Please post any questions here.

[Garritan]

Feel free to post your comments about the "Exploring Jazz Arranging" course.

If you have any questions you want to ask Chuck Israels, please post them here.

Enjoy the course


Gary Garritan

[Rhap2]

Excellent course so far.

In LESSON 2, what are the little "triangles" in Ex. 2-10? At first,
I thought they were diminished 7th chords, but they
don't entirely sound that way...........

Jack

[chikitin]

Excellent course so far.

In LESSON 2, what are the little "triangles" in Ex. 2-10?
Jack

Triangles sopposedly/mathematically represent triads. But not in jazz, unfortunately!! This means, Maj7 chord. Maybe because the triangle is the uppercass "d" or Delta in Greek! The handwritten chords if not crisp can be mistaken for the little circle denoting the diminished chord.
For Jazz chord notations:

http://www.malletjazz.com/lessons/ch...les.html#major
http://www.malletjazz.com/lessons/

[Rhap2]

Thanks Chitikin. I always used "M" for major 7th chords.

Will Chuck's course ALWAYS use the triangle for major
chords or will we vascillate back and forth on different
symbols. Confusing to newcomers if we do.

I realize there are "many" ways of naming chords in jazz.
Since all Forum members have a chance to study Chuck's
great course, I hope we can arrive at some kind of
standardization. I'm a theory buff myself, but I can adapt
to anything asked of me if it is consistent.

Thanks again,

Jack

[cisraels]

Excellent course so far.

In LESSON 2, what are the little "triangles" in Ex. 2-10? At first,
I thought they were diminished 7th chords, but they
don't entirely sound that way...........

Jack

Hi Jack,

Those are Major 7th chords and, to answer your other question: yes, all Major 7th chords are represented by the triangle symbol throughout the book.

Chuck

[nova.music]

Just a side note: the triangle as a major 7th was developed by Nashville studio musicians as part of a chord shorthand. It really has nothing to do with jazz, but jazz guys picked up on it. In my travels I have found some people really opposed to charts written with these shorthand symbols. I personally learned using these symbols and have no problem with them, but I would warn anyone who aspires to be a pro arranger -- be carefull 'cause once in a while you will find someone who does not know these symbols.

[chikitin]

Great lesson. I learned a lot. I am just getting into Jazz. But it is interesting to see that jazz is not that ruleless, as many classically trained musicians believe so. Not me though!

It was interesting here to see that the 7th mostly resolves downward by a step as in classical music due to tonicization!


Quote:
"In fact, when the last note of a measure is the seventh of the chord, it must lead downward by step, usually to the third of the following chord."



This describes exactly the resolution of a secondary dominant chord.

Quote:
"The other acceptable condition for the fifth remaining in the bass is in a passage where the chord in question is approached and left by step."

As Professor Israels pointed out, in this case having the fifth in the bass is acceptable. The triad version of this position ( when the fifth is in the bass) is called the passing six-four chord. In this case, the bass tone is treated as a passing tone. Step progressions often strengthen the sense of which key the piece is in by ending on either 1, 3 or 5 in tonal music. I was wondering if I could say the same thing in the tonal Jazz.

[nova.music]

Quote:
"In fact, when the last note of a measure is the seventh of the chord, it must lead downward by step, usually to the third of the following chord."
This describes exactly the resolution of a secondary dominant chord.


I'm not sure I understand this completely. Is this step movement really a 1/2 step? Example: the last note of a measure is F (the chord would be G7) the next note would then be E (the 3rd of a Cmaj chord). This is because a G7 puts you in the key of C and gives you a 4th to 3rd or a "Fa" to "Mi" resolution. If I am correct then I understand this concept. If not can I get pointed to the right direction?

THANKS...This course is great!

[chikitin]

[quote=nova.music]Quote:
If I am correct then I understand this concept.
[quote]

Yes you are correct! a half-step downward ( diatonic half step ) as you mentioned!

[dsampson55]

I new to the study of Jazz, but I was wondering one thing that isn't addressed in Chapter 1. Why does Jazz utilize 7th chords so often? And, what are the predominant scales used in Jazz? Perhaps the second question implies the answer to the first .

thanks

dave