Questions tagged [jazz]
An original American music style that originated in the early 20th century by improvisation and syncopation.
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How do I identify chord scales? (Chord scale theory)
I'm confused with how to identify chord scales because there are a lot of modes and combinations I have to consider. For example, Cmaj is C Ionian, and C13 is C Mixolydian, etc., right? Basically ...
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Is it really necessary to learn the Number System in Music?
I've been playing the bass for several years now and want to learn how to play jazz. I started out learning classical music because before the bass, I played the violin, so it just came easier for me. ...
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How to play diminished 9th chord in guitar ( chord shape )? [closed]
How to play diminished 9th chord in a guitar ? Please provide some common shapes to play...
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starting point for keyboard spread voicing
What is the best way to start learning open voicing (spread voicing) " Learning all nine chord types with all 4 formulas in 12 keys " is not for me ,as being of a senior age, I don't have ...
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Comping over the Cmaj7 in "My Favorite Things"
I am wondering if someone can give advice on how to make comping over the Cmaj7 chord in bars 5 through 8 sound more interesting.
In the first 4 bars I play E-7 to F#-7 to E-7/G back to F#-7 and that ...
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what's the role of Ebmaj7 on this Ebmaj7 D7#9 Gm9 progression?
I'm trying to understand this chord progression:
Ebmaj7 D7#9 Gm9
Ebmaj7 F#dim7 Gm9 Bb13
I know from D7#9 to Gm9, that's a V-i.
But where's the Ebmaj7 coming from? Does it come from the relative major ...
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Big Band solo conventions
I'm writing an arrangement of a typical AABA jazz standard for big band. After the 1st chorus (AABA once) I want a saxophone to take a solo. It occurred to me that I could let a different instrument (...
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Voice Leading and chords without naming
I have the hobby of playing the bass guitar since 4-5 months, and for deeper knowledge of music I'm studying harmony. I have no formal education on music so please be patient. I've choosen Autumn ...
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Double time swing notation
I am arranging a piece for big band, and I want a section that is being played "straight" (no swing) to immediately be followed by a section with double time swing. Is it necessary to ...
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How does Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah use harmonic "forecasting cells"?
Creative improvising (aka jazz) musician Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah's website talks about him “developing the harmonic convention known as the ‘forecasting cell’” but it doesn't go into more depth ...
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Db in realization of "A7alt" in Levine's piano book
In this other question about Mark Levine's jazz piano book, there's an enharmonic spelling of b9 of G7b9 as G# instead of Ab, which some users objected to:
To me that seemed completely fine, because ...
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Why is this a G7b9?
My understanding is that one approach to naming a chord is to first identify the root. However in this case, if this is really a G7b9, the root 'G' does not appear in the chord. How am I supposed to ...
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Pat Martino's parental forms. Can you go deeper?
I have been studying Pat Martino lessons on the parental forms. It absolutely blew my mind that if you lower any note a halfstep in a augmented triad you get a major chord. And if you raise a note you ...
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The Role of Piano in Bossa Nova
I'm preparing a Bossa arrangement which will feature: GTR, Drums, Bass, Vocals , Trumpet and piano. I think it's obvious what the role of each instrument will be when playing Bossa Nova. But I am ...
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What exactly is a "vamp"? [duplicate]
I recently started to read Mick Goodrick's well-known book "The Advancing Guitarist", but I got stuck at the very beginning. The first chapter of the book talks about how playing on one ...
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Accents (destabilizing rhythm) Justin Kauflin [closed]
In this video
at 2:10 Justin Kauflin plays these accented chords and I really cannot figure out exactly what the rhythm is. Can anybody hear what he is doing?
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Is there a historic origin for final ending (cadence) of V-I with melody tones ^3 ^1 in some jazz standards?
In some jazz standards I see a final ending of V-I using melody tones ^3 ^1, for example...
Cherokee in B flat
All of Me in C
Note that the ^3 in those examples is not some kind of embellishment of ^...
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21st Century Jazz Theory?
I know that the Mark Levine Jazz Theory and Jazz Piano books were widely used theory books in jazz instruction and almost considered the standard. However, they are both over a quarter century old now....
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Changing chords in jazz
I'm trying to understand different jazz and blues styles. Here are some things I'm not sure if I've understood correctly and I'd love to have them corrected and explained.
It's common in jazz to use ...
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Choosing instrument for a solo
I am currently arranging a big-band piece to be played by my college big band (4 trumpets; 3 trombones + 1 bass trombone; 2 alto & 2 tenor saxes + 1 bari sax; rhythm section). I'm working on a ...
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Difference between *block chords* and *Barry Harris* voicings
I’ve been wondering for a while about the main differences between the so called block chords, and the also famous Barry Harris diminished voicings.
I use Barry Harris voicings all the time and the ...
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Voicing Freddie Green-style rhythms in jazz arrangement
I'm working on a jazz arrangement and i was thinking of a walking bass, brushes on the drums, some chord stabs and fills for the piano, but as for the guitar it's a bit difficult. I want to write in ...
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What is the function of Horace Silver playing a C Major 7 over a D7 chord?
In Oleo by the Miles Davis Quintet at 0:17, Horace Silver plays a C Maj7/D voicing during the D7 chord at the bridge creating a ?D11 chord (if I am transcribing it correctly !). My question is what is ...
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What is the scope of copyright? [closed]
I was studying My Favorite Things by John Coltrane to play on piano, while listening to it and its other versions I have learned that this Jazz standard was actually from a motion picture called Sound ...
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Jazz vs Classical interpretation of this V7c vs iv-m6 chord in a common chord progress?
Here is a progression in a song I am playing
On the 3rd beat of the second measure there is a Dm6 or G9/D chord (or B half diminished first inversion): at least that's what Carl Kress is playing ...
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Tritone substitution to a major chord?
I'm relatively new to jazz theory and I've been working through the book, Hal Leonard Guitar Method: Jazz Guitar by Jeff Schroedl. In it he describes a tritone substitution as a "V, ii(II), or vi(...
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Lip Trilling on Lower Notes
I am playing "One Mint Julep" in my jazz band (trombone 4 part). I have a G3 note with a short lip trill. I usually see lip trills on higher notes, so what is a proficient way to play these? ...
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What is the difference between an augmented and diminished scale?
I understand little music theory, so I do not understand the difference between an augmented and diminished scale.
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Gypsy Jazz style violin vibrato notation
The way vibrato is used in gypsy jazz violin, like Stephane Grappelli is a bit different from normal classical playing. Typically only used on long notes and developing after the note has sounded, ...
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How do you memorize the modes of the melodic minor scale on guitar?
I'm looking for ideas to memorize the 7 positions of the melodic minor on the guitar fretboard. Any suggestions? Is there a way to map each pattern to a chord shape? Or a way to quickly visualize the ...
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Jazz piano, chords: planning ahead
I’m an aspiring jazz pianist, playing tunes without sight reading of any kind (once I’ve learned it), in ensembles and solo.
I have for long had the problem that my chords are staggering. Once I’ve ...
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PRS SE245 with Thomastik Jazz Swing strings
I have a PRS SE 245 electric guitar and to be able to get more jazz sound I want to restring my guitar with Thomastik Jazz Swing JS112. Since this guitar is not a hollow body and its neck is shorter ...
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Should I use uppercase or lowercase roman numerals in Jazz harmonic analysis?
I know that there is not a fully defined specification for the language used in jazz harmonic analysis, as it has grown slowly and organically and has many variations. I have seen some textbooks use ...
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Walking bass, two bars per chord, on tritone substitution
This is a follow up to my earlier question about step-wise walking bass. But this is for a full scale for two bars per chord.
Part of the question is about when and where to add extra half steps if ...
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Piano: getting chords up to speed
I practice a transcription that involves more elaborate jazz chords, modal sus9 and 13-chords, those kind of things, occupying many or all of the hands' fingers. I've played such things before (for ...
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Who was the first to teach jazz improvisation with an approach that matches scales to chords?
I'm reading George Russell's Lydian Chromatic Concept right now, and I'm trying to better understand its place (and his) in the history of jazz theory. Was he the first to posit this improvisational ...
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How to simply voice-lead melody for jazz brass
Hello and thank you for your time!
My knowledge in music theory is limited, so excuse me. I don't know where to look for the answer.
The goal is simple: harmonize a upper melody with chords stacked ...
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Next steps for playing the piano [closed]
I've comfortably played Nuvole Bianche and Fur Elise by watching youtube videos, I can sense patterns between keys and I think have developed some musical sense(I can pick up new song, only with the ...
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Step-wise walking bass for tritone substitution
I'm unsure how to handle a step-wise walking bass under a tritone substitution progression.
I'm working on piano and using what I understand to be basic "Evans" voicings in the right hand ...
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What is the function of this ♯V major chord (or ♭VI major)?
From this video, just listen to the first 8 bars (first 15 seconds). It sounds like the chord progress is I III7 II7 V# V7 in F major scale to me.
I don't know how to explain the function of this V# ...
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What do these diamond and slash note heads mean?
Can someone tell me what do the symbols here mean? and how to play them in triplets as written in the lead sheet?
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Jazz quartets without chord instrument [closed]
I want to write my degree thesis in music theory on arranging for jazz quartets without chord instruments (i.e. Vibraphone, piano, guitar...). For instance, there are the recordings of Gerry Mulligan ...
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Meaning of a Notation Symbol (
I wonder if anyone can tell me what the curved notation next to the 8th notes are. If it helps, this is a score for saxophone.
Thanks.
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How do I learn to improvise outside of the jazz realm?
I'm a classically trained pianist and I've spent a lot of time in the last year or two really learning the blues. I've worked through some of my favorite pieces and it's safe to say I can now rip a 12 ...
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Why do some musicians count "un, two, three, four"?
I've seen and heard, in particular jazz musicians, count in using "un" instead of the regular pronunciation of the word "one". It seems unlikely there's a technical or practical ...
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Randomly and Programmatically generate a "good" next chord?
I am a Software Developer/Musician who has free time before summer classes start up. I wanted to sharpen my chord reading and improvising skills.
What I would like to do is generate a phrase of ...
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Bossa Nova Arrangement
I'm preparing a Bossa Nova Tune and it will feature a Singer, Guitarist, Pianist(me) and some percussion. Now i want the guitar to play the typical Bossa Nova rhythm but I don't know what do play with ...
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non understandable key switches in jazz [closed]
I am trying to learn jazz. I got a handbook with some jazz standards. Given a jazz tab, is there a dominant key ? like in classical music. I don't understand the structure of the music. For instance, ...
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What's it called when you play the same exact melody with a different rhythm?
As an example, here is the original iconic melodic phrase that's used throughout the Trails Sky games:
https://youtube.com/embed/3GB-xej4GFc?start=66&end=85
But here in this next piece, the exact ...
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Practice one pattern per day or one key per day? [closed]
Assume one needs to practice pattern A and pattern B in keys 1 and 2.
Is it better to practice one day pattern A in all keys and the other day pattern B in all keys, or to practice patterns A and B in ...
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