Turn jazz theory into real music FREE

Discussion in 'Education' started by MMJ2017, Dec 19, 2018.

  1. MMJ2017

    MMJ2017 Audiosexual

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    Hello fine folks. please forgive the crudeness of making this from my phone.

    This thread is dedicated toward showing and sharing how to take music theory knowledge as a foundation, and use that knowledge as a scafolding to construct real and powerful creative music from your heart.


    First we are going to brush up on just a few very important music theory points and then I will show you specific step by step ways to use that in order to create real actual music out of it. The goal in that is to give you ways to unlock your creative potential and then you can post things to share as well to help to take the knowledge of how music structure works ,and use it to make music with.

    Part I.

    A.
    We begin with 12 tone e.t.

    c c# d d# e f f# g g# a a# b c

    We skip every other note and unzip the chromatic scale into 2 whole tone scales
    1. C d e f# g# a#
    2.c# d# f g a b

    We take the first 3 notes of 1 c d e and we take last 4 of second scale f g a b
    This gives us c major key c d e f g a b

    But before we continue on with c major key let's look more in depth at the 2 whole tone scales

    1. C d e f# g# a#
    2. c# d# f g a b

    Looking at the second we see a g9 #5 #11
    In other words gbd#fac#

    What is significant about any symmetrical scale or chord is that all intervals are equal distance and importance .
    In the case of our g9 #5 #11

    Gbd#fac#
    Or
    G a b c# d# f
    All intervals are a tone apart

    We know that our dominant chord is the most important chord in any key.

    For example G7 is the dominant chord of the C major KEY

    In c mAjor you have 7 chords
    Cegb
    Dfac
    Egbd
    Face
    Gbdf
    Aceg
    Bdfa

    4 of these chords fit over our dominant and 3 fit over our tonic .
    The
    Gbdf
    Bdfa
    Dfac
    Face
    Chords fit over the dominant in our key and the

    Aceg
    Cegb
    Egbd

    Fit over our tonic

    Also we can think of

    Dfac
    Face

    As subdominant or slightly tense dmin7 travelling to tense go resolving to home cegb.

    Now going back to our G9 #5 #11

    G a b c# d# f

    Since all intervals are tone apart this means with this collection of notes we have 6 independent dominant 9 #5 #11 chords
    G9#5#11. Gbd#fac#
    B9#5#11 .bd#fac#g
    D#9#5#11 d#fac#gb
    F9#5#11 . Fac#gbd#
    A9#5#12. Ac#gbd#f
    C#9#5#11 .c#gbd#fa

    This means we have a way of grouping 6 notes out of the chromatic scale in such a way as each note in this single 6 note scale gives us dominant chords from 6 KEYS in such a way as every inversion of the scale creates the same chord as the last inversion. This first step is an easy way to see how multiple keys can be connected.
     
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  3. MMJ2017

    MMJ2017 Audiosexual

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    In part 1 we began with the chromatic scale next diving it into 2 equal parts which is 2 6 note scales. We seen that this first division possible cutting in half leads us to creating a specific yet important chord which every interal in the chord yeilds a 7th chord for it,s own key. All with 1 collection of 6 notes spaced equal tone apart.

    Next we go back to our chromatic scale and we divide it this time into 3 equal parts.

    bcc#dd#eff#gg#aa#b

    Bdfg#
    Cd#f#a
    C#ega#

    This gives us 3 4 note chords 4x3 equals 12 chromatic notes let's take a look at
    Bdfg#
    These notes are symetrical minor 3rds
    This chord is called the diminished 7th chord.
    This chord is the mother of all chords.
    We know that it has 4 notes and that we have 3 diminished 7 chords contained within the chromatic scale, so how can this chord be the mother chord?
    It is because if we take bdfg#
    And if we slide an interval the left one tick or the right one tick we can transform into another different chord in fact we can create any chord type by doing this .
    But first we need to see the function of the dim7 before we transform it into every other chord.

    Bdfg# this bdim7 is a g7flat9 gbdfg# no root
    Dfg#b this dfim7 is a a#7flat9 a#dfg#b no root
    Fg#bd this fdim7 is a c#7flat9 c#fg#bd no root
    G#bdf this g#dim7 a e7flat9 eg#bdf no root

    We can see now that bdfg# equals 4 dominant 7 chords
    In other words the sgnificance of this is that if we play dmin7 ddim7 cmaj7

    It can represent dmin7 g7 cmaj7
    Dmin7 bflat7 cmaj7
    Dmin7 e7 cmaj7
    Dmin7 c#7 cma7

    The dim7 shows us the dominant substitutions possible.
     
    Last edited: Dec 19, 2018
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  4. GodHimSelf

    GodHimSelf Platinum Record

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    As much as I appreciate your post, it's way too much for me! I have a basical knowledge of musical theory that I MUST improve, but this is wwaaaayyy out of my league.
     
  5. MMJ2017

    MMJ2017 Audiosexual

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    Part 3 now the mother chord

    We looked at how bdfg# equals 4 dom7 chords and that each one of them are the substitutions for those keys example.

    Key c major the dom7 is G7
    In the relative minor a min e7 is the dom7
    Next our tritone sub for g7 is c#7
    Next our tritone sub for relative minor
    E7 is bflat7 or a#7

    These are all contained in bdim7
    Bdfg#




    Now that we have covered the dim7 chord on it's own we can look at how it is the mother chord slang for where all chords come
    Bdfg# b dim7
    Take a note slide it up 1 semi tone
    Bdfg# bdfa bmin7flat5
    Dfg#b dfg#c d min7flat5
    Fg#bd fg#bd# f min7flat5
    G#bdf g#bdf# g#min7flat5

    This is how to make diminished into half dim type
    Next take a note slide down one semitone

    Bdfg# bdfg g7
    Dfg#b dfg#a# a#7
    Fg#bd fg#bc# c#7
    G#bdf g#bde e7

    This is how make a dim7 into a 7th chord
    Next slide 2 notes up semitone

    Dfg#b. Dfac dmin7
    Fg#bd fg#cd# fmin7
    G#bdf g#bd#f# g# min7
    Bdfg# bdf#a bmin7

    This is how to turn a dim7 into a min7 chord
    Next slide OneNote down semitone and one note up semitone to create maj7 chord ex

    Dfg#b c#fg#c c#maj7
    Fg#bd eg#bd# emaj7
    G#bdf gbdf# gmaj7
    Bdfg# a#dfa a#maj7

    This is how turn diminished 7 into maj7 chord
     
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  6. MMJ2017

    MMJ2017 Audiosexual

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    Don't worry after I brush up on this theory portion I am going to show step be step how to make stuff with it you'll be able follow step by step and see how it all works retroactively my homie
     
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  7. Legotron

    Legotron Audiosexual

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    @GodHimSelf
    Don´t be hard on yourself, if chords make you mess up, start simplest, intervals
     
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  8. sir jack spratsky

    sir jack spratsky Producer

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    thnx man sensational
     
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  9. DoubleSharp

    DoubleSharp Platinum Record

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    Sounds very similiar to Barry Harris way of explaining jazz harmony.

    First there was the universe. The chromatic scale.

    Then it split into two whole tone scales. In order to create the 3 types of dimished 7 chords you need half of each whole tone scale.

    The diminished 7 are like children of the two whole tone scales. Each WT scale provides half of the DNA for the diminished 7.

    Once you have the diminished 7, as explained in previous posts. You can raise or lower a notes and get all of the chord qualities.

    It's pretty heavy going if you're a beginner.



    I have heard him explain it much more concisely than above. Nonetheless his haromonic knowledge is wonderful. Provides a great way of thinking differently about harmony.
     
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  10. MMJ2017

    MMJ2017 Audiosexual

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    So far we began with all 12 notes broke it in half to see 2 sets of 6 dom7 chords which compatible with each set next we took the chromatic scale and broke down into 3 diminished chords where each diminished chord has 4 dom7 chords built into it which are the substitutions for the keys that the dom7 chord belongs to .
    After that we looked how a dim7 chord can transform into any other type of chord which we find in our working key.

    That information is our foundation for everything which comes next and you will be able to see step by step exactly how we use that knowledge.

    Our next step is to bring focus to a Key.
    And because c major is the first key we will start there . We get it's notes from the initial 2 whole tone scales
    3 from 1st scale cde and last 4 of the second f g a b this gives us
    C d e f g a b
    Cmajor
    Cegb
    Dfac
    Egbd
    Face
    Gbdf
    Aceg
    Bdfa

    We have 2 main options how to use this in our melodies and chord changes
    Home static or ways from home movement or tension
    The dominant 7 is our most important chord it is the most movement or tension the home chord cmaj is or tonic or at rest
    Our dfac and face are slightly tense or small movement

    Let's start simple
    Cmaj6
    Our most consonant chord which represents home
    Cega cmaj6
    Next guy gbdf is tense

    play cmaj6 4 times each with inversion it looks like this
    Cega
    Egac
    Gace
    Aceg
    Notice that cmin7 and cmaj6 are identical
    Just diff inversion

    Now that we see we have 4 ways to play a 4 note chord each it's own flavor let's look at g7
    Remember our dim bdim7 is bdfg#
    We will use our dim as sub for g7
    Bdfg#
    Dfg#b
    Fg#bd
    G#bdf
    Now we have play 4 versions of it let's play a progression of

    Bdim7 to c6
    1. Bdfg# to cega
    2.dfg#b to egac
    3. Fg#bd to gace
    4. G#bdf to aceg

    We can now see that we actually can have a chord for each note in c maj if we add g# looks like this.
    C d e f g g# a b
    An 8 note scale
    If we pick every other note we get 2 chords
    C e g a
    D f g#b

    This means at any time we make a Melody let's say d down to b up to c
    We can attach the chord to it
    Dfg#b down to bdfg# up to cega

    Or how about c b a g# g a descending line
    Cega to bdfg# to aceg to g#bdf

    This progression is representing a g7 to cmaj

    Let's try ii v i
    Dfac
    Gbdf
    Cega
     
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  11. MMJ2017

    MMJ2017 Audiosexual

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    Yes my friend that portion of the theory I am describing is described by Barry Harris also. Other portions I describe he does not or he described differently he is a great man.
     
  12. MMJ2017

    MMJ2017 Audiosexual

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    So far we have covered the scafolding of what we are to soon use to step by step make music from but before we do we have to cover a few more important pecies of the puzzle .

    First is enclosures aka leading tones aka grace notes


    This pertains to lines and melodies .
    Yes we use arpreggios or individual chord tones ex
    Gbdfdbg played one after another
    However it would sound very boring and nursery rhymes like to only play like that by itself.

    We use grace notes and enclosures to setup our important landing notes for impact.

    In most simple form let's say we playing over g7
    We do play g b d f or say the bdim7 to replace it that would be playing b d f g#

    Let's take one note to begin with.
    We use a swing tempo or long note short note
    BadaDabaDabaDa
    Long then short we use chord tones on long beat
    So let's take one note of g7

    G
    So first swing it g g g g g g g long then short
    Next on the short beat we play the f# leading into our landing note this is grace note
    G f# g F# g

    Or another note b
    We use the a# leading into our landing note b
    Ba#bA#ba#Ba#

    So we have covered a note below let's see a note above
    If our chord tone is g we play g# on short swing note
    Gg#gg#gg#
    Or if landing note is d we play d# to d d# to d
    Next combine upper and lower this enclouses our landing note ggg turns into g# f# g
    This enclouses has 2 grace notes then lands on our chord tone this 3 note enclousure is a melodic device.
    Let's try some more from g7
    How about b
    BBB turns into ca#b or d
    Ddd turns into d#c#d

    This melodic device 3 note enclousure is just the start how about we add another note so if our chord tone is g we play ggg turns into g#f#g but this time play ag#f#g this is a 4 note enclosure

    What if our chord tone is d
    Play ddd turns into d#c#d but now play ed#c#d this melodic device 4 note enclousure sets up our landing note emotionally.

    Try another type enclosure

    If we playing cmaj7 cegb
    Our chord tone is b
    So bbbb turns into caa#b
    This is a powerful way to express.
     
  13. farao

    farao Rock Star

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    This is great... Just a small typo... cmin7 should be amin7
     
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  14. MMJ2017

    MMJ2017 Audiosexual

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    We have looked at melodic device enclosure now we are going to do something real with it.

    Step 1 play swing timing descending g7 then back up again
    Fdbgbdf
    Long beat is in bold
    Step 2 make enclousure around that specific shape
    So first center the f note we play
    G to start on the beat go down to f# d#ef
    So far we have
    G
    f#d#ef
    Now we gown down to our D note like in step 1
    Next we look at our b we play ca#b
    Next we look at our g and play g#ff#g
    Next we play the b above
    Next we look at our d above but play d#c#d
    Last we go above and play f#d#ef

    Take you time to slow feel it.
     
  15. ICWC

    ICWC Guest

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  16. MMJ2017

    MMJ2017 Audiosexual

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    My quick impression is that this music falls under a totally different system of atonal music which is beyond the scope of this thread which falls under the catergory of tonal music . but thank you for your comment.
    There are 3 categories within 12tone e.t.
    Tonal music
    Polytonal music
    atonal music
    Then if you leave equal termperament you have more than that too
    This thread is just about tonal music category.
     
  17. MMJ2017

    MMJ2017 Audiosexual

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    When thinking about melodic device enclosures , we want to picture the note let's say the note is D.
    This is our center point it will be our landing note of impact and defines the sole purpose of the enclosure .

    Let's picture d with 2 notes before and after it.

    C c# D d# e

    Now
    1. We play this order e c d# c# D
    2. We play this order c e c# d# D
    3. We play this order c c# e d# D
    4. We play this order e d# c c# D

    These are our first 4 , 5 note melodic device enclousures.

    How can we put them to use?

    First we start with an arpreggio .let's take the ii of cmajor our subdominant dmin7 dfac

    Lets take the fac portion of it

    Descending from c
    Cafac played one note after another

    We start on the beat so we play c#bc
    This is the portion centered around c
    Next we go down to play a
    Next we look down centered at our f
    We play f#ef
    Here is the whole thing

    C#bcaf#efac#bcaf#efac#bcaf#efac#bc
     
  18. MMJ2017

    MMJ2017 Audiosexual

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    We have looked at enclosures and grace notes while using steady 8th note swing feel.
    Now we are going to look at triplets.

    Triplets add in dimension and expression giving more variety and break up the patterns.

    First off a triplets has a 123 feel . We will say in this case the 123 triplets lasts same amount of time as a 12 swing so 123 equals 12
    In other words say we had 12121212 we could remove the first 12 section and it would be 123 121212 that woulbd repeat over 4 count

    123121212
    123121212
    123121212
    That is triplet in beggining
    Go back to 12121212
    Put triplet at end
    121212123
    121212123
    121212123
    121212123
    Go back to 12121212

    Now put triplet on second beat
    121231212
    121231212
    121231212
    121231212
    Go back to 12121212
    Now put triplet on third beat
    121212312
    121212312
    121212312
    121212312


    Now we have seen triplet placement let's see how we attach notes to it
    First is arpreggio

    Say our chart is dmin7 g7 cmaj cmaj
    4 sets of 1234
    Now our first pattern is 123121212 lasting over 1234
    We take our dmin7 notes dfac
    We play 123 as dfa
    We play 121212 as cafdfa
    Here is whole pattern
    Dfacafdfa

    Now go back to 12121212 this time put triplet on second beat

    121231212
    First 12 play df
    Next 123 play aca
    Next 1212 play fdfa
    Here is whole thing

    Dfacafdfa

    Go back to 12121212
    This time put triplet on beat 3 like this

    121212312
    First play dfac
    Next afd
    Finally fa
    Here is whole thing

    Dfacafdfa

    Now go back to 12121212
    This time put triplet on beat 4
    Like this 121212123
    First play dfac
    Next af
    Last dfa
    Here whole thing

    Dfacafdfa
     
  19. MMJ2017

    MMJ2017 Audiosexual

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    It's really important in Jazz to have strong rhythmic feel. This means using rest or empty space as important part of how you play .
    Think of a modern drum solo where the drummer changes from that typical beat boom slap boom boom slap
    Into a drum solo where they play t t slap b boom boom s s slap t slap boom rest boom boom
    It's a feel and sound resembling a person on the dance floor shaking around and feeling the gravity around them the way the muscles and bones move with the air resistance around your body as you fluidly dance.
    Jazz is the embodiment of that feeling

    To explore the use of rest we will start out simple

    Take 12121212
    Lasting on 1234
    Let's take dmin7 for it and use the 3rd f and 7th c
    So we have f and c notes

    First high c to low f
    Fill in all of our beats
    Cfcfcfcf
    Play this few times get the feel

    Now we are going to use the r letter for rest or empty space
    First off c then r for empty space then cfcfcf
    Here is whole thing
    Crcfcfcf
    Now we are getting some feelings happening let's add more space
    Crcfcfrf
    Play this slow several times
    Here is another one
    Cfrfcrcf
    Play several times
    How about a lot empty space
    Rfcrcrrf
    Play several times this one more difficult
    Try start slow then build it up with metronome
     
  20. GodHimSelf

    GodHimSelf Platinum Record

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    YYYYYEEEESSSSS :D thank you!
     
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  21. GodHimSelf

    GodHimSelf Platinum Record

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    I know the very basics, I did a music theory course and I know how to build "the stuff" but I feel it's not enough! Thank you!
     
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