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Session 9a



Chord Clusters

'Chord clusters' are also an effective way of creating a rich harmony.
The following example uses chord clusters for the same phrase as in Session 9.
Remember to click on the manuscript in order to listen to each example.


Note that in this sequence, tritone substitutions have been made;

B7 has become F7, A7 has become Eb7, G7 has become Db7.

This is also a good example of harmonic progression through the circle of keys. Here is an interesting improvisation on the same sequence;

Altered chords and substituions obviously give plenty of scope for altering related scales in corresponding ways. Here is an example from Gershwin's 'It Ain't Necessarily So' how related scales can be altered in improvisations.



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It has been said that 'jazz' is about what happens in the 'gaps'.
Here are some useful phrases for filling in those gaps.


The first is taken from an arrangement of Gershwin's 'But Not For Me'.

The next is from the same composer's ''S Wonderful'



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Dave Brubeck's wonderful ability for harmonic contrasts
is also worth imitating.
Here are the opening few bars of his 'One Moment Worth Years'.

These sequences should be practised by keyboard players and guitarists in the most common keys in Jazz - C, F, Bb, Eb, Ab, Db, and G.

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Here is a very useful 'turnaround' from Bud Powell's
'Bouncing With Bud'.
This can also be practised in the common keys (at least)
to great advantage.


Next we have a sequence of 'two-five-one's' which again,
is a useful addition to the jazz player's 'box of tricks'.

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We now turn to a sophisticate form of Jazz which makes good use of the subtleties of altered chords and Latin Americamn rhythms
- the Bossa Nova.

THE GIRL FROM IPANEMA

Washed up on Yankee shores from Brazil in late 1962, the bossa nova almost succeeded in flooding the music marts before it began to settle in. Absorbed into jazz by Dave Brubeck and others, it is now here to stay. It is a combination of the influences of Latin American, African and even Oriental music.

One of the most popular of all Bossa Nova composers is Don Carlos Jobim. 'The Girl from Ipanema' is one of his greatest tunes. Listen particularly to the guitar rhythm which lays down the basic rhythm for all Bossa Novas. Listen to other Bossa Nova classics such as 'Desafnado' (Jobim) and 'Orpheus' (Louis Bonfi).

Next we hear RevRay's version of Masquerade

Fav. Links
by Leon Russell. Use this as a rehearsal numbers for performance. Make sure you commit the chords to memory, and use altered chords and substitutions whenever possible. For improvisations it is wiser to stick to the basic chords. The chords for these tunes are available in most 'fake books'.





Lesson 10