This thread is dedicated to those of us who need to go a bit slower with it , and take our time starting at the beginning of it all.

Our starting point for this material is going to be 12 tone equal temperament.
this means 12 equally spaced notes like a clock on the wall.
It is the foundation of piano and guitars.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equal_temperament

In this system each of our equally spaced 12 notes can have it's own KEY ( center point)
it gives us the most options while not being too complex ( like systems with 24 or more notes)
----------------------------





Our notes are going to be named a certain way.

C c#/Dflat D d#/Eflat E F f#/gflat G g#/aflat A a#/bflat B C

We can see here that some of our notes have 2 names.

this is based on how we use it (even though they the same)

Notes that are a octave lower or higher are the same note.
above see the C shows up after B (even though we started with C at beginning.

We have our 12 notes then they repeat again

Each of our notes has a frequency ( vibration rate per second)
https://pages.mtu.edu/~suits/notefreqs.html





-------------------

We have talked about our notes, everything is going to be based on these 12 equal spaced notes.

let's talk about our first KEY. it is C major

it is a scale, or note collection.
( we are not using all 12 notes in a KEY, but instead the ones that fit well with C at center point or focus)

our first KEY of C major has 7 notes
these notes are C D E F G A B




We number them with roman numerals like this.

I.C ii.D iii.E IV.F v.G vi.A vii%.B

each one of our notes has an associated chord it is built from by selecting every other note.

I.CEGB
ii.DFAC
iii.EGBD
IV.FACE
V.GBDF
vi.ACEG
vii%.BDFA

next, each one of our roman numerals has a associated "mode"

I.CDEFGAB
ii.DEFGABC
iii.EFGABCD
IV.FGABCDE
V.GABCDEF
vi.ABCDEFG
vii%.BCDEFGA

we use the chord to go with the mode.


Our KEY in this case is C major. C is called "home" or consonant or at rest.

our V chord is called Dominant, it is "away from home" or tension or movement.

So we have 2 options home or away from home.
in other words movement or at rest.

all 7 chords ( and equivalent modes )

are representations of home or away from home.



Audo example of above image.
https://mega.nz/#!faJTQRQQ!fLB1dJ48b9jUAJ_qSRzQtBVVYfUvIZbNtD60zWJtcK8


this is showing you that all of our 7 chords are representations of either home (Cmajor)
or away from home V.G7 (dominant)


I=iii=vi
and
{ii=IV),(V=vii%}








please stay tuned for more!...............

 

Last edited: May 16, 2018

We can see that in C major KEY, we have 7 total chords that represent 2 functions.
Home and away from home.
Lets look at how far away each chord is from home.

I.CEGB fully Home
ii.DFAC bit away from home
iiii.EGBD almost fully home
IV.FACE bit away from home
V.GBDF far from Home
vi.ACEGB Fully Home
vii%.BDFA far from Home

lets now look at the basic modes that go with each of these chords

I.CDEFGABC
ii.DEFGABCD
iii.EFGABCDE
IV.FGABCDEF
V.GABCDEFG
vi.ABCDEFGA
vii%.BCDEFGAB

we use these modes over the chords to make melody and lines

 

Next in Jazz the most popular progression is called the ii V I.

What is happening there is a expression of away from home arriving back at home

the ii. is Dmin7 DFAC moving away from home
the V is G7 (Dominant)GBDF far away from home
and the I Cmaj7 CEGB is arriving to home

the progression goes from dissonance to consonance creating a resolution.

Dmin7, G7, CMaj7

This can be expressed in many different ways.

for a bassline a melody of single notes traveling in quarter notes along the roots of the chords.
for the comping the chords playing with stabs
for the lead instrument like Horn , a melody expressing the 3rds and 7ths of the chords.

when you add up all the instruments you get this


Dmin7, G7, CMaj7

so, the Visual chord progression is a representation of what all the instruments added up together are doing.
It is the representation of the music structure.


------

 

in Jazz Rhythm is a very important component.
traditionally Jazz has a shuffle or "swing" rhythm.

https://audiosex.pro/threads/what-is-swing-jazz-groove.38465/
https://www.studybass.com/lessons/rhythm/shuffle-and-swing-rhythms/

This means That although the music is 4/4 (1234123412341234)

Jazz has a triplet feel superimposed over the 4 feel.
---

To get used to "Swing" (Shuffle)

we take a 123 feeling

123123123123123123123123

BUT we make the first note on 1 last the length of the numbers 12
So the first note is twice as long as the last note.

1-31-31-31-31-31-31-31-3

It creates a sound like "Slice A' Pizza"
1-31-3


You might ask, "why does it do this, why does it swing or shuffle?"


The reason is that by doing this you get a "strong" beat on the long first note. (important beat)
and you get a "weak" beat on the off beat (short beat)


The reason why this is important is that it allows the lines and melodies to emphasis the home away from home relationship we talked about earlier.

Picture a swing rhythm with the line C G A B C
(our red note is the strong the weak short beat is black)

We can see something about our mini line.
the first note is root of C major7 home chord
the second note is root of G7 away from home chord
the third note is root of our vi.Amin7 home chord
the B is the third of G7 away from home chord
the C is root of CMajor7 home chord.

This simple melody has strong home notes on the "strong" beat
and it has notes of the tense away from home chord G& on the "off" or short beats.

This mini melody has a structure of V to I progression.

We used the roots last time but this time lets add in the use of the 3rds also

so ii DFAC V GBDF I CEGB

E B C D C B E

this time we made a line that traveled out and back in

Lets try adding in the use of the 7th notes

V GBDF, I CEGB

B D C D E F G F B

 

Last edited: May 16, 2018

The Dominant Chord
---------------------------


In each KEY you have a V. dominant chord, which is the most tense and away from home as you can get. it provides a sense of movement and motion and when you go from the Dominant chord back to home it provides a emotional sense of release or resolve.


in C major KEY G7 (G dominant 7) is your V.

GBDFACE
----------

G is the root r
B is the third 3rd
D is the fifth 5th
F is the seventh 7th
A is the ninth 9th
C is the eleventh
E is the thirteenth

( we normally do not use the C natural or the E natural on the G7 chord becuase it gives away the notes coming up when we resolve to Cmajor home)

But in Jazz you also have altered notes available in your Dominant chord ( in order to make it even more tense or away from home)

In KEY of C major your Dominant chord is G7 GBDFA ( full version is GBDFACE)

your altered notes are G# ( flat9th) A# (#9th) C#( flat5th or #11) D# (#5th)

These altered notes are commonly used where in lines they resolve to the Cmajor chord tones a half step away

so G# ( which is flat9th of G7) resolves to G( fifth of Cmajor7)
so A# (which is #9th of G&) resolves to A (6th of Cmaj6 or root of Amin7)
so C# (which is flat5 or #11 of G&) resolves to C (root of Cmajor7 or 3rd of Amin7)
so D# ( which is #5th of G7) resolves to G (5th of Cmajor7)

----------
Like before, lets create a simple melody outlining the structure of
I to V to I CEGB to GBDF to CEGB

but this time using the G# A# C# and D# altered notes of our Dominant7th also.

(remember that red is strong beats black is short swing weak beats)




E F G G# G F E D# G C# C

Now lets focus in on a portion of this swing melody

G down to D# back up to G down to C# down to C

G D# G C# C

add another C# at end

G D# G C# C C#

now we can loop it

G D# G C# C C# G D# G C# C C# G D# G C# C C# G D# G C# C C#

lets move it up a whole step

so we started off with

G D# G C# C C#

move all notes up whole step

A F A D# D D#

A is root of Amin7 home
F is 7th of G7 away from home
A is home
D# is #5th of G7 away
D id 9th of Cmaj9 CEGBD
D# is #5th of G7 away

and now if we loop it

A F A D# D D# A F A D# D D# A F A D# D D# A F A D# D D#

NOW

we are going to take our original part

G D# G C# C C#

but clip off the ned part and keep the front

G D# G C#

connect to whole step up

A F A D#

connect to another wholestep up

B G B F

this is what we get

B G B F A F A D# G D# G C#

now repeat it!

and then we can take out some repetition

B G B F A D# G C# end on LONG C

Finally lets try this one.

C C# G D# A F B G long C
(just have the black notes high up than red)





---------------
Now lets try another one.

E C# C B C C# D D#

Now a second part to it.

G D# D C# C C# D D#

Now add them together

E C# C B C C# D D# G D# D C# C C# D D#


And a New section

A F E D# D D# E F

then a second part

B F E F# E F G F#

Now add them together

A F E D# D D# E F B F E F# E F G F#



now add together the 2 big parts to get this.


E C# C B C C# D D# G D# D C# C C# D D# (continue on..)
A F E D# D D# E F B F E F# E F G F#

 

Last edited: May 16, 2018

Lets look at "spirals" in melody

same thing as before KEy of C major and focus on the tonic to dominant
Red is long beat black is short beat. the short beats we focus on dominant7 notes and altered tones of G7 GBDFA (G# A# C# D#)
Red notes we focus on chord tones of the Cmaj9 CEGBD

This allows our notes to resolve.

remember the sound of "Slice A Pizza"

we want to create a "spiral sound" or in other words weaving in and out instead of straight up and down sounds.

take this

C C# G D# A F E C# D D# A F B F G F# E long note....

here is another one

C F E G# G C# D B
this one can "loop"

try this one

C F E C# D G# G B

loop this one
see how it alternates above to below
-----------------------------------


Lets now try taking the arpeggio of C maj7 and adding like before

"Slice A Pizza, Slice A Pizza"

D B C E G A# B G

Now loop it

Look at the potion of D B C what we are doing is taking the C note going scale tone above half step below and landing on C this is called a " button hook"

We can add them in at any time using the principles we already discussed.

so the buttonhook for C is DBC
what is the buttonhook for E?
FD#E
but see how the first note is F that is not a chord tone or long note, this means for this button hook to work we have to use a triplet.
we will show the triplet in BLUE for the triplet we fill in that 3rd note of the swing so its a quick 123, instead of 1-3

D B C E G A# B G F D# E C Long note...

what if we want to loop it?

D B C E G A# B G F D# E C E G A# B G F D# E C

Here is another simple spiral melody with a triplet at end.

B F G F# E F A F# G

in this case we took a buttonhook for G which is A F# G and made that a triplet at the end in a way where the whole line can loop.

 

Last edited: May 17, 2018

Lets now take our ii chord in C major KEY

ii Dmin7 DFAC

lets use the arpeggio and G7 notes on the weak beat to make a line,
following the "Slice A Pizza" sounding swing feel.

F A C D# D B C F# F

you can loop it too

F A C D# D B C F# F A C D# D B C F#

Now lets try changing the directions

F A C C# D C# C E F

Now lets try connecting the 2 together

F A C D# D B C F# F A C C# D C# C E F

Now loop that whole thing
see how we are starting to add in variety even though the line is emphasizing the Dmin7 chord the whole time?

Lets try another line representing the ii Dmin9 DFACE

E C# D E F A C C# D F A F# F E D D# C C# D C A G# F E D C# D long note.....

 

Last edited: May 17, 2018

Lets now take our V chord in C major KEY
V G7 GBDF (we can include our 9th A also) G9 GBDFA

lets use the arpeggio on the strong beats and leading tones grace notes ( non chord tones half step from chord tone) including buttonhooks on the weak beats.

G C# D E F A# A G#

Now when we are plaing the V G7 chord, we are able to play the arpeggios of each note of the 7th
on the chord ( on the strong beats of our lines and melodies)
GBDF
BDFA
DFAC
FACE

this gives us a chance to have a lot of options when we also combine our buttonhooks and grace notes,leading tones.(on weak beats)

check out this line

F B D G B D F G

and

E A C F A C E F

these are chord tones that still give us a spiral sound.
even the weak beats have a chord tone so this type structure means we can add more to it as we wish to expand on the idea.

 

Last edited: May 17, 2018

Now I want to share a superb video series with you that can go further than i can with text here. please go slowly and all the way through the series thank you!

 

Thank you so much for this series.
But:

Chromaticism is used aimlessly in Jazz, even though a tremendous amount of Jazz theory is applied to justify its usage.

 

Last edited by a moderator: May 17, 2018

well done MMJ.....your efforts should be greatly appreciated by anyone wanting answers to simple questions...with sometimes elusive answers..... in my case for example i was late to pitch efforts in music and had over 20 years in rhythm playing befors i turned my attention to what pitch the notes were......so my questions were all about..."what the hell are you playing that makes the lilt of that sound"? etc etc.....just below the surface of your texts i find those answers..and so will anyone who looks and thinks about where the actual gems of information are......thanks friend.

 

The basics of JAZZ is about understanding some important ideas.
1.rhythm (shuffle)
2. call and response ( flow phrase breath, repeat) like when you speak
3. planning your melody notes where important notes on the strong beat and the weak beats setup to where you are going to land
4. that each instrument plays a role which adds up to be the whole music.
A. the drums set the pace and swing.
B the bass sets the root notes and body
C the 3rds and 7ths(comping) setup the 3d depth of the chord progression.
D the lead melody or multiple melodies (harmony) feels like it is talking and speaking to you using call and response.

 

Here is to learn the role of the bass ,what is unique about it ,how it works

 

here is to learn the drums, exactly how to play jazz beats and what they sound and feel like

 

Jazz partially comes from the Blues. It uses blues elements and is important aspect of JAzz .
here is how to play 12 bars blues and improvisation of the blues in a way that can be extended into jazz .

The Blues is based on the dominant chord.
each chord of the progression uses a dominant chord and uses the pentatonic minor scale over the dominant chord.
the 3rd interval uses the minor 3rd major 3rd and bends to the notes in between the minor and major 3rd.

You can hear that the blues expresses a unique tension in the chord foundation , while the melody on top uses a sad minor feel.
This combination reflects the origins of the blues be the torment the African American slaves endured.They created the language of the blues to express the emotions of being un-free in a "free" country.

 

Last edited: May 18, 2018

i 'had already' seeing your 'ask video jazz theory 101 made easy.mp4' .rar posted on warez sites

 

?
that was not me B.

 

just for fun and inspiration!