So far we have covered

Cmaj7, Gmin7,C7,Fmaj7,A#7,Cmaj7,D7,Dmin7,A7,
Dmin7,G7,Cmaj7

Then we have this progression repeating once more
Until we get to (D#7, G#7) to Cmaj7

If we apply our upper extension rule

Take 135 of chord and add in the notes a step above , then we get
D#7 lydian dominant ( 4th mode A#melodic minor

D# F G A A# C C# .(D#7

And
G#7 lydian dominant ( 4th mode of D# melodic minor

G#.A# C D D# F F#

Then it resolves to a C maj7

We can think of these dominants D#7,G#7 to Cmaj
As alterations of G7 because of the particular notes and how they resolve back to Cmajor in a short time basically a Valt13 alt to I .

Practice this short progression with melodies .
See how framing it as D#7,G#7 to Cmaj7
Gets you to play differently than just G7alt,Cmaj does .

 

Next up we have this

C#min7,F#7,Bmaj,Bmin7,E7,Amajor,
Amin7,D7,Dmin7,G7,Cmajor

If we group these up we get
A Cadence to Bmajor
{C#min7,F#7,Bmaj}
A Cadence to A major
{Bmin7,E7,Amajor}
A ii .V of G major
{Amin,D7}
And a cadence to Cmajor
{Dmin7,G7,Cmajor}

This is a short modulations which break up the tonality to create interest { a bridge in the song)
Interestingly here first we create a cadence to Bmaj which is a halfstep down from C
B major B C# D# E F# G# A#
Then shift a whole step down a cadence to A major
A major .A B C# D EF# G#
Then shift a while step down to A Ii V of G major
G major .G A B C D E F#
Before returning back to cadence of C major.

Spend some time practicing this progression with melodies until you internalize it's tonality shifts

{C#min7,F#7,Bmaj} , {Bmin7,E7,Amajor} , {Amin,D7}
{Dmin7,G7,Cmaj}

 

Before moving on from this progression there is one more important thing to see here.
{C#min7,F#7,Bmaj},{Bmin7,E7,Amajor},{Amin,D7}
{Dmin7,G7,Cmaj}

We are going to look at the Guide tones ( 3rds,7ths)
As we follow the changes

C#min7, play E down to B
F#7 , B slides down to A# back up to E
Bmaj7, E slides down to D# down to A# again
..........
Bmin7, A# slides down to A up to D
E7, . D down to A slides down to G#
AMaj, D slides down to C# down G# again
.......
Amin, .C# slides down to C down to G
D7,. G slides down to F# up to C
.......
Dmin7 , F# slides down to F up to C
G7, .C slides down to B down to F again
Cmaj, F slides down to E up to B again , B slides down to A ( creating a C6, CEGA)

Take your time practice this " voice leading"
And remember when getting used to progressions.
1.follow the guide tones ( 3rds and 7ths)
2.add in the arpeggios after that.
3.add in the upper extensions after that
4. If playing a standard look at how the songs melody fits along with the first 3 steps.

Take your time go slow you will get comfortable with all this overtime even if you feel overwhelmed when dealing with something new or not as familiar to you , in short time it will become second nature to you .

 

Earlier on in the thread, we took a look a a few special chords.

Major 6th. ..( C6 CEGA _ also Aminor7ACEG

Diminishedth...
.( Bdim7 BDFG# , is Four dominants A#7,C#7,E7,G7)

Minor7b5 ( Bmin7b5 BDFA , is also Dmin6 DFAB

So here we can see that with these 3 main chord types we actually have our main 6 main chord types.

These main chords fit together a certain way to construct progressions or cadence .

Let's say we have a cadence to C major
Dmin7, G7, Cmajor

We can build this up like this.
F6 FACD,. Fdim7 FBDG#, C6. EACG

So let's first look at the C6
It has 4 inversions.
CEGA
EGAC
GACE
ACEG
Now , in between each one of these inversions fits our V chord dominant which belongs to it. BDim7 BDFG# with it's four inversions as well .take a look at this .

BDFG#
CEGA
DFG#B
EGAC
FG#BD
GACE
G#BDF
ACEG
BDFG#
Here we can see a couple things things . First a pattern of V I V I V I etc.
Next we are actually travelling through the C major Bebop scale CDEFGG#ABC

Any time you have a Major7 chord you can add in it's dim7th a wholetone above root then create the inversions like we seen to form the V to I .

Now the F6 FACD can be added into this to form our Full Cadence . How we approach it this way is to break it up such that we have 4 inversions of the major Cadence.

ACDF
BDFG#
CEGA
...........
CDFA
DFG#B
EGAC
............
DFAC
FG#BD
GACE
........
FACD
G#BDF
ACEG
.........

This is a way to see a cadence built into every Maj6 chord.
But notice because we have 4 inversions for each chord in our cadence we have the ability to create voicings which have harmony.
In the green red black example above we followed a pattern of ascending notes . With ii V I.
However you can use the inversions of the ii and V and how attaches to the I to create other patterns like for Example start out higher then go down low then land in the middle, basically you can create a enclosure with chords.
FACD
DFG#B
EGAC
.......
ACDF
FG#BD
GACE
......
CDFA
G#BDF
ACEG
.....
DFAC
BDFG#
CEGA
.....
Now, it is important that we mentally picture all this as built right into our C6, or any Major6th.
And that we can always expand into a cadence like this at any time for all 12 maj6ths.

 

At its core, Harmony is the parallel movement of melodies . We will now continue onward to see this in action some more with the minor6th chord.
Let's pick the relative minor to C major in this instance A min6 ACEF#
( notice that it is inversion of F# minor7b5 F#ACE)

Now as before, we will begin by taking a look at the A minor6th in its four inversions .

ACEF#
CEF#A
EF#AC
F#ACE

Next we will select the appropriate V chord to fit 8n with it's inversions as well. The E7 .EG#BD
G#BDE
ACEF#
BDEG#
CEF#A
DEG#B
EF#AC
FG#BD we use Fdim7 here, it has E7 voice leading
F#ACE
G#BDE
ACEF#

Now it's time to make it into a full minor Cadence
Just as we had done with maj6th before.
Bmin7b5 BDFA

FABD
G#BDE
ACEF#
......
ABDF
BDEG#
CEF#A
.....
BDFA
DEG#B
EF#AC
....
DFAB
EG#BD
F#ACE
....
And just like before we have a lot of options for how we use the inversions, whether ascending, descending or enclosures around the Tonic.

 

We are beginning to see that we have so many more options than just plain boring old block chords.
Picture a chart which shows Cmaj for 8 measures.

What can you do ,just play block chord the whole time? Lol nah, this is jazz mofo .
Imagine a enclosure wrapped around the C note

DFG#B
BDFG#
CEGA
....
FG#BD
DFG#B
EGAC
....
G#BDF
FG#BD
GACE
....
BDFG#
G#BDF
ACEG
...

What do we see here? We are using parallel melodies ( not serial melodies)
In order to create a enclosure around the landing chord tone, within the repeating V to I structure.
We can use that exact same patterns if we saw Aminor7 ACEG for 8 bars as well!



How about you see a Aminor6 ACEF# chord for 8 bars on a chart , can you do the same thing?

BDFG#
DFG#B
CEF#A
......
DFG#B
FG#BD
EF#AC
.....
FG#BD
G#BDF
F#ACE
....
G#BDF
BDFG#
ACEF#
...
Now there is something special here as well we can use these exact patterns if we seen 8 bars of F#min7b5 F#ACE try it!

 

Now we are going to take a look at the exact vocabulary of Charlie Parker ( Bird).

And by doing this combine everything we have covered so far.

To start we are going to use the KEY of C.
Remember that we discussed that the KEY
Of C major
Is 2 linked cadences
The C major Cadence and the A minor Cadence.
Dmin7 DFAC, G7 GBDF , Cmaj6 CEGA

Bmin7b5 BDFA, E7 EG#BD, Amin7 ACEG
The chord which links them is FMaj7
(Meaning Fmaj7 is consonant with both those cadences playing over top of Fmaj7)

This all all together gives us
1.C6
2.Dmin7
3.Emin7
4.Fmaj7
5.G7
6.Amin7
7.Bmin7b5


Now we are going to cover the exact vocabulary of Charlie Parker and to do this we have to look at the smallest building blocks.

I am going to present these one at a time then
Afterwards we can look at how to attach them together.
We use a swing timing 123= 1.2.
So long beat short beat.
Dah b dah b dah b dah b

Now these building blocks begin on the short beat
In other words a pickup.
And each building block is meant to create a loop out of .
KEY of C major
1. FDD#E
We start on the off beat with F go down to D on the beat up d# off beat and finally land hard on the strong beat E our destination .
Let's see the loop

FDD#EFDD#EFDD#E
This is our first building block it is based on the 3rd of C major this building block gives you a strong C major sound.

2.DCAB
The second building block starts on D on the off beat goes down to C on the beat down to A off the Beat and landing on the B on the strong beat .
This building block looped
DCABDCABDCAB

Now before going to the 3rd building block
We have to see how to connect one and two together.

1.FDD#E
2.DCAB

Together starting off the beat

FDD#EDCAB
Next here it is looped.

FDD#EDCABFDD#EDCABFDD#E

Play this over a C major Chord.
Then play it over a v to I
Then play it over a ii V I in C major while looping it.

3. G#FF#G
The next one looped starting again on the off beat

G#FF#GG#FF#GG#FF#G

Now here is the first 3 building blocks connected. In a row.

FDD#EDCABG#FF#G

Play it over I, then V to I, then ii V I.

4.FEDC#
Looped
FEDC#FEDC#FEDC#

Here we are outlining the V7 dominant chord b5
But thought of as the tritone substitute for G7
But the simplest way the fathom is you have building blocks which outline tonic or dominant
( The dominant takes shape of Bdim7 in c major)

Now we can connect all four building blocks to create a loop able pattern.( Exact building blocks of Charlie Parker this is exactly what he uses)

1.FDD#E
2.DCAB
3.G#FF#G
4.FEDC#

Now looped.

FDD#EDCABG#FF#GFEDC#FDD#EDCABG#FF#GFEDC#FDD#E

Play this over a I , V to I , ii V I
Take your time

We will continue on to the next building blocks stay tuned.

 

The next set of building blocks ( exact ones that bird uses in key of C major)

Contain triplets. I am going to represent them in color to make it easier to grasp.
Remember we start on the off beat or short beat

5. CEGBD

It sounds like b dahbd Bah

Here looped CEGBDCEGBD

Now we are going to connect it to 1 - 3 all together in a loop .

CEGBDFDD#EDCABG#FF#G

Loop this smoothing over and over
On I , V to I , ii V I.


6. EACEG

And just like before

EACEGFDD#EDCABG#FF#G

Loop it over I, V I, ii V I



7.ACEGBA#AG#G

And like before

ACEGBA#AG#GFDD#EDCABG#FF#G

 

7. ADFACG#FF#G

And like before

ADFACG#FF#GFEDC#FD#EDCABACEGBA#AG#GFDD#EDCAB

 

These last ones start on the beat

8. AG#GF#F

9.ED#DC#C

10.BA#AG#G

Let's see how these last 3 sets of building blocks connect to the others.

BA#AG#G(FDD#E)DCAB(CEGBD)FDD#E)DCAB)G#FF#G long ring.

Or number 8

AG#GF#F(DCAB)G#FF#G

 

Now we have our 10 Lego building blocks.
( Exact ones bird uses) in Key of C major

Let's take one and work on it.
1.FDD#E

Because it starts on the off beat,
the first thing we can do is to get an idea
Of what notes can start it off.
We do this by placing a note before the building block so that it starts on the beat.( Instead the off beat)

First is G
GFDD#E

Or lower C
CFDD#E

Or upper A
AFDD#E

And finally upper B
BFDD#E


Now we can begin to see how things attach to these building blocks
Think C,E,G the c triad.

CEG(FDD#E)

Now let's see about placing notes after the building block

CEG(FDD#E)G

Going back to simple again just building block and one note after it.

FDD#E(A
FDD#E(C
FDD#E(B

Next we are going to look at integrating the building block with regular lines

Say
EGBDC(FDD#E

Next combing triplets. Starting on the off beat

DFACB(FDD#E

Now we will take building block 6.

EACEG

We can turn it into this

EACEG(FDD#E)GBDC(G#FF#G)E

 

Let's take number 10 building block

10.BA#AG#G

Make sure to swing it hard while legato ( no choppiness keep it nice and smooth)

It will sound like
Bah d bah d bah

Take the Bdim7 arpeggio BDFG#

Play this.

BDFG#(BA#AG#G)

We can make it a triplet by starting on the off beat

BDFG#(BA#AG#G)

Now we can begin to see the flexibility we actually have.
Let's keep the beginning, but swap the building block with a different one instead.

BDFG#(ED#DC#C)

Let's look at a different building block
( Starting on the off beat)

ACEGBA#AG#G

We can add another to it where the one we are adding lands on a G on the beat at the end a whole tone before it.
G#FF#G
So the reason it will snap together well, is that we end on strong beat on G then we start the next building block off the beat on A .
Here is whole thing

(G#FF#G)ACEGBA#AG#G

So it becomes seamless voice leading between the
End of the first building block and the start of the next one.

 

Let's now look a bit deeper why Bird chose these building blocks in particular instead of other posdibilities.

1.FDD#E

So the first one is outlining the E
But if we zoom into see the on beats
FDD#E

We have D, and E on the beat
These notes can represent these chords in C major Key ( a minor)

1.CEGBD d and e
2.DFACE . D and E
3EGBD. D and E
4FACE. ( D 6th E 7th
5GBDF. (D of G7, going to E of Cmaj (v to I
6.ACEG . ( D is 11th E is 5th
7BDFA. D is 3rd E is root ( minor ii V

So bird has chosen to construct this building block
FDD#E
Based on the many ways it can be used over the chords in the key .
Let's look at second building block

2.DCAB
And again zoom into it closer

DCAB

Like before it can represent many things in the key
1.CEGB. c and b important notes
2.DFAC . Here the C is ii the B is V,( ii V of c major)
3.EGBD . Here c is 13th d is 7th
4.FACE . C is 5th
5GBDF . The c of ii going here the B of V
6.ACEGB . 3rd and ninth
7BDFA . B root ( c of ii going to B of V7

So again we can see bird intelligently constructing these building blocks because of the universality .

Later when we see how to transpose these building blocks to the other keys we will see another connection as well across the keys making smooth voice leading and smooth contour lines.

 

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.

 

Last edited: May 11, 2019

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