Session 9a
Chord Clusters
'Chord clusters' are also an effective way of creating a rich harmony.
The following example uses chord clusters for the same phrase as in Session 9.
Remember to click on the manuscript in order to listen to each example.
Note that in this sequence, tritone substitutions have been made;
B7 has become F7, A7 has become Eb7, G7 has become Db7.
This is also a good example of harmonic progression through the circle of keys. Here is an interesting improvisation on the same sequence;
Altered chords and substituions obviously give plenty of scope for altering related scales in corresponding ways. Here is an example from Gershwin's 'It Ain't Necessarily So' how related scales can be altered in improvisations.
It has been said that 'jazz' is about what happens in the 'gaps'.
Here are some useful phrases for filling in those gaps.
The first is taken from an arrangement of Gershwin's 'But Not For Me'.
The next is from the same composer's ''S Wonderful'
Dave Brubeck's wonderful ability for harmonic contrasts
is also worth imitating.
Here are the opening few bars of his 'One Moment Worth Years'.
Here is a very useful 'turnaround' from Bud Powell's
'Bouncing With Bud'.
This can also be practised in the common keys (at least)
to great advantage.
Next we have a sequence of 'two-five-one's' which again,
is a useful addition to the jazz player's 'box of tricks'.
A word about 'sus' chords. In the example above, the 'V' chord is altered
to include a 'sus' part.
Sus chords have been an everyday sound in jazz since the 1960's,
although Duke Ellington and Art Tatum were playing them in the 1930's.
A simple rule to consruct a sus chord is:- add to the chord a major triad,
the root of which is a whole tone below the root of the original chord.
Hence the F#7sus chord includes the triad of E major.
The E7sus chord is altered by adding the D major triad and so on.
The added triad can also be extended to incude the major seventh if appropriate.
The main object of altering chords in this way, is to enhance the beauty of the harmonic progression.
Slash Chords
The simplest definition of a 'Slash Chord' is "a triad over a bass note."
The following example is taken from Kaper's "Green Dolphin Street", which has three chromatically descending slash chords
(D7/C , Db/C and C maj7).
Click on the manuscript to listen to the example.
Slash chords are often used to reharmonise jazz standards. Changing the harmony in this way often makes the tunes sound fresh and new.
Lesson 10