Chord harmonisation help/suggestions

[stoken6]

I'm working on a horn arrangement for a song which features a secondary dominant (V-of-V), on which a #11 "resolves" up to a 5. Here's a simplified reduction of the relevant part:

 

So D major, bar 2 is Em (II) to E9 (VofV) with A# resolving to B. That's the trumpet line. I'm struggling to find appropriate lower notes at "?" for the other horns which include some motion (rather than duplicate the E/d/g of the next chord). This 7#11 on the VofV is a classic jazz motif, so I'm hoping some of the mighty brains on this forum can educate me on how to work that harmony to my advantage...

 

Cheers, Mike.

 

 

[jerrythek]

Try a chromatic from below... think of it as an Eb9 chord voicing slipping up into the E7#9 you"ve written. Or Eb#9 into your voicing.

 

Jerry

[harmonizer]

Here is what I would do with that measure. I found myself wanting to hear the F# in the E9, but the result did not sound complete to me until I made that E9 have 5 voices.

I don't know what the chord having the eighth note duration should be named.

I also will not offer a music theory basis for my suggestion, since I don't have one, beyond wanting to hear the F#.

It's just what I found myself wanting to hear.

[Morizzle]

Yeah, you're gonna have a hard time moving all the voices and still have it sound like a E dominant the whole time. How about prolonging the A# to a quarter note and harmonizing it with Eb/F (well, technically D#/F)?

Also, depending on the style, you might wanna lose the root notes in the voicings (I'm assuming there's a bass playing the roots).

[stoken6]

Thanks all.

 

@harmonizer, your comment was the missing link. 5 voices for E9, but only four horns - so go rootless! Drop2 on the "destination chord" gives me G#-D-F#-B. From then the preceding E7#11 didn't need too much experimentation to find something that sounds good:

Thinking of the passing chord as a F#7b13 gives me stepwise motion in 3 of the four voices, while tenor holds the D. I've got alto and tenor a only tone apart (I try and avoid intervals that are too close, as they can exaggerate tuning discrepancies), but saxes blend better than brass, so I think I'll get away with it.

 

Cheers, Mike.