RE: [Harp-L] II V I

[Jérôme P. <peyrelevade@xxxxxxx>]

If the question is : 
in which tunes can we hear a minor II V I ?, here are few examples :

Black Orpheus (many II V I in A minor and one in D minor)
Beautiful Love (D minor)
Autumn Leaves (II V I in G major and II V I in E minor)
Softly As in a Morning Sunrise (C minor)
Stella by Starlight (B minor, A minor, Eminor)
Shadow of your Smile (E minor, B minor, A minor, G minor)
Blue Bossa (C minor)

You'll find some of these tunes on my youtube channel, with their tab for
diatonic harp: www.youtube.com/JersiMuse


Concerning the possibility of playing a note on a chord, I don't think about
the problem the same way. The problem, according to me, is not which note
you can play, but which scales. You can perfectly play a substitution of the
current scale, with notes which seem to be relatively far from the original
chord.
For example, on a II V I major in C: Dm7  G7  CMaj7, you can play in Ab Maj
on the G7. But you still have to make it sound correctly and "mix it
correctly" with the scale of C major, otherwise it will be awful.
Listen to Charlie Parker for example, he plays a lot on that kind of
substitution.
If you'd prefer a reference with a diatonic harmonica, I think the one
reference remains Sebastien Charlier, who can play in many different scales
above a given chord.
Another example: on a II V I minor, you can effectively play in Valt on a
V7. But it is more logical. I think you could even play with this scale on a
II V I major in fact.
There are many examples like these, which enable to enrich your play. 

So at the end, any note can go on any chord, it all depends on how.

I'm not totally sure I've answered the right questions, but I hope that
helps anyway,

Best regards,

Jerome Peyrelevade
www.youtube.com/JersiMuse


-----Message d'origine-----
De : harp-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxx [mailto:harp-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxx] De la part
de michael rubin
Envoyé : samedi 9 janvier 2010 18:19
À : Mick Zaklan
Cc : harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx
Objet : Re: [Harp-L] II V I

There are two kinds of II V I's, major and minor.  In a major pattern
in the key of C, the II would be a D minor 7, the V would be a G7 and
the I would be a C major 7.  The most appropriate scale over the II
would be a D dorian scale (otherwise thought of as a mode of C major),
the most appropriate scale for the G7 would be G mixolydian (otherwise
thought of as G major) and the most appropriate scale for the Cmaj7
would be C major.  That means you could play the C major scale over
all the bars of that pattern.

In Do Nothin' Till You Hear From Me by Ellington/Russell, found on
page 107 of The Real Book Volume II Second edition, The first chord is
Gmaj7.  This does not look like a II V I, but the very last bar of the
tune is split into chords played for two beats.  The chords are A-7
and D7, The II and V of G.  When song returns to the beginning of the
tune it completes the II V I.

The next chords in the tunes second bar (two beats each) are D-7 and
G7.  The next bar is Cmaj7.  That is a II V I in C.  So the first (and
last bar) of the song is G major and the second and third bar is C
major.  At the second ending of the A section moving into the B
section there is a II V I in Eb.  There are other examples in the song
that you can locate now that you hopefully get the idea.

I see major II V I's EVERYWHERE and not just in jazz.

The other II V I is minor and it is what we have been discussing.  I
am new to really exploring this idea and do not have a tune right off
of my head.  I just searched thru the real book and found lots of
examples that were close to this pattern with slight alterations in
the chord but after 10 minutes awake without coffee, I am done
researching.  Tag, anyone?
Michael Rubin
Michaelrubinharmonica.com