Re: Chord Function?

"Keith Freeman" <smtp.cablewanadoo.nl> wrote

>> Only a momentary key change that's true, if nothing follows to sup****t
>> it, but a key change nonetheless.
> If it helps you to get into the sound of C Lydian by thinking of it as
> subdominant of G, fine,

Actually I like to play F# locrian over Cmaj7#11, but that's just me :-)

The fact is you can play *any* mode of G major, not just C Lydian, over a 
Cmaj7#11, except when the jazz-police are watching then you really do have

to play Lydian. In other words, if you have a vested interest in repeating

what has already been done, then clearly you *must* play Lydian over a 
maj7#11, but if you are more interested in creating original material, 
then...

Have you ever read George Russell's book on Lydian Chromaticism? 
Interesingly you can only started to get your head around what he is
saying 
once you start thinking in terms of the root a 4th below the scale he is 
discussing.

> but I don't know any jazz musicians who hear or
> think of it that way. In C they hear CMaj7#4 as a colouring of I and
> FMaj7#4 as a colouring of IV.

In C, Fmaj7#11 isn't a "colouring" of IV, it *is* IV. The #11 is the only 
way to distinguish between the diatonic chords on I and IV.


Fiona

BTW didn't you used to live in Amsterdam?