JAZZ HARMONY FROM THE BOTTOM UP
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c CHARLES A. METCALF 2011
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JAZZ HARMONY FROM THE BOTTOM UP Table of Contents Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 3 The Defining Musical Characteristics of the American Standard Song . 3 Variation in the Interpretation of Standards .................................................... 4 The Evolution of the Harmonic Materials of the Standard Song .............. 5 Fakebooks ......................................................................................................................... 7 Memorizing Standards ................................................................................................. 8 Bass Function ................................................................................................................. 11 The Qualities of Emotion in Various Harmonies ............................................ 14 The Mathematics Underlying the Scale Systems That Shape the Harmony That Shapes the Bass Line. ................................................................. 16 The Overtone Series .......................................................................................................... 17 Just Intonation ..................................................................................................................... 17 Pythagorean Tuning, Equal Temperament, Circle of Fifths, Chromatic Scale ................................................................................................................................................... 18 Summary of factors involved in arranging and improvising jazz bass lines: .................................................................................................................................. 19 Conclusion ....................................................................................................................... 20 The Harmonic Materials (and Their Terminology) in Detail .................... 21 The Seven Scale-tone Seventh Chords ...................................................................... 22 Nature and Role of Each Modal Variant of Each Degree of the Scale in Detail ....................................................................................................................................... 23 The Five Non-Scale Tones of the Major Scale ......................................................... 30 Bass Line Paradigms From Simple to Complex .............................................. 35 The Main Modules ............................................................................................................... 36 One-Move Modules ............................................................................................................. 36 I, IV, V: The Ultimate Simplicity ................................................................................... 37 The II-V-I Cadence ............................................................................................................ 41 I-VI-II-V: The Turnaround .............................................................................................. 43 Diatonic Scalar Modules: ................................................................................................. 44 Minor Progression Modules ............................................................................................. 46
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Moves By Steps Other than Diatonic 5ths, Fourths, Minor 2nds, and Downward Minor 3rds. ...................................................................................................... 47 Turnarounds .......................................................................................................................... 49 A Syllabus of Chord Substitutions and Alterations ...................................... 57 Nuances in the Cycle of Fifth Progression Within a Key ............................ 59 Putting Analysis to Work: Progressions, Modules, and Substitutions in the Bass Lines of Specific Standard Songs. ................................................ 60 Afterword ....................................................................................................................... 106
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Introduction Of all of the elements of music, melody is the most resistant to theoretical analysis. Great melodies have been fashioned from sparse or unpromising materials, and great performers have elevated trite tunes to the level of high art. No one can fully explain these phenomena. In what is to follow, the melodic character of the bass lines appropriated from the rich catalog of the American Standard Song for use by jazz improvisers (as they evolved in the mid-20th century) is to be the focus of inquiry. Unlike melodies which are designed to catch and hold the listener's attention through establishing and playing with expectations, bass lines are characterized more by a rational simplicity required for their functionality as tonal and rhythmic basis for the harmonic colors, rhythmic complexity, and melodic intricacy which they support. Although this very simplicity (and subservience to other musical priorities) makes them more amenable to analysis, their success is still partially due to their melodic character. Their analysis will, therefore, often take the path into that land of mystery and magic where the secrets of melody reside. The Defining Musical Characteristics of the American Standard Song First, let’s look at the big picture. The most important relevant large musical generalities are: form, rhythm, harmony, and melody. Let's look at them in that order as they apply to the American Standard Song and the Jazz Classics which follow that model. Form: Standard songs are constructed of even multiples of bar lengths: individual melodic phrase components usually fit within 2 bars; the second 2 bar phrase echoes or continues the initial melodic phrase; the next 4 bars completes the momentum established by the first 4 bars and these 8 bars together constitute the first section (designated the "A." section) of the song. The following sections—usually 3 in number—are constructed similarly, but may be either a repeat of the A section or a new contrasting section. Most song forms are: AABA, ABAB, ABAC, ABA, ABC. Some have 4 or 16 bar sections and some have "tags" of 2 or 4 bars. Rhythm: Rhythm is usually organized within a time signature of 4/4 or 3/4, or less often, cut time, 2/4, 6/8, or 6/4. Since the genre was introduced as dance music, Standards are generally (and for our purposes, exclusively) meant to be played in strict tempo except when a vocalist requires rubato for dramatic effect. Since our focus here is on bass lines, the intricacies of the drum part will be neglected. The basic rhythmic function of the bass is to play every beat or every other beat in duple signatures and the strong beats in triple signatures. Harmony: Standards (with very rare exceptions) begin and end in the same key. They are organized around dominant seventh chord resolutions to either major or minor chords with diminished chords and other non-key chords utilized as passing chords. Chord duration is
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rarely less than 2 beats, most often 2 or 4 beats, quite often 2 bars, occasionally 4 bars, but almost never more except in the case of "modal" songs in which they can be 8, or even 16, bars. Melody: Unlike the harmony, there is no requirement for the melody to begin and end on the same tone. The harmony is required to be congruent with the melody so that the song may be easily singable, so that in an important sense, the melody shapes the harmony. Standards are not contrapuntal, so any other melodic material is the result either of voice-leading from chord to chord or the invention of an arranger or accompanist. Bass lines, although more crucial to the articulation of the harmony than inner lines, belong in this category. As we will see later, bass lines and inner lines can sometimes be interchangeable. Variation in the Interpretation of Standards Since classical music performed from written music is expected to be performed exactly as written, why aren't Standards and Jazz Classics held to the same requirement? The most important reason is that Standards are meant to be sung and meant to be learnable by oral transmission. A second related reason is that they are meant to be realizable by widely varying accompaniments. Often these accompaniments are re-arrangements or improvisations by working musicians with the nuts-and-bolts understanding of musical composition not required of instrumentalists and vocalists performing in the classical tradition. But there are other characteristics of Standards requiring slight to extensive revision in performance stemming from the very way Standards are produced. The first (and universal) divide begins with the original sheet music. The original composer's manuscripts vary greatly from illegible palimpsests or oral instructions to detailed orchestral scores. Although many Standards were composed by Tin Pan Alley tunesmiths specifically for the pop song market, the more sophisticated ones were often conceived in a theatre orchestra, movie score, or big band context. Whatever their source, all went through the homogenizing process of being reduced to commercial sheet music that could be played by amateur or semi-professional musicians. Pop song sheet music gives two versions of the harmony: the note-for-note solo piano realization, and chord symbols. Chord symbols were originally intended as guides for plectra (guitar or banjo) so that they could be strummed continuously as quarter notes so as to do the least violence to the consonance of the rest of the ensemble, or if a solo accompaniment, support a vocalized melody. These are often at odds with, or incomplete representations of, the composer's intent which is usually more nearly realized in the piano score. Even here (since the preparation of sheet music to fit market requirements was left to others) the fine detail of the composer's original intent was often lost in translation. To add to the confusion, many songs of the era became big hits in conjunction with particular arrangements, the details of which were picked up by commercial musicians, or
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found their way into spin-off stock band arrangements. Thus, in general, it's a fool's errand to agonize over what the "real" or "original" chords to standards are. Nevertheless, over the years these songs have all evolved a few main lines of harmonic realization that are in general use by improvising musicians who learn and interpret them in the oral tradition of jazz according to the style they're working in. Each of these harmonic patterns creates its own distinct bass line. For better or worse, the original sheet music provides the standard against which all later revisions must be measured. The needs of the jazz improviser add yet another layer to the evolution of standard's bass lines. Perhaps this is a good point to make clear that what I mean by the bass line is not the ubiquitous quarter-note walking bass characteristic of all jazz from the thirties until the introduction of Latin and rock bass patterns. That is a subject unto itself much explicated in bass methods. What I mean by the bass line is the more abstract succession of bottom notes to harmonies that change seldom more often than 2 beats, and seldom less often than 4 bars. If in improvising a walking bass line, the bassist fails to include these notes at times that make clear the succession of harmonies, then bass function has not been fulfilled. The Evolution of the Harmonic Materials of the Standard Song This is not the place for a detailed historical examination of the evolution of the harmonic devices characteristic of Standards, but a few observations will be useful to give a context to what follows. It must be understood that many exceptions can be found to the generalities contained in these observations. In the pre-WWI era, popular songs used essentially the same materials found in folk songs. Those originating in guitar environments were limited to major and minor triads except for dominant sevenths. Although major chords were most often positioned on the I, IV, and V chords they were allowed to move freely by whole steps to follow the melody. Also, V-I cadences were not a necessity—in fact, major triads sometimes moved several fifths in the opposite direction to cadential resolutions. If the song was conceived as a pianistic vehicle, cadences were the usual engine of harmonic motion, and minor seventh chords began to appear in II-V-I cadences, though often described as a IV Major 6th in the chord symbols. Songs in minor used a IV minor 6th for IV-V-I resolution. The beginnings of the post-WWI Jazz Age can be detected in some of these pre-war songs with the increasing use of dominant 7th chords in the II, III, and VI positions that became popular in barbershop quartet and "Irish" tunes. Also, melodically, fresh breezes were stirring with the occasional use of chromatics. Borrowings from the Late Romantics of the 19th century and the early French Impressionists introduced the augmented triad and ninth chords as extra romantic juice to love songs. The Jazz Age of the 1920's not only furthered these borrowings from the European Classical oeuvre, but added the indigenous devices of the Blues which turned the I-IV-V chords all to dominant 7ths, even allowing the final I chord to remain a 7th. In polite circles of the time, this was considered barbaric. In the course of the decade, the French
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Impressionist harmonies gradually won out over the German and Italian operatic influence, except for the increasing use of diminished chords as passing chords and constituents of dominant seventh flat 9ths. By the 30's the transition had mostly been made to a musical language that superceded triads as the basic harmonic language and enriched them with tetrachordal 7th chord formations. Whereas, pre-WWI pop song melodies clung to the tones of their supporting triad, or if not, sought that position on their next move, by the 30's non-chordal scale tones became target tones and became more frequently supported by upper-structure 9ths, 11ths, and 13ths. The extensive use of the dominant seventh, often with a melody on the 9th, became a hallmark of the 30's, and was heard then as an emblem of modernity. The big bands that became popular in the Swing Era gave composers and arrangers a platform for ever more sophisticated harmonic invention. A host of composers responded to this challenge, with geniuses like Ellington, Gershwin, and Porter leading the way. With Swing for a rhythmic basis, and newfound harmonic resources, the Bebop pioneers of the 40's—Parker, Gillespie, Monk, Powell, Pettiford, and others—created a new melodic language that served as both a style of improvisation, and a resource for the creation of new melodies grafted onto the chords of well-known Standards. Finally, jazz made the leap into a self-referential style. The flatted fifth—the tone most distant from the tonic—became the talisman of the Bebop style. The newfound harmonic freedom was expressed in the bass line by extensive use of the II-V-I cadence and the chromatic bII-I (tri-tone substitution) cadence. Parallel chromatic minor 7th chord changes abounded. Although the use of simple triads was almost entirely abandoned, the blues scale and other elements of the blues were retained. Before Bebop, the bassist doubled the pianist's left hand. Led by the example of the Basie band, the bebop pianists adopted the sparser shell-style left hand which gave bassists freedom to construct varied interpretations of the bass line. By the '50's, the re-worked bass-lines which functioned best were recognized and became a language shared by members of the rhythm section. Although the pianist and bassist didn't know exactly what each other were going to play, they did have a limited range of related options which enabled them to make intelligent guesses as they learned each other's stylistic particularities. Within generally understood limits, bass lines became mutable. It's my purpose here to make the unspoken criteria by which bass lines are shaped through this interaction yield to theoretical analysis. Instruction materials in harmony for pianists, and walking bass for bassists, abound. The interaction of the two is less often dealt with, not only because opinions and practices vary, but because the strict codification of the interaction would tend to rein in its improvisatory character. I don't propose to create a rule-book, only to list and relate the underlying materials and limitations which shape the jazz bass line.
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Since the emergence of jazz education programs, student rhythm-section instrumentalists are learning their craft in the context of big bands and vocal accompaniment. In that context, the character of the bass line is pre-determined by the chart in use. In improvising their accompaniment, the players are each required to interact with the printed page—not with each other. Even if they have developed an insight on how to interact creatively (and get together to play as a combo), the crucible of nightly gigs required to hone their craft no longer exists. If the present effort succeeds, bassists and pianists should be able to hear and understand each other's musical statements better.
Fakebooks When I first became aware of them at the mid-point of the previous century, fakebooks were little 5 by 8 pamphlets with a dozen or so pages with three or four standard tunes on a page. The information contained in them was confined to song titles and chord changes separated by bar lines. The original copies given to the print-shop were written out by hand, or with a typewriter, by anonymous musicians seeking to make a buck by engaging in an illegal activity. They filled the need of pianists, guitarists, and bassists in bands where it was assumed that a singer or horn-player knew the melody to the song. If it was a trio gig, the pianist would usually bring along a briefcase of original sheet music to the songs that might be requested that he didn’t know. For bands featuring improvised jazz solos, fakebooks that could be stuffed in horn cases served as guides for horn-players, as well. With the proliferation of originals written as instrumentals by jazz musicians in the 1960s, the needs of local jazz musicians changed. Published sheet music of these songs was usually not available. Their increased melodic and harmonic complexity made transcription more difficult and unreliable. Also, the burgeoning jazz education movement created a market for accurate complete transcriptions. Thus was born the first “Realbook” wherein the melody and chord changes were displayed on a conventional staff with one or two songs to an 8½ X 11 page. Gone was the pamphlet, replaced by a tome of such heft that wire music stands collapsed under its weight. Although apparently produced by authors having a connection to an educational institution, the first “Realbook was not without its flaws. Some of the songs were not transcribed, but were copied from the composer’s manuscripts to which the authors had access. These were, by definition, authoritative. But many of those that were transcribed—although generally melodically accurate—had serious errors in the chord changes. Due to widespread distribution, two of the most egregious examples, Herbie Hancock’s “Maiden Voyage”, and Miles Davis’ “Four” have caused confusion on the bandstand that persists to this day. In addition, versions of Standards taken from transcriptions of recordings sometimes canonized a particular arrangement, either over-simplified or over-elaborated the harmony, or were simply in error.
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The “Realbook” achieved national distribution, but it was still illegal. However, that didn’t prevent others from trying to emulate its success. Finally, Chuck Sher decided to embark on his series of legal fakebooks. He hired pianists with reputations for good ears and good taste to make transcriptions and vetted these with the composers when possible. Also, Jamie Aeborsold’s transcriptions of the compositions of major jazz artists are authoritative. In addition, musicians with personal connections to two of the most challenging genius’s of modern jazz, Thelonius Monk and Charles Mingus, have produced compilations of their compositions taken from original sources. Due to these efforts we now have a library of generally authoritative written music that encompasses the Standards era and the so-called Jazz Classics that is of great utility in educating ourselves and our students. The question remains, what is the proper utilization of this material on the bandstand? Total dependence on the Sher series, requires the transportation and deployment of a library of Talmudic bulk. Sifting through these tomes between tunes in search of the next one can take momentum-killing time and produce discord. “No that’s not in Volume Three, it’s in All-Jazz.” Whatever source is used, there must be several copies of it on the bandstand so that all musicians are on the same page. My main concern is that exclusive dependence on written music in performance discourages memorization, and that without memorization, discourages the internalization that lofts the most inspired improvisations. Mental energy tracking the printed page is mental energy that’s unavailable to the imagination and group cohesion. Memorizing Standards During the era when Standards were the popular music of the day, working musicians would learn tunes simply by hearing them a lot and then playing them on gigs. Many musicians learned a wide repertoire without ever seeing the music to the songs they "knew". Today, young musicians must make a conscious effort to memorize Standards. Unless, of course, you are one of those very rare musicians like Charlie Parker, Mile Davis, Milt Jackson, and Stan Getz (all of whom had photographic memory), in which case you can safely ignore this section. Typically, there's little incentive to memorize tunes unless gigs require it, and very few do. But the ones that do are the ones where the soul of mainstream jazz has the best chance to survive. Here are some tips to make the effort more productive and pleasurable. First, be organized. Start by making a tune-list. Begin by listing the songs that you recognize well enough to name when you hear them. Locate them by leafing through your fake books and CDs. You will be surprised how many you can at least recognize. Standards were originally written as popular songs. A song doesn't become popular (except perhaps with jazz musicians) unless the melody is appealing and memorable.
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Next listen to the song enough times over a great enough span of time that you are able to sing or play the melody at will. If you have no recording of it, you will have to play it. When you play it, take your eyes off the music as soon as you can. As soon as you know the melody to a song by heart, you are entitled to pat yourself on the back and say, "I know this song." Conversely, if you know only the "changes" to a song, you don't truly know that song. At this point in your memorization process, you can safely ignore the dictum often heard that you don't truly know a Standard until you know the lyrics. Standard songs, like baseball statistics, make a perfect subject for an obsessive personality. For those with this tendency, the composer, date of copyright, musical or movie in which it was first performed, etc., etc. will all be of grave importance. Although memorization of the lyrics is not a necessity for the instrumental musician, you will find that in certain cases the lyrics will help you to more precisely remember the melody in those phrases (of which there are many) where similarity to other songs renders them undistinctive. In any case, you can now make a column to the right of your list of song titles in which you can place check-marks to indicate which melodies you have memorized. But what about the changes? If you truly know the melody, a semi-conscious impression of its harmonization and attendant bass-line comes with that knowledge. In other words, even if you couldn't call out the changes, if someone were to play that song with a wildly different harmonization, you would know instantly that something was amiss. At this stage, you are like the guy who said, "I wish I understood everything I know." But if you go about learning the chords one at a time from written music, not only is it tedious, but the link to the melody can be lost and the chord pattern will degrade in your memory over time. Unless the song is very simple (or you're one of that other rare breed with absolute pitch) you will have to invest some time and effort to bring your first impression of the harmonic structure to full consciousness. If you think you "hear" it, and have a recording of it, try picking out the bass notes of each chord by ear as the recording plays. If you are successful on the first pass (and secure in your ability to differentiate chord qualities), chances are good that you have a workable beginning conception of the song that will survive into long-term memory. If not, don't be discouraged; follow the advice below. Each song you learn will make the next one easier. To facilitate accurate and enduring chord-pattern memorization, analyze and generalize. You will find that you will be able to adequately memorize a song with a half-dozen or so key "facts" rather than the thirty-something separate chords found on the sheet music. Fact #1: What is the form? It will be: AABA, ABAC, ABA, ABC, or ABCD. Each of the sections will be 4, 8, or 16 bars. There will be variations, of course, particularly first and second endings and tags; but your firm knowledge of the melody will remind you of these as they occur. Fact #2: What degree of the scale does the first chord of the A section fall on? Fact #3: What degree of the scale does the first chord of the B section fall on?
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Fact #4: What and where are the Out-Moves? (Out-Moves take the harmony away from the tonic.) Associate them with the melodic target tone that they accompany. Fact #5: Identify which Modules are in play at the 2 and 4 bar phrase level. Modules are short chord patterns used over and over in Standards. Facts #s 6 and higher: Identify important idiosyncrasies specific to the particular song. If you're a bassist there's another, even quicker way to learn songs—lie. When the band leader asks you if you know "I'll Never Forget What's-her-name", reply, "Sure, what key?" Then turn to the pianist and ask, "Remind me of the first chord to the bridge." Pleased, as always, to be regarded as an authority, he will share his knowledge with you (even in the midst of the leaders count-off) including the revelation, if applicable, that the tune lacks a bridge due to being constructed in two halves—information (though lacking in specificity) which will eventually prove useful. With luck and a good ear, the probable first chord can be divined from the pianist's intro. After that, the other musicians will be so involved in their own roles that the extent of your guesswork will only be dimly perceived. By the third chorus, unless you have the bad luck to have bitten on an obscure Billy Strayhorn tune, you will have the matter pretty well in hand. As an added bonus, the adrenaline rush attendant upon this method of song learning adds to the likelihood that it will outlive the vagaries of your short-term memory. Of course, the same effect will be achieved without prevarication if the band-leader's call is stimulated by the proffer of a twenty dollar tip, in which case, whether the bassist is truly on board or not is the least of anyone's concern (including the bassist's). On a more serious note, the instructions given here are intended to give encouragement to all musicians to develop as large a repertoire of Standards as possible. Like all musical compositions of any depth, new levels of in-depth knowledge and understanding will be gained with multiple performances with a variety of other musicians. Recourse to printed music to answer questions about details glossed over (as well as to settle sometimes heated arguments) will often be required. Pianists and guitarists are perhaps well advised to take a less cavalier attitude than what I have proposed here, for two reasons. One, they often play solo and tend to wander off into intractable idiosyncrasy without others to bounce off of. Two, their orchestral character tends to, whether for good or ill, dictate the harmonic progression to the rest of the band. Perhaps it would be fitting to conclude this plea for the internalization of the Standardbased jazz repertoire with cautionary advice from someone who takes the loving care and reinvigorating performance (and thus transmission) of the genre with utmost seriousness. In the June 2002 issue of Jazz Times will be found a piece by Ed Berger on the pianist Bill Charlap whom he praises for "walking the fine line between interpretation and recomposition. ... he is always mindful of the composer's intentions and tries to consult original sheet music when possible. 'I want to know what the lyric is. What are the song's
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original harmonies? What's the original meter? What does the melody actually do and how do the lyrics fit with that melody? What's the verse?' " One of the major purposes in looking at the material presented herein is to give the musician who aspires to such a deep connection with the musical tradition of song-form-based improvisation a secure basis for navigating that fine line which separates interpretation from recomposition. Bass Function The definition of bass function in the jazz context varies from different viewpoints. In the most clear-cut—the rhythmic—point of view, the drummer and bassist co-create the pulse. This requires (even in styles that allow the bassist a great freedom to depart from walking quarter notes) the bass to state ‘ones’ with clarity and authority. One (or three— same thing) almost always serves as a point where a chord change may take place. Thus the bass functions as a prime delineator of the strong beats of the bar while providing continuous markers of the progress of the harmonic rhythm. From the melodic standpoint, the bass must play in a range low enough that the notes of the bass line are not only less high than the melodist's, but enough lower that the bass tones reside comfortably in the overtone series at a point that avoids creating beats with not only the melody, but with the supporting harmonic accompaniment, the main tones of which must usually also be lower than the melody. Although range is the most important bass function consideration vis-a-vis melody, common practice dictates that the level of complexity in the bass part should not challenge the melodist for the attention of the listener's ear. Before moving on to a detailed examination of the interaction between the chordal accompaniment and the bass line (which is the real meat of the present inquiry), a few general observations must be made—again, outlining different views of bass function in Standards from differing perspectives. Most of jazz theory originates as a continuation of the analysis of the European classical tradition of the last 300 years. But some of it starts afresh. Jazz practice departs from certain conventions of the European classical canon. These are: All music is precomposed in its entirety. Forms (in great length, variety, and complexity) are designed around melodic motifs that are both repeated verbatim and developed. Historically, harmonies evolved through the gradual addition of polyphonic voices, so that even with the gradual development of vertical structures of simultaneously sounded tones, chords are conceived as being epiphenomenal to linkages of simultaneous horizontal melodies. Rhythm, at the discretion of the performers or their conductor, is at any moment potentially elastic to allow for the expressive use of rubato. A lengthy description of other characteristics would be needed to fully define the common practices of the European classical tradition, but these are the important ones from which common jazz practice deviates. In jazz, some of the music is usually, but not necessarily, pre-composed, while much of it is improvised on the spot. Forms, rather than being a receptacle for melodic development,
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are short, modular, and attain length through repetition. Harmonies no longer necessarily result from pre-composed melodic lines obeying the laws of counterpoint. The jazz rhythm section is charged with the task of laying down a carpet of quarter-notes of unvarying tempo in combination with certain syncopations. Meanwhile, the improvising melodist conceptualizes the accompanying rhythm/harmony as a field implying a scale (or scales) to be mined for melodic raw material. Both functional needs conspire to promote a more vertical conception of harmony—first a bar of something, then 2 beats of this, followed by 2 beats of that, and so on. The development and ad hoc employment of these alterations (not that the harmonic content was altered so much as the distribution of roles in its articulation) gave rise to a generally understood, democratically decided, spectrum of rhythm section practices. In this model, everyone is required to improvise; no one is tied to a specific repeated part, except for the first and last choruses—and these are kept simple enough to facilitate easy memorization. Even here, vocalists and lead instruments are allowed latitude in departing from the composer’s intent. Groups performing in this mode play without written music as a norm. The distribution of roles can best be described in terms of layers. On the top is the improvising melodist. In the middle is the harmonist—whether keyboard, fretboard or horn section. On the bottom, is the bassist, who provides a foundation that may include anything from a drone, to a repeated figure, to an improvised half note line, to a walking quarter note line (or—in some more recent practice—improvised rhythmically varied patterns), to a doubling of the melody. The bass and drums combine to articulate the pulse, and the drums articulate the language of subdivision and syncopation while reinforcing the rhythmic accents of the melodist and harmonist. Our focus here will be on the interaction between the harmonist and the bassist as they jointly and concurrently improvise their parts. It's useful to note, however, that the "rhythm section" is not called the "harmony section". Although it provides harmony, its rhythmic function is paramount. Whereas the classical canon presupposes deviations from the underlying tonality to be heard is if they were being played in just intonation, jazz practice accepts the chromatic scale of equal temperament as the norm. In the former (in the key of C) there is a real sensible difference between D# and Eb, whereas, in the latter, correct spelling is more of a matter of consistent book-keeping. In the jazz approach to the example above, first, there would be an environment of all white keys. Then comes an environment that has shifted to either the scale of E major, say, or the scale of Eb major, say, and the note is named accordingly, but with little or no thought given to any relation to the key of C which—although no longer active at the moment—remains the uber-tonality of the songform. The air-tightness of such a modularized harmonic conception is joined together in continuity by the improvised melodic line, the melodic character of the walking bass line, and to a lesser but important degree by the harmonist's voice-leading. Thus, in jazz, an important aspect of bass function is to provide the same kind of melodic connectivity between adjacent harmonic environments that one finds in the lower line of classical counterpoint, without recourse to rigid rules.
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In such an environment it becomes important for the bassist and harmonist to be able to recognize by ear the sounds of commonly used chords, and their transmutation by bass tones out of the chord. Due to an asymmetry in the physiological response of the ear to sonic vibrations impinging on it, combinations of tones sounded together have a distinctive "sound-print". Although we hear the constituent tones of a major third, we can identify it by its distinctive sound-print without having to count intervals by singing up the scale. Further, we hear differing degrees of consonance and dissonance in the various intervals. The octave is most consonant. Then the perfect fifth followed by its inversion, the perfect fourth. Then come the thirds and sixths whose position on the consonance dissonance scale is dependent on context. Then come the minor seventh and its inversion the major second. Most dissonant are the major seventh and the minor second. The flatted fifth or sharp fourth is considered a dissonance, but is difficult to place in relation to other intervals because it is perceived very differently in different circumstances. In any case, quick and accurate interval recognition is a basic requirement for all artist-level musicians. But for the jazz musician, interval recognition is essential in a way that it's not for musicians who realize written music only. Although the need for interval comprehension is universal, consideration of triads and tetrachords brings forth another divide in the concept of bass function as it relates to various styles of harmonic usage. First, the triad. Classical theory limits the use of the term "triad" to those tonal combinations composed of three tones related to each other by thirds. This restriction allows only four possibilities: two major thirds—the augmented; one major third on the bottom, and one minor third on top—the major; one minor third on the bottom, and one major third on top—the minor; and two minor thirds—the diminished. Every triad has two inversions. It's a curious property of triads that inverting them fails to cause the ear to hear them as something essentially different. If a C major triad is played with the C on top rather than on the bottom (as it would be in root position), the ear (at least the trained ear) hears the resulting sound as a C major triad, not an E minor augmented. This has important ramifications for the bass line. In theory, the bass line should be able to fulfill its bass function role by sounding any of the three notes of the operative triad. To effectively do this, the tone which the bass has abandoned must be sounded by others. Negotiating this interchange is one of the chief occupations of classical counterpoint. Lacking the pre-composed certainty of classical counterpoint, bass line improvisers in jazz tend to be root-bound as a default option. But then, they're not working in a strictly triadic environment. As observed before, jazz, as a harmonic style, is based on tetrachords—basically, scaletone triads with the addition of the appropriate scale tone sevenths. Consider then, in the key of C, the D minor 7th. In first inversion it becomes an F major 6th. Should the sound of the D minor 7th be further thickened with the addition of a 9th, the first inversion will then become an F major 7th, further reinforcing its evolution from minor to major. However, if the bass resolutely sounds a D in the low register, the minor character returns. But with the A in the bass (in the right context) it can easily be heard as an Aeolian A minor. Just as triadic harmony turned previous melody-over-drone or parallel-
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melody styles into a whole new ballgame, so has quatradic harmony recast the rules in the era of jazz. Finally, the adoption of 7th chord-based harmony implies the inclusion of the 9th in a fivetone formation. The reason for this will become apparent from the discussion of the Overtone Series and the Cycle of Fifths to come. The Qualities of Emotion in Various Harmonies Before cataloging the technical details (which, unfortunately, will be an eventual necessity) entailed by quatradic harmony, and showing how and what differences with triadic harmony have evolved, let's take a look at these harmonic considerations from the standpoint of the listener. Harmony in Western music has the unique and paradoxical property of being at once structural and emotional. Melodies (though often crafted by their composers with intellectual skills requiring post-graduate tuition) seem to the listener to follow a path of pure feeling. Rhythmic expression has to do mainly with feelings associated with action/rest. Each chord, though it has a structural function of supporting a melody, of being the result of what has gone before, and the harbinger of what is to come, also has its own distinct and particular mood-potential. Since emotions are subjective, we can't pin down their association with particular sound-formations with certainty, but we can point to a spectrum of common emotional responses generally characteristic of our musical culture. In triadic harmony the moods are fewer and more clearly differentiated from one triad to another. Major triads are happy, settled, jubilant, sunny, serene, bright, exultant, or merely comfortingly normal depending on musical context. A major triad out of the key is either like an unexpected answer to a question, or an outright surprise, in either case, a pleasant outcome. Minor triads are sad, nocturnal, cool, muted (but sometimes alarming), grieving, pensive, feminine, nostalgic and also sometimes normal-sounding, again, depending on musical context. An unexpected minor chord is like a cloud passing over the sun. The diminished triad is restless; it asks the question, "What next?" When occurring in the context of the major scale in which it is the seventh degree, it can sound like a fragment of a dominant seventh. The dominant seventh is the one tetrachord in universal use in otherwise triadic harmonic environments. Through the conditioning of conventional use it is heard as a powerful engine of motion striving for resolution to a chord on the fifth below. To most ears it connotes power and motion. The augmented triad is not found in the major scale, but is in the scale-tone triad of the third degree of the harmonic minor scale. Heard from this perspective, it can sound "minorey". Heard in the context of the whole-tone scale, where it stands on its own, it sounds mystical, spectral. It was appropriated by early 20th century tune-smiths for use in the dominant position because it sounded to them "bluesey", but to modern ears more attuned to the ubiquitous use of the blues scale in jazz and rock, its use makes tunes of
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that genre sound quaintly faux-sentimental. Of the four basic triads, the augmented is the most emotionally mutable. Considering that it found prominent employment in styles as various as those of Wagner, Debussy, and Monk, we should not be surprised. Now let us turn to quatradic chords beginning with the scale-tone sevenths of the major scale. All of them can be usefully understood as interlocking triads. For example, a major seventh has a major triad on the bottom with a minor triad from the third to the seventh. The minor seventh reverses this with the minor on the bottom and the major on the top. As previously noted, seventh chords can be perceived (and used) differently in different inversions. That mutability or ambiguity is felt emotionally as well. All these chords have a bittersweet quality that makes them ideal for connoting the emotions of romantic love. It was only natural that they should find their way into the popular song. Let's sample their ambience one by one. The major seventh has an increased brightness in spite of (or perhaps because of) its dissonance of a major seventh between the root and the seventh. This is exacerbated by voicings which place the two tones at a minor second. Thus, when based on the third degree it can easily transmute into an Aeolian minor sixth—a suddenly darker sound than any of the inversions of the minor seventh quatrad. The major seventh is overturned into dark, unstable dissonance at the interval of a minor ninth. It's instructive that jazz pianists often choose to favor the use of the softer major sixth (usually in conjunction with a major ninth) when interpreting music which calls for a major seventh. The pensive quality of the minor triad is considerably softened by the addition of the minor seventh. Unlike the major seventh, the closest interval in any of its inversions is the major second between the seventh and the octave of the root. The smoothness of the minor seventh quatrad has made it the water in which the rest of jazz harmony swims. Although its use typically conjures romantic love, inversion to the third degree can transmute it to a major sixth which adds a certain sweetness which the major triad lacks by itself. The dominant seventh in a quatradic environment retains its power and motion connotation, and adds others as well. It suddenly becomes usable as a passing chord in motion a minor second down rather than down a fifth. In the conventions of the blues it takes up residence as the normal occupant of the fourth degree and the tonic so that it becomes heard as the chord of final resolution. The blues achieves its distinctive effect through the juxtaposition of the power of seventh chords on the bottom with the plaintive quality of melodic tones a half-step flat from the upper three tones of the seventh chord underpinning. This works because of the unique way in which the dominant seventh nests with the overtone series. More than any other of the scale-tone quatrads, the dominant seventh can incorporate a variety of upper structure tones. The resultant emotional range can vary from quite sweet with the addition of ninths and thirteenths to acerbic when ninths elevenths and/or thirteenths are raised or lowered. In between these two extremes lies a rich spectrum of sonic colors that can be lush, bittersweet, ethereal, crushing,
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"blue", or tonally ambivalent. The dominant seventh is hardly less dissonant than the tonic major seventh to which it "resolves". Through its rich sources of available added colors it regains a dissonance which makes its progression to a major seventh quatrad more credible as a resolution. The minor seventh flat five (the scale-tone seventh of the VII degree) connotes more the pain of love than the minor seventh, and hints at a tragic outcome. It is most typically used as the II in a II-V-I where the I is minor. The inversion with the III degree on the bottom transmutes it into a minor sixth. In a quadratic context, this inversion serves as a more satisfactory chord of final destination in a composition in minor, as it lacks the ambivalence of the minor seventh. The addition of a major seventh to the minor triad adds a certain bleakness to the mood of nocturnal gloom. The diminished seventh chord intensifies the restlessness of the diminished triad. Each of the two interlocking diminished fifths (at an interval of a minor third) conspire to imply allegiance to two dominant seventh chords at an interval of a diminished fifth, thus creating the possibility of resolution to four different keys equidistant from each other at the interval of a minor third. The four-way-switch capability of the diminished seventh adds "Which way?" to the diminished triad's query, "What next?" Without going into great detail about the remaining triad-based quatrads (augmented major seventh and diminished major seventh) we can venture some comparisons between an all-triad harmonic environment and its all-quatrad counterpart. The difference in emotional affect between the various triads is sharper than between the various quatrads. Clarity of function due to clearer contrast in sound-color from one triad to another, makes quatradic harmony seem, by contrast, more homogenized. Quatradic resolutions are less accompanied by relaxation of tension. Because of the two degrees (major and minor) of added sevenths, there are twice as many types of quatradic formations as there are of triads. This makes quatradic harmony more varied and complex. Transmutation of certain inversions to sixth chords adds another layer of complexity. Three non-triad-based quatrads in wide use—the "phrygian", the 7 sus4, and the 7 b5—add even greater complexity and range of affect to the dominant 7th chord. The Mathematics Underlying the Scale Systems That Shape the Harmony That Shapes the Bass Line. So far, the stage has been set for a detailed examination of the harmonic context shaping the jazz/standard bass line by concentrating on major scale-related considerations. Our understanding of these relationships is shaped largely by the terminology inherited from the European classical tradition, which is in turn shaped by the tunings of just intonation, which in turn were shaped by a particular set of mathematical relationships. Unquestionably, all tonal music has been subject to Occam's Razor—the simplest explanation is the best. Just intonation exemplifies only one of the three most obvious contenders for the mathematical simplicity prize. The other two are the overtone series and even-tempered scale. In our culture, we go back and forth between these tonal sub-
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texts in interpretiing the musiccal meaning of what we are hearing,, and in translating our innerr hearing to our o instrumeents. The Overtone O Serries
The overtone o seriies shapes what w we actuaally hear. Thhe overtone series is a seeries of numb bers which multiply m a root frequency y by the upw ward successiion of wholee integers begin nning with on ne. Thus, x1 1= the unison n, x2= the occtave, x3=occtave+fifth, xx4= 2 octav ves, x5= 2octtaves+majorr third, x6= 2 octaves+fi fth, x7=a tonne 1/3 of a semi-tone flaat from a minor sev venth, x8= 3 octaves, x9= = 3 octaves+ +major seconnd, x10= 3 octav ves+major th hird, x11=3 octaves o a micro-tone middway betweeen the 4th annd flat-5th degreee, x12= 3 occtaves+fifth,, x13= 3 octaaves+a micrro-tone betw ween the raiseed fifth and sixth degrees, x14 4= 3 octavess+a flattened d minor seveenth, x15= 3 octaves+ a m major seven nth. (ex. 1) The T tones on this ladder naturally n ressonate, mosttly with the ggenesis-tonee, but allso with each h other. If th hey originatee from the saame source ((so that they are in phasee with one another)), they will be b heard as the t timbre off that sourcee, and will noot be heard aas nguishable to ones. Basing g a scale systtem on the oovertone series presents oobvious distin obstaacles, since in ntervals betw ween constittuent tones vvary wildly, and (in the ffourth octavee and above) a micro o-tonal interv vals dominatte. Howeverr, if one weree to make thhe first sevenn discreete tones of the series into a scale, itt would closeely resemblee (except forr its out-oftunen ness) the Lyd dian 7th scalle, better kno own by its m mode a fourthh below as thhe ascendingg melodic minor orr minor majo or seventh sccale.
Just Intonation I
The overtone o seriies is a naturral phenomeenon; all otheer tonal systeems are hum man inven ntions. The system s of jusst intonation n is the most ancient of thhese. It is a ssystem of fractiional relation nships limiteed to the low w prime num mbers 1, 2, 3, and 5. Some theorists stretcch this schem me to includee 7, but that is contrary tto the practicce of early E European andd Indiaan classical music. m The in ntervals 1:1 (unison), 1:22 (octave), 22:3 (fifth), annd 3:4 (fourtth), and 5:4 (major third d) march in exact e locksteep to the oveertone series.. However, aat the in nterval of a major m third th he possibilitty arises for an entirely 33-based derivvation resultting in the prroportion 81 1:64 which presents p a sliight but audiible differencce to the 5based d major third d whose prop portion in that octave is 80:64. In anny case, this iis the mathematical sub btext from which w the maj ajor scale waas derived. O One of the moost elegant he major scalle is to estab blish a centraal tone and thhen go both up a fifth ways to derive th (the closest c "diffeerent" tone) to the domin nant and dow wn a fifth to the sub-dom minant. On
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each of these threee tones, con nstruct a majjor triad. Voiila! (ex.2). T The twelve-ttone chrom matic scale can c be deriveed by extend ding the laddder of fifths ffive tones inn either directtion. Two lim mitations ev ventually cam me to plaguee just tuning:: the internall contrradiction betw ween 3 deriv vation and 5 derivation, and its inabiility to transpose to remote keys.
Pytha agorean Tun ning, Equal Temperamen T t, Circle of F Fifths, Chrom matic Scale
Modeern harmonicc practice em mploys a tweelve-tone chhromatic scalle in equal teemperament. The pitch p of each h half-step iss raised by an n amount eqqual to the tw welfth root of 2 of its lowerr neighbor. Although A thee pure fractio onal relationnships of justt intonation are aband doned, their replacementts are very close c approxiimations, alll larger interrvals are equall as well, and d physical materials m usuaally support resonance w with the interrvals of the overttone series. The T ancient Greek G philossopher and m mathematiciaan, Pythagorras, found that multiplying m the t number 1 by the fracction 3/2 (thee proportionn of the perfeect fifth) twelv ve times prod duced a num mber nearly equal e to the nnumber (2,032) achievedd by the stack king of 7 octaaves (ex.3). Unfortunate U ly, the fifthss overshoot tthe mark by roughly a quartter-tone. Wh hen this is diistributed eq qually to all ffifths, they aare flattened by only twoo cents—a marginaal (and barely audible) difference, d allthough, withh careful atteention one can leearn to hear the differentt character of o music withh ancient tunnings.
Impo ortant conseq quences follo ow from the introductionn of equal tem mperament. The chrom matic scale, unlike u the heeptatonic maajor and mellodic minor sscales, has nno fixed tonality. Even in tonal contex xts, the evening out of inntervallic relationships thhat makes position possible makes transpositio on also, thereefore, continnually potenttially transp immiinent. There is a restless quality to eq qual temperaament. In thee absence off pitch differrences becau use of key, a flatted fifth can serve eqqually well aas the majorr third and minor seventh off two dominaant seventh chords c a disttance of a flaat-five (the m most distant pointt on the circle of fifths) from f each oth her. If each of these dom minant sevennths flat theirr
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fifths, they become identical. This is the basis of the use in jazz of the ubiquitous "tri-tone substitution" which allows for a seventh chord a half step above the tonic to function as a substitute dominant, a phenomenon which I prefer to call chromatic resolution.
In practice, realizing bass function in an overtone series context involves articulating the root of the harmonic or intervallic superstructure at the lowest rung possible of the overtone series ladder. Realizing bass function in terms of tonality involves creating the feeling of forward, backward, or sideways motion in relation to a key center. Realizing bass function in terms of the chromatic scale involves movement along the circle of fifths/fourths, or, analogously, along the chromatic scale, and the transposition of key center to any of the other chromatic tones. Summary of factors involved in arranging and improvising jazz bass lines:
Oral transmissability. Various interpretations forced by varying needs and capabilities of performers. Mixed messages from chord symbols and piano score in the original sheet music. Quirks in widely popular versions often become generally incorporated. The need for jazz artists to have the song's harmony follow paths that facilitate their improvisations. Difference in harmonic underpinning because of the era of the original song and the consequent need to alter harmonies to better fit the style of performance, such as giving a particular standard more of a blues feel. The division of labor between the harmonist, the bassist, and the arranger. Creative bass line variations are less called for in big band and vocal accompaniment situations. Classical European harmonic theory, by itself, is insufficient to the needs of the jazz performer. Bass function is rhythmic and melodic, as well as harmonic and form articulating. Normally, jazz musical materials are memorized or improvised, not sight-read. Harmonically, jazz is a sandwich with melody and bass the bread and the harmony the filling. For clarity, jazz harmony is conceived as modular, and locally, rather than globally, tonal. Training the ear to recognize, distinguish between, and employ various harmonic sound-colors is essential to the jazz improviser. Triadic and quatradic harmonic practices, though related, have significant differences. Harmony is at once rational (structural), and emotional. Major is happy, minor is sad, diminished is restless, and so on, all dependent upon the context and sequence in which they occur. Quatradic harmony mixes major and minor to achieve a much more homogenized effect. A culture exists (with many recorded examples) of improvising harmonies in jazz performance that lie within limits appropriate to the particular style.
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Harmony is grounded in mathematical relationships. The overtone series shapes the way all tonal sound is perceived. Just intonation is the ancient system of whole-integer proportions between low prime numbers and their multiples. The modern system of equal temperament is a convenient approximation of the pure whole-integer proportions in order to produce uniform intervals, and ease of key transposition. The full utilization of the chromatic scale outruns the strictures of tonal harmony.
Conclusion It becomes a somewhat less far-fetched notion to postulate that the shape of the bass line can, and indeed has, become emancipated from the strictures of the European classical norms. This freedom carries with it the implication that at most points in the harmonic flow of Standard and Jazz Classic songs, there are several viable options which, to varying degrees, work with one another. In this environment opportunity jousts with chaos. Musicians who have taken improvisational freedom to the outer limits have felt compelled to return to the Standards as their primary platform for improvisation. How is the opportunity/chaos nexus negotiated on the bandstand in mid-performance? Obviously, if the musicians responsible for improvising a continuous harmonic environment needed to run down the check-list above at every chord-change, tempos would have to be very slow. In practice, nearly all the decisions necessary to avert chaos are predetermined. For those that aren't, the choice must be made by instinct in a timeframe that precludes thinking. Understandably, the safest choice—even though less exciting or creative—often seems the most attractive. For the bass, grounding the group often involves much stating of the obvious, thus serving as a launching pad for more adventurous and surprising statements from others. But the question remains, which of the instrumentalists charged with the various melodic, rhythmic, and harmonic responsibilities calls the shots? In a jam session, what you hear is what you get. Many people, including a sizable segment of the jazz audience, feel the jam session to be the purest and most enjoyable jazz expression. However, even with the highest level of jazz improviser involved, the jam session format ensures either an allsafe-choice blandness or a certain raggedness around the edges. That said, some of the classic un-paralleled moments in recorded jazz history have nevertheless been made in that sort of a setting. If the rhythm section locks, it's because of a shared musical vocabulary and syntax, great ears, and luck. And it doesn't hurt to have played together before. But what about a band intent upon a dependable high-quality level of music-making suitable for the concert hall or recording? Taking the leader, the band's charts, the choice of material, and the soloist's accompaniment preferences out of the equation leaves two or three people's interactions: bass, keyboard (piano, accordion, organ, synthesizer), and guitar to produce the hoped-for harmonic synergy. (The drummer's contributions are crucial to the music's success, but seldom to its harmonic component.) The keyboard-
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player is the only one with instrumental power capable of dictating a particular path. Deferring to the keyboardist is, therefore, the default option, or if guitar only, the guitar. If guitar and keyboard play chordally at the same time, pre-rehearsed routines are almost required, unless both have lightning ears and flexible chops. But as bass line is our focus here, the interaction of bass with keyboard or guitar merits the closer attention. The bass playing a walking quarter note line has an un-restricted choice of notes on the weak beats—nearly always the ones on which a chord-change doesn't occur. This gives ample opportunity for great elaboration of the underlying bass line. But what if the exact progression of the underlying bass line is itself mutable? In practice, the variations in underlying bass lines usually have enough similarities that some of the bassist's weakbeat notes will seem relevant to the alternate harmonization. In the worst case (of two really different paths in a two-bar or longer section), if both are played with conviction and authority (and come back together at the end) the ear can be very forgiving of the bitonal tension involved if the forward thrust of the music remains uncompromised. If there is no chordal instrument in the rhythm section, the bass becomes the sole articulator of the harmony through choice of bass line. Performing bass function in the company only of a harmonically meticulous soloist leaves no doubt of the harmony intended. This being the case, pianists have learned to play chords at times and places that allow the bass the greatest latitude to imbue the bass line with a more melodic character, while the pianist devotes more concern to underlining and filling in the holes in the soloist's melody in concert with the drummer's punctuations. Guitarist’s and keyboardist’s tone quality lack the overtones of the acoustic piano and sustain without losing volume. In this environment (or one in which an acoustic pianist plays in lower registers with the sustain pedal depressed) the bassist is well advised to avoid muddiness in the bass by restriction to roots as much as possible. Thus the answer would appear to be that where the bass is alone, the bass shapes the bass line, and where the keyboard is charged with articulating the bass line in the absence of a bassist, the keyboard takes complete control of all aspects of the harmonic progression. In between these two extremes lies the situation of the normal rhythm section where the shaping of the bass line is to a degree shared. Shared function will be facilitated by shared understanding. That is what the analysis of the following examples hopes to further. If successful, this should be helpful not only in resolving differences between improvisers, but in guiding composers and arrangers to reap the full musical potential of the bass line. "In nature, as in art, the secret of conservation is not to disturb the wild things." "In the lower registers, the half-step is not heard with the same clarity as in the higher— particularly, as the commonplace assessment would have it, by the practitioners assigned to those nether regions." The Harmonic Materials (and Their Terminology) in Detail
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For a moment wee must stray from our foccus on the b ass line to ddefine with cllarity the palettte of verticall sound-strucctures emplo oyed in the S Standard traddition. Once securely identified—as in distinguishiing chess pieeces—we wiill set them iin motion annd see wheree they go. g The Seven S Scale-ttone Seventh h Chords
They y are (in the key k of C): I- C Major M 7 (C Ma7) M (C,E,G G,B) II- D Minor 7 (Dm mi7) (D,F,A A,C) III- E Minor 7 (E Emi7) (E,G,B B,D) IV- F Major 7 (F Ma7)(F,A,C C,B) V- G 7 (G,B,D,F) VI- A Minor 7 (A Ami7) (A,C,E E,G) VII- B Minor 7 flat fl 5 (Bmi7b b5) (B,D,F,A A) (ex.4)
Each scale-tone 7th chord con ntains four to ones of the pparent scale. The remainning three toness of the scalee are known as the “uppeer structure ttriad”, the 9thh, 11th, and 113th. The seven n scales baseed on the sev ven scale-ton nes that all uuse the same tones from a parent scalle are kn nown as “mo odes”. They are: I-Ionian n C,D,E,F,G,,A,B. IIIDorian n D,E,F,G,A,B,C. IIIIPhryg gian E,F,G,A,B,,C, D IV VLydiaan F,G,A,B,C, D,E VV Mixollydian G,A,B,C, D,E,F D VIV Aeoliaan A,B,C, D,E E,F,G VIIV Locriaan B,C, D,E,F F,G,A Somee properties of scale-tonee 7th chords and their acccompanyingg modes: Major M scales lie along thee Circle of Fifths in this order: F, C, G, D, A, E, B. A return from m VII to IV (a ( flatted fifth h) is used too a make the scale function as a cyclee. A stack of altternating maj ajor and mino or thirds starrting and endding on the III, may be brroken down into these in nterlocking scale s tone 7tth chords: II (DFAC), IV V (FACE), V VI (A ACEG), I (C CEGB), III (E EGBD). Beccause of com mpatible com mmon tones, these chordss caan morph intto their neig ghbors on thee ladder of thhirds. This ccan be a resoource for bass liine variation. Note that th he remaining g V (GBDF)), and VII (B BDFA) chordds are the on nly ones to incorporate i the t F,B flat-five, and theerefore form m a neighborhhood asssociation off their own. (ex.4) In n practice, up pper structurres of modess are often m modified to m make less disssonant five,, siix, and seven n tone chord ds. For examp ple, the I choord is often rendered in a Lydian sccale. The III and VI chorrds are often n rendered inn the Dorian mode.
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Stand dards, in pracctice, emplo oy seventh ch hords compoosed of eitheer Major or M Minor 3rds, dimin nished, Perfeect, or augm mented 5ths, and a 6ths, Miinor 7ths, annd Major 7thhs in all possiible combinaations on all degrees of th he scale. A ssong publishhed in 1931, When Yourr Lover Has Gone,, covers mucch of this terrritory (ex. 5)). The first pphrase uses bboth 7ths andd the 6tth in a desceending phrasse over a Maj ajor Triad. Thhe second phhrase does thhe same oveer a min nor triad. The third phrasse switches the t melody tto natural annd flatted 9thhs over a dominant seventh h chord. Thee fourth phraase switches the melody to the augm mented 11th desceending to thee 11th and th hen to a 10th h over a dom minant 7th chhord. The third and fourth h phrases aree, respectiveely, up a step p and down a step from tthe tonic. Allso, the dimin nished quatraad appears at a the top of the t flat 9th cchord in the third phrasee, and the augm mented triad begins b the fo ourth phrase on the top oof the augmeented 11th chhord. (ex.6)
To geeneralize fro om above, fo or every tonee of the scalee, there existts a specific scale-tone 7th ch hord. For ev very tone theere also existt 6 other seveenth chords (including thhe dimin nished quattrad, but exccluding—forr now—the ddiminished aand augmentted fifths in comb bination with h major third ds) that will be b referred tto as "modall variants". T Their preseence in the ex xamples to follow f will be b indicated bby my prefeerred variatioon of stand dard chord-sy ymbol notatiion followin ng the Romann numeral w which indicattes scale degreee. In additio on to the fou ur tones of sccale tone 7th chords, therre exist threee “upperstructture” tones for f each such h chord: the 9th (, , )), 11ths, ( ,, , ), and 13s( , , ). I don’t opposee the use of the symbolss: for Ma7 and Ma69 cchords, –7 foor mi7th ds, or for mi7b5 m chord ds, or + for augmented a trriads, or foor diminishedd chords. chord They y take up lesss space on ch harts and aree generally w well understoood by musicians. Howeever, I’ve neeglected to use u them heree. Naturre and Role of o Each Mod dal Variant of o Each Degrree of the Scaale in Detail
If, on n first reading, you find the t next few chapter’s deensity forbiddding, you arre to be forgiv ven. If, like most readerss of jazz theo ory texts, yoou are most iinterested inn their “how to” asspects, you may m want to skip ahead to t Bass Linee Paradigm ms From Sim mple to Complex at this point. p At a future f time, this t materiall may be morre useful to yyou in deepeening your understandin u ng of the intriicacies of jazzz harmony.. The inclusiion of these chaptters here wass necessitateed in order to o fully expliccate the poteential and lim mits of the “system”.
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I. The I chord (C Major M 7th, CE EGB) is the tonic, t whichh means it is the default point of deparrture and ultimate destin nation (unless the song iss in minor, inn which the VI chord— often n with a modal variant major m seventh h—becomes the tonic miinor). Alwayys a point off rest, it i marks end dings of phraases within song-forms. ((ex.7)
The I 7 dominantt modal variaant (C 7, CE EGBb) sets thhe I chord inn motion—tyypically, butt not necessarily, in n the directio on of the IV V. (ex.8)
The I minor-majo or 7th (Cmi-Ma7, CEbG GB) temporarrily displacees the I as in I Love Pariss. A chaange to the I minor 7th (Cmi7, ( CEbG GBb) can alsso displace tthe tonic majjor as in I'll Remeember April, can but also o serve to signal a transpposition to a key a wholee step lowerr, as in How High the t Moon. (eex.9)
The I diminished d quatrad (Cd dim, C,Eb,G Gb,A) is alwaays a passingg chord. If thhe bass keeps the baass line on I, a passive, static s result is i ensured. P Placing the bbass on the bb3, the b5, orr the 6 positions beetter reflects the multi-diirectional moobility of thee diminishedd chord. Thiss is wh hat led the firrst chord of Stella By Staarlight to miigrate to the bV. (ex.10)
II. The II I chord (Dm mi7, D,F,A,C C) is most typ pically emplloyed in II-V V-I resolutionns. [Som metimes it is headed h towaard the VII chord c as in thhe bridge to Along Camee Betty, andd someetimes the II--V progressees to III-VI7, as in Satin Doll.] In Faavela, it servves as the subbdominant to the tonic t minor VI V chord in a scheme whhere the dom minant VI chhord is also the minor m 7th III chord. The II I chord find ds use in paraallel ascendiing bass linees such as the I-II-III opening of o Pennies Frrom Heaven. (ex.11)
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The extensions e of the II chord d—9, 11, an nd 13—incorrporate all toones of the pparent scale with no dissonance worse thaan a major 7tth. For this rreason it cann easily morpph into the IV, VI, V and VII chords, c which h, while a feertile source of bass line variations, ccan also contrribute to conttroversy. Th he first chord d of the seconnd 8 bars off Mack the K Knife is a casse in point. (ex.12)
The II I 7 (D7, D,F F#,A,C) is a very commo on usage in S Standards. Inn countless ssongs, such as Taake the A Traain, it follow ws an openin ng I chord as the first moove away froom the Tonicc. In maany others, such s as Rosee Room, it op pens the sonng. Typicallyy, it will be hheaded in thee directtion of the dominant d V, sometimes as a a part of a VI (Ami7),, II7 (D7), V (G7). It finds many uses in i the interio ors of song forms f becausse it gives foocus to the III position which h the minor 7th lacks, an nd because itt's useful in stretching ouut a form thaat otherwise migh ht resolve to the t Tonic too soon. (ex..13)
The occurrence o of o the II Majo or 7 (D,F #,A A,C#) in Staandards is raare, althoughh Ruby My Dear comes imm mediately to mind. m The Jaazz Standardd, Hi Fly, em mploys it to such a degreee as to make the baasic tonality of the song open o to quesstion. (ex.144)
The II I minor 7 b5 5 (D,F,Ab,C C) implies a II-V I progresssion headed in the directtion of I minor, although in i the case of o I Love You u, the resoluution is to thee I Major. (eex.15)
III. The III I (E,G,B,D D) chord find ds most generral use as a ssurrogate I cchord becausse it is identical with a Major M 7,9 wiith the root leeft out. In a Cycle of Fiffths context, it is usuallyy me form of the t VI chordd. In a paralllel scalar conntext, it can headeed in the direection of som movee either to orr from the neeighboring III and IV choords. (ex.16)
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The III I b5 (E,G,B Bb,D) chord would mostt likely find uuse in a Cyccle of Fifths progression where a following VI 7 would be headed d for the II. A Although no examples coome to mindd, its usse as a surrog gate for the I 7 is plausib ble. (ex.17)
The III I 7 (E,G#,B B,D) begins the t opening phrase of N Nice Work Iff You Can Get It where iit is followed by cy ycling 7th ch hords. It also begins the bbridge to I G Got Rhythm iin an identical, though slower mov ving, capacity y. It's also veery importannt in its funcction as a dominant resolvin ng to a mino or, such as th he III 7-VI ppickup to the beginning oof I Hear a Rhap psody. Occassionally, it will w head step p-wise towarrd the IV choord as in Sloow Boat to Chinaa. (ex.18)
The existence e of the III Majo or 7 (E,G#,B,D#) usuallyy means thatt the song haas temporarilly transp posed to thatt key. (ex.19 9)
IV. I (F,A,C,E)) is usually found f in quitte specific places in Stanndards. Manny songs— The IV Just Friends, F for example—st e tart on the IV V chord. Aftter that it tennds to be fouund in the lasst half of o the phrasee it's in, whetther 4 bars, 8 bars, or a bbridge (althoough it's ofteen used to begin n a bridge, ass well). So from fr whencee has it arriveed, and wherre is it headeed? It's usuallly been precceded by a I 7. Having arrrived at thee bottom of thhe Circle off Fifths, the progrression can go g no furtherr in that direction withouut changing kkey by addinng one flat. Or so o one would think, but a ubiquitous Standard S troppe allows thhis move—IV V-IVmi (or bVII 7)—as a turrn-back to th he Tonic (wh hich is most ssmoothly exxecuted throuugh the use of thee III surrogate). The alteernate escapee route climbbs to #IV dim minished. Soometimes thee progrression culm minated by arrrival at the IV I position w will re-enterr at the top of the cycle oof fifthss—the VII ch hord. (ex.20 0)
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The IV I 7 (F,A,C,,Eb) chord iss the default Blues optio n. Otherwisee, its functioons in Stand dards are in all a respect siimilar to the IV chord w with a Major 77th. (ex.21))
The IV I mi 7 (F, Ab,C,Eb) A op pens For Heaaven's Sake aand very few w other songs. Usually itt follow ws a IV or IV V 7 and is eiither the II in n a II-V-I tem mporary trannsposition too the bIII (ex.22), or headed directly (o or penultimattely, if follow wed by a bV VII 7) back too the Tonic. (see ex.20) e
In a Jazz J context,, the IV mi 7 b5 (F,Ab,C Cb,Eb) is heaard as an uppper extensionn of the bII 77, or sim milarly, an altered V cho ord. (ex.23)
V. s the Tw wenties, whicch produced songs like W Way Down Y Yonder in Neew Orleans Not since and Avalon, A havee Standards begun b with the t V (G,B,D D,F) chord. T The II and thhe II-V in abund dance, but not the V. Th he V chord iss cast so excllusively as tthe meat in thhe II-V-I sandw wich that its ubiquity-ratting combineed with its bblandness (inn an all 7th chord envirronment) tog gether with itts capacity for fo acceptingg out-of-the-kkey extensioons conspires to pro ompt its morrphing into the t bII 7 (Db b,F,Ab,Cb) cchord. Muchh is made of substitute dominants. This is i the one they're all subbing for. (exx.24)
The V sus4 (G,C,D,F) is so named n in the expectationn that the "suuspended" 4tth will "reso olve" to the 3rd 3 of the V chord beforee once againn returning too the root off the I chord. In mo ore recent tim mes, the sus 7 has becom me a mainstaay of modal Jazz Classiccs as the
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ancho or of prefereence for the Mixolydian M mode. m Due tto its radicall transformattions in its inverrsions, and itts tonic ambiivalence, it will w merit fuuller discussiion later in sppecific conteexts. (ex.25))
The V Maj 7 (G,B B,D,F#) occcurs in the in nteriors of ceertain Standaards such as If I Could Writee a Book. On nly in the briidge of Aint Misbehavinn' does it avooid giving thhe song a decid dedly non-Bllues cast. It'ss most often preceded byy a II 7 chordd, and is folllowed by somee form of V-II resolution. (ex.26)
The V mi 7 (G,Bb,D,F) findss occasional use as a subbstitute domiinant V chorrd as in One For My M Baby, bu ut more typiccally serves as a a II chordd in II-V-I arround the subb-dominant, i.e., Gmi7, G C7, FM Ma7. The saame progresssion with a V mi 7 b5 (G G,Bb,Db,F) iin place of the V mi 7 hints at a a IV mino or destination n. (ex.27)
VI. In Trriadic harmon ny, the VI ch hord is invarriably referreed to as the R Relative Minnor. In Quatrradic harmon ny, the situaation is less clear. c The sccale-tone VI (A,C,E,G) cchord is identical (except for inversion n) to the I 6 chord, and oonly differenntly patterneed from the III chord d at the 13th. Therefore, the minor 7tth on the VI degree (eveen if precedeed by a VII (Bmi 7 -5)-III 7(E E 7)) can sou und unresolv ved—as if itt might go onn to a II 7(D 7), which itt often n does (sometimes in con ntradiction to o the composser's originaal intent). As a result, thee scale tones of thee ascending melodic-min m nor often repplace the VI degree-geneerated n that case, th he modal vaariants introdduced are thee VI 6 (A,C,E,F#) and/orr Aeoliian mode. In the VI V maj7(A,C,E,G#). How wever, if voiiced properlyy (as in the M Miles Davis arrangemennt of Dear Old Stocckholm), thee scale-tone VI V b6 (A,C,E E,F) can quiite effectivelly act as a Tonicc Minor. (ex x.28) These 6ths and 7th hs can have iimportant ram mifications ffor the bass line, as we shall see s when anaalyzing indiv vidual songss.
The VI V 7 (A,C#,E E,G) modal variant v is qu uite commonn in Standardds—even as the opening chord d as in Sweet Georgia Brrown. Some jazz pianistts substitute iit for a minoor 7th to obtain n a more blu uesey effect, increase thee sense of foorward motioon, or to ratioonalize theirr melodic ideas. Neever, of courrse, out of siimple ignoraance. (ex.29))
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The VI V Ma 7 (A,C C#,E,G#) is strangely un ncommon inn Standards. It appears inn the first eight bars of the Jazz J Classic Along Cam me Betty wheere it is one iin a sequencce of transiitory transpo ositions. (ex..30)
The VI V dim 7 (A,,C,Eb,Gb) iss the same ass the I dim, w which is the same as thee bIII dim, which h is the samee as the bV dim. d All hav ve the capabiility of havinng come from m almost anyw where and heading almosst anywhere. (ex.31)
VII. V (B,D,F,A A) chord is usually u employed as the II in a Tonicc Minor II-V V-I, which— — The VII transllated back to o the parent key—reads k as VII-III 7--VI 6. Of maany examplees of its use iin Stand dards, a moree prominent one would be b I Didn't K Know What Time It Wass, which it begin ns. The VII min m 7(B,D,F F#,A) tends to signal a traansitory trannsposition too the key of A, altthough its usse (also as an n opening ch hord) in Thee Shadow of Your Smile contradicts this expectation. e (ex.32)
The VII V 7 (B,D#,,F#,A) chord d is the mostt remote scalle-tone 7th cchord from thhe Tonic on the Cycle C of Fifth hs. That faileed to preventt Irving Berllin from giviing it a very prominent two-b bar opening role in The Best B Thing for f You Is M Me. It is usedd to go chrom matically Ouut and Back B in many y songs—Yo ou Do Someething To Mee, for exampple. (ex.33)
The presence p of the t VII Ma 7 (B,D#,F#,A A#) chord inndicates that a transposition has taken placee, as in the first chord of the bridge of o Sophisticaated Lady. (eex.34)
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The VII V dim 7 (B B,D,F,Ab) is usually a co onstituent off a V b9 or IIII 7,b9 whichh resolve to the Tonic T and thee Relative Minor M respecttively, and thherefore receeives extensiive employment. (ex.35)
The Five F Non-Sca ale Tones of the t Major Sccale
#I an nd b2 Sincee chords baseed on this caategory (and the remainiing ones to fo follow) have no possiibility of bein ng scale-ton ne sevenths, let's l begin byy looking firrst at the #1 diminished 7 (C#,E E,G,Bb). Parrticularly if it i follows thee I chord, it iis almost cerrtain to funcction as a VI 7,b9 (A,C#,E,G,B Bb). which means m that itt's headed in the directionn of the II chhord. The ng chromaticc scale—a reefreshing chaange from alll resultting bass line (I-#I-II) is an ascendin thosee descending g fifths and chromatics, and a occurs faairly frequenntly in Standdards. (ex.36)
The #1 # mi7 b5 (C C#,E,G,B) would w seem to o be headed for the VII m minor, the R Relative Mino or of the II Ma M 7, which would w lead one o to wondder by what rroute the com mposer arriveed in this strrange land. If I an examplle exists in thhe Standard literature, itt's an obscure one. (ex.37) (
One would w think the #1 mi7 (C#,E,G#,B) ( ) would be ssimilarly arcaane, but thatt's not quite so. It begins the opening o sequ uence of Mo oment's Noticce where thee common toone on III in m links it to a II-V-II progression n. (ex.38) the melody
The bII b 7 (Db,F,A Ab,B) is mosstly used as an altered doominant—thhe so-called "tri-tone" substtitution—heaaded immediiately to the Tonic. Of coourse, it couuld also be going to the b5 Ma7, M but if so o at the end of o a phrase (o or worse, thee end of the song) it wouuld come as a big, and a unpleasaant, surprise.. I refer to th he bII 7-I proogression as a chromaticc resolution aas distin nguished from m the V-I diiatonic resolu ution. Althoough its use iin Standardss prior to the '40s is i rare, from then on it beecame comm monplace (paarticularly as an improviised substtitution in a jazz j context)), particularlly if the I is a Tonic Minnor as in A N Night in
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Tunissia. bII 7s fu unction as On ne-BackMov ve Modules (see pg. 28 ffor definitionns) in Well You Needn't N and Epistrophy. (ex.39)
The bII b Ma7 (Db b,F,Ab,C) is usually u arriv ved at by a bbIII mi7 (Ebm mi7)-bVI7(A Ab7) progrression (as in n Solar), butt not always. It confers ggreat individuuality to Youu Stepped Out of o a Dream as a a chromatic BackMov ve on the seccond chord. (ex.40)
#II or bIII # diminisheed 7 (D#,F#,A,C) has th he same tone s as the I dim minished 7 ((Cdim), the The #II #IV diminished d (F#,A,C,D#) ( , and the VI diminished 7 (A,C,D#,F F#). As suchh, it can functtion as the 7 b9 of the II((D), the IV(F F), the #V(G G#), and the V VII(B). In m most instancees of fullfilling this function f wheere the #II diim is a part oof an upwardd-moving (B BackMove) bass line, l it can be b usefully th hought of as performing the VII 7b99 function. Iff the bass linne is chrromatically descending d (making ( an InMove) I fro m the III to the II , it is bbetter to think k of the #II in n stand-alonee terms, in which w case a bIII designaation might bbe better. Howeever, not inffrequently, a melody note will fall onn II position creating thee effect (often called d out as such h on sheet music) m of a diiminished-m major 7th (Ebb,Gb,A,[C],D D). With the majorr 7th voiced in the bass instead i of th he melody, thhe chord beccomes the II77b9 mentioned abovee. (ex.41)
# mi7 b5 (D D#,F#,A,C#)) would seem m to be headded for the ##I minor, the Relative The #II Mino or of the III Ma M 7. Again n, if an examp ple exists in the Standarrd literature, it's an obscu ure one. (ex.42)
The bIII b mi7 (Eb,Gb,Bb,Db) finds most use u as the sm moothest InM Move chrom matic passing chord d between th he III(Emi7) and the II(D Dmi7). It alsoo, predictablly, functionss as a II in a II-V-I progression to the bII key k (Db), ass in Solar (exx.43)
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The bIII b 7 (Eb,G,,Bb,Db) in addition a to its obvious atttraction to thhe bVI(Ab) chord (as in Here''s That Rainy y Day), serv ves like the other o bIII choords as an InnMove passiing chord betweeen the III an nd II chords. Not immed diately obvioously, it servves credibly as a substtitution for a bIII diminisshed 7(Ebdim m) if playedd as a 7, b5, ##9, 13. (ex.444)
t constitu uents of the bIII Ma7 (E Eb,G,Bb,D) aare nearly iddentical to the I mi7, as The tonal secon nd chord (wh hich places the t III Ma7 over o a I pedaal) of On Greeen Dolphinn Street demo onstrates. In the second eight e bars the bIII Ma7 i s visited agaain, this timee by way of a II-V-I temporary transpositio on to the bIIII Ma7 appearring now as a I chord (ex.45). This und in the brridges of sev veral Standarrd songs, whhere it follow ws a I7-IV progrression is fou Movee. As an In Move M it findss use in an alternate a 4-m move InMovee module: IIII-bIII Ma7bVI Ma7-bII M Ma7 7.
#IV or o bV The #IV # is one off only two Non-Major-S N Scale-tones too figure in thhe progression patterns show wn later in Baass-line Paraadigms. The other is the bb7. The reasson for the innclusion of these non-scale-to one bass-line constituen nts in what iss otherwise aan all-scale-ttone context is theeir position on o either end d of the majo or scale laid out in fifths (Bb, F, C, G G, D, A, E, B B, F#). The T most freequent chord d-types in thiis usage are the #4 mi7 oor the #4 mi7 b5 joined to a following f VIII 7. (ex.46)
The most m frequen nt use of the #IV diminisshed 7 (F#,A A,C,Eb) is ass a passing chhord from the IV V(FMa7) or IV 7(F7) to the I chord with w the V inn the bass (C CMa7/G). Blues and 'Rhytthm changess are obviouss examples of o this usage . (ex.47)
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The #IV # mi7 b5 (F#,A,C,E) ( finds f use as the t substituttion of choicce for the firsst chord of Stellaa By Starligh ht, and as thee opening ch hord in the fiirst phrase of Woody'n Y You where itt begin ns a 4-move InMove module progresssing to the T Tonic. It is m more or less intercchangeable with w #IV mi7 7 (F#,A,C#,E E) when folllowed by VIII 7 resolvingg to either IIII or IIIIMa7. (ex.48 8)
The b5 b Ma7 (Gb,,Bb,Db,F), th he most distant possible chord from the Tonic m major 7th, begin ns the bridgee of Warm Valley V after a very brief III-V preparaatory progresssion. (ex.499)
#V orr bVI The #V # diminished 7 (G#,B,D D,F) finds occcasional usse as a passinng chord bettween the VI(A Ami7) and V mi7(Gmi7) in the 6-mov ve InMove m module betw ween the I(C Ma7) chordd and th he IV(F Ma7 7). Also, starrting from V(G) V in the bbass, it can aaccomplish a chromatic ascen nt to the VI chord, c i.e., I//V(C Ma 7/G G) or V(G7)---#5dim--(G G#dim)--VI(A Ami7), whicch (becaause the G#d dim is a surro ogate III7(E7 7) chord) maakes the lastt chord changge an InMo ove. (ex.50) Hopefully, a reminder that t all toness of a diminiished 7th quaatrad can functtion as a roott is, by this time, t superflluous.
The unlikely u appearance of a #V mi7 b5 (G#,B,D,F##) would sugggest a way-sstation on thhe path to t a #4 mi7(F#mi7). (ex x.51)
Simillarly, the #V V minor7 (G# #,B,D#,F#) begins b the 8--move Cyclee of Fifths InnMove Modu ule destined to resolve, finally, f to thee Tonic via tthis path: #55mi7-#I7-#IV Vmi7-VII7-
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III-V VI7-II-V-(I). With W approp priate respellling, the bVII mi7 (Ab,B,Eb,Gb) functions as thee II in a II-V resolu ution either chromaticall c ly through thhe bII 7(Db77) to the Tonnic (C Ma7) or diaatonically to the bV(Gb Ma7). Put more m simply, this is the "tri-tone subsstitution" forr the faamiliar II-V--(I). (ex.52)
The bVI b 7 (Ab,C,Eb,Gb) cho ord begins Bllue Lou (andd a few otherr Standards)) and immeediately desccends to the V chord. In several songgs it appearss as the seconnd chord after an initial I chord. c It figu ures in the I (or ( I mi7)-bV VII 7-bVI 7--V 7 descendding stepwise progression as well as th he chromaticcally descendding bVII 7--VI 7-bVI 7--V progrression. (ex.5 53)
The bVI b Ma7 (Ab b,C,Eb,G) ch hord is arriv ved at in the opening phrrase of Whaat's New by the prrogression: I-bVIImi7-b I III7-bVI Maa7. It also figgures in the alternate turrnaround modu ule, III-bIII Ma7, M bVI Ma7, M bII Ma7-(I). (ex.54)
#VI or o bVII # diminish hed 7 (A#,C# #,E,G) is an unusual nam me and spellling for this ddiminished The #VI chord d. Its use would in all lik kelihood be limited l to gooing to, or cooming from, the VII chord d, or a modal variant therreof. The sam me would bee true of the #VI mi7 b55 (A#,C C#,E,G#) ex xcept that thee modal variaant would allmost certainnly be the VIII ma7 chordd. (ex.55)
b mi7 (Bb b,Db,F,Ab) has already been identiffied above inn the openingg phrase of The bVII Whatt's New. It allso appears in i the ninth bar b of Alongg Came Bettyy as an elem ment in a fairly y complicated sequence of o chromaticc II-V's. Its aappearance iis more straigghtforward iin the seeventh bar of Ladybird. There, as in What's New w it serves too link the I (C C Ma7) withh the bV VI Ma7 (Ab bMa7). (ex.5 56)
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The bVII b 7 (Bb,D D,F,Ab) is th he other non--scale-tone cchord to be iincluded in tthe exampless in Baass-line Paradigms. In th his context it is preceded by IV mi 7 and moves ddirectly backk to thee I. (ex.57) The T bVII 7 chord c servess as a repeateed One-Movve Module inn many songss—Killer Joee and That Old O Devil Moon come too mind at oncce. Also, it bbegins the 4-movee In-Move Module: M bVIII 7(Bb7)-VI 7(A7)-bVI(A Ab7)-V(G7)). (ex.58)
The bVII b Ma7 (B Bb,D,F,A) ch hord appearss in the fifth bar of How High the Moon and the fourth h bar of End d of a Love Affair, A in botth cases the rresult of a III-V-I beginnning with thee Tonicc minor. It also appears in i the fourth h and sixth b ar of Beatricce where it ddescends to, and ascends a from m, the VI cho ord. (ex.59)
Bass Line Parad digms From m Simple to Complex C nnot be overeemphasized that the rootts of the Stanndard song llie in the peoople's It can univeersal need fo or simple, comprehensiblle accompanniment to sonng and dancee. Indeed, inn the haalf-century of o jazz's bluees-and-Stand dards-based meteoric cliimb from near-illiterate folk music m to the highest leveel of artistic achievemennt, the innovaations of thee seminally creatiive geniusess along the way w often weere breakthrooughs into neew simplicitties. Harm monically, the very simpllest foundatiion is an unvvarying repettition of a single bass tone (or ( drone) th hat establishees a tonic that grounds aall tones of thhe melody. T The classical musicc of the Indian subcontin nent achievees great varieety and sophhistication wiithout resortting to chang ge in bass to one or introd duction of a ttriad-producing third tonne. The contin nuous fifth and a octave of o the tambou ura drone se rve to centerr the drone rrather than too attach h to the melo ody as a harm monization. In Western musicc, triadic harrmony incorp porating chaanges from oone chord to another hadd d norm for th hree centuries at the begiinning of thee modern eraa. Although been an accepted the Late L Romantiics at the end d of the 19th h century hadd developed a wide-rangging palette of harmonic deviices that mig ght have basss lines that vvisited every tone of the chromatic scale in a single composition c , they kept to onality focu sed by resorrting to the simplest of harm monic motion ns. We must ask, then, what w are the ssimplest posssible harmonnic moves?
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It is worth noting that the harmonic moves compiled below can function either as "standalone" repeated cyclical repetitions, or as modules in combination with other harmonic patterns. Moves generally unsuited to cyclical repetition will be covered in a following section. The Main Modules
The bass lines of standards are cyclical—that is, they go out from a center and return in to the center. They are required to be cyclical only over the whole song-form. In jazz, the song-form (or chorus) constitutes the mega-module whose number of repetitions is undetermined. Two halves of a song-form may be the next cyclical level (usually with first and last endings). The quarters of the song-form (usually eight bars) are cycles. Cycles can occur at four bar intervals, two bar intervals, less frequently at one bar intervals, and rarely at two beat intervals. Chord progression Modules typically occur within rhythmic and formal envelopes that are limited to 2/4, 3/4, and 4/4 time signatures and melodic and harmonic phrase-lengths limited to multiples of two (½, 1, 2, 4, 8). Further, no more than three repetitions of a melodic or harmonic phrase in a row are permitted. The compositions of Thelonious Monk were the first and most consistent in pushing against these constrictions while clearly remaining within the realm of the Standard Song. Dave Brubeck broke the time signature limitation with “Take Five”. From the 60s on, the works of jazz composers cannot be depended upon to obey any of these “rules”. Here, then, are the chord progression Moves that constitute the inner workings of the Main Modules.
Moves (or chord changes) are defined herein as either In-Moves, Back Moves, OutMoves, Jumps, Tilts, Swings, or Home Runs. In-Moves move either down a fifth on the Cycle of Fifths, or down a minor-second on the Chromatic Scale. Back-Moves move either up a fifth on the Cycle of Fifths, or up a minor-second if the Move substitutes for an up-a-fifth Move. All other Moves are Out-Moves, except for Jumps, Tilts, and Home Runs.. Jumps are flat-five substitutions In a Tilt, the bass remains stationary while the chord changes. In a Swing, the chord remains stationary while the bass changes. In a Home Run, a 7th chord based on tones other than the V or bII “resolves” directly to a I Ma7, a I Ma6, or in some cases, a mi7. (Parenthetically, it’s useful to realize that a dominant 7th chord on any degree of the chromatic scale may be made to “resolve” to a I Ma7 or I Ma6 with voice movements no larger than a whole-step.)
One-Move Modules
The typical kinds of harmonic paths followed by Standards cause One-Move Modules to be more commonly employed as sub-units of longer modules. Although repeated One-
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Movee Modules sometimes s occur betweeen scale-tonees other thann the root, noo examples oof that are a included below excep pt for the acttivity aroundd the minor III,VI, and III chords. Brack kets signify a module en nvelope and imply i repeattability. I, IV, V: The Ultim mate Simpliccity
From m the standpo oint of the baass line, the simplest posssibility is thhe alternationn of [I-IV] with a pedal I. (ex x.60). Equaally simple (eexcept for thhe necessity of an eventuual resolutionn to I) is i the [I-V] over o the ped dal V. You caan't get simppler than no m motion at all.
Allow wing the bass to move frrom root to root r introducces no furtheer harmonic complexity into the t I-IV and I-V progressions. (ex.61 1). Equally ssimple are thhe reverse IV V-I and V-I progrressions. (ex x.62). A greaat deal of mu usic, some (bbut not most)) of it very sophisticatedd, is bassed on these irreducibly simple bass motions. If one values ssimplicity off bass motionn as an ultimate good in its own n right, one need n look noo further thaan The Irish Wash herwoman which w alternaates between n I and V onlly.
A key y element in n the simpliciity rating to the ear of thhe I,IV,V connjunction is their contiguity on the Cycle of Fiffths. Four other o Major ttriads share ccommon tonnes with the I chord d but they arre all relativeely remote on n the Cycle of Fifths. W We shall retuurn to them later. n the significance of these protean prrogressions tto the Let's reflect for a moment on devellopment of a melodic concept for thee bass line. IIn the first pllace, a simplle alternationn back and forth beetween two tones t barely qualifies as melody. Thhere isn't enoough patterrning. Also, fourths and fifths are leaaps, not stepps. The essennce of meloddic patterninng is thee combinatio on of more siingable step--wise motionns with strattegically placced leaps. That lack is at thee heart of thee complaint about the la ck of "musiccality" of thee Star Spangled Bannerr. But since the t naturalneess of harmoonies movingg along the C Cycle of Fifthss (or between the second d, third, and fourth partiaals of the Ovvertone Seriees) is built inn to thee tonal matriix, like it or not, n the motiions proceedding either uup or down bby either a fourth h or a fifth are a the quinteessential melodic materiials of the baass line in tonal music. An esssential quallification is the t reminderr that we are examining (at this poinnt) the underrlying abstraact nature off the bass linee, not necesssarily it's reaalization in the various historrical styles. Neither N poly yphonic coun nterpoint norr jazz walkinng bass liness restrict themselves entireely to explicaating root motion m by fouurths or fifthss even thouggh that may be thee underlying g harmonic motion. m
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Is it merely m its fu unctional neccessity which h makes mottion by fourtths and fifths aesth hetically satissfying in basss lines but only o occasionnal in upperr melodies? S Surely that has a lot to do wiith it. Howev ver, it would d seem that thhe utter absoolute simpliccity and obvio ous implacab ble rationalitty such bass lines possesss give the m music they suupport the beneffit of escape from total stasis s withou ut competingg for attention with the uupper melodiic line. This charactteristic of rattional, predicctable, suppoortive, non-ccompetitive simplicity iss enhan nced by its changes c at haalf-note, who ole-note, andd two bar inttervals—selddom more frequ uently than th he supported d melody. If this analysis is correct, at leeast for Stan ndards, the c onclusion caan be drawn that the aesth hetic for basss lines differss from lead lines. l Upperr melody linees should draaw attentionn throu ugh variety, detail, d expression of emo otion, surpri se, and unprredictability at the begin nning and a feeling f of ineevitability att the end. Baass lines shoould be like a vehicle transp porting a passsenger, safee and predicttable in steaddy motion frrom known oorigin to expeccted destinattion, with errratic maneuv vers only at the service oof its rider. W With this as our hypothesis, h leet's start by looking l nextt at the melo dic aspect of the simplest bass motio ons to see if they match the t paradigm m. An im mportant obsservation at this t point is that in tradittional Europpean dances and marchess (whetther polkas or o waltzes), if the I chord d occupies oone bar or m more, the basss typically altern nates betweeen articulatin ng the root off the I chordd on the first beat somew where within the lo owest two an nd one-half octaves o of th he piano, andd articulatingg the fifth off the I chord a fourth h lower (ex.6 63). The reaason? The baass and the feeet have an iin-built affinnity, so that IIV-I-V V-I-V-I-V... says, "Left, right, left rig ght,..." at ann almost atavvistic level. T Tuned bass voicees are not req quired to pro oduce this efffect; the low wer voices off drum choirrs routinely graviitate to it. If the t harmony y alternates between b I annd V at a freqquency of onne bar apiecee or mo ore, drumistiic continuity y is best presserved by thee bass articuulating I-V-(III)-V-I-V(II)-V V-... Perhaps one of the reasons "bossas" are "noova" is that aalternating ffifths tend to seek their expresssion above th he root ratheer than the pposition below w more typiical of samb bas. In any caase, the poin nt is undersco ored that thee predictablee, supportivee, noncomp petitive simp plicity of ton nally simple duple d alternaation in basss lines becom mes aesth hetically pleaasing through h an almost subconsciouus functionallity.
I-V, I-IV I (I & IV V chords can n have either added sixths, minor sevvenths, or maajor seven nths). Becau use it movess either up orr down only y one unit of the Cycle off Fifths, the simplest of all cy ycles is the on-off o [I-V](aa Back-Mov ve) or [I-IV]((an In-Movee). Because oof its ultimatte simpllicity it's usu ually confineed to one barr and two baar modules. T The [I-V] is used a lot foor bossaa-nova intro vamps. The [I-IV7] opeens Willow W Weep for Mee and God B Bless the Child d. (ex.64)
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The reverse r [V-I]](In-Move) , finds occasional use ouutside the [I-V VI-II-V] moodule. It's used in the first tw wo bars of I Got the Sun n in the Mornning. The [IV V-I](Back-M Move) is eveen less common, c butt occurs in th he first eightt bars of Lovve for Sale, aand the first four bars off Monk k's Bye-ya. (ex.65)
II-V,, VI-II (and III-VI) nor analogs of o I-V and I--IV. The II-V V(In) lives iin ubiquity aas a Latin Thesee are the min vamp p. It also beg gins a commo on interpretaation of Sum mmertime. (eex.66) The V VI-II(In) is far leess common as a repeated d module, bu ut does find expression iin the first foour bars of Whatt the World Needs N Now Is Love.
The reverse, r V-III(Back), is un n-used as a repeated r elem ment becausse it back-cyyles (moves from flat to sharp p on the Cycle of Fifths) without bennefit of domiinance on thhe II. The ( III-VI), the III-VI(B Back) and thee II-VI(Backk) are both ffound in, reverrse of VI-II (and respeectively, the first six barss and the brid dge of Favella. (ex.67)
I-V-V V-I: The Tw wo-Move Lin ne Followed d By Its Mirrror Image mplicity of tw wo-move pattterns, but coonfining Proceeeding onwaard from the ultimate sim ourseelves for the moment to patterns p easiily realized w within two bbarsand relyiing still on only the I, IV, an nd V chords we w have the widely usedd I-V-V-I, I-IIV-V-I, I-V V-I-IV, I-IVa so on. There exist a dozen possib ble variationns of combinnations of I-IIV and I-V, I-V, and
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most of which aree unused by Standards. The T reason? On the Circcle of Fifths the I chord iis the baalance pointt between thee other two major m triads composing a major scalle. Since the I chord d is the end point p in the natural n moveement of scaale tone triadds beginningg with the VIII chord d along the Circle C of Fiftths, the V ch hord represennts the last liink in that chhain, whereaas the IV V chord has gone beyond d the center and can go nno further w without changging key. Thesee two form the t basis for scores of so ongs and we will look at those next. First,, the I-V-V-II pattern. It tells t a little story. s "First I am in, thenn I go out, noow that I'm out, I think I'll go o in". The firrst 4 bars of Muskrat Ram mble are a ppure examplee. So are the first 4 bars of Hap ppy Birthday y. Mack the Knife stretcches each chord to 2 barss so that the patterrn takes up the t whole off the first 8 bars. b Waltzess and polkas depend on iit heavily, ass if thee composer's score paperr came with it i imprinted along with sstaves. In facct, its usage know ws no stylistic, national, or o temporal bounds. b A ppartial list off its beneficiaaries includees Yes Sir, S That's My M Baby, Sheeik of Araby y, I Want To Be Happy, Somewhere My Love (com mposed, 1965 5), Around th he World, Allways, I Couuld Have Daanced All Night, Falling In Lo ove With Lov ve, O Solo Mio, M Mexicaan Hat Dancee, Hokey Pookey, Chickeen Dance, Laa Vie En E Rose, Cieelito Lindo, and a Rudolph h the Red-Noosed Reindeer. Tiger Raag, after a first section s with alternating I and V, a seecond sectionn with alternnating V andd I, begins thhe final refrain with an extended d [I-I-I-V]-[V V-V-V-I] paattern, 2 barss per chord, rrunning to 16 bars. The Beer Barrel B Polka follows mucch the same pattern, as ddoes the 16 bbar A. sectioon of Seecret Love. (eex.68)
Two Move Modules I-IV--V: The Blu ues ms of only hiistorical, nosstalgic, or coommercial innterest to thee If thee I-V-V-I arcchetype seem world d of contemp porary jazz, its rival for origin o in hoaary antiquityy—the I-IV-V V of the bluess—remains a vital sourceebook for creative invenntion. The sim mplest form of the 12 baar bluess progression n is: I (4 barss), IV (2 bars), I (2 bars)), V (2 bars),, I (2 bars). The 2 bar minim mum stay on n any one ch hord is necessary to accom mmodate booogie-woogie ostinatos such as the most basic one: (eex.69).
To diigress momeentarily into the thicket of o the quarter-note bass lline, the booogie bass hass the reemarkable asspects of, on n the one han nd, a kind off mathematiccally perfect serial analog
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to thee overtone seeries in its prrogression of o intervals, bbut on the otther, an emootional evocaation of the rhythmic r driive of the blu ues. Lookedd at as meloddy, it ascendss with the leap of o a major th hird, then (co onstrained by y the combinned gravitatiional pulls oof the overttone series, and a the Circlle of Fifths) ascends by aanother smaaller leap of a minor thirdd to com mplete a maj ajor triad, and d then (like a projectile llosing energgy to gravity)) by a step too the siixth, and finaally by a hallf-step to thee minor-seveenth, where— —exhausted— —it falls back by a path id dentical to itss ascent, thuss describing a perfect muusical parabola. At its apogeee it bumps against the limit l of the even-tempere e ed chromaticc scale's appproximation of thee seventh partial of the overtone o seriies rather thaan followingg the overtonne series exacttly which wo ould eliminate the sixth (or ( the sevennth, which itt sometimes does) and limit the pattern'ss ascent at th he octave. Th he result is thhat rather than the root bbeing restateed an occtave higher on the stron ng first beat of o the secondd bar, the sevventh gains the added emph hasis of this important i po osition. The message sennt loud and cclear is that tthe dominannt seven nth chord is the t parent, fallback, f defaault, typical chord of thiis genre of m music and, ass a con nsequence, th he rules of cllassical Euro opean harmoony have beeen bent to otther purposes. For our o purposes, the notion that t the shap ping of the m melodic charracter of basss lines is drawn n more to fo orms of almo ost geometricc purity in coontrast to the greater varriety and asym mmetry of lyrrical melodiees gains addeed support.
The 2 bar unit as the basis off blues is not, however, thhe only—orr even the moost comm mon—harmo onic design of o the blues. With the siingle bar as tthe unit, the default structture of the blues as comm monly playeed becomes: [I 7-IV 7-I 77-I 7][IV 7-IIV 7-I 7-I 7][V 7-IV 7- I 7-I 7 (or I7,V7 7)]. (ex.70) Ostinatos 1 bar in lengthh or a walkinng quarter l undergirrd this formaat. It's intereesting to notee that each oof the three ffour bar note line phrasses are identiical to the firrst one excep pt for the IV V chord on thhe first bar oof the secondd one and a the V chord on the fiirst bar of the final one. T The final V chord on thee last two beats, though opttional, is the usual choicee; putting a pperiod at thee end of the ssentence trump ps featurelesss formal sym mmetry.
The blues b has maany faces. Laater we'll loo ok at some oof these afterr we have exxamined all the baasic harmon nic building blocks b and th he bass liness which connnect them. T The very simpllicity of the basic blues structure s tog gether with itts seminal roole in the 200th century devellopment of quatrad-base q d popular music m drew uss into the exxamination oof a particulaar song--structure prrematurely. The II-V-I I Caden nce
While still stayin ng within thee bounds of 3-move 3 proggressions, lett's move onee notch in thee p direction al long the Circ cle of Fifths . Doing so, w we leave thee IV behind iin order to sharp add th he II. But do we entirely y leave the IV I behind? W We're in Quaatrad Countrry now, and
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very quickly realize that the scale-tone s seeventh II choord (D,F,A,C C) inverts to the IV6 (F,A,,C,D). We would w be misled, howeveer, to say thaat they're "thee same chordd". Their positiion in a chorrd progressio on and the way w they use the overtonee series by thheir voicing, can im mpart to eacch quite distinct II-ness or o IV-ness. T The path whiich the bass line takes is crucial to making g both of these distinctio ons. If thee dominant-sseventh V ch hord is the en ngine of harm monic motioon, then the m minorseven nth II chord is i the autom matic self-starrter. The II-V V-I progresssion is everyywhere in thee Stand dard songboo ok. Its very ubiquity u mak kes it seem ppointlessly, ppedanticallyy redundant tto expou und upon it. One would d be hard-preessed to findd a Standard without it. How can we expllain the adop ption of such h a universall practice? M Most importaant, probaably, is the lo ong history in i Western music m of the IV-V-I cadeence. But thee basic refereent of that iss the ancient scale of Justt Intonation that is less ddependant onn the resolu ution of the flat-five disssonance betw ween the thirrd and sevennth of the doominant chorrd to thee consonancee of the majo or third of th he tonic, andd more depenndant on goiing first one fifth too t far, then n to the fifth on the other side, and finnally comingg to rest at thhe center. The near n equivaleence of the II I and IV cho ords in Quattradic harmoony allows thhe so-called "perffect cadence"" to be expreessed more as a going straaight to the taarget along tthe Cycle off Fifthss by passing g through thee II rather thaan the IV. T The V chord puts the keyy in the doorr. With the I chord, the opened door says, "Honey, I'm home!" Thee preparatoryy II chord u thereby ex xtending thee forward mootion of the hhomeward proviides front steeps to walk up journ ney. (ex.71)
It is important i to note that thee II-V part of o the equatioon is generallly metricallly of the sam me length h as the I paart. In other words, w if the II and the V are allottedd two beats aapiece, the I chord d will fill thee next bar, an nd so on for all duple muultiples. If you had reserrvations aboutt some of thee songs listed previously y as examplees of I-V-V-II, you were ccorrect. Thesee songs, alth hough playab ble with simp ple V chordss, are generaally broken ddown into II-V com mponents in n typical conttemporary performance.. The II I 7-V Moda al Variant The scale-tone s minor-seventh m h isn't the on nly II chord ooption, howeever. The moodal variant II 7 (D,F#,A,C) (as ( if we mig ght possibly be headed foor G Maj 7) is often castt in the II chord d role in Stan ndards. Pian nists will substitute it wh en they desiire more grit than the placid d minor-seveenth providees. (ex.72)
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The II I b5 Modall Variant The other o II chorrd option in the t II-V-I is the II b5 (D,F,Ab,C) whhich sends a message thaat the I chord mightt turn out to be minor. We W will exam mine II-V-I m minors momeentarily, but in thee present casse, where thee final resolu ution is to maajor, the II bb5 is deceptivve, and is seldo om original to the song (u unless by Po orter or someeone of his ssensibility). W When it's used,, it transform ms the resolu ution into sou unding like a ray of sunsshine on a cloudy day. (ex.73)
hs significantt to the bass line? Becauuse, in actuall Why are these vaariants of thirrds and fifth ne can pass tthrough the tthirds, fifthss, and practice, the quarrter note wallking bass lin nths of chord ds on the stro ong beats wiithout losingg the thread oof the harmoony so long seven as theey have a cleear melodic purpose p in doing d so thatt lands the linne on the rooot at the pointt where that becomes b cru ucial. Of cou urse, in groupp improvisattion, this patth risks doubling an innerr line with co onsequent weakness w or aambivalencee. The Reverse R II-V V-I: I-II-V n the II-V-I, the t I-II-V geenerally allotts the same llength of tim me to the com mbined II-V As in as to the I. Ratherr than comin ng home, this path starts at home andd goes out. C Considered by itsself, it ends by b asking thee question, "I " think I'll ggo out, but w where do I stoop?" The defau ult answer is, "Right back k home." M Modu ules Threee or More Move I-VI-III-V: The Tu urnaround
The Turnaround T takes t us onee step furtherr in the sharpp direction aalong the Cirrcle of Fifthss. This pattern conv verts the static I half of th he I-II-V proogression intto two equall parts that conveert it to such h a satisfying g short and lo ong form cyycle that its uuse is almostt definitionall to thee harmonic language of Standards. S The T differencce between tthe I-II-V annd the I-VI-IIIV can n be very nearly sub-lim minal becausee the I 6 chorrd (C,E,G,A A) and the VII chord (A,C,E,G) both contain c the saame tones. The T Turnarouund accepts myriad variations (suchh as thee modal variiant II chords just mentio oned) with suuch ease thaat we shall coonsider thesee all together in one place when n we introdu uce chromatiic and flat-fiive substitutiions. The basic Turnaround d, I (C,E,G,B B)-VI (A,C,E E,G)-II (D,F,A,C)-V (G,,B,D,F) is onne of the few w bass line l patternss that are occcasionally assked to movee at the rate of one beat aapiece. The
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most typical use assigns a two beats to each h chord. Thhe Way You Look Tonigght moves att the raate of one baar per chord. (ex.74)
III-V VI-II-V The III-VI-II-V I goes g one morre fifth in th he sharp direcction along tthe Circle off Fifths by omittting the root of the I chorrd which leaaves a III scaale-tone triadd (E,G,B) annd then exten nding that to a minor-sev venth scale to one by the adddition of thhe 9th (D) off the I chord. Every y move in th his progressio on is an In-M Move in the flat directionn along the C Circle of Fifthss. (ex.75)
III 7--VI-II 7-V hs give moree energy to the t flat-direcction momenntum of the IIII-VI-II-V Modaal variant 7th progrression. (ex..76)
III 7--VI 7-II 7-V V ng all domin nant 7th variants pours so o much enerrgy into the IIII-VI-II-V pprogression Havin that the location of o the tonal center c is obsscured. It is as if the Cycling dominnant 7ths could d have origin nated at any point in the sharp directiion on the C Circle of Fifthhs, and could go on n indefinitely y in the flat direction. d (ex x.77)
Diato onic Scalar Modules: M
I-II-IIII-II (ex.78 8)
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I-II-IIII-IV II-IIII-IV-V I-II-IIII-VI I-IV--III-VI I-VIII-VI-V (ex. 79) 7
I7-IV V Progressio on Modules I-I 7--IV-IVmino or-I (or III) (ex. 80)
I-I 7--IV-IVmino or-bIIV 7-I m I-I 7--IV-#IVdim m-I/V-VI-II-V V (ex. 81) I-I 7--IV-#IVdim
V-II 7-V (ex x. 82) I 7-IV
mi7b5-IV-IIII-bIIImi7-III-bII7-I (ex x. 83) b5Vm
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Mino or Progressio on Modules
III 7--VI; VI-III 7 (ex. 84)
VII-IIII 7-VI; VII-VII-III 7 VII-IIII 7-VI-#4 mi7b5 VI-V VII-I-VII VI-V VII-I-II VI-I--II-III 7 VI-V V-IV 7-III 7 VI mi(ma7)-V VI-IV 6 (ex x.85) VI-V
VI-V VII-I-II-(III 7) (ex. 86)
It is important i to note at this point that th he individuall bass line m moves in the pprogressionss exam mined so far employ e a lim mited range of o intervals. Leaps of 4thhs or 5ths are by far the most common. The leap of a minor 3rd down d to the V VI chord, annd upward orr downward diaton nic scalar motions m of wh hole and halff-steps compplete the list.. The I-III-IV V-#IVdim iss "reallly" a linear version v of th he 4ths and minor m third innvolved in I-I 7/III-IV-III 7/#IV. Simillarly, the I-I//bVII-IV/VI-IVmi/bVI is i "really" I-II-IV-IVmi.
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Movees By Steps Other O than Diatonic D 5ths, Fourths, Miinor 2nds, an nd Downwarrd Minor 3rds.
e for the first time progressioons which tennd to take thhe bass line Here we start to examine m deserrve a categorry of their ow wn because oof the out of the parent key. These moves ollowed rule that only onne Out-Movee is allowed between In-unartticulated but generally fo Movees where thee bass line either descend ds chromaticcally or movves one fifth in the flat directtion on the Circle C of Fiftths. Later, we w will analyyze some sonngs (some off which form m the beedrock of the Standard repertoire) r th hat flout this rule. One--Move Tonicc to Triad/P Pedal Progrressions This category—th he Tilt—ten nds to be imm mune from thhe one-movee-limitation rule becausee the whole w point of o the pedal device d is to place p the burrden of carryying the harm monic motio on in a voicee other than the t bass. No ote that the reesulting tetraa-chords maay or may noot form triad based 7th chords. Coltrane C usees this devicee exclusivelyy in Naima. (ex.87) Its n Standards began with Broadway B sh hows, typicaally in versess, and spreadd from there use in to occcasional Tin n Pan Alley tunes. t
One--Move I to Any A Other Major M 7th Parallel P Proggressions This is simple paarallelism as in the first change c of Yoou Stepped O Out of a Dreeam (ex.88) or thee move up a Minor 3rd to t the bridge in Night annd Day.
One--Move I to Dominant-7 D th-on-Any-Other-Tonee Progressioons This is the move most prone to the one-m move-limitatiion rule. Thee default exppectation is for th he next movee to be eitherr a 5th in thee flat directioon or a half-step down. Fourr-Move I to II-V-I-in-Any-Other-K Key Progresssions This category of progression is similar to o the previouus one, exceppt that the II-V comp ponent gives a strong ind dication of an n impendingg, if perhaps brief, moduulation to anoth her key. One--Move I to the-Three-D Diminished-C Chords Proogressions Thesee may functiion as compo onents of b9 9th chords baased on the ttones a half-step below any of o the diminiished chord'ss four tones. The same toone in the m melody ratherr than the bass will w convert to a major 7th. 7 Flat 5 Substitutiions, and Ch hromatic Reesolutions aand Progresssions.
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As mentioned earlier, by the forties, jazz had incorporated the b5 substitution for the dominant chord as a common harmonic device. Used mainly to add tension to the harmonies accompanying soloists, these substitutions must be a good fit with the melody. For that reason, this substitution requires careful attention to context.
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Turnarounds
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
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A Syllabus of Chord Substitutions and Alterations In the matrix below, chords are assumed to be moving in a continuum that extends from the VII chord to the IV chord in this order: VII(Bmin7b5) to III(Emin7) to VI(Amin7) to II(Dmin7) to V(G7) to I(Cmaj7) to IV(Fmaj7). The I chord acts as the beginning and/or end of the typical harmonic progression and therefore is limited in the substitutions that can be applied to it without destroying its function as the Tonic. The same is true of the VI chord when it has origin/destination function as the relative minor. Therefore, in the usual case, substitutions listed below can only be safely used for the I and VI chords when these chords occur in the middle of a progression. SCALE SUBSTITUTIONS TONE CHORD diatonic single note b5 limited variation substitution I. Cmaj7 Emin7 Amin7 C7,C+maj7,Emin7b5 F#min7b5
diminished substitution N.A.
II.
Dmin7
Fmaj6
Ab7
Ddim
III
Emin7
Cmaj7
Bb7
Edim
IV
Fmaj7
Dmin7
F7
B7 or B7alt
N.A.
V
G7
G7sus4 Dmin7
G7b5
N.A.
VI
Amin7
Cmaj7 D7sus4
A7
Db7 Abmin7->Db7 Eb7
VII
Bmin7b5
G7
Bmin7
G7sus4
Dmin7b5 Fmin6
A7sus4 Emin7b5 Gmin6 F#min7b5 G7#5 Amin7b5
Adim Bdim
The 5 non-diatonic tones (each with two names depending on context) complete the picture. SCALE TONE CHORD
SUBSTITUTIONS diminished-scale
7ths
minor 7ths
#I bII
C#dim Dbdim
A, Eb, C, F#, 7b9
Db7
Dbmin7
#II bIII
D#dim Ebdim
B, D, F, Ab, 7b9
Eb7
Ebmin7
#IV bV
F#dim Gbdim
D, Ab, 7b9
Gb7
F#min7
#V bVI
G#dim Abdim
E, Bb, G, Db, 7b9
Ab7
G#min7
#VI
A#dim
F#7b9
Bb7
Bbmin7
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Chord Substitution Along the “Ladder of Thirds.” The diagram below is offered as a broad generalization for the functionality of chords in diatonic progressions, or progressions along the circle of fifths, within a particular major scale. An important caveat to this construction relates to the VIth degree or Amin7 in the example. Injudicious use of an A on a strong beat in the bass in a C major context can produce the effect of the relative minor (A minor).
G7 G
B
Dominant Related Bm7b5 Dm7 FM7 D
F
A
Tonic Related Am7 CM7 Em7 C
E
G
B
D
In other words, the effect of being in the Tonic (in this case, C) will still be maintained by the context of the progression even if an Emin7 or Amin7 is the chord actually played— with certainty if the bass plays a C. Conversely, the bass can play an E or an A on a strong beat without conflicting with the Tonic function—again, with certainty if the piano plays a Cmaj7. However, if any of the Dominant Related chords are played in what is intended to be a Tonic context, they will conflict with the Tonic—even if not actually dissonant. This division is a bit more ambiguous for the bass. An F on a strong beat clearly subverts C as the Tonic while a G is more likely to be weak or slightly misleading. In the 7th chord environment of most modern jazz, a D is actually not that dissonant in a Cmaj7 environment, but its stepwise relationship to the tonic can produce the misleading effect of a D7sus4. A B in the bass not only misleads but is dissonant. The addition of the tri-tone substitution (and its close relations), in this case Db7, to the list of Dominant Related chords completes the picture, as no such chromatic addition is functional in the Tonic environment. The row of single tones at the bottom of the diagram also depicts the upper-structure 9ths, 11ths, and 13ths as one moves left from their 7th chord basis. A similar overlapping of chords along the ladder of thirds occurs in the Minor Ma7 scale.
G7 G
B
Dominant Related Bm7b5 Dm7 D
F
F7 A
Tonic Related Am7b5 CmiMa7 EMa7+5 C
Eb
G
B
D
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Nuances in the Cycle of Fifth Progression Within a Key The major scale scale-tone 7th chords cycle through their part of the Cycle of Fifths in the following order: I (CMaj7), IV(FMaj7), VII(Bmi7b5), III(Emi7), VI(Ami7), II(Dmi7), V(G7), I. Modal variants at every station can alter, refine, and qualify exactly how far along the Cycle the harmony has progressed. Beginning with the I chord: CMaj7 C7sus4 or Gmi7(11) C7 C7b5 or Gb7b5 Gb7 or Dbmi7-Gb7 FMaj7 (note: from the IV chord, going on to IVmi (Fmi) and on to bVII7 and on to I by the "back door" is usual but follows the Cycle out of the key.) Fmaj7b5 Fmaj7b5(13) or Bmi7b5(11) Bmi7b5 E7sus4(b9) E7b9 E7b5 or Bb7b5 Bb7 or Fmi7-Bb7 Emi7 or Emi7(11) or A7sus4 A7 A7b5 or Eb7b5 Amin7 or Ami7(11) or D7sus4 D7 D7b5 or Ab7b5 Ab7 or Ebmi7-Ab7 Dmin7 or Dmi7(11) or G7sus4 G7 G7b5 or Db7b5 Db7 or Abmi7-Db7 CMaj7 There also exists a very fine gradation within 7th chords deriving from the choice and combination of upper-structure tones. For the most part, this gradation doesn't impact the bass line. However, playing one of the variants on the list, followed by one further down, followed by a I chord with appropriate upper structure (all connected by appropriate voice-leadings), can sound like a II-V-I progression even though the bass remains fixed on the root of the dominant. G7sus4 G7sus4(9) G7sus4(9)(13) G7sus4(13) G7sus4(9)(b11)(13)
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G7sus4(b11)(13) G7sus4(b11) G7sus4(b9) G7sus4(b9)(b11) G7(9)(11)(13) G7(9)(11) G7(9)(13) G7(9) G7(9)(#11)(13) G7(9)(#11) G7(9)(b13) G7(b9)(13) G7(#9)(13) G7(#11) G7b5(9)(13) G7b5(9) G7b5(b13) G7b5(b9) G7b5(#9) G7b5(#9)(b13) G7b5(b9)(b13) G7b5(b9)(#9) G7b5(b9)(#9)(b13) Putting Analysis to Work: Progressions, Modules, and Substitutions in the Bass Lines of Specific Standard Songs. So far we have looked at those harmonic elements characteristic of the Standard song and joined most of them into progressions using anywhere from 2 to 8 elements, but mostly two to four elements. We are ready to look at particular songs that exemplify a variety of ways in which these elements are joined together. Taken as a whole, the thousands of songs comprising the American Standard Songbook, have in common many patterns of harmonic motion which the particular song exemplifies. For instance, the bridge—I 7IV-II 7-V—was used in so many tunes that it was known in my youth as the "Sears & Roebuck bridge". Two song-forms to be examined—“rhythm changes", and the blues—will receive the most detailed examination. These particular forms have demonstrated a seemingly neverending capacity for absorbing alterations and updating. The devices that constitute their essence, together with the ones added over the years, form the basis of the harmonic language that is then applied to other songs in the interest of stylistic coherence. Gunther Schuller notes in the first book of his musicological study of jazz history, "Early Jazz", that "no one discovered how the African was capable of sustaining his interest and his audience's for a single dance that may last an hour or more. Jones (A. M. Jones, Studies in African Music, 2 vols.) has found the answer. It is nothing more than the
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chorus pattern we accept so casually in jazz as the basic improvisational procedure... Actually, three structural levels govern these dance forms. They reflect the fundamental cellular structuring of nature itself: the overall form breaks down into still relatively long "master patterns," which in turn consist of repetitions of smaller phrase fragments, which in themselves may contain tiny cell-patterns." Schuller then proceeds to diagram this form thusly: Overall form
___________________________________________________________
Master patterns______________ ______________ ______________ ______________ Phrases
_______ _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ _______
Motives
___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___
Analyses of Various Standard and Jazz Classic Songs The fifty picks, selected from the thousands of possibilities, were chosen to present a comprehensive overview historically (the ‘teens through the seventies), to range from simple to complex, to illustrate the variety of opening harmonies, and to favor songs that are likely to be called in mainstream jam sessions. I have purposefully refrained from displaying melodies or giving composer credit. These analyses are designed to focus exclusively on the harmonic patterns of the songs, harmonic patterns that are common to most of the songs examined here, and are seldom the invention of one composer. These analyses are not intended as performance aids or even as definitive harmonic progressions. They are intended to be studied as memorization aids and a jumping-off place for more detailed study of the songs shown and the other songs they resemble. For the serious student, many sources for such study exist in published sheet music or authorized transcriptions. For the songs with lyrics, one can find examples of performances of all of them on YouTube from which one can make one’s own transcriptions. For the instrumentals, recordings afford the same opportunity. In any case, playing standards or jazz classics as a rhythm section player requires that one must try to develop one’s ear so as to detect the small differences between musician’s conceptions and thereby contribute to a musically synergetic outcome. The notation is in bass clef and is intended to be read as the 8ba register employed for bass instruments. When whole notes or repeat signs are shown, the intention is to indicate that the scale implied by the chord symbol is operative in that bar. In practice, that may mean that that chord will be the only one played, or it may mean that a turnaround in that key will be called for depending on context.
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The display of notes from the upper structure triad has been avoided except where they are essential to the harmony. In actual practice, these are the ones most subject to alteration by the harmonist, again, depending on context. In the analyses, the term “II-V” is used in two senses. Its basic use is to relate the two chords to the tonic. It’s also used as a generic term independent of its relation to the tonic for the most basic progression to be found in standards and jazz classics. Here, then, are the analyses of fifty songs. 50 Songs for Analysis:
1st chord
Ist move
Key(s)
Songs that proceed from the I chord to an out or back-move in the sharp direction: I Want to Be Happy Joy Spring Exactly Like You Take the A Train Pennies from Heaven I Got Rhythm Good Bait I’m Old Fashioned Have You Met Miss Jones Indiana Ain’t Misbehavin Like Someone in Love Confirmation Lover
I I I I I I I I I I I I I I
II-V II II7 II7 II VI VI VI VI VI7 bIIdim VII VII VII7
I I I I I I I I I I I I I I
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65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
Songs that proceed from a chord other than the I chord to a move in the sharp direction: Perdido Honeysuckle Rose Body and Soul Sophisticated lady All the Things You Are Fly Me To the Moon Sweet Georgia Brown You’dBeSoNiceToComeHomeTo Guess I’ll Hang My Tears Out… Hi Fly Nice Work If You Can Get It Best Thing for You Is Me Stella by Starlight Blue Lou Social Call
II II II II VI VI VI 7 VI III III mi7 III 7 VII7 #IVmi7b5 bVI 7 bVII 7
V V bI dim III7 II II II7 VII bIII7 VI7 VI7 III II V VI 7
I I I I I I I VI, I I II Ma7, I I I I I I
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
Songs that proceed from the I chord to an out-move in a flat direction: Blues On Green Dolphin Street Giant Steps Dolphin dance I’ll Remember April How High the Moon Ladybird Very Early You Stepped Out of a Dream
I7 I I I I I I I I
IV7 bIII tilt bIII 7 I7sus4 tilt I mi b tilt I mi b tilt IVmi7 bVII7 bII Ma7
I I #V, III, I III, b IIsus4 I mi VII I bVI Ma7, I
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
Songs that proceed from a chord other than a I chord to an out-move in a flat direction: Whisper Not Solar Invitation So What Silvers Serenade Moments Notice Bolivia Along Came Betty Naima What Is This Thing Called Love Miyako
I mi I mi I mi I mi7 I mi7 bII mi7 II-V II Vsus4 Vmi7b5 VI sus4
VImi7b5 Vmi7 IV7 bIImi7 bVmi7 bV7 bIII Ma7 bIIImi7 V mi7 tilt I7 bV sus4
? IV,I b III mi bII mi7 ? I bIII,II,V,IV bII Ma7, I I IVmi7, I I,VI,
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99
100
101
102
103
104
105
Songs that proceed from degrees of the scale other than the fifty already examined: Spring Is Here I dimMa7 Duke Ellington’s Sound of Love bII 7(#9) Ugly Beauty bII mi7b5 April in Paris II mi7b5 ? bIII 7 ? bIII mi7 Bye-Ya IV7 Monk’s Dream IV mi7 ? bV7 Humph bVI7 ? bVI mi7 East Coasting VI Ma7 Eclipse bVII7 (#9) Introspection (if in D) bVII mi7 ? bVII mi7b5 Introspection (if in Db) VII mi7
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Afterword Improvising jazz on established harmonic and formal frameworks is both more simple and more complex than first perceived. My hope is that you will find internalizing these musical structures as rewarding an addition to your mental landscape as I have.
