Hello LGM Fam,
Let me start off by saying that I LOVE theory.. it makes me feel warm and fuzzy on the inside..
Anyways here we go.. Another sleepless night!!!
People ask.. how do you get that PHAT, mellow, neo-soulish sound? or how do you make them crazy passing chords that you hear the "pros" do all the time? Well I will tell you.. extensions, alterations, tritones, passing chords. This is how you do it.. hopefully by the end of this post you'll see where I'm coming from and if not please don't hesitate to ask more questions!
Extensions are notes from the scale that you can add to your chords.. these are the 9, 11, 13, you can add these notes to major 7th, minor 7th and dominant 7th chords. I don't have the 7th on that list b/c the major and minor 7ths are the building blocks along with the 3 to basic harmony. Put the major 3rd and major 7th together you have the foundation of a Major 7th (Maj7) chord. Put the minor 3rd and minor 7th together you have the foundation of a Minor 7th (min7) chord. Put the major 3rd and minor 7th together you have a TRI-.. uh.. the foundation of a dominant 7th (7) chord. (I ain't ready to release the Tritone just yet, for now just think dominant 7th chord!!!)
Why didn't I mention the 1 or 5? Well.. the 1 is well.. the 1, it's the root the back bone but for the "harmony" itself you don't necessarily have to play it that's why we have rootless voicing and the 5 is well.. the 5 that notes is common to major, minor and dominant seventh chords meaning.. you can either play it or don't play it and you will still have the "harmony".. the 5 is a note that does not give character or quality; it can enhance but it doesn't define.. that's left up to the 1, 3, b3, b7 and 7!
Alterations are notes that are not originally from the scale that you can add to your chords.. these are the #4 equal to (#11), b5, b9, #9, b13 equal to (#5). These notes add color.. in other words if the 3 and 7 are the basic flavor then these alteration notes are the salt, pepper, Mrs. Dash, garlic.. they definitely spice things up. Take Note: so when you heard that chords that just sounds CRAZY.. suspect that an alteration or two or three are in the mix somewhere.. Don't believe me!! Well try this.. play the Db major scale (that is major harmony) now.. play the DbAbDb (1-5-1) in your left hand then play a G (b5) in the right hand.. DO YOU HEAR THAT?.. or try to play a E (b9).. DO YOU HEAR THAT? it sounded off or as they say disonant.. it just don't seem to go together but trust me that is how you get that interesting flavor and sound!
Tritones.. REMEMBER THIS.. major 3rd / minor 7th.. that's how you form a tritone. I hear some folks say "Hey I'm doing a Tritone!!" when they are NOT.. if you do not see them hit the major 3rd with the minor 7th they have NOT done a Tritone!! okay now that I've gotten that off my chest; what exactly do we use for and why is it the taboo or buzzword of the day? I had an excellent eConvo on AIM with Ms. Jada (sorry for using your real first name, don't remember your LGM username off the top) she broke it down like this..
You can come at Tritone in two ways:
1) Tritone Substitution - take the bass note Ab find it's "Tritone Buddy" if Ab is the major 3rd of E Major scale then what is minor 7th of E Major scale? Uhm.. D#(flatted) or D.. well you can substitute the Ab note in the bass for D.. or a Ab chord for a D chord.. You don't believe.. tsk.. tsk.. try this simple 2-5-1 in Db.. Eb -> Ab -> Db.. Play it regular Eb minor triad -> Ab major triad -> Db major triad.. now with the tritone substitution it's Eb -> D -> Db.. Eb minor triad -> D major triad -> Db major triad.. tritone substitution are cool cuz they can lead to some real.. SMOOTH progressions and chromatic bass lines...
2) Tritone.. which is? major 3rd / minor 7th.. or in other words the building block for a dominant seventh chord.
So to sum up Tritones.. they are nothing but a framework that you add to.. Let me make this REALLY clear.. the Tritone by itself is not necessarily PHAT.. it's the extension and alterations that you add to them that make it PHAT!!
Passing Chords these are the chords that go outside of the progression or key that the normal progression is in. This is another thing that the "pros" have mastered. Yeah a 1-5-1 progression is just a 1-5-1 progression until Kevin Bond throws in some passing chords in between that make you just shake your head and push the rewind button.. it's about rhythm, timing and feel. You can't just be doing passing chords til you blue in the face cuz you'll start to sound busy.. but a tasteful pass here and there will definitely have folks taking notice to what you're doing on the keys.. I will have to WARN you though.. you have to be respectful to the key and progression that you're ADDING passing chords to.. passing chords are NOT the progression they enhance the progression. If the 1 beat of each measure goes from the 1 to the 5 to the 1 you best make sure that you're passing chords will allow you to be on the 1 and the 5 and 1 on the 1 beat of each measure.. or you'll sound sloppy.. now don't get me wrong sometime cats do this on purpose to get a certain effect and well others don't.. you can tell who do it right or wrong.. (Quick shout out to my man Dooley for doing this perfectly last night during that concert!! He killed it!!
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Another thing in the progressions that I'm about to go through there are a method to the madness behind my passing chords... most of these passing chords are taking me out of the key of the progression and bring me back or move along a certain bassline.. mostly the whole tone scale (Another topic all together.. trust me..) each note in that scale is a whole note apart so like in C.. the C whole tone scale is C,D,E,F#,G#,A#,C
(I did that exact move in pattern 4.. look at the bass note of each chord and you'll see!!)
Ok.. nuff talking from me.. here are the breakdown to the chords.. I have listed the key, progression, numbered notes and chord names.. ENJOY!!
Roman Numerials (small letters stand for minor, cap letters stand for major)
I - ii - iii - IV - V - vi - vii | 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7
P stands for Passing Chord
Pattern 1 - Key of Bb
ii - IV Progression (2-4)
ii | CGBb/DEbFBb | 1 5 b7 / 9 b3 11 b7 | Cmin11
P | DF#/CFAC | 1 3 / b7 #9 5 b7 | D7#9
IV | EbBbC/DFGBbD | 1 5 6(13) / 7 9 3 5 7 | EbMaj6/9
P | DbFB/EbGBbEb | 1 3 b7 / 9 #11 13 9 | Db7#11
Pattern 2 - Key of Bb
IV - vi Progression (4-6) Rewrote order of chords to see progression easier
IV | EbBb/DFGBbC | 1 5 / 7 9 3 5 6(13) | EbMaj6/9
P | F#C/FBbCF | 3 b7 / #9 b13 7 #9 | D7#9b13 (rootless voicing) bass would be played by FP or bass player
vi | GD/FABbD | 1 5 / b7 9 b3 5 | Gmin9
P | AE/GCEG | 1 5 / b7 b3 5 b7 | Amin7
P | BF#/DF#A | 1 5 / b3 5 b7 | Bmin7
P | BbAb/DGBD | 1 b7 / 3 13 b9 3 | Bb7b9 (added 13)
Pattern 3 - Key of G
I - IV - vi - IV Progression (1-4-6-4)
I | GD/ABDF#,D | 1 5 / 9 3 5 7, 5 | GMaj9
IV | CG/DEGB,G | 1 5 / 9 3 5 7, 5 | CMaj9
vi | EA/BDF#A,F# | 1 4(11) / 5 b7 9 11, 9 | Esus E/D D major triad over E in bass (HOT b/c no 3rd)
IV | CG/BDEG,E | 1 5 / 7 9 3 5, 3 | CMaj9
Special Note here the D7#9b13 from Pattern 2 acts as a V to take you to the key of G! Listen to pattern 3 again and you'll hear the key change.. the chord I play before the GMaj9 is the D7#9b13 chord.
Pattern 4 - Key of G
IV - V - vi Progression (4 - 5 - 6) A Very Common Worship Vamp
IV | CGB/DGBD | 1 5 7 / 9 5 7 9 | CMaj9 (HOT b/c no 3rd)
V | DAD/EF#AD | 1 5 1 / 9 3 5 1 | DMaj9
vi | EAB/DF#AD | 1 4 5 / b7 9 11 b7 | Esus E/D (slash chord) same as above just voiced differently
P | F#C#/ABE,F# | 1 5 / b3 11 b7, 1 | F#min11
P | AbEbGb/BbBEb | 1 5 b7 | 9 b3 5 | Abmin9
P | FB/EAbB | b7 3 / 11 b9 3 | G7b9 (added 11) Rootless voicing (G would be played by FP or bass player)
That's it!
You should now have everything you need to play these chords / patterns in any key that you'd like!!
And hopefully this article has either demystified extension, alteration, TRITONES and passing chords or they have sparked your interested to do even more research and study into these subjects. Again these are the "secrets" to get you that PHAT, flavorful sound that you hear all the time.
It took me a while to get this, I've been playing for 8 or 9 years and just recently like 2 or 3 years ago did stuff start to click and make sense for me. I'm saying that to tell everyone to be patient.. it will come.. slowly but surely things will start to click and gel and you'll be on your way to making your own unique sound in no time!!
So print this off and STUDY it.. if you have questions feel free to post and please let me know if this article was helpful or not.
