Filipo wrote:
>
> I am practicing a series of chord progression cadence drills taken
> from a popular jazz harmony book. Unfortunately, the author assumes
> that I know what the drills are for and I am at a loss understanding
> when I am supposed to use which chord progression formula for a given
> tune, and how the drills interact with each other. I would appreciate
> some enlightenment on the subject. Here are the chord progression
> drills:
>
> 1. IIm7 V9 IM7 IIm7
>
> 2. IIm9 V13 IM9 IIm9
>
> 3. IIm7 V7 I IIm7
>
> 4. IIm7 V7 Im7 IIm7
Are you sure that the last chord in the 4 examples above is supposed to
be IIm7 or is it VIm7? VIm7 makes more sense because then you will be
working with 4 progressions (actually just 1 progression) that
continually appears in song after song after song. That's why it's worth
practicing.
> 5. I7 IV7 I7
>
> 6. IM7 IVM7 IM7
These two progressions also occur many many times so familiarity with
them is a prerequisite to learning the repertoire.
> Then the author gives the following instructions:
>
> 1. If the roots are a half step or whole step apart, remain in the
> same voicing (from starting off 3rd to starting off 7th, or vice
> versa?);
> 2. If the roots are a fourth or fifth apart, switch voicings;
> 3. If the roots are a third or sixth apart, switching is optional.
>
> Again, to the jazz elite, these are elementary rules to be taken for
> granted, but to the rest of us, we need further elucidation.
Someone who is studying with a teacher can just ask their teacher. Get
yourself a teacher.
> Specifically, I'm not sure what I'm supposed to be switching from and
> what I'm supposed to be switching to. Is the author talking about the
> distances between individual roots within each progression, or is he
> talking about root distances from the starting root of the 1st chord
> of one progression to the starting root of the 1st chord of another
> progression? It would be nice if someone could illustrate this
> principle using the foregoing progressions and a standard like "Autumn
> Leaves". And are all these progressions to be used together
> interchangeably in the same song, or are we just supposed to pick one
> or two at a time for any given tune?
>
> I've tried looking for answers in books like "Edly's Music Theory", or
> Dobbins' "Jazz Harmony", but again, the authors assume you have gone
> through kindergarten and don't bother to explain simple concepts like
> voice leading in any significant detail. The idea is to play a melody
> as the topmost right hand note and use the progressions as open
> voicing accompaniment.
>
> Again, my sincerest appreciation for your valued guidance and
> instruction.
Simple voice leading is about using the least amount of leaping between
voices at the point of a chord change.
Roots moving by step:
Cmaj7 > Dm7
B A 7 moves to 2 B to A = 2 semitones of movement
G F 5 moves to 3 G to F = 2 semitones of movement
E D 3 moves to 1 E to D = 2 semitones of movement
C C 1 moves to 7 C to C = 0 semitones of movement
Total = 6 semitones of movement
or
Cmaj7 > Dm7
B C 7 to 7 B to C = 1 semitones of movement
G A 5 to 5 G to A = 2 semitones of movement
E F 3 to 3 E to F = 1 semitones of movement
C D 1 to 1 C to D = 2 semitones of movement
Total = 6 semitones of movement
Since both possibillities result in the same amout of overall motion
they are both acceptable. Your book probably prefers the latter because
it is simpler conceptually to just move everything in parallel. But
usually the best voice leading is accomplished by retaining any common
tones between chords.
Roots moving by 4ths/5ths:
Cmaj7 > Fmaj7
B A 7 to 3 B to A = 2 semitones of movement
G F 5 to 1 G to F = 2 semitones of movement
E E 3 to 7 E to E = 0 semitones of movement
C C 1 to 5 C to C = 0 semitones of movement
Total = 4 semitones of movement
Roots moving by 3rds:
Cmaj7 > Am7
B A 7 to 1 B to A = 1 semitones of movement
G G 5 to 7 G to F = 0 semitones of movement
E E 3 to 5 E to E = 0 semitones of movement
C C 1 to 3 C to C = 0 semitones of movement
Total = 1 semitones of movement
Any other voice leading of this progression will involve leaping in the
4 voices and is somewhat less desireable.
Hope that helps.
Of course, "voice leading" when you are harmonizing an actual melody
and/or trying to balance your bass voice is a much more complicated
matter. This is why when you go to a music college you study voice
leading for 3 years.
--
Joey Goldstein
http://www.joeygoldstein.com
joegold AT sympatico DOT ca
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