Re: [Harp-L] Minor II V I

[Winslow Yerxa <winslowyerxa@xxxxxxxxx>]

Why does C sound good when the chord note is B and it should clash?

Could be because the tune is in the key of C, and because you're holding the note through a sequence of three chords, the first and last of which contain C:

D half-diminished7 (contains C) -to- G alt (where C should clash) -to- Cm, where C is the root.

If you try playing G over all three chords. I suspect you'll hear a similar result.

The fact that you're playing the C on a harmonica while the potentially clashing note (B) is sounding on other instruments could play a part. If you sounded out both the chords and the melody note on a piano, you'd probably hear the clash.

By way of contrast, try this:
  Over the D chord, play C.
  Over the G chord, play either B or Db
  Over the C chord, move back to C

After doing this a few times, go back to playing a C over all three chords and listen to the difference.

Another interesting activity is to find all the notes that are common to all three scales. The explore those notes in these ways:
   Play each note individually over all three chords
   Play the notes as a scale (I think you'll find its a familiar type of scale) and make up licks with it
   After you get grounded in the common-note scale, start adding notes than belong to the appropriate melodic minor scale for each chord as it occurs.

Winslow

Winslow Yerxa

Author, Harmonica For Dummies ISBN 978-0-470-33729-5

--- On Fri, 1/8/10, michael rubin <michaelrubinharmonica@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

From: michael rubin <michaelrubinharmonica@xxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [Harp-L] Minor II V I
To: "harp-l" <harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Friday, January 8, 2010, 12:11 PM

I am working my way thru Mark Levine's The Jazz Theory Book.  In it he
says Minor II V I's generally use a IIm7b5 V7Alt CmMaj7  pattern.  He
says the II chord represents the 6th mode of the jazz melodic minor
scale, the V chord represents the 7th mode of the jazz melodic minor
scale and the I represents the 1st mode of the jazz melodic minor
scale.

So if this song would be in the key of C, the chords would be Dm7b5
G7Alt CmMaj7.  The D chord is the 6th mode of F jazz melodic, the G
chord is the seventh mode of the Ab jazz melodic and the C chord is
the 1st mode of the C jazz melodic.

You are in the key of C minor.

I set up band in the box to loop a 4 bar pattern, the D for one bar, G
for one bar and C for two bars.  As an exercise I played 1 note and
held it thru the entire 4 bars to see how it would sound.  I tried the
key's tonic chord and sure enough C sounded nice throughout the entire
4 bars.  This confused me because in the Ab Jazz melodic minor scale
there is a B note and not a C note.  Why does a C sound good during
the GAlt7 chord?

I am playing this on a harmonica.
Michael Rubin
Michaelrubinharmonica.com
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