Thread: Music

I never got a good grasp of jazz chord substitutions. Could you explain the different types of substitutions and when they are most appropriate?

could a D# diminshed chord be subbed as an F minor 6/9 chord? i was analyzing a C.P.E Bach keyboard sonata today, and I swore I heard a F minor 6/9 chord, but i analyzed it and realized that it was really a D# diminished chord.

Dub,

the tri-tone substitution is probably one of the most common chord substitutions. check out this blog by a colleage of mine at WSU. http://wsujazz.blogspot.com/

Also, a half-step resolution; when a piece ends on a major chord, and you take it up a half step and play a major chord.

Another thing to think about, is if you take the root off of a dominant chord, a lot of the time it will change the quality all together. for example take the root off of a Bb Major 7, and it becomes a d minor triad. or, change the root of a F dominant 13 chord to a C, and it creates a C minor 6/9.

The best way to figure these things out is to mess around on a keyboard or guitar.

Thanks cachero, your friend's blog post was helpful. I am aware of the potentially interesting consequences of removing the root from a chord, but lots of the the interesting jazzy resolutions are pretty foreign to me.

with the half step resolution, (say your in c major) you could end on Db major, then go to the IV chord, which is Gb, then resolve back to C. A good book is 'The Jazz Theory Book' by Mark Levine.

Could you perhaps refresh my memory on the proper ettiquette involved in voicing chords for choir purposes? The only things I remember are:

-The bass voice determines the quality (root, 1st inversion or 2nd inversion) of the chord formed by the upper three voices
-Notes that are shared between chord changes are held
-When changing to a chord that doesn't share any of the same notes, the upper voices should move opposite of the bass voice (right?)

I know I'm missing something because something always sounds a wee bit unnatural when I try voicing.

Would you explain relative majors and minors, and how you can use them in a chord progression to add harmonies, melodies and voicings?

Sure B12,

So basically, if you go down a minor third from a Major chord, you'll find the relative minor. In a progression like a ii-V-I, you can subsitute I, for vi which is the relative minor. Say your harmonizing a popular tune like Jingle Bells; you can use the I - IV- I - V - I chord progression to harmonize almost any christmas/hymn song. So instead of going back to I at the end of the progression, go to vi, which is the relative minor. If you're in C that would be Cmaj > Fmaj > Cmaj > G7 > Amin. Then you can take it a step further and use it to add color to your improvisation (if you improvise). Say your in C major, and you know you can use the C ionion mode to improvise over C major7, G7, Dmin7 so, use the relative minor of C major, which is A min to add color. You could solo in C ionion over an A minor chord.

Here is one more that is amazing.
If you're playing a major 7/major 6/major 9/ or major 6/9 you can go down a half step, and play a minor pentatonic scale which gives you the most amazing sounding lydian lick out there.

For example:

Some one plays a tune that ends with a ii - V - I in Bb:
C-7 > F7 > Bb. You can solo in Bb ionian until you get to the Bb chord, then you play an A minor pentatonic. THE RESULT IS BEAUTIFUL!

I hope this helped.

-Joel

Can someone explain interpolated twos to me?

anyone, anyone?

I don't think that has anything to do with music...does it?