Taking It Out: PART ONE
O.K., I finally got to check out the P.J. Morgon interview and I have to say I was very impressed. The man knows his stuff for real. For the most part, his response to how to "take a song out" just confirmed what I been saying for years, know some scales, progressions, and theory.
If you want to improvise a pattern, u first have to know what the pattern is. Theory will help you figure out what the pattern is. Once u got the pattern, then u need to know what are the possible places in the pattern that u can add some stuff in. So, let's get a simple pattern started and let's slowly modify it:
Key Cm / Eb LH/RH
[1, 2, 3, 4] C / C-Eb-G
[1, 2, 3, 4] Ab / G-C-Eb
[1, 2, 3, 4] F / Eb-Ab-C
[1, 2, 3, 4] G / Cb-Eb-F-Bb
(repeat)
So, let's use our theory to see what we got here. Since we in Cm, i'm gonna use it's relative major, Eb, to name the pattern:
C / C-Eb-G *C minor chord, root in the bass, 6 chord in RH (root position), 6 in the LH
Ab / G-C-Eb *Ab major 7th chord, root in the bass, 6 chord in RH (2nd inversion), 4 in the LH
F / Eb-Ab-C *F minor 7th chord, root in the bass, 4 chord in RH (2nd inversion), 2 in the LH
G / Cb-Eb-F-Bb *G7 #5/b9 chord, root in the bass, altered 5 chord in RH (3rd inversion), 3 in the LH
So, it looks like we got a 6-4-2-3 progression here. Now, we are going to expand on this a little bit. So, the question now becomes what are some possible options that may help? Just like P.J. said in the interview, let's add some more to the LH:
Option #1: LH Embellishment[1] C/ C-Eb-G
[an] G /
[2, 3, 4] C /
[1] Ab / G-C-Eb
[an] Eb /
[2, 3, 4] Ab /
[1] F / Eb-Ab-C
[an] C /
[2, 3, 4] F /
[1] G / Cb-Eb-F-Bb
[an] D /
[2, 3, 4] G /
What I've done here was add in an the 5th & octave notes of the bass notes. This creates a flowing LH with the stationary chords in the RH. Now that we got our LH doing a little something, let's do some more exploring with the RH:
Option #2: Inversions[1] C / Eb-G-C *1st inversion C minor chord in RH
[an] G /
[2, 3, 4] C /
[1] Ab / C-Eb-G *root position C minor chord in RH
[an] Eb /
[2, 3, 4] Ab /
[1] F / C-Eb-Ab *1st inversion Ab major chord in RH
[an] C /
[2, 3, 4] F /
[1] G / Bb-Cb-Eb-F *root position Bbsus4 (b9) chord in RH
[an] D /
[2, 3, 4] G /
Notice how the inversions changed slightly from what I started with. This can happen at anytime throughout the progression. Experiment with different octaves for playing each chord. Here's something else:
Option #3: Substitution Chords[1] C / Bb-D-F *root position Bb major chord in RH
[an] G /
[2, 3, 4] C /
[1] Ab / Bb-Eb-G *2nd inversion Eb major chord in RH
[an] Eb /
[2, 3, 4] Ab /
[1] F / C-Eb-Ab *1st inversion Ab major chord in RH
[an] C /
[2, 3, 4] F /
[1] G / Cb-D-F-Ab *Dim. 7th chord in RH (root can be any of the notes)
[an] D /
[2, 3, 4] G /
Whoa, let's take a closer look at the chord substitutions I made:
C / Bb-D-F sub. for C / C-Eb-G *what I did here was play a 5 chord in place of the 6 chord i already used
Ab / Bb-Eb-G sub. for Ab / G-C-Eb *what I did here was play a 1 chord in place of the 6 chord I already used
G / Cb-D-F-Ab sub. for G / Cb-Eb-F-Bb *what I did here was play a dim. 7 chord in place of the altered 5 chord I already used. I said that the root can any of the notes, the way to determine which note is by the next chord being played. Since were gonna repeat, it's going to a 6. So, the root in this case is Cb, Cb dim7. chord
Now, i bet yall wondering "How did he know he could sub. those particular chords in there and it would still sound good?" Another P.J. answer is lots of experimentation, working with different chords against different bass notes. Let's keep going:
Option #4: Melody Run(s) On Top Of Chords[1] C/ C-Eb-G
[an] G /
[2] C /
[3] / Eb
[an] / D
[4] / Bb
[an] / C
[1] Ab / C-Eb-G
[an] Eb /
[2, 3] Ab /
[an] / G
[4] / F
[an] / Eb
[1] F / C-Eb-Ab
[an] C /
[2, 3, 4] F /
[1] G / Cb-Eb-F-Bb
[an] D /
[2] G / Ab
[an] / G
[3, 4] / F
Now, let's take a look at each little run that I added on top of each chord:
G / C-Eb-G, melody run on top: Eb, down to D, down to Bb, up to C
Ab / C-Eb-G, melody run on top: G, down to F, down to Eb
F / C-Eb-Ab, no melody on top
G / Cb-Eb-F-Bb, melody on top: Ab, down to G, down to F
If you take a closer look at those melody notes, u will notice that they all come from the Eb major scale. You can throw in little runs like that to make it seem like u have 2 instruments parts going at one time. They can be a couple of notes, or however many notes u can fit in b4 the next chord. Let's add on some more:
Option #5: Filler/Passing Chords[1] C / C-Eb-G
[an] G /
[2] C /
[3] Bb / Ab-C-Db-F
[4] Eb / G-C-Db-F
[1] Ab / G-C-Eb
[an] Eb /
[2, 3, 4] Ab /
[1] F / Eb-Ab-C
[an] C /
[2, 3, 4] F /
[1] G / Cb-Eb-F-Bb
[an] D /
[2, 3, 4] G /
Did yall catch the filler/passing chords I threw in? Let's talk about them:
Bb / Ab-C-Db-F *Db/Bb, b7 (Db major 7th, 2nd inversion) chord in the RH, 5 in the LH
Eb / G-C-Db-F *Eb7 9/13, altered 3 (Gsus7 b5, root position) chord in RH, 1 in the LH
So, what I did was throw in a 5-1 progression since the next chord is a 4. Think of it as a 6-2-5-1-4 progression w/out the 2 while inside the original 6-4-2-3 progression. Did that make sense? Let's look at it one more time with the chords themselves so u can see it better:
C / C-Eb-G (6)
missing (2)
Bb / Ab-C-Db-F (5)
Eb / G-C-Db-F (1)
Ab / G-C-Eb (4)
You get it now? Adding in progressions like that as filler/passing chords is a great way to spice up your music. Here's one more thing you can do for now:
Option 6: Substitution & Filler/Passing Chords Combo[1] C / Bb-D-F
[an] G /
[2] C /
[3] Bb / Db-F-Ab-C
[4] Eb / Db-F-G-Bb
[1] Ab / C-Eb-G-Bb
[an] Eb /
[2, 3, 4] Ab /
[1] F / G-Ab-Bb-Eb
[an] C /
[2, 3, 4] F /
[1] G / D-G-B
[2] A / Eb-Gb-A-C
[3] B / F-Ab-B-D
[4] G / Cb-Eb-F-Bb
I bet right now, some of yall are saying "WHOA, what the heck was that?" I threw in a couple little progression movements and some sub. chords. Let's take a look at them:
Bb / Db-F-Ab-C *Db/Bb, b7 (Db major 7th, root position) chord in the RH, 5 in the LH
Eb / Db-F-G-Bb *Eb9, altered 3 (Gm7 b5, 2nd inversion) chord in the RH, 1 in the LH
Ab / C-Eb-G-Bb *AbM9, altered 6 (Cm7, root position) chord in the RH, 4 in the LH
Remember ealier when I added the 5-1 progression in? Well, here I expounded on that idea by changing those chords I played ealier and changing the 4 chord all in the same move. The next one:
G / D-G-B *G major chord, altered 3 (G major, 2nd inversion) chord in the RH, 3 in the LH
A / Eb-Gb-A-C *Adim7, #4 chord in the RH, #4 in the LH
B / F-Ab-B-D *Bdim7, #5 chord in the RH, #5 in the LH
This move right here is done in a lot of gospel songs. It's basically a secondary dominant movement with passing chords in the middle. If yall remember the discussion on sec. dom., it's when u take a chord that is normally minor, make it major, then resolve to 4 of the chord.
Here, the sec. dom. chord is the G major chord. It is usually minor, but here it is major. The next 2 dim.7 chord are just fillers to get to the intended resolution chord, which in this case should be some type of C chord. Since it's gonna repeat back to the beginning, and we started off with a 6, this little progression works. Think of it as a elongated 3-6 progression.
PHEW, that was a lot of options. Go back through and see how the basic progression at the beginning slowly began to morph into the progression at the end using simple techiniques. Also, notice how the theory was used to explain the movements and make them valid to the progression. I need a break, so I'll be back when I can wit Part Two.
