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Think:color wheel. Every improvising musician (and some classical musicians as well)holds a similar diagram in their heads when practicing common chord progress

Think:color wheel. Every improvising musician (and some classical musicians as well)holds a similar diagram in their heads when practicing common chord progressions like ii-V-Is and rhythm changes, and the blues, etc... and on and on. Each note/chord in the western scale pulls against others next and opposite to it in the same way, regardless of the key one inhabits in any given moment. These relationships are dynamic; variables, in a way, pulling against one another in an interconnected system. The tonic(I, or "c" in c major, for example) has a "home" quality, the dominant (V) has a cadential quality in relation to the tonic, etc., and each chord has its role. Within this system, one can create the illusion that one is "in a key" that one is not actually fully in for the overall work-- this is like nesting methods in code. Loops are loops and the idea remains the same no matter how big or small, no matter the coding language. Chordal relations in music are the same. This diagram may be what Coltrane holds in his head as he plays patterns and repeats motives in a given solo to imply chordal relationships and "transportation" from one realm to another. These realms have anticipatory meaning we all understand unconsciously, even if we are not professional jazz musicians. (for example, we all feel the need for "do" if it is left off the end of "do re mi fa sol la ti...." in "Do, a deer".) There is nothing magical about Coltrane's diagram that I can see that is beyond what most improvisers hold in their heads as they practice patterns over chord changes. And yet, there is something wonderful about how these chords and notes create inherent meaning and character roles relative to one another-- like the color wheel. It is still cool to see the way Coltrane represented these for himself in his own mind, (in other words- how simple his ingredients- they are the same as ours, and the result!)implying how he practiced improvising, and the path those patterns may have taken. When improvising over changes, it is easy to get lost in a compositional idea and lose one's place in the form. Maintaining a simple "relational data structure" like this circle is way way to maintain one's balance a place in the overall form and structure. Jazz musicians work to internalize this in practice, so that in performance, they can be free and expressive while still within the form. And then...there is Dolphy.!!

anentropic 10y ago
"Every improvising musician ... holds a similar diagram in their heads when practicing common chord progressions" Nope
- brooklyn_ashey 10y ago
  Is your problem with diagram, similar, or improvising? I can understand a problem with improvising, in that I should have been more specific. Specifically, every improvising musician working in the area of any type of jazz that involves playing over chord changes. The diagram discussed here is really very fundamental, open and "big picture". Certainly, musicians have their own "circle of" diagrams in their heads if they ever plan on doing ii-v-1s etc. If they are playing anything resembling chord changes, it would be hard to avoid thinking in patterns of chord progressions, unless the person was aiming to subvert that system (certainly an acceptable strategy) and create their own tonal/chordal language while other band members do changes. Many avant-garde players do that, and then many don't bother with chord changes at all. But when one is expected to produce a bass line or a harmonic line, one does need some kind of a diagram that (because of the nature of the harmonic system itself) will be very very similar to this one. I'm a professional jazz musician. I play traditional and experimental jazz, and I seriously have yet to meet a single colleague who doesn't have their own circular or loop-like diagram that looks a heck of a lot like this one. But I'm open to hearing about a new way of thinking-- perhaps you could tell me about that, and I could share ti with my colleagues. We all do tend to get trapped in our own ways.

anentropic 10y ago

"Every improvising musician ... holds a similar diagram in their heads when practicing common chord progressions" Nope

brooklyn_ashey 10y ago
Is your problem with diagram, similar, or improvising? I can understand a problem with improvising, in that I should have been more specific. Specifically, every improvising musician working in the area of any type of jazz that involves playing over chord changes. The diagram discussed here is really very fundamental, open and "big picture". Certainly, musicians have their own "circle of" diagrams in their heads if they ever plan on doing ii-v-1s etc. If they are playing anything resembling chord changes, it would be hard to avoid thinking in patterns of chord progressions, unless the person was aiming to subvert that system (certainly an acceptable strategy) and create their own tonal/chordal language while other band members do changes. Many avant-garde players do that, and then many don't bother with chord changes at all. But when one is expected to produce a bass line or a harmonic line, one does need some kind of a diagram that (because of the nature of the harmonic system itself) will be very very similar to this one. I'm a professional jazz musician. I play traditional and experimental jazz, and I seriously have yet to meet a single colleague who doesn't have their own circular or loop-like diagram that looks a heck of a lot like this one. But I'm open to hearing about a new way of thinking-- perhaps you could tell me about that, and I could share ti with my colleagues. We all do tend to get trapped in our own ways.