Need to:
1. understand basic chord theory
2. working with extended chords
3. play altered, altered bass, and compound chords
4. improvising on chords
Earlier, we learned about creating solos based on a song’s existing melody.
This type of soloing certainly requires creativity but it is not pure improvisation.
True Improvisation:
–you throw out the melody and compose an entirely new melodic line based on the song’s underlying chords
–it requires an incredible amount of skill to improvise in this manner as you need a thorough understanding of chords and scale theory
This section deals with this type of from the ground up improvisation, starting with chord-based improvisation.
All songs are composed of one or more chords, on top of which flows a melody.
The chords define the harmonic structure of the song.
It is this harmonic structure that forms the basis for your improvised solos.
CHORD THEORY:
— to improvise over ason’gs chord, you have to understand all there is to know about chords.
— need to know how chords are formed, what notes they contain, how to base a solo on those chord tones
–at its most basic: a chord is a series of 3 notes stacked one above the other, spaced at an interval of a third apart.
- first note is called Root of the chord
- middle note: either a major or a minor above the root — this is called the third
- top note: a perfect 5th above the root
The basic form is called a TRIAD, cuz of those 3 notes.
Easiest way to envision this basic triad is to look at the white keys ona piano.
- place your first finger on any white key
- skip a key to the right
- place your next finger on the third white key up from the fist key
- skip another key to the right and place your 3rd finger on the 5th white key up
No matter where you started, you are now playing a chord.
Depending on the precise intervals between the 3 notes, you have 4 different types of chords:
–major
–minor
–diminished
–augmented
You need to learn all 4.
MAJOR CHORDS
a MAJOR chord is defined by themiddle note of the triad.
the middle note is a major 3rd above the root
C E G — root position
E G C — 1st inversion
G C E — 2nd inversion
An inversion is simply a different way to arrange the notes of a chord.
When the root of hte hcod is at the bottom, this is called the root inversion or root positoin.
In the 1st inversion, the 3rd is on the bottom and the root is on the top.
In the 2nd inversion, the 5th is at the bottom, with the root in the middle and the 3rd on the top.
It is imp for you to learn chords in each inversion so that you can vary the order of the notes you play in a chord based solo.
1 – 3 – 5
The major hord is a very imp chord.
Chord based on the tonic, the 4th and the 5th tones of every major scale are all major chords.
Many rock songs use only major chords, typically I-IV or I -IV – V progression.
MINOR CHORDS
A minor chords is identical to a major chord except for the 3rd.
A minor chord — the middle note is a minor 3rd above the root.
Top note still perfect 5th above root.
I b3 5
C minor chord:
C Eb G — Root
Eb G C — 1st inversion
G C Eb — 2nd inversion
the minor chord is almost as imp as the major chord.
Chords based on the 2nd, 3rd and 6th of every major scale are all minor chords.
You find minor chords in many common chord progressions including:
I ii IV V
I vi IV V
In these progressions, the minor chords are subsidiary chords with the song eventually resolving to a major chord. Obviously minor chords are more imp when playing in minor keys.
DIMINISHED CHORDS
A diminished chord is like a minor chord with a b5. The middle of the triad is a minor 3rd above the root while the the top notes is a m3 above that — a tritone above the root.
1 b3 b5
A tritone is a flatted 5th or raised 4th interval.
Using a C dim chord:
C Eb Gb — Root
Eb Gb C — Ist inversion
Gb C Eb — 2nd inversion
Diminished chords are not frequently used in popular music although they sometimes pop up in jazz tunes.
The chord based on the the 7th of the major scale is always a diminished chord.
AUGMENTED CHORDS
Our final type of triad is the augmented chord.
An augmented chord is like a major chord with a raised 5th.
The middle note of the triad is a major 3rd above the root, while the top note is a major 3rd above that — an aug 5th above the root.
1 3 #5
Like the diminished chord, augmented chords are rarely used in popular music.
there is no scale tone in the major scale from which you can naturally build an augmented chord.
WORKING WITH EXTENDED CHORDS
If you are familiar with reading music, chords can be built with more than 3 notes.
When you get above the basic traid, the other notes you add to a chord are called EXTENSIONS.
The chords themselves are called EXTENDED chords.
Chord extensions are typically added in 3rds above the basic triad.
Triad is composed of Root, 3rd, 5th, the first extension to add is the 7th, then 9th, and 11th, 13th.
Extended chords sound more hamronically sophisticated than basic traids which is why many composers like to use them. They provide more notes for you to use in a chord-based solo.
Think about it.
If you are soloingon triads only, you only have 3 notes you can play.
If you are soloing on 7th chords — you have 4 notes to work with.
If you are soloing on 9ths — you ahve 5 notes you can use.
Tip: While it is imp to eventually learn all these types of extended chords, if necessary, you can simplify the music and play a solo based on the basic triad of an extended chord.
SEVENTHS
The most common chord extension is the 7th.
It’s so common to be expected in most jazz tunes.
You create a 7th chord by adding another 3rd on top of the 5th of the basic triad: 1 3 5 7 structure — the equivalent of playing every other note in the scale.
4 Basic types of 7th chords:
- major
- minor
- dominant
- half-diminished
Major 7 & minor 7 — are sweet sounding
Dominant 7 and half-diminished 7th — have their own internal tension.
Dominant 7ths
–sometimes called the 7th chord
–takes a major triad and adds a minor 7th on top.
–1 3 5 b7
–the 5th tone of the scale is called the dominant tone, which is where the dom7th chord gets its name.
The dom7th chord is esp imp — frequently used — extension in both jazz and popular music.
When you build a 7th chord from a 5th tone of the major scale, that chord is always a dom 7.
Dom 7 chord — with its mix of major triad and m7 introduces tension to a song and helps lead the chord progression back to the tonic chord I.
Major 7ths
Maj 7th chord takes a standard major chord and adds a maj 7th on top of the existing triad.1 3 5 7
Minor 7ths
Min 7th chord takes a standard minor chord and adds a minor 7th on top of the existing 3 notes.
The 7th is actually a minor 3rd above the 5th of the chod.
1 b3 5 b7
Half diminished 7ths
–takes a dim chord and adds a m7 on top of the existing 3 notes.
–7th is actually a minor 3rd above the b5 of the chord.
— 1 b3 b5 b7
C half diminished 7 chord — Cm7 (b5)
When you add a 7th to the dim chord that falls on the 7h tone of the major scale, you always form a half-dim 7 chord.
Half dim 7 chords are seldom used in popular music but are often found in jazz.
Sixths
All chords are based on notes a third apart from each other but there is one exception to that rule: the 6th chord.
A 6th chord: basic triad with an extension added a major 2nd above the 5th of the chord — ie. a 6th above the root.
If you add a 6th to a maj chord, you have a maj 6 chord.
If you add a 6 to a minor chord, you have a min 6 chord.
The notes of maj 6 are: 1 3 5 6
min 6 — 1 b3 5 6
Ninths
A 9th chord adds another note a 3rd above the top note of the 7th chord.
–5 individual notes, each a third apart.
–you can have 9th chords based on both major and minor triads with both a maj and min 7ths.
Maj 9th: 1 3 5 7 9
Min 9th: 1 b3 5 b7 9
Dom 9th: 1 3 5 b7 9
Elevenths
An 11th chord adds another note a 3rd above the 9th for 6 notes.
When you are adding an 11th to a major or dom chord, the 11th is almost always sharped #11, esp in jazz.
When you add an 11th to a minor chord, 11th is natural note of the underlying scale.
Major 11th — 1 3 5 7 9 #11
Minor 11th — 1 b3 5 b7 9 11
Dominant 11th — 1 3 5 b7 9 #11
C Maj 11 — C E G B D F#
C min 11 — C Eb G Bb D F
C11 — C E G Bb D F#
Thirteenths
A 13th chord adds yet another note a 3rd above the 11th for 7 notes in total.
Major 13th: 1 3 5 7 9 #11 13
Minor 13th: 1 b3 5 b7 9 1 1 13
Dominant 13th: 1 3 5 b7 9 #11 13
C Maj 13: C E G B D F# A
C min 13: C Eb G Bb D F A
C 13: C E G Bb D F# A
WORKING WITH ALTERED, ALTERED BASS AND COMPOUND CHORDS
Chords can not only be extended they can be altered in a number of ways.
Altered chords
It’s possible to use flas and sharps to artificially lower or raise any of the notes of a chod.
Chords modified in this fashion are called altered chords.
You find a lotof them in jazz.
Altered notes are typically indicated by a + (for a raised note) or a b (for a lowered note).
Lowered notes are typically enclosed in parentheses.
Cm7 (b5) — this is altered chord in the form of the half – dim 7th
You can also alter a chord by adding or subtracting notes.
To add a note to a chord (typically an extension several notes above the basic traid) the added note is included within parentheses, accompanied by the word ‘add’.
For eg. to add a 9 to a basic C minor chord — Cm(add9)
To subtract a note from a chord (that is, to not play a particular note), the unwanted note is preceded by a minus sign (-).
For eg. C7-5 : you play a C7 chord but don’t play the 5th
Altered Bass Chords
Don’t confuse altered chords with altered bass chords.
In an altered bass chord, all notes of the chords are as normal but the chord is played over a different bass note. This is typically indicated by the chord followed by a slash followed by the bass note.
For eg. to indicate a C7 chord with an F in the bass –> C7/F
Compound chords
There’s the concept of the compound chord.
A compound chord is actually 2 chords combined, played one on top of the other.
compound chords are notated like a fraction with the higher chord on top and the lower chord on bottom.
For eg. F Maj 7 chord on top of a C Maj chord: FM7/C