Not didactic enough :-)

Tonal music doesn't mean music with tones, it means music with a tonic, i.e. the basic root note or sound. So atonal means without a specific tonic.

There ya go

[KingKong]

One thing I have been thinking about is that there are two different ways to view the notes. We can imagine their scalar degree with respect to the key. So in the key of C we would view the scalar degrees of Dm7 as 2-4-6-8.

Alternatively, we can think of those same notes vertically with respect to the Dm7 as the 1-b3-5-7 with respect to D.

The chord/scale approach or even Barry Harris' method seems to align naturally with the latter type of thinking

I haven't seen much jazz pedagogy that follows a key centered approach. However, I seem some advantages with it. For one things seem less disconnected. The second is that it simplifies things in some ways.

For instance let's say we are C and we have a turnaround, I VI7 ii7 V7. If we think of the chord degrees with respect to the key or tonality we have.

1-3-5
6-#1-3-5
2-4-6-1
5-7-2-4

The only non-diatonic note is the #1 or 3rd of the VI7 chord. So you can basically think C major for the most part but maybe highlight the #1 over the VI7 chord.

Does anyone else think this is a profitable way to view things?

It took me a while to process this question but I think I have my answer.....

I think you have to think in both ways simultaneously.

E.g. if in key of C:
The note B is at the same time both the 7th of the scale and the 3rd of the G7 (V7) chord. It fulfils both roles at the same time. Unless improvising solely using arpeggios, you cannot ignore either role.