Maj7 chords have a great open yet resolved sound, but even if they sound very much at rest you can easily use them in some very interesting chord substitution concepts.
In this video, I am going to show you some of the great sounding chord progressions you can make using maj7 chords in chord substitution, and later in the video, I am going to show you how changing one note in the voicing gives you a lot more beautiful sounds.
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The most important chord progression in Jazz is probably the II V I. It is every where and we play it all the time. But if we play it all the time then it is also important to have a lot of different ways to play these jazz chords.
In this video I am going to take a look at 10 different ways you can embellish and add some variation to your II V I comping and chord melody playing.
The Examples on the II V I Chord Progression are different ways to use line-clichés, passing chords and secondary dominants.
#1 Stairway To Heaven
The first example is using the descending line-cliche associated with Stairway to Heaven or My Funne Valentine. This way of adding some extra movement and color to a II V I is a great addition to your chord melody or comping vocabulary.
#2 James Bond
A similar and equally famous idea is this use of the line-cliché on the 5th of the minor chord.
In this example it is working great as a way to add a chromatic approach that lands on the V chord. Usually it is all on Dm and the movement A A# B is related to Dm. Here the B is used as a target and marks the transition to G7.
#3 Diatonic Passing Chords
Adding Diatonic Passing chords is a fantastic way to add movement to a chord progression. Notice that this way of comping the II V I would still work if the bass player is still playing a regular II V I bass line.
The Passing chords are really just adding two chords so that the progression walks up from Dm7 to G7. Looking for step-wise or 4th intervals in the bassline are both strong and common ways to add passing chords like this.
#4 Tritone Substitution
The Tritone substitution is a very powerful way to add some extra tension and color to a II V I cadence. In this example I am substituting a Db7 for the G7 and creating a top-note melody that helps move the progression along.
#5 Tritone II V Progression
Taking the tri-tone idea a step further is to substitute the G7 with a complete II V, so in this case an Abm7 Db7.
The idea is roughly speaking the same as #4 but instead of just using the Db7 it is now a complete II V: Abm7 Db7.
This example is played as a continuous stream of chords and a great little chromatic inner-voice movement on the Cmaj7
#6 Secondary Dominants
A variation of the Tritone substitution is also to use it as a secondary dominant. In the example below I am using Ab7 to pull towards the G7. So here Ab7 is a tritone substitute of D7, the secondary dominant of G7.
#7 Borrowing Minor Cadence
Modal Interchange is a great way to add color to a cadence. When ever we use a G7(b9) in a II V I in C major it is actually a dominant that is borrowed from C minor.
In this example I am borrowing an entire cadence, so first a bar of Dm7 and then followed by the minor cadence Dø G7 before resolving to Cmaj7
#8 Chromatic Passing Chord
Chromatic Passing Chords are a really useful addition to your comping and chord melody vocabulary.
This example is approaching the G7 from a half-step below. The idea is to have an F#7 at the end of the Dm7 bar that then resolves to G7 in the second bar.
#9 Neapolitan Subdominant
The Neapolitan Subdominant is an overlooked way to color cadences. In this example I am using the Dbmaj7 as a way to add a different color and pull to the Cmaj7.
The Neapolitan Subdominant is a IVm chord with a bII in the bass, so it is Fm/Db. Which is also why it is a (minor) subdominant chord.
#10 Chromatic Resolution
Of course it is also possible to use Chromatic passing chords in the resolution to the I chord.
This example uses the 2nd half of the G7 bar to introduce a Bmaj7 chord that is then used to create a chromatic approach to Cmaj7.
How To Use This Lesson
The way I think you can benefit from this material is probably to think about how I am playing the examples and try to insert that into your own comping or chord melody using your own voicings and songs.
In the end the best way to learn something new is to insert it into what you already play and use it when you are playing real music
Check out more Comping Ideas
If you want to check out how I comp and many of the ideas I use then check out this lesson on a 5 chorus example on Autumn Leaves:
If you have any questions, comments or suggestions for topics then please let me know. Leave a comment on the video or send me an e-mail. That is the best way for me to improve my lessons and make them fit what you are searching for.
Why it can be tricky to get reharmonizations to sound musical in a solo
Using reharmonizations in your solos can be tricky since you need to find the right place and the right type of reharm if you want it to sound natural and still surprising. This video will go over some Reharmonization techniques and how you place them in the form of a song. The place where you use stuff like this has a huge impact on how it works, and I will discuss this in the video.
Reharmonization techniques are useful in many ways in Jazz both in improvising and arranging. In this video I will go over 5 reharmonizations of a part of All The Things You Are. The different versions will illustrate several techniques and options for reharmonizing the standard. Some of the concepts are tonal and functional others are in the modal or atonal end of the spectrum.
I mostly hope to give you some ideas on how to think about the progressions that are not really functional and tonal, but that you can still percieve and mold as musical phrases.
It can be difficult to have a large vocabulary of lines when improvising over fast moving chord progressions like Rhythm Changes. One way to access some more ideas is to solo over substitute changes and then get some more options by thinking the substituted chords on top of the normal turnaround.
In this video I will go over 5 variations and show how you can use those to generate new ideas for your solos.
The Basic Turnaround in Rhythm Changes
The basic turnaround in Rhythm Changes is usually a I VI II V. In the key of Bb major that would be something like this: Bbmaj7 G7 Cm7 F7
A line on this turnaround could be:
The line is using a Bb6 (or Gm7) arpeggio on the Bb chord and continues with a G7 arpeggio. The melodic idea is using that the Bb can be moved to B and for the rest stay the same. On the Cm7 it’s a descending scale run targetting the A on the F7. The F7 line is using the F7 arpeggio that resolves to D.
A few Dom7th Substitutions – Tritones and Diminished Chords
Two common devices are substitution are using tritone substitutes and diminished chords.
In this example a Bdim replaces the G7 which is the chord on the 3rd of a G7(b9). The F7 is repalced with a B7.
The line is first a descending Bbmaj7 arpeggio. On the Bdim it is an Abdim triad.The Cm7 the melody is a Cm cliche melody built around a Cm minor triad with an added 9. The final B7 line is a B major triad.
Tritone substitutes and altered dominants
On the Bbmaj7 it is also possible to use the arpeggio from the 3rd which is a Dm7 arpeggio. In this example the first part of the line is a descending Dm7 arpeggio. A tritone substitution replaces the G7 with a Db7. The melody is a descending 1st inversion Db7 arpeggio. On the Cm7 the arpeggio used is a descending Ebmaj7 arpeggio. In this way the first part of this line is an ascending series of descending arpeggios. The F7alt line is a scale run in the F altered scale.
Reharmonizing beyond the original chords
Of course with a fast moving progression like the Rhythm changes it is possible to also use some chromatic passing chords. In this case the idea is to use a chromatic passing chord between the 1st and 3rd chord. It seems obvious that a Dbm7 would work well as a passing chord between Dm7 and Cm7.
In the line I am connecting the chords across octaves to disguise the way that the arpeggios are actually moving down in half steps.
Making the tonic a secondary dominant
A great variation is to get a feel of suspension in the turnaround is to replace the tonic chord with a dom7th chord. This takes a way the feeling of starting home and replacing it with an altered dominant. The dominant is making sure that the line is moving.
The melody here is first a stack of 4ths on the D7 altered. This is followed by a Bdim arpeggio on the G7. On the Cm7 the line is based around a Cm triad. It is in fact an inversion of the Cm line in the first example. The F7 line is a familiar F7alt/Gbm cliché
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The minor II V I can be a difficult chord progression to play on and have a varied vocabulary on. In this video I am going to go over how you can approach it in several different ways with Phrygian Chords, Melodic minor and Tritone Substitutions.
In the video I will demonstrate the different Minor II V I approaches and talk about how to use them both in terms of comping, voicing choices et and also soloing and arpeggios.
I also talk a bit about what will fit with the melody of a piece.
Probably you know a lot of choices dominant scales in a II V I, but no matter what you do it will always be the same old II V I chord progression that sounds predictable.
In this video I will go over how you can break up that pattern by suspending the resolution of the I chord. Our ear really expects the dominant to resolve so going somewhere else is one of the most powerful reharmonization techniques.
The video covers how you can get started playing outside by insering IV minor, diminished chords or altered dominant ideas on places where your ear expects resolution not tension. I demonstrate how I use chord substitution in this context with both comping and soloing. The video also discusses how and where you can use this in a reharmonization of a jazz standard. Some of the songs I mention are Stella By Starlight, I Love You and Fly Me To The Moon.
Reharmonizing and interpreting chord progressions like a 12 bar jazz blues is a very important part of improvising in jazz. In this video I will take a Bb Jazz Blues and go over a few fairly simple ways to get other sounds on the first 4 bars. It should open some new ideas and widen your knowledge of jazz harmony and jazz theory.
I discuss how I come up with the ideas and how I both improvise and comp with the “new” sound. Often making the chord progression more modal gives you a lot of interesting choices in terms of reharmonization and scale choices.
List of contents
0:32 Overview of what is covered in the video 0:44 Comping and Soloing with alternative changes and sounds
1:10 Standard Blues Changes solo for Reference 1:48 Making the Blues modal
2:12 Lydian b7 as a “different sound” 2:45 Lydian b7 Guitar Solo example 3:36 Structures used for Lydian b7 3:50 Triad Pairs: Bb + C 4:03 Ab Augmented and Bb 5:02 Gm and Ab Augmented 5:08 Bb7(b5) Arpeggio 5:21 FmMaj7 Arpeggio
5:41 Bb Phrygian Guitar Solo 6:32 Bb Phrygian as a Sound on a Bb Blues 6:43 Bmaj7(b5) chord as a Bb7sus4(b9) chord 7:09 Fm7b5 voicing 7:14 Db7 voicings 7:49 Coloring Blues Phrases with Phrygian chords 8:28 Using the Bmaj7(b5) arpeggio
8:43 Whole step dom7th Guitar Solo 9:31 The thinking behind the reharmonization 9:58 Playing Coltrane Changes on a Bb Blues 10:15 Explaining how the chords work 11:05 Comping Description 11:46 Soloing Description, target notes 12:20 Reharmonization in solos and interaction
12:54 Modal Altered Scale Guitar Solo 13:43 The Altered dom7th and extending it to 4 bars 14:26 Voicings (E7/Bb7alt) 14:53 Soloing: Important clear target notes 15:28 The Mysterious Triad 15:56 Dmaj7(#5) arpeggio
16:47 Taking these examples further. 17:12 Using the chord voicings to learn to solo 17:30 Thoughts on soloing with superimposed changes 17:48 Other Reharmonizations and modal sounds 18:10 How to come up with reharmonizations
A great way to write better chord progressions is to check out reharmonization techniques and chord substitution. You can build your jazz theory or jazz harmony vocabulary like your solo vocabulary.
In this video I am going to take a I VI II V and go over 30 different ways of playing this progression. Some of the very common ones and also a lot that are more advanced or modern. Hopefully you can use the chord progressions to get some new ideas and techniques for reharmonization or for your own compositions!
0:00 Writing better chord progressions 1:24 The basic turnaround and some variations 4:22 The I I7 IV V 5:34 The Radiohead turnaround 6:09#IVdim in the standard turnaround 7:12 The Ladybird Turnaround 8:43 Getting less functional and more substitutions 9:55 Reinterpreting other chords in the progression 11:04 The “Inner Urge” idea 11:49 Major 3rd tonalities 12:23#IV instead of the V 14:42 Same interval in the root movement 16:31 More Poppy sound without dom7th chords 16:45 Same melody note 17:42 IVm type chords instead of V 19:09 Upper-structure resolving passing chords 19:54 How to use the vamps and the exercises
Reharmonization is a great tool to add some interesting sounds or surprises to you Jazz Standards or Covers. This video will take the jazz standard Body and Soul, analyze the harmony of the A part and go over some of the more subtle but effective things you can do with reharmonizing the chords.
The video covers different reharmonization techniques and offers some options for an arrangement of this jazz ballad.
