Dedicated to fostering the art and craft of the jazz guitar
Ideas For Playing Over Multiple Bars Containing Only One
Chord
Author: John Clarke
Date: January 2009
From Derek Ayling:
I'm trying to put into practice all the stuff we've done recently about altered scales, altered
dominant 7th chords, and comping, so I picked Blue Bossa as my example, since there are loads of
11 V I sequences in it. (Got any other good examples please?)
The problem I am having is knowing what to do over 2 bars (or even more in modal pieces) of Cm7
and 2 bars of Fm7, using 2 or 3 note comping chords, without sounding boring.
I would have a similar problem over several bars of G7 or Cmajor7, come to think of it.
What do you think? Is the answer simple? Could it be an item for the newsletter?
I'm sorry that I'll miss you in January, but I'll definitely be at the February meeting.
Cheers,
Derek
EDITOR
Thanks for the Newsletter suggestion - I have started to put something together on how I personally
approach the improvising issues you mention.
The only simple answer I can offer is to listen to and try to copy what the great jazz musicians play
on such chords and changes, and to use your ear to adapt this to the tune in question and your
personal taste.
Of course there are 'devices' which can help. On m7 chords, the first thing is to be aware of is what
key they belong to.
Cm7 could be a I chord in the key of Cm, a II chord in the key of Bb, a III chord in the key of Ab,
or a VI chord in the key of Eb. The key signature of the tune you are playing, the melody, and the
chords which have gone before or go after will indicate this.
For comping you can use other chords from the relevant related scale e.g. Bb for Cm7 in a II/V
context, or as a I chord in a Dorian minor tune, to extend the sequence and add movement without
changing the harmonic function e.g. instead of
|Cm7
|Cm7
|
Try
|Cm7 Dm7 |Ebmaj7 Dm7|
A common device, often used in Blue Bossa, Yesterdays, My Funny Valentine, etc., is to replace a
long stretch of Cm with the chords formed by lowering the root of the chord a semitone every 2
beats e.g.
|Cm Cm/maj7 |Cm7 Cm6|
Here are the voicings of this sequence (minimal chords)
XX(10)88X
XX988X
XX888X
XX788X
I like to add 9ths to m7 chords and then play on the maj7 chord a minor third above the root of the
m7 e.g. Ebmaj7 over Cm7. This ‘majorises’ a minor chord, and you can do the reverse over a
major (7th) chord to ‘minorise’ it.
If you put the 9th at the bottom of the Cm7 chord and then move to Ebma7#4, this creates a
semitone root movement where there would otherwise not be one. I use it on Wayne Shorter's
‘Footprints’, which is in 3/4, by the way.
|Cm9
|Ebmaj7#4
|
XX(12)888
XX(13)(12)(10)(10)
Sometimes I use Cm11 with an alternative chord voicing to the Cm9 e.g.
|Cm9
|Cm11
XX888(10)
XX(10)(12)(11)(13)
|
As regards blowing, the minor scale to use depends on the tune and where the Cm7 chord fits.
Look for what is going on in the melody with the 6th and 7th, or the key signature.
6th
7th
Dorian
A
Bb
Aeolian
Ab
Bb
Harmonic
Ab
B
Melodic
A
B
Each of these minor scales has a slightly different ‘flavour’ according to what the 6th and 7th notes
are. Practice them until you can hear these flavours easily, then when you are playing a tune in a
minor key, it will much more apparent which scale to use.
Hope this helps.
- John Clarke