He is playing it over a F minor
chord. The key of the song is Ab
. It looks like he just playing extentions of the F minor chord
. What is a better way to explain this?
-
1It would be a tad easier if you transcribed the part in question– user1079505Jan 20, 2021 at 1:52
-
sorry. the lick is Bb and Eb, C and F, Eb and Ab, F and Bb.– Ricky BascomJan 20, 2021 at 1:55
-
Are you asking about the part at 3:38 - 3:39?– AaronJan 20, 2021 at 2:07
-
yes thats the part im talking about– Ricky BascomJan 20, 2021 at 2:19
2 Answers
He's playing a pentatonic scale pattern, harmonized in fourths, which is a common device in jazz. Open fourths give an ambiguous sense of harmony even though, in this case, he never actually leaves the home key.
Ab Major
= Ab Bb C Db Eb F G
and an F minor
chord, F Ab C
, is the vi
chord, consisting entirely of notes within the Ab Major
scale.
The primary (upper) notes of the solo are Eb F Ab Bb C Eb F Ab
, which is an F minor pentatonic
(also Ab major pentatonic
) scale, starting on Eb
. By using the pentatonic scale, both E natural
(the leading tone in F minor
) and G natural
(the leading tone in Ab major
) are avoided, giving a sense of tonal ambiguity even though all of the pitches are within the key/scale. This is enhanced by starting on Eb
rather than F
or Ab
.
Harmonizing the scale at the fourth below gives Bb C Eb F *Ab* Bb C Eb
. Note that the pattern breaks at the Ab
. This keeps the harmony within the pentatonic scale and avoids the G natural
(Ab
leading tone). This use of fourths also reinforces the tonal ambiguity while staying within the key.
This is a basic example of "quartal harmony".
The pianist McCoy Tyner, among others, is particularly well known for using quartal chord voicings. A clear example can be heard in the opening vamp on "My Favorite Things" from the album Coltrane: Live at the Half Note.
He plays the following notes (disregard the rhythm values):
X: 1
K: C
L: 1/4
[_B,_E] [CF] [_E_A] [F_B] [_Ac] | [_B_e] [cf] [_e_a] [f_b] |
It is an (almost) constant interval moving up over the notes of F minor pentatonic (F Ab Bb C Eb). However, in this context I wouldn't call it "extension", but rather a passage, transition.