[Harp-L] All this Positions and Modes stuff

[The Iceman]

by the head, you mean the bass line? That's the head.


Play that bass line under a G7 chord instead of the voicings that are appropriate? That sounds pretty bad. The whole idea of this song was to do away with chords - modal breakthrough, ya know. Endless options and note choices for improvising!


It's not really over a Dmin chord at all, but those specific voicings drawn from the Dorian mode. That was the whole idea.


Maybe not the best example for what you are trying to convey.


What makes the mode is a strange question here. That mode is the foundation from which this song and concept arose.



-----Original Message-----
From: dh <dh at xxxxx>
To: 'The Iceman' <icemanle at xxxxx>
Sent: Mon, Oct 29, 2018 12:53 pm
Subject: RE: [Harp-L] All this Positions and Modes stuff



It means you should try to play the head over a G7 or a Cmaj7 instead of a Dmin
So simply put a play along or record a bass line or a chord vamp …
 
And you can also improvise with a C major scale over a Dmin7 and hear if it sounds like a C major scale or a  D dorian mode
What makes the mode ? the bass line / chord or the mode ?
 
As long as you won’t try you won’t understand or feel it
 
Best,
 
David Herzhaft
 
www.davidherzhaft.com
 
 
 
From: The Iceman <icemanle at xxxxx> 
Sent: Monday, October 29, 2018 10:45 AM
To: dh at xxxxx; harp-l at xxxxx
Subject: Re: [Harp-L] All this Positions and Modes stuff
 
How does one play So What over a G7? What does that even mean?  

 

If I play a C major scale over D in the bass, I hear D sus...(same notes, different sonority - same bricks, different building)



-----Original Message-----
From: dh <dh at xxxxx>
To: 'The Iceman' <icemanle at xxxxx>
Sent: Mon, Oct 29, 2018 12:32 pm
Subject: RE: [Harp-L] All this Positions and Modes stuff


The So what suggestion is a simple test 

Because talking about modes positions and so on is fine but experiencing it is the key to moving on

If you do it you will find out that the mode is defined by the bass or chord played behind the soloist not the mode itself

So playing on the C major scale will sound as D dorian as soon as the bass player plays a D or guitar player plays a D min7

 

By the same token if you take So What that is supposedly dorian and play it over a G7 or Cmaj7 it will not sound dorian anymore

It’s part of things I explain and demonstrate in my bundle Encyclopedia of scales for harmonica

 

Best,

 

David Herzhaft

 

www.davidherzhaft.com

 

 

From: The Iceman <icemanle at xxxxx> 
Sent: Monday, October 29, 2018 8:13 AM
To: dh at xxxxx; harp-l at xxxxx
Subject: Re: [Harp-L] All this Positions and Modes stuff

 

dh posts:


<<Then please try to play So What over a G7 then do the same over a CMaj7




We're not talking about contractor's bricks but the full garage if you put the garage in the backyard is it still a garage ?>>



The play So What suggestion makes no sense to me. What exactly are you trying to say? 


 


btw, it IS the contractor's bricks I was talking about. Same bricks used for house and unattached garage, yet they are different structures. Same notes used for those different modes/scales, yet they are different modes/scales. Simple.


-----Original Message-----
From: dh <dh at xxxxx>