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Main Harmonic Movement Principles Used in Jazz Composition
Main Harmonic Movement Principles Used in Jazz Composition
Date Posted: July 23 2011
Written By: Frank Caruso
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Conceptual Jazz
Main Harmonic Movement Principles Used in Jazz Composition
By Frank Caruso
(to view chart example please pick up a copy of the July/August issue of Chicago Jazz Magazine)
Why are some songs more memorable than others? This article will deal with the main harmonic principles that give jazz compositions their trademarks. Sometimes it is difficult to discern whether it is the rhythmic motifs or the structure of harmony that defines a tune. My feeling is that, for the general public, rhythmic motifs hold the greater identifying influence. However, you cannot entirely rule out great melodic and harmonic movement––the subject of this article––so there is a gray area of understanding as to why certain songs stay in people’s minds forever.
Improvisational players must have an intellectual and intuitive understanding of compositions if they are to construct solos having substance and movement. We have all heard solos by various artists that made an impression upon us.
My contention is that outstanding solos have to contain a concise understanding of how the harmonies are moving in relation to each other in any given composition. Sometimes you can sense that certain musicians seem to have a strong intuitive understanding of any tune they are playing. I have found that a fundamental understanding of harmonic principles used in composing tunes helps unlock that part of the mind that seems to already know how we want our solos to sound.
With this in mind, I have compiled a list of simple principles that free me up as a soloist. This list is also helpful in the memorization and transposition of tunes.
HARMONIC PRINCIPLES
1. Ascending or descending 3rds (major or minor)
2. Ascending or descending 4ths
3. Relative minor movement (actually a permutation of descending minor 3rd)
4. Major to minor mode shift in same tonal center (Example: Cmaj7 to Cmi7 in the same harmonic phrase or vice-versa, Cmi7 to Cma7 in same harmonic phrase)
5. Whole tone progressions (ascending or descending)
6. Tri-tone movement (almost always in the form of substitution), creating chromaticism in harmony
7. Use of various chord tone patterns for the purpose of root progression. (Example: ascending or descending diminished chord tones as tonal/harmonic centers arriving at a point of resolution)
Chick Corea’s “Humpty Dumpty” is an example of a composition utilizing five of the seven principles noted above.
“Humpty Dumpty” is a very interesting composition with an 18-bar form. It uses five of the seven harmonic principles I have listed:
• Measures 1 through 4 are two harmonic phrases (each with a different tonal center), a use of Principle 6.
• Measures 1 and 3 are tri-tone subs of the V7s of the following chords/resolutions:
Ebmaj7 (tri-tone of A) to Dmaj7
Gbmaj7 (tri-tone of C) to Fmaj7
• Measure 5 is a permutation of Principle 6 (use of chromaticism in harmony) from a half-step below rather than a half-step above. It can also be construed as Principle 7, in which case it would be a manipulation of F7/A, using the bass note of that chord but changing the chord to an A7. Some of my students accept this approach and some choose to reject it. Whichever way you choose to view it, it stills hits the mark for analytical purposes.
• Measures 6 through 10 are an example of Principle 4, shifting from major to mode in the same tonal center. Michel LeGrand is a proponent of this principle. My favorite use of this principle is in his composition, “His Eyes, Her Eyes.”
• The phrase represented in Measures 11 through 16 reveal perfect examples of Principles 1 and 7. In this phrase, Chick uses a descending pattern on an Fdim7, which places the harmony a half-step below the Gbmaj7 in measure 17 (Principle 6––use of chromaticism in harmony). He decides to extend it by going up a minor third, which puts him a whole step above the Gbmaj7 in measure 17 (Principle 5).• Measure 18 is the V7 of Measure 1.
It is my hope that this harmonic analysis of the tune will give a better understanding of how to approach your improvisational structuring of a song of this sort.
It is fairly easy to sense when a soloist navigates through the different harmonic phrases of a composition and when the soloist is isolating each change. This is not to suggest that playing each individual change is necessarily inferior. To my way of thinking, it is best to do both.
Understanding these analytical principles will give you insight into how Chick Corea constructed “Humpty Dumpty.” It is my hope that these principles will give you an understanding of why the various phrases sound the way they do. They should also be helpful in giving you a way of establishing organizational principles in your playing and writing.
As with all my articles, this information is common knowledge to some of you, and may be a revelation to one degree or another to others. I have always benefited from any observations of the musicians I have worked with that help me to play at a higher, more consistent level.
Frank Caruso is a jazz educator who serves on the jazz studies faculties at North Central College and Elmhurst College. He also has a home studio. Caruso has just completed a piano improvisation book which you can learn about at learnpianoimprovisation.com. Caruso may be contacted at carusopiano@yahoo.com.
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