2 ms·
Well, three things about modern Jazz to understand: 1. Dissonance isn't bad or good, it's just more or less tension. 2. You can alter chords with substitutions
by zedshaw 14y ago
Well, three things about modern Jazz to understand:
1. Dissonance isn't bad or good, it's just more or less tension.
2. You can alter chords with substitutions, effectively creating a "chord abstraction theory".
3. If you can get abstract about chords, and that lets you play similar chords where other chords are, then you can do the same thing with scales.
They then just play fewer chords. If you only have 3, or even 1 chord, then you can simply stay in one key and solo all day long. You can then go outside the key to add tension with dissonant notes by picking a new "abstraction".
This reduction in the number of chords in the song then lets you play with abstractions on the chords being used. You can start doing substitutions with chords that are similar to give the song a feeling of progression where there really is none.
If I remember correctly, Freddie Hubbard's "Mr. Clean" is just a F-7 chord for the whole song, but check out what they do with it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k5CNYsmAJwI http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k5CNYsmAJwI
BTW, I hate that song.
- noname123 14y agoHey Zed, your video a long time ago about not being a corporate programmer-serf is what inspired me to take up guitar, so appreciate that. What you said about chord substitution, do you mean some chords are more dissonant sounding compared to its major chord counterpart (e.g., dominant 7 or half-diminished)? So in scales, you have different scalar patterns that also have different qualities (e.g., minor pentatonic to the minor scale) - but how do you actually then use the scales creatively instead of just playing over the minor pentatonic scale to a blues jam because it's a stereotypical bluesy scale.