New answers tagged chords
1
The observation that the entire passage is, in effect, a prolonged A chord, is accurate, and that would be the broad "classical" interpretation. The E chords and D (or B) are functioning as prolongational chords rather serving dominant or pre-dominant functions, respectively.
At that level, one could substitute any chord that can serve a "...
1
IMO the first problem is thinking the tritone substitution is something exclusive to jazz, and it's just the domain of jazz to say what it is or is not.
Only the name "tritone substitution" is particular to jazz. But the harmonic movement is actually very old and for centuries was called an augmented sixth chord resolution.
Technically there is ...
1
Tritone substitution for dominant seventh chords is typically explained by the substitution sharing the third and the seventh with the original chord. But one can look at it in a wider context:
An altered dominant chord is built on altered scale, e.g.: G Ab A# B C# Eb F. A substitute built on lydian b7 scale a tritone away, Db Eb F G Ab Bb Cb, which (...
4
The book is taking a liberal view of tritone substitutions. Any chord substitution in which the root is a tritone away from the original is being called a tritone sub.
This is not wrong, but it leaves a lot of questions unanswered.
The basic tritone substitution is for V7 chords. Substituting bII7 for V7 preserves the the third and seventh of the chords (by ...
1
Although I agree completely with what others gave already on the polyrhythm, there is a chance you are intuiting a MUCH subtler effect. The 2 to 3 ratio here manifests in rhythm, and all continuous rhythm is just vibration at an inaudible pace. Any string divided in 2 parts gives an octave, always. The same string divided in 3 parts gives a 5th, and what ...
1
I'll get the shorter discussion point out of the way first: as far as I can interpret, the polyrhythm used in Part B is not intended to accelerate the progress of musical discourse. That 2-against-3 polyrhythm is already used in Bars 1-4 in Part A, so Part B merely takes that use further. In fact, right before Part B, there is an 8th-note triplet in the ...
5
The Phrygian half cadence is exclusively iv6–V, not VI–V.
One of the reasons is that the PHC very often has scale-degrees 4 to 5 in the soprano voice. (This isn't a requirement—they can be in an inner voice—but it's very very common.) And since there's no scale-degree 4 in the VI chord, it's not a viable option for this cadence.
By the way, the presence of ...
1
If no alteration was mentioned, than it shouldn't be raised.
In addition, that tritone leap between the Bb and the E♮ in the soprano is not really ideal and should be avoided (usually melodic tritones are avoided in the soprano parts), and it is better to start a melodic minor melodic line with the 5th degree instead of directly with the raised 6th. It is ...
0
My thinking on this is motivation centric. The following different motivations have different outcomes. Taking the familiar Sweet Home Alabama as the use case, is it in G=5411 or D=1b744 ? NNS was developed for ease of use.
Motive: Ease of Use
The key signature is G with one sharp.
The home key feeling is ambiguous but might feel like D to some.
Perhaps ...
1
Since there are no alterations for that chord in the figured bass, this pitch should definitely be an E♭, not an E♮.
You're right, though, that that creates an augmented second between E♭ and F♯. The solution is not to change the first pitch to E♮, but rather to move the soprano down from E♭ to D. Doing so will likely necessitate moving all three upper ...
1
It should be an E flat, not an E natural. To avoid the augmented second, the E flat should be in a different voice from the F sharp.
(The melodic diminished fifth between the B flat and the E natural that you have in the soprano voice is also, in general, to be avoided.)
4
Tldr; You probably shouldn't be adding a 9th or 13th (or even potentially a 5th) to this chordinsert 10 caveats, which is why it's written as A7♯4 instead of A7♭5 or A7♯11. The + means ♯, and this is A7♯4.
An important PSA: in jazz, a well-written chord symbol does more than simply spell out the notes. It provides information about the underlying harmonies, ...
2
The other answers are so long!
For brevity's sake:
A7+4 would mean "A dominant seven, augmented fourth" which is an enharmonic spelling of A7♭5 "A dominant seven, flat five", an augmented fourth being enharmonically equivalent to a diminished or "flat" fifth.
Given the E♭ in the notated melody, I would think A7♭5 would be the ...
1
There won't be a ♯4 or a ♭5! True, + means ♯.
Funnily enough, Big band has just re-started after 18 months, and this piece is one of the first we looked at.
Albeit in a different key (B♭), that bar is Dm7 - Bm7 E9(♯11). Transposing to Gm7 - Em7 A7+4. That A7+4 should be, according to my chart, A9(+11).Or A9(♯11). It produces a chromatic dropping of the lower ...
15
This answer assumes that 7#11 chords are equivalent to 7b5 chords, and it uses the two symbols interchangeably. I acknowledge that there are in fact some pedantic differences between the two, but for the purposes of this answer, those differences are unimportant.
I am also working under the assumption that the perfect fifth of the chord is always going to ...
8
The + here means #: that is, A7#4. In fact, were it really accurate, it would be A7b5. The Eb in the melody is the b5 relative to the A chord (#4 being D#). It's understood in this case that the #4 replaces the normal fifth of the chord (E).
The E-7 moving to A7b5 is a sort of tritone substitution for a ii-V progression (Bb-7 Eb7) leading to the AbMaj7 that ...
-1
Maybe relevant after nine years :-)
How to sort for pitch similarity?
The method described above rests on the assumption that two pitches with ratio $a/b$ sound consonant, if $a,b$ are small numbers.
I used the function $k(a,b) = \frac{\gcd(a,b)^2}{ab}$ to measure the simplicity of the ratio, and hence the assumed consonance. If the function takes a value ...
6
First arrow indicates a repeated B, second arrow indicates an interesting (and quite 'outside') interval of a diminished FIFTH (not fourth) between F♯ and C♮.
I can't see what else the book might have been referring to. Is there any possibility of a misprint or error in translation? A diminished 5th is common. A diminished 4th is rarely encountered ...
2
Based on your "Also, my ear doesn't seem to care which note is in the base." statement, I have a feeling that your Am7-hearing problem is not your only such problem. As a result, I highly recommend training yourself to care about what the bass/lowest notes of chords are.
For example, how jarring do you find the I6/4 chord in a I-ii-I6/4-V-I chord ...
10
Out of context there's no way to tell if C6 or Am7 is the most useful 'spelling' of this chord. If your ear favours C6, that's fine.
Put it in a C, Am7, Dm7, G7 progression and I think you'll hear it one way, put it in D7♭9, G13, C6 I think you'll hear it another.
1
With its formula of 4 notes, A C E G, it could either be called Am7, or C6. Usually, the defining factor is the lowest note - that in the bass. Hearing the A lowest, Am7, hearing the C lowest, C6.
This isn't always going to be the case, though, so where it comes in the sequence will be a contributory factor. In fact, that in itself is a decision the writer ...
3
Actually, why would we want to force you to hear things differently than you do? It's your hearing, your sensitivity and you need to work with it, not against it.
The only difference between Am7 and C6 is where you hear the root of the chord, is it A or C? This may depend on many things, including inversion and voicing, timbre of the instrument and context.
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