Rhythm changes, Straighten up and Fly Right, more chord epiphanies
Bob Agnew
pretty embarrased to find that I was hearing I V stuff where Rhythm
Changes belonged. I could never quite grasp Rhythm Changes so I went and
looked at them again.
Lo and Behold -- Just a disguised I V. Looking at the first four chords
in Rhythm Changes:
Bbmaj7 Gm7 Cm7 F7
The Gm7 has the same notes as Bb6.. Cm7 F7 is a sub for F7. I was hearing
Bb6 F9 F13.
Here's what I was playing over my bad singing:
Straighten up and fly right
Bb6 F9 F13
straighten up and do right
B13 Eb9 Ebm69
Straighten up and fly right
B13 F#9 F9
come on papa, don't ya blow your top.
Db6 Dbm6 Cm7 F13b5b9(F13) Bb6
So I guess I was playing a very subbed up rhythm changes without knowing it.
Jurupari
Right you are. :o)
The 1-5 thing on rhythm changes is what we all should sense first, I think -
the rest is extra anyway.
So, is the regular rhythm changes bridge the 'Sears and Roebuck' one? Would
that make the Tuxedo Junction one the 'Monkey Wards'?
I just remembered there's a Joe Pass vid somebody once sent me that has Joe
dealing with 1 6 2 5, and he makes the comment that that's really just 'this'
as he plays 1 to 5 twice.
It's really good to know this stuff if you don't - it keeps you grounded and
gives you something you can build on in ways you might not otherwise imagine.
Marc Sabatella
I was
> pretty embarrased to find that I was hearing I V stuff where
Rhythm
> Changes belonged. I could never quite grasp Rhythm Changes so I went
and
> looked at them again.
>
> Lo and Behold -- Just a disguised I V.
In fact, you could go further and call it just a prolonged I, with just
a little motion to relieve the bordeom. Of course, V is the msot
natural place to go besides I, but progressions like I-ii-iii-ii-I are
also common and serve essentially the same purpose, as does the
I-I7-IV-bVII7 often seen in rhythm changes. I refer to all of these
progressions collectively as "static" progressions, and they are often
interchangeable.
--------------
Marc Sabatella
ma...@outsideshore.com
The Outside Shore
Music, art, & educational materials:
http://www.outsideshore.com/
Bob Agnew
uses the "Sears" bridge which is:
III7 VI7 II7 V7
The "Montgomery-Ward" bridge goes like:
V7 I7 IVmaj7 II7 (or VI7) iim7 V7
Also according to Coker, the Montgomery-Ward bridge is used in countless
popular tunes whereas the "Sears" is only used in "I Got Rythm" and the many
jazz tunes derived from it; however, they say, the large number of Jazz
tunes derived from "Rhythm Changes" causes the Sears bridge to be played far
more often by Jazz musicians.
"Jurupari" <juru...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:20040418191522...@mb-m13.aol.com...
Bob Agnew
claim Tuxedo is also derived from Rhythm Changes.
They give a few examples of tunes using the MW bridge, although they say
there are far too many to list. They include:
"Satin Doll", "Honeysuckle Rose", "Woody'n You", "It Don't Mean a Thing",
"Just Squeeze Me"...etc
"Jurupari" <juru...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:20040418191522...@mb-m13.aol.com...
Bob Agnew
Q: "How many bass players does it take to change a light bulb?"
A: " 1 .. 5 .. 1 .. 5 ...."
"Jurupari" <juru...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:20040418191522...@mb-m13.aol.com...
tomw
juru...@aol.com says...
> I just remembered there's a Joe Pass vid somebody once sent me that has Joe
> dealing with 1 6 2 5, and he makes the comment that that's really just 'this'
> as he plays 1 to 5 twice.
>
>
--
Tom Walls
the guy at the Temple of Zeus
Paul Craven
sense that you might break up any continuous 1 by inserting its 5, its 2 -
5, etc.)?
"tomw" <tw25R...@cornell.edu> wrote in message
news:MPG.1af1943bc...@newsstand.cit.cornell.edu...
tomw
pcr...@yorku.ca says...
> Easy to see how 1 6 2 5 = 1 1 5 5 but how does it = 1 5 1 5 (except in the
> sense that you might break up any continuous 1 by inserting its 5, its 2 -
> 5, etc.)?
>
It doesn't. The second I/V is the second I vi ii V.
So instead of:
I/vi/ii/V
I/vi/ii/V
you have:
I/I/V/V
I/I/V/V
I find it most useful to think of it this way at quick tempos. Of
course, I don't necessarily limit myself to just the tonic and dominant,
but it frees me up to imagine whatever transition happens to feel
appropriate.
Jurupari
>course, I don't necessarily limit myself to just the tonic and dominant,
>but it frees me up to imagine whatever transition happens to feel
>appropriate.
There you go - if you know a LOT of stuff when you think dominant, that's all
you have to think, really. Same with tonic.
That's where I like Pass particularly - for the opening of Stella, he says he
thinks A7. So do I but there's a 12 tone approach to A7, there's a backcyled
minor chord a fifth above it, a tritone sub of that half a step above, a whole
tone and minor third (m3's are displaced half a step up) scale of 7b5's, and
much much more, so A7 means a whole bunch.
I like to get that 'whole bunch' stuff sorted out up front so all I have to
think of is A7 when I 'm playing.
Not even that, actually, it's just a sound, of course, as are all those subs,
and the older I get, the easier they are to hear as other good stuff to play
over A7 and just play it.
Clif