Guia de Harmonia

THE GREAT SCORES GUIDE TO JAZZ HARMONY

PART ONE

Version 4.2

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CONTENTS

CHAPTER ONE: UNDERSTANDING JAZZ CHORDS 3

CHAPTER TWO: EXTENSIONS 6

CHAPTER THREE: A MULTITIDE OF CHORDS 9

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CHAPTER ONE: UNDERSTANDING JAZZ CHORDS Jazz chord symbols are often misunderstood and misread. This stems from the fact that how the chord symbol is “pronounced”, i.e. C-^ = C minor major, and what it actually “means” and sounds like (a minor triad with a major seventh), aren’t consistent. The haphazard way in which jazz chord symbols developed is largely the cause of this, and you will find different symbols in various books as well as in different countries. Jazz musicians regard chords as structures consisting of “stacked thirds”, i.e. the interval of a third repeatedly stacked on top of itself, until every note in the scale is represented. The notes of C major would thus be re-written as:

If we build a chord with these notes, it would be:

Now you can’t actually use this chord, as the 3rd of the scale (E), and the 11th (F), clash. Try playing them on their own:


This interval of a minor ninth is extremely dissonant (it does not sound good), and cannot in general be used between a 3rd and a 4th /11th of a major scale. This is the same rule that applies to traditional harmony, which states that you cannot have a 3rd and a 4th in the same major chord:

It just sounds a mess. This means you can either have the third or the fourth instead. If you use the 4th, you will see the symbol Csus, or Csus4, thus indicating that the 3rd of the chord has been suspended:

Now if we go back to our earlier jazz chord of stacked thirds, and leave out the 11th, we get the following pleasant and full-sounding chord:

So the above chord is a C major with a major 7th, major 9th and major 13th. That is too much information to squeeze into one chord symbol, which means different conventions have cropped up with time. Before we get into the methodology of jazz chord nomenclature (the system of naming chords), we have to look at the basic chord types that form the basis of more complex shapes. There are five basic 7th chords that are used in jazz theory.

The list below indicates:

1. how the chord is written (what it looks like in root position), 2. what it actually is (a major chord with a flattened seventh, etc.), 3. how the chord symbol is pronounced (i.e. how you “say” it), and 4. what symbol you might find for these chords. As there is such a

multitude of symbols, confusion can occur, even amongst professionals, on a dark bandstand, in the heat of the moment.


What the chord looks like What it is What you say Chord Symbol

C major triad with C Major 7(th) C^ /C, /C< a major 7th

C major triad with a C 7(th) C7 minor 7th

C minor triad with a C minor 7(th) C-7/Cm7/C.7/ minor 7th C>7

C diminished triad C half-diminished C -7b5/ C.7b5/Cø/ with a minor 7th Cø7

C diminished triad C diminished Cº/Cº7 with a diminished 7th

C minor triad with C minor major C-^/C.^/ a major 7th C., You might have come across this list without the C-^. I, however, have included the minor-major type of chord, as in my opinion it represents a separate tonality (sound) from the “normal” minor seventh chord.


CHAPTER TWO: EXTENSIONS In terms of seventh chords the list covers all the basic chord types you will find in jazz:

• Major Seventh • Seventh • Minor Seventh • Half-Diminished • Diminished

As you will have gathered, what a chord actually is, and what it is called is not always logical. A C7 chord should really be called a C major chord with a flat seventh (as the note B flat is the flattened 7th of the C major scale). However, this type of chord (a dominant seventh chord) is much more common in jazz than major chords with a major seventh. This is the reason why the dominant 7th gets the shorter chord symbol (C7), as it is faster to write. Strictly speaking the chord symbol should actually be: Cb7, as the seventh is flattened, but it is not. Now jazz does not just consist of seventh chords only (chords that use the seventh note of the scale). The music of jazz also uses 9ths, 11ths and 13ths. These are called extensions, and in order to understand how they are used in symbols, let us get back to our original chart of C major.

The chart above shows all notes in their natural state, i.e. without being raised or flattened. Concerning the 9th, 11th and 13th, the chord symbols are consistent insofar as that if an alteration has occurred, it will be represented in the chord symbol. I point this out, as it is not the case with the 7th, as we have seen with the chord symbol of C7 that should actually be called Cb7. Thus raised or sharpened 9ths, 11ths and 13ths are:


I have included the 5th in this diagram, as we will come across raised 5ths in our chord symbols. Raised roots, 3rds and 7ths do not exist, as

• a raised root would denote a different chord all together • a raised third is merely a natural 4th • a raised 7th is merely a root again.

The equivalent chart for flattened extensions is therefore:

Again, I have included the altered (in this case flattened) 5th, as it occurs in chord symbols. Flattened 11ths do not as such exist, as a flattened 11 would be a natural third. In theory one could come up with such a construction, in practice this makes little sense however. When is a 13th not a 6th? You may have come across the chord symbol C% , which with our current knowledge should be a written as C9/13. But it is not, and that is due to the fact that there is no 7th in this particular chord, be that natural or flattened. Jazz chords work hierarchically with extensions. The order of this hierarchy is given in our chart: 1 3 5 7 9 11 13. Let me explain by using a few examples.

The chord above is a C9 , not a C7@2 or a C7/9. The D in the chord has to be read as a nine, as there is a 7th present, and in our hierarchy the 7th precedes the 9th. In reality the chord should be written C7/9, however it is common practice to spell it as C9, as the presence of the 9th indicates the existence of a 7th, and it is therefore assumed that is must be a flattened 7th, as this is the more common type of 7th. However, were there no B flat in the chord, the D would be generally regarded as a 2, and not a 9. There is one exception: if the composer is deliberately seeking a C major chord with a D above the chord. In that case the symbol C add9 is employed.


Similarly, if a 6th is present, then the D has to be regarded as a 9th, and in order to indicate that no 7th is used the chord symbol C% is used. The three chords we have looked at with the appropriate symbols therefore are:

The existence of a 7th therefore determines whether a

• 2 is a 9 • 4 is an 11 • 6 is a 13.


CHAPTER THREE: A MULTITIDE OF CHORDS Let us now have a look at the different type of extensions that can be found in jazz chords. The list below is not intended to be comprehensive, but it covers the most commonly tread territory.


N.B. The last four chords are commonly referred to as slash chords. A slash chord with a forward slash, for example C/E, indicates a chord (C major triad), and its root (E). A slash chord with a horizontal slash (-) indicates two chords superimposed (the last chord in our list for example, where a D major triad is superimposed on a C major triad). The only way to really get used to the spelling of chord symbols is by using and reading them frequently. They are commonly used in all types of real books, bumper books and busking books, in many types of music bar classical. So look at the chord symbols in our charts, be prepared to make mistakes, but learn from them. The truth of the matter is There is one more important aspect to point out. What we have learnt about chord symbols, and what actually happens on a jazz bandstand are two different things altogether. For example, instead of spelling out C,13, it is much more common to just write C^, or C<. It is therefore implied that the pianist or guitarist should use the extensions of a 9th and 13th as he sees fit, vary them, etc. Jazz is improvisation after all, and spontaneity is the spice of life. Furthermore, the way in which a pianist or guitarist might voice that chord, i.e. in which order he chooses to play the notes, is again entirely up to him. If a bass player is present, there is no need to play the root of the chord, for example. He can play the chord symbol C^ in as many ways as he can think of, for example:

Or any other way he might consider. Furthermore he might choose to reharmonise the chord to a different type, i.e. he might change it to a C7 if he believes this would aid the music and the soloist will be able to react to his change easily enough. This type of “off the cuff” reharmonisation will normally only be found among band members who know each other’s playing very well and trust each other, something only gained with time and experience.


Coming Up In Part Two

THE GREAT SCORES GUIDE TO JAZZ HARMONY PART TWO

is currently in preparation.

Have you always wanted your own backing band at home, ready at the push of a button? In that case, why not take a look at our Jazz Backing

Tracks page?

Interested in learning how to improvise from scratch? Then our Jazz Improvisation Guide will be the right thing for you. Complete with

sound files that explain all the musical examples, this guide requires no previous knowledge of improvisation and takes a gentler pace than other

text books do.

All that, and much more can be found at:

www.greatscores.com


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