Jazz chord progressions?

[bloodsample]

Can you list some short dense jazz chord progressions?

 

What I want to get from this is just examples of the kind of chords people are playing. Many times I hear musicians playing really dense chord voicings that I can't identify. I'm sure the lead sheet would say something like Am7, but they would add just the right notes and pick just the right voicing to make it sound nothing like an Am7 (well close, but you know what I mean).

 

So what I want from you jazz cats is just to list some random jazz progressions that you know sound good, but I want you to list the full detail of the chords (ie what color are you adding to them? b5, #11, b9, wtvr) And also maybe list the voicing you're using.

 

Details of what I'm looking for:

 

I don't want your standard rhythm changes or blues chord progressions, nor do I want your standard II V I progressions. I'm looking for some modern sounding jazz progressions so that I can see what the pros are doing and then study it. Yes I know, I can listen to some records and transcribe it, but I have trouble hearing those middle notes when the chords are really dense, and since I know there are many talented jazz musicians here, I figured why not ask.

 

Keep the progressions short, I don't want 32 bar standard lead sheets but short extracts of chord progressions you like to solo over or whatever.

 

I'm hoping Marino, Burningbusch and Dave Horne could chime in on this as I've come to learn that you guys are pretty talented musicians.

 

Thanks in advance folks.

[David R]

There's a few different lineages running through jazz right now. There's the harmonic tradition that goes from Bird and the whole bebop school through the Giant Steps/Countdown matrices of Coltrane, and then mellows out a bit in Wayne Shorter's work. There's also a polytonal/polychordal tradition - Kenny Wheeler and David Binney have a lot of triad over foreign bass; Bob Brookmeyer and Maria Schneider are coming out of the 20th-century classical school (in some ways, as filtered by Gil Evans) and have some really dense harmonies. Brookmeyer's made no bones about his interest in Lutoslawski's music (12-note chords!).

 

And then there's the school of chords derived through counterpoint, melody or other not-necessarily-purely-harmonic methods: Gil Evans does this a fair bit; Dave Douglas and Don Byron have a fair amount of tunes with minimal chord symbols - rather they have interweaving lines that create harmonies. And then there's the school of lines, no changes (Ornette, Paul Bley).

 

My suggestion would be to check out some scores - Kenny Wheeler and Maria Schneider have published books of scores (McGill has them) that you can check out. I got into this with my piano teacher this past year and he had me checking out Ives' "Central Park in the Dark" and Schoenberg's "Farben" (from Five Pieces for Orchestra). Also check out Stravinsky's polytonality in any of his major works.

 

David

[Bridog6996]

I'm a little confused. Are you looking for chord progressions, chord voicings, or both? The first part of your post talks about voicings, then you start talking about wanting specific progressions. By the end, I was like, "huh?" Maybe narrow your question a little bit.

 

I would suggest looking at some fake books, try to find some tunes that have interesting chord progressions (check out some Wayne Shorter tunes), and study those.

 

Finally, just getting "pieces" of chord progressions won't really help you, because you'll miss the context. But anyway, here goes:

 

I always liked the first four bars of Wayne Shorter's "Fee Fi Fo Fum," which goes:

 

Eb7(#11) D7(#9) | G-7 AbMa7 | BMa7 D7 | D-7 G7 |

 

...and it goes on from there.

[InfoSal]

Get a copy of Luke Gillespie's 'Stylistic ii VI's'

 

Has every possible hip New York jazz voicing under the sun for D-7 G7 C

 

I don't think people have time to write a whole book for you on this forum.

[Jazzwee]

Let's not pooh pooh a ii-V-I progression. It is the foundation of jazz for a reason. When one talks about a ii-V-I it is in the context typically of modulations, such as a Giant Steps with ii-V in keys moving in thirds for example. So what may seem as some complex jazz progression may actually just a series of moving ii-V's in a series of keys. There are lots of tunes with various combinations of these. You almost have to pick one so it can be dissected.

 

And I am equally as confused as Bridog6996 since a voicing is a different issue from a progession. Even a simple single key ii-V-I can sound very jazzy if we lay on the alterations, which can equal every note in the scale and then some. Depends on how far you want to go.

 

Another issue with progressions is: are you looking at modal tunes or standards since that at least breaks out the types of progressions you had in mind.

 

This can be kind of an endless topic.

 

So if you have a tune in mind, let us know so it can at least frame the discussion.

[Dave Horne]

Let's not pooh pooh a ii-V-I progression. It is the foundation of jazz for a reason.

Exactly. Before I would go further upstream, I'd make sure that I have the ii-V-I changes under my fingers in all keys - major and minor. Believe me, when you start figuring things out in all keys you'll accidentally bump into ideas and ways of thinking you haven't scratched.

 

Work on the basic changes in all keys first.

 

A set of changes I'm working through all keys at the moment looks like this in C major - C, G+/B (or B+), Eø7/Bb, A7, Dø7/Ab, G7, C. Not dense or extremely exciting, but it's being worked through every key. Of course, I embellish the chords as I go.

 

Basics first, the extra stuff comes automatically.

[Trill]

I have to agree with Jazzwee and Dave. The 2-5-1 is the the foundation.The sparkle comes from altering or embellishing chords. Chord substitutions and things like backcycling .

If you understand the basics and you know all the keys like Dave suggested. You can dress up a basic 2-5-1 pretty quickly.

 

I think one of the best ways to learn them is to go up a 4th in the key and go all the way around the cycle.

 

Key of C ---Dm7,G7,CM7

Key of F ---Gm7,C7,FM7

'' '' Bb ---Cm7,F7,BbM7..... all the way around till you get back to C, you will find yourself finding all the inversions you can muster to simplify moving your hands which is a good thing

 

Then do it it with alterations and embellishments

 

 

Dm9,G7#5 or G13,CM9..etc , Again all the way around

 

Next time substitute

 

Dm9, Db7 (flat 5 of the 5 chord) , CMaj9. Again all the way around the cycle up a 4th. And once again you will find yourself trying to find all types of inversions to help yourself out.

 

 

These are just basic examples that I use to practice with. For sake of time I have not given a lot more examples such as substituting diminished chords or minor for major.And other alterations.

 

The thing is ,with a good basic knowledge of the foundation,you can do a lot when you apply the theory behind all the window dressing ,so to speak.

And that has to come from studying some jazz theory.

[Phil W]

Great responses guys! I wish I'd read this forum ten years ago. Bloodsample, you've got enough to work on I think - see Mark Levine's The Jazz Theory book for actual exmples of voicings to use in these situations (and all the theory). He has great examples transcribed from everybody from Hancock to Tyner to Bud Powell.

[stoo schultz]

This is not the greatest medium for posting written music. Maybe in a couple years the "full reply form" will have an option for notation, which would be nice since this is a music forum.

 

If I were you bloodsample I'd pick up Phil DeGreg's book Jazz Keyboard Harmony (take a look here ). Or either of Mark Levine's books would work too. You can't go wrong with either author.

[linwood]

Here's an easy one. it's only six bars long and just loop it and keep blowin'. Here's the audio and here's the midi . You can dl the midi and load it into your seq and see what's happening. you can go a lot of places with something like this. A simple but effective set of changes. First just play quarters through it and see where you have to go, then try 8's. It'll keep you busy for a couple weeks.....

[linwood]

Yo...here's another one for ya. A while back Dave Horne had a reharm the bridge to GFI going. Ever since, I've been playin' the bridge like THIS. A little weird at first, but fun to play it this way sometimes. Cool for the solo, but a little bit harder than the other one I posted above.

[marino]

Hi bloodsample - If you want that 'modern' jazz sound, but don't have a lot of experience, the best point to start is to have your Bil Evans voicings (A and B forms, as Mehegan calls them)under control. Start with the II-V-I in all major and minor keys, then try to voice entire progressions with those voicings. From there, you can proceed to Chick Corea-style three-note voicings, and to quartal harmony. Also, while doing that, you can progress from swing-era standards to jazz pieces by Coltrane, Shorter, Hancock, etc.

 

To understand modern jazz harmony, you have to get a couple of basic concepts:

 

1) A modern jazzer tends to consider every chord as a mode or scale, and harmonize with mode fragments. So for a Dm7, for example, you could use any of the following left-hand voicings (bottom to top):

 

C-F-A

D-G-C

E-F-A

F-G-A-D

C-F-G

D-G-A

G-C-D

A-D-E

E-A-B-C

E-A-D

plus many, many others.

 

Now, you understand that if you add the right hand to the picture, the possibilities to build block chords with different 'colors' are really endless. There's a lot of work to do. Also consider this: Often, a voicings works well because of what comes before and after that; it's the succession of various voicings what creates the effect.

 

2) Modern improvisers have the choice to go in and out the chord/scale/mode, in other words, they sometimes respect the written symbols literally, sometimes they add passing chords and substitute harmonies, and sometimes they go simply 'off' - especially when the chord is of long duration. There are dozens of different ways of doing that, and it would be too long a subject to discuss here; I'll just mention that one of the first pianists to play in this way was McCoy Tyner in the '60s, with his excursions one semitone above and below the given chord/scale.

 

As you see, there are no shortcuts to 'that' sound; it includes a lot of possibilities, and you have to approach it with a solid knowledge of what came before. The reward of this long work is immense, and it's called freedom.

 

That said, if you want a taste of what can be done with modern jazz harmony, I would start with some transcription (not a lead sheet) of Herbie Hancock's "Dolphin Dance". It's a long and articulate tune, full of rich harmonies and elusive voicings. It defies analyis at many points, but it sounds fluent and logical nonetheless.

 

Just food for thought. Sorry for the slightly professoral tone - I tend to take these matters seriously.

 

Carlo

[burningbusch]

Blood, question. Are you looking to learn jazz or are you looking for some two-four measure, hipnotic, jazzy progressions for a neo-soul/rap situation?

 

Busch.

[Michelle ggurl]

Lots of good suggestions here. I'll just add some thoughts:

 

Once you get deeper into ii-V-I, you'll see connections between that and other progressions ... like Dave's above with the chromatically descending bass/root, for example (think tritone substitution).

 

Try doing ii-Vs around the cycle of fourths, for example. One thing you'll end up with is the common turnaround iii-VI-ii-V-(I). So starting on C: Cm7-F7-Bbm7-Eb7 ... and you can keep going if you want: Abm7-Db7 ... get it? and resolve to a Major 7th chord that has its root a 4th above the last dominant 7th you play (or, a 5th below ... that would be a "V7-I" of a ii-V-I).

 

Is all that too basic? Too complicated? Or along the lines of what you're looking for?

 

Not sure if you want voicings or progressions ... there are voicing combinations within ii-V-I and other progressions that sound good together. Some people call these "open" and "quartal" voicings (that's what I call them too) but I think these are the same as what I've heard others call "upper structure" voicings (is this correct? Anyone?), where notes from one chord lead well into the next. Is this what you're after?

[bloodsample]

Hi all,

 

Thanks for your replies.. jeez I'm sorry for the confusion, I've obviously generated lots of question marks.

 

Ok let me try to be more clear. First off, no, I'm not trying to get some 5 bar progression for a rap/hip hop song, nor am I trying to "just learn jazz" as I've been doing that for a while now and now I'm trying to "expand jazz".

 

Ok so what I meant with the whole voicings vs progression talk is that I wanted people to list some modern chord progressions along with the voicings used for those chords (this is why I didn't want long progressions, to save you time.)

 

I do understand the value of the ii-V-I and I've played it in all keys along with a basic repeating "solo" over them. What I wanted was a kind of teacher-student relationship with you guys, not a author-reader relationship. I've read my share of jazz theory books but they all seem to list either just progressions or seperately list all freaking chords possible in the appendix (excuse the language). I don't want a reference manual, I want a list of modern jazz chord progressions along with the voicings for those chords best suited for that progression.

 

I was hoping for everyone here to give their favourite progressions (+voicings) so that I could print it out and bring it to the ole' piano and try them out. I like learning based on pattern studying, I've been doing it for most styles of music. I like to play pieces and then think about why each note is where it is. This is particularely fun with classical music.

 

So basically: List modern jazz chord progressions along with the voicings used in each chord (I know this is teadious to type, but it would inspire lots of people here to go play it and learn how the big boys think).

 

I understand that this is something you learn with time and it is a compilation of various elements of theory combined. I'm not trying to find a "shortcut" or anything like that, I'm just trying to expand my knowledge by feeding off other people's thoughts and then dicing it up to analyzie it.

 

David R. : Thanks for the references, I'm gonna try to check those books out of the McGill library (do you think all faculties have access to the music library)?

 

Again thanks to all who took the time to try and understand my post.

[Jazzwee]

Originally posted by bloodsample:

So basically: List modern jazz chord progressions along with the voicings used in each chord (I know this is teadious to type, but it would inspire lots of people here to go play it and learn how the big boys think).

Hi Bloodsample, I think everyone here has given you answers related to the question but perhaps it didn't completely sink in. So let me try to piece it all together for you.

 

1. ii-V-I progressions are in fact the source of modern jazz progressions, or older jazz progressions. The age of the tune does not signify a lack of "Modern-ness".

 

2. It's been said over and over above so I will restate it simply. A ii-V-I progression is practically in every non-modal jazz tune. The only issue is that you may not recognize it. Thus a ii-V-I is a modern (or traditional jazz progression -- either way).

 

3. The reason you may not recognize a ii-V-I progression is that

 

(a) there are usually frequent changes of keys (modulation), (Thus a seemingly complex tune like Giant Steps is nothing more than ii-V-I's in changing keys - do you know this tune?).

 

(b) there are substitution chords (such as tritone substitutions, diminished substitutions, too many to list here).

 

© the voicing may be vague -- by intent like fourth chord voicings.

 

(d) they don't always resolve to the I chord before it jumps off to something else.

 

4. Thus most examples that will be given of chord progressions will still be based on a ii-V-I. A typical turnaround progression for example is IV-vii-III-vi-ii-V-I. Even this is based on the ii-V-I when further analyzed (which I will not attempt to do here).

 

Given the fact that the chord progression ii-V-I is something you already know about, but perhaps do not know how to apply, my original suggestion is that you pick a tune. Some progression YOU LIKE. And we can help break it down for you. Otherwise an abstract question like this is never ending.

 

Now please understand that I am not being facetious when I say pick a tune here. I think many here will jump to help once you get specific. The reason I ask you to pick a tune is that in Jazz, everything is based on listening. The whole style is based on listening. So we are all used to referring to a particular track and making comments about it in some fashion, or doing a transcription.

 

You are trying to find a good way to learn this. I think learning from an abstract chord progression (of a few limited bars) is not the proper way. I think you need to pick the songs you like and analyze those. Many here will probably know those songs and will analyze it for you with hardly a sweat (it gets easy after awhile when you learn how to dig for ii-V-I's-- trust me...).

 

So listening to the masters is the way we have learned jazz. In the tradition of Teacher-to-Student, I would recommend that you learn it the same way. And we can provide the help.

 

If you don't have a good source of jazz music to listen to, here's a link to our local radio station, KKJZ JazzandBlues.org . Listen for awhile and if something piques your curiousity, there is a playlist identifying the tune.

 

Then come on back with a specific. I'm sure it will be 100 times more productive for you.

 

Good luck.

 

 

Best,

 

Jazzwee

[Dave Horne]

I think it's worth noting that many of us here did not learn, at least initially, keyboard voicings from a book, we played and experimented - we used our ears and asked other players who played a little better. For me, at least, the learning process has more value if you figure things out for yourself with a little guidance from a teacher.

 

The above paragraph might seem to contradict some of the views I hold - learning music theory from a text book, for instance, but almost all of the players I know learned by simply playing and asking, just like you, a lot of questions. If you don't have a teacher, get one. You will save yourself a lot of time. You don't need to be spoon fed the information, just a nudge here and there to point you along the path.

 

When you come across something you like ... an idea, a lick, a figure, a motif, a chord voicing, ... whatever, be sure to analyse it and file that information away. So, hook up with someone in your area who plays and who can spend some time with you.

[Phil W]

Bloodsample, you're getting some quality advice. Use the hints and listen. All the replies on this post would be very useful to follow up and would lead you further than a list of voicings in a progression. As I said though (while I concur with Dave's last post) Levine's books do have exactly what you are looking for.

 

"A modern jazzer tends to consider every chord as a mode or scale, and harmonize with mode fragments. " What a stunningly concise and insightful sentence!

[bloodsample]

Thanks for your replies.

 

Phil you're right, everyone has given me good advice, I guess I was hoping for a direct list of progressions rather than a redirection, but that's ok.

 

Yes I've heard Giant Steps and I'm aware of the circle of fifths. As for the ii-V-I, ok I understand that this is a foundation for modern chord progressions but that's exactly what I don't want: another variation. I was hoping for some original modern sounding progressions that are uncommon.

 

Dave H. : I did learn everything I know by listening (ie by ear). Only later did I start looking at theory books and taking lessons (both jazz and classical, although I never had the patience for classical music mainly cause I suck at sight reading).

 

I can pick a thousand tunes to give you guys to analyze, but that is not what I want (right now).

 

For example take burningbusch's midi file from his purgatorycreek.com site (the one he uses in the piano showcase). Mainly the first part of the "tune" (from 00:12 to 00:30. I want to learn to voice chords like that so that they sound more "jazz".

 

I guess my main problem are chord voicings, but I wanted you guys to list progressions so that I see how a voicings change as the chords progress and what voicings are more approriate for certain progressions.

 

Right now I feel that when I play lead sheets, my voicings sound really basic and more pop-jazz than jazz-jazz if you kow what I mean. I mean there's only so much flavour you can get with 3-7 voicings. When I see a chord like "Abm7b9" or whatever, I play litteraly that. But I know that there are variations and voicings for this that would make it sound more modern. I want to know what people think about when they pick voicings and add color tones. For example, my jazz combo teacher first showed me that 4-th interval voicing that Chick and Herbie use often (eg. D-G-C) and told me to play it within the mode. When I discovered this I was amazed at how "herbie" it sounded, yet I would have never thought of playing that. The kicker is, combo leader was a guitar player .

 

I guess the quote "A modern jazzer tends to consider every chord as a mode or scale, and harmonize with mode fragments. " best describes this. So should I look at the mode a certain progression is in and pick notes out of that to add? How should I approach picking the right voicings? I know this depends on the tune, but are there any general rules of thumb?

 

Actually, let's take autumn leaves, the most covered, known and most standard jazz tune. On a plane lead sheet, it's nothing but tradition. How would you voice the chords in let's say the first A section so that it sounds "modern". (I picked autumn leaves cause most people will know it by heart, but if you want to tackle any other fairly known standards, be my guests).

 

I feel like I'm generating some anger and frustration from some of you because my questions and needs are all over the place, but I thank you for baring with me.

 

 

BS.

[linwood]

This might sound weird but..have you even checked out the midi files that come with The Modern Jazz Pianist for Band in a Box. Buy the jazz stuff for Band in a box. Tons of info!! Go to their site and watch the demo on the MJP. It might be just what you're lookin' for.

[Jazzwee]

Bloodsample,

 

Believe it or not we've made a little progress here. Yes it is the voicing that give's that familiar jazzy sound and yes, reading a leadsheet and playing it literally will not give you a jazzy sound.

 

Some general background. There are normally two kinds of jazz progressions, (a) those that have a constant change of tension and release, (b) and the drony stay in one place kind of progression called modal.

 

The (a) is achieved through a ii-V-I and (b) is usually something that stays unresolved within the chord changes. Examples of modal tunes are "So What","Maiden Voyage", "Footprints". Modal tunes do not have 2-5-1's.

 

You made statements of uncommon progressions. A jazz composer would take to mean to come up with some variation to a 2-5-1 since that is the epitomization of the concept of "tension" and "release". The variations as I already said above would make the 2-5-1 unrecognizable to you. This is the key here to your "uncommon" progression. That is all it is.

 

Back to voicings. Here are some common techniques you can apply to tunes like Autumn Leaves (this assumes you are starting with the voicing as written of 1-3-5-7).

 

MAJOR CHORDS

Add a 9th, Add a 6th, Remove the Root and Remove 7th.

 

MINOR CHORDS

Add a 9th, Remove the Root.

 

DOMINANT CHORDS

This is where you can go to town.

 

Remove the root.

 

Then you may add any of the following and the sound is up to you.

 

b9, 9, #9, 11, #11(b5), b13, 13

 

Start with one of the 9ths and one of the 13ths. There is a little theory in here and that is that the Dominant 7 is the one typically with the most alterations (i.e. the most jazzy sound).

 

Thus in a typical jazz progession, that strong jazzy sound is coming from the V chord (dominant). This high tension sound has to be released somehow and thus is expected to go to I (the major chord) to sound good. This is why a ii-V-I is a required element to the really jazzy sound you hear.

 

Also sometimes the effect is achieved the opposite way -- and that is by subtraction of notes. For example many chords are expressed as simply "3 and 7". Or "1, 11, 8" for a spacey feel. A lot of this is discussed in the early chapters of Mark Levine's Jazz Piano Book.

 

As a "Modal" experiment (progressions that don't resolve), do some chromatic major chords using the voicings above for major chords. Like C, Db, D. You will find it to be quite "jammable". Chromatic chord progressions are also ii-V-I's. But are substituted and altered so you can't tell.

 

I'm telling you a lot here. Read carefully. Many little tidbits. Please ask if anything requires clarification.

[Dave Horne]

I feel like I'm generating some anger and frustration from some of you because my questions and needs are all over the place, but I thank you for baring with me.

Well, this forum is not really set up for easily viewing music manuscript. Also, the amount of time needed to really write a good answer for your questions would really be better answered in a private lesson ... and that's going to be difficult online.

 

What I'm going to write may not apply to you but I see this all the time with music university students who come to me for a lesson. I start quizzing them about the basics and of course, they all know the basics. I'll ask one to play an Ab major scale, not a simple blues in Ab major or even an extended ii V7 in Ab major, just a simple Ab major scale. In one case the student, not a freshman, stumbled through the scale making mistakes and playing very slowly. He said he knew the basics. He didn't.

 

All of the advice given here is given with the best of intentions but you're not going to be given a real lesson on the internet, you really need to have a human being next to you. You can buy books and learn all kinds of voicings but I bet you could probably figure most of that stuff out by yourself with a decent teacher standing next to you.

 

If you really like the chords and voicings being used by a particular player, play that CD hundreds of times and try to figure out on your own what exactly he's doing. A transcription might speed things up but only if you analyse what is on the paper.

 

This probably wasn't the answer you were looking for.

[InfoSal]

Great post Marino!

 

What exactly do you mean by "Chick Corea-style three-note voicings"? Are you talking about fourth chord voicings?

 

Or do you mean those voicings such as E-F-A which can be used for D-7, G7 and FMaj7

[Steve Force]

Originally posted by Jazzwee:

...

MAJOR CHORDS

Add a 9th, Add a 6th, Remove the Root and Remove 7th.

 

...

Jazzwee--just so that I understand, would the sequence (steps) be:

1. the major chord,

2. the major chord plus a 9th,

3. the major chord plus the 9th AND 6th,

4. the major chord (minus the root) plus the 9th and 6th,

5. the major chord (minus the root AND 7th )plus the 9th and 6th.

 

Or am I out to lunch here?

 

Thanks.

[soundscape]

This is becoming a great thread.

[Phil W]

Yes, this kind of thread and the fantastic level of knowledge and eloquence on this forum are leading me to hang out here more and more. Hope you don't mind an interloper!

[marino]

Originally posted by InfoSal:

Great post Marino!

 

What exactly do you mean by "Chick Corea-style three-note voicings"? Are you talking about fourth chord voicings?

II-V-I in F major

 

Bottom to top:

 

F-Bb-D for Gm7

E-Bb-D for C7

E-A-D for Fmaj7

 

or

 

Bb-F-A for Gm7

Bb-E-A for C7

A-D-G for Fmaj7

 

These voicings are derived from Bill Evans 4-note voicings, minus one note. They are more suited to Chick's percussive/rythmic playing, and work well on electric pianos, where the Bill Evans voicings would be too dense. They have something of the 'quartal' quality of McCoy Tyner modal playing (the voicing for I is a pure quartal), but applied to tonal progressions.

[Jazzwee]

Originally posted by forceman:

Jazzwee--just so that I understand, would the sequence (steps) be:

1. the major chord,

2. the major chord plus a 9th,

3. the major chord plus the 9th AND 6th,

4. the major chord (minus the root) plus the 9th and 6th,

5. the major chord (minus the root AND 7th )plus the 9th and 6th.

 

Or am I out to lunch here?

 

Thanks.

Hi Forceman, thanks for showing interest!

 

Some assumptions here. There is a bass player so I'm showing rootless voicings and more dense than Marino's (or Bill Evans). This is all a matter of style. So my voicings are based on 4 notes on the left hand.

 

So here's a ii-V-I voicing in C.

 

Example CMaj7 Form:

 

Instead of

C E G B ( 1-3-5-7 )

 

you would do a Cmaj9(13)

 

Inversion1: E G A D (3 5 13(6) 9)

or

Inversion2: A D E G (13 9 3 5)

 

Then if you want to make it a block chord with the right hand, you would add a 5 - 1 on the right (G C).

 

The elements here are the missing root, which is substituted with a 9th, and the 7th is substituted with a 13th(6th). Lots of tension between 5 and 13 here since they are voiced closed together in this instance.

 

Example Dmin7 form:

D F A C (1 3 5 b7)

 

would be:

Inversion1: F A C E (3 5 b7 9 )

or

Inversion2: C E F A (b7 9 3 5 )

 

To not destroy the minor quality of the chord, typically the minor is not altered much except for the 9th.

 

 

Example G7 form:

G B D F (1 3 5 b7)

 

Could be:

F A B D (b7 9 3 13) G7(9)(13)

or

F Ab B D (b7 9 3 13) G7(b9)(13)

or

F A B Db (b7 9 3 13) G7(9)(b13)

I did not bother with inversions here but you move the 3 to the bottom.

 

This is where it could be endless but the above are probably very good basic ones.

 

There are other possibilities to the above style (aside from other variations to the theme) but usually has effects on the resolving tendency of the chord (such a using 4ths/11ths), which is intended for the spacey non-resolving style.

 

Like I said earlier, even playing a progression like DMaj9(13) DbMaj9(13) CMaj9(13) has already a nice modal quality to it and it is nothing more than substitution to a ii-V-I in the key of C.

 

By the way, this is just basic jazz theory stuff. I'm not doing anything particularly advanced here. There are others who can expand on this for days with more theory but it is a lot of stuff to write.

[Steve Force]

OK, now I see what you were describing.

 

Thank you for the clarification/amplification!

[burningbusch]

Blood,

 

Here's a quick version of Autumn Leaves. It is basic; not a radical reharm by any means. I don't know if this is the style you're looking for. In contrast to other posts above regarding rootless voicings, this is standard shell/Bud Powell voicing in the bass (7ths, 3rds, 10ths), for the most part.

 

Shell (Powell) and rootless (Evans) are the two main voicings you're going to need to master. Shell mainly for intros, solo piano; rootless for when playing with a bass player.

 

I'll take a look at the section in of the demo file you mentioned above, when I get a chance.

 

http://www.purgatorycreek.com/img/autumn.jpg

I updated the file. If the 3rd to the last chord is not a C7, then REFRESH.

 

 

Busch.