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A Handy Framework for Jazz Standard Harmony

NOTE: As a Jazz player you should already be familiar with Cycle of 5ths, Secondary Domi-nants, b5 Substitution (Tritone Substitution), Chord Quality (Chord Type), Parallel Minors and Parallel Modes. If not look ‘em up pronto!

Chords can move in many ways. Resolution by half step, common tone sharing and symmetrics are but a few. Much of the music in the ‘American Song Book’ (the Jazz Standards) how-ever, tends to use harmony from the Classical/Romantic periods – harmony that often relies on the resolution of the half-step. You’ll find that players who have hundreds of standards committed to memory tend to have a framework to base their ‘Common Practice’ chord progressions on. More often than not, this consists of some combination of the Cycle of 5ths, Chord Quality alteration, b5 Substitution, and the various resolutions of the Dim7 chord. So let’s take a look at this framework. For the time being, we’ll stick strictly to the Major Key.

The harmonies found here all sound very ‘inside.’ They are, however, the basis of hundreds of standards and the starting point for all reharmonization and the more ‘outside’ harmony that follows.

COMMON CHORD MOVEMENT IN A MAJOR KEY KEY OF C MAJOR

The most common chord movement in Jazz Standard harmony involves the CYCLE OF 5THS. Progression in the following table can flow both ways but Left to Right tends to be ‘with the current,’ giving the feeling that you ‘flow’ downstream while you ‘work at’ moving upstream. This psychological effect is used constantly in chord progressions.

CYCLE OF 5THS

Chords in the key are often altered to (dominant) 7th chords to create forward motion and/or imply another key center. These are called SECONDARY DOMINANTS.

Chords can also alter their CHORD QUALITY; for example: Em7 to E7. Although this isn’t re-ally a ‘chord progression’ as such (the root remains the same), it is used constantly. While all chord types are available, the majority of chords change from the Secondary Dominant version to the ‘natural’ version and vice-versa. Check out the different methods of moving ‘downstream’ through the cycle: left to right, diagonally, up and down and all combinations of the above.

CYCLE OF 5THS, SECONDARY DOMINANTS, CHORD QUALITY ALTERATION

The number of possibilities available as you move through the entire cycle ends up being astronomical. And that doesn’t even include periodically ‘backing up’ (moving ‘upstream’) for a period of time, e.g.:

A common substitute for the V7 chord in a IIm7, V7, I is the bII7; for example, in the Key of C Major: Dm7, Db7, C. This is called a FLAT FIVE SUBSTITUTION. The G7 and the Db7 share the tritone (B and F) – reinforcing their functional relationship.

CYCLE OF 5THS, SECONDARY DOMINANTS, CHORD QUALITY ALTERATION, FLAT FIVE SUBSTITUTIONS

The chord movement is still Left to Right, Diagonal and Up and Down and Any Combination but the possibilities are greatly magnified by the extra line of b5 subs.

Another common harmonic tool is the use of BORROWED CHORDS. These are chords borrowed from the Parallel Modes and/or Parallel Minors. One of the functions of this is to lend the sound of that mode and its emotional content to the progression, e.g. Dm7b5 G7 C where the Dm7b5 is borrowed from the Key of C minor.

All of the “Tonal Modes” are available for this purpose (Dorian, Phrygian, Mixolydian and Aeolian) as well as the Parallel Minors (Harmonic and Ascending Melodic Minors sharing the same Tonic as the Major Key scale). When substituted, these chords have an emotional and/or functional effect on the song. A chord that may have had a Subdominant Function, may end up having a Dominant Function depending on the substitution!

Any chord in the same column is available as a BORROWED CHORD when creating a progression for a song.

BORROWED CHORDS

NOTE: Whereas the flow is still ‘downstream and upstream’, the change of chord quality and possible function requires you handle these carefully, e.g.: an Dm7b5 in place of Dm7 now has a Dominant function, and is perfectly happy moving directly to C major! Generally speaking, a high percentage of chord progressions found in the Jazz Standards are simply different ways of moving through the expanded cycle of 5ths we have looked at here. All kinds of modifications can take place on these chords, from building up to the 13th to adding multiple altered notes to dominant 7th chords. The FUNCTION, however, can always be found in the basic four note chord.

We will be looking at a few Standards and applying these ideas shortly, but first we have to take a look at one of the most influential chords in Classic/Romantic harmony: The Diminished 7th – its structure, resolutions, and substitutions.

THAT’S NEXT.

Learning New Music: Creating a Frame For A Piece

In order for me to make sense of a piece of music, I find I have to put it in a frame of some sort.  I suppose it is impossible to understand the world without knowing how things relate to each other, what repeating patterns occur and how some elements are the same as, or different from, other elements.  In the case of a music repertoire this is doubly true.  Without a framework of some kind every new piece you learn has to be learned from scratch, every solo must be drawn from a brand new set of harmonies.

Understanding chord movement is critical if you are to solo successfully over a set of changes.  There are many ways chords can move ‘logically’ – via cycles of 5ths, 3rds or 2nds, Common Tone, Symmetric, Chromatic, ‘Planing’.  ‘Common Practice’ music harmony, however, is a good place to start, i.e. the music of Mozart, Beethoven or, in our case, the music in the ‘American Song Book.’

I know players who have hundreds of ‘Jazz Standards’ committed to memory.  Or do they?  I think it is more likely they can retrieve the memory of a tune by stopping to recall the framework upon which they hung its parts.  Frameworks, it seems, are quite personal.   How I relate to the structure of a tune is likely to be very different from yours.  Here’s one: 

“Stella by Starlight” is perfectly logical to the ear, yet it’s a challenge to sort out the harmony first time you encounter it.  I am going to make a leap here and make the assumption that you would be looking at the ‘Real Book’ changes to this tune.  I haven’t checked the original changes for Stella, but I can guarantee you they are not exactly what we find in the Real Book.   Still, this is the version in front of you and we need, desperately need, to figure it out.  The desperation aspect is not overstated.  If you are to play through Stella, you need to know exactly what is happening in the harmony.  You need a logical framework so you can solo on it.

My framework is not going to be the same as yours.  Fact is, if we take our hugely different ways of perceiving the world into consideration, you may well think mine is entirely perverse!   Nevertheless, here was my first take at framing Stella ‘lo those many years ago:   (No chord extensions or alterations bothered with here – it’s shorthand)

STELLA BY STARLIGHT                                                                                   KEY: Bb

Em7b5 – A7  

Start of a II – V cycle on the b5? –  hmm, no, it goes to the IIm,  so more like a jazz reharm of the Idim/maj7 to V7 from that period – melody note supports that … enough … move on.  

Cm7 – F7 

Well okay, IIm – V, but it’s short circuited with chord quality change to Fm7.

Fm7 – Bb7 –  Eb – Ab7  

Yeah, IIm – V  of the IV …  but then to Ab7 … more likely Ebm6 in the old version, but Ab7 is a substitute dom for F7 … or I can think of it as “fore-cycling” … thinking too much, move on.

Bb – Em7b5 – A7 – Dm  

I then a II – V of the IIIm, this time really going to the IIIm.

Bbm7 – Eb7 – F

IIm – V functional substitution for Gm7 – C7. To  F – F new real brief key area

Bbm7 – Eb is likely a Bbm6 in old version.

Em7b5 – A7  

Could be II – V to relative minor in F … Dm, but short circuited with chord quality change to Am7b5.

Am7b5 – D7 – G7#5  

II – V to relative minor in Bb – Gm, but chord quality change on G so it can go to:

Cm7sus

Okay

Ab7 

Dom substitute for F7, probably an Ebm6 in original.

Bb

Em7b5 – A7 –  Dm7b5 – G7 –  Cm7b5 – F7 – Bb   

Okay, whatever…… standard cycle from the b5 with all minors flattened –  probably not the original changes.

Gibberish you say?  “Well”, as the farmer said, looking at his three legged pig in the yard, “Y’ain’t pretty, but yer mine.”  And so it is with frameworks.  It doesn’t matter what the construct is, as long as it works. That being said, this framework was one designed to fix the chord progression for this tune in my mind.  In order for me to have enough raw materials to do this, however, I had to understand enough jazz harmony to make it work. 

Now for the punchline.  This tune stays entirely in the key of Bb!  Yes, their are fleeting excursions to the IV and the V as key centres, but the progression in Stella stays for the most part right in the key.  The changes are simply tarted up versions of the naturally ocurring chords in Bb.  Harmonicists are the kings of deception and they will mess with your mind.  They use backcycling, secondary dominants, b5 substitutions, modal variants, stacked fourths, stacked fifths, planing, common tone substitutions, polychords, chromatic progression, symmetric progression … anything to screw with your head.  And it sounds freaking wonderful!

But consider this:  the melody for Stella remains (with the fleeting exception of an E natural and a Gb) ENTIRELY on the Bb diatonic scale.  I rest my case.  Nevertheless, this tune is worth a closer look.    THATS NEXT.

Jazz Improvisation 11: Listening

There are two things you don’t want to hear about your playing.  The first is ‘He just plays notes’, and the second is ‘He doesn’t listen’.  We looked at first one earlier on.  The second complaint is an equally important one.

Improvising is a group affair.  A great solo will fall flat on its face without proper support, and that support is dependent on every player LISTENING. The number of players out there who simply don’t listen is astounding.  And it’s a problem, because all it takes is one person in the group not paying attention to spoil it for everyone else.

Listening is critical.  That’s why nature supplied us with one mouth and two ears.  Playing something before you listen is like yelling “Go Cowboys!” at a basketball game.  You sound like an idiot.  Playing before you listen makes you that kid who keeps the ball to himself and tries to score without any help from the rest of the team.  Nobody liked that kid and he always wondered why he got picked last.

Playing before you listen makes you that loudmouth who never stops talking and nobody else can get a word in edgewise.

OK then.  Point made.  The first rule of playing is ‘Don’t speak until you have something to say,’ or, as the old saying goes, ‘If in doubt, lay out.”  The key to being a good listener is to take that split second (there it is again) to hear what is going on around you and ask yourself, ‘How can I contribute.’  The rewards are immediate.  The rest of your band mates (all listeners hopefully) respond, and the results end up being logarithmic.  The music is taken immediately to another level.

Jazz Improvisation 10: Time and Space II

Beginning improvisers rarely use too much space in their solos.  More often than not, their phrases sound like commuters crowding onto a subway train.

It’s perfectly understandable.  Even if you are about to play a single chorus in some piece or other, that time needs filling with something, and from the perspective of the novice improviser, that time can look like an eternity.  In fact, the whole business can feel like an exercise in survival, and that’s no way to create real music. 

So here are a few suggestions to help with that:

Concentrate on playing music, not notes.  The thought itself will bring up the idea of framing your phrases with the right space.  And the right space automatically gives you the breathing room to create a related following phrase.

Give notes the full value they deserve.  Don’t be jumping off one note just so you can get on with playing the next.

Don’t always hit on beat one.  Make ‘em wait.  Or catch them by surprise by anticipating your entry, by pushing the note, or leading into the note with a pickup. 

Dig in.  Listen to good Blues players.  A good Blues player can grind more meaning out of one or two notes than any flurry of cleverness will ever do.  Listen to the entries and exits and where they are spaced.  

Review the section on dynamics and articulation.  Then remember to USE them.  Nothing becomes real until it is brought into the world.  It is tempting to say to yourself, ‘I’ll practice those ideas a little more before I try them,’ but in that scenario the moment never comes.

In reality, you are NEVER ready.  You have to jump off that high diving board at some point even though you’re NOT READY.  You can walk up the damn steps, wander to the end of the board, and stand staring down at the water but it takes faith to finally jump off.  Or fear maybe – fear of that big hairy dude behind you yelling that you’re a chicken, and get on with it or he’ll toss you off himself!

Oh, and one last thing:  Listen to Miles … a lot.