 |
 |
 |
           |
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
 |
|
|
|
 |
Polychords and the Jazz Improviser: How to Practice & Apply Polychords to Improv
In the world of music, many Jazz improvisers and Classical composers eventually venture into exploring poly-harmony within their respective art form. Poly harmony is the simultaneous sounding of more than one harmonic concept. The preponderance with poly-harmony began the late 19th-early 20th centuries with classical composers as Stravinsky and Debussy. About sixty years later, jazz musicians as John Coltrane and Richie Bierach incorporated such ideas into their music. The benefits of learning poly-chords will enhance an improviser's repertoire of harmonic concepts. Thus they can create harmonic colorings that can influence a listener's outlook. This article will focus on how once can practice and incorporate tertian polychords into their improvisational styles. Many of the examples and references within this article will make use of the seventh chord and triad. One should to explore other tertian harmonies such as ninths, elevenths, and all other similar formulations. Tertian harmony is harmony that spaces its notes a third a part from other notes. Additionally, tertian harmony includes the harmonic inversion of thirds. Before one begins their exploration into poly-chords, one should be familiar with tertian harmony in its simplest terms of inversions and through a few applied patterns. From this understanding of tertian harmony through inversions and patterns and after one has accomplished or, in the least, feels comfortable with tertian harmony, one should then attempt to combine more than one chord. The first step in gaining an understanding tertian ploychords is to write triads and 7th chords in a formulaic fashion. For example, begin by writing each major chord a major second apart (i.e. Cmaj-Dmaj, Ebmaj-Fmaj, etc.) After writing these series of chords, write out triads that are minor third apart. For example: Ebmaj-Gbmaj, Amaj-Cmaj, and all other similar progressions. As one can see from the two previous examples, one should continue this process until one has exhausted all the permutations of the triad progression. In a similar fashion, one should continue this writing exercise with seventh chords. The purpose to this writing exercise is for the musician/composer to develop a visual and intellectual connection to the concepts that they will use in a open/free musical environment. To continue with this process of learning tertian polychords, the next step, after one has learned by rote and memorized the permutations, is to apply their understanding of poly chords to an improvisation setting. Before one begins improvising with other musicians, one should improvise alone. This will familiarize oneself with the polychords without the aid of written materials. One should strive, during this stage, to improvise with polychords without much thought. Other permutations on this stage include the improvising within a strict harmonic setting. For example, one can improvise on chords that are a minor third apart. Similarly, one can improvise on a series of polychords. In the last stage of development, one should perform with other musicians and observe how polychords affect other musicians playing and one's performance. During this stage, one should apply their polychord knowledge towards Jazz standards, modal tunes, or atonal standards. Each form of Jazz standard offers its own rewards and challenges. Due to the pros and cons of each form of standard, the outcome will greatly differ. In addition to performing Jazz standards, one should attempt create their original composition with polychords. Furthermore, one should attempt to re-harmonize a Jazz standard with their new understanding of polychords. In the end, this article focused primarily on the practicing and application seventh chords and triads in a polychordal environment. One can venture into larger tertian harmonies or into other harmonic formulations, such as segundel, quartal, quintal, and all other similar formulations. During one's venture into other tertian or non-tertian formulations, one should observe the impact polychords have on one's and other performances. As a reminder to one's practicing of polychords, for one to be successful at polychords, one should remain diligent in their practice and application of tertian polychords. The process of learning polychords can be tedious, but in the long run, the rewards are greater than not learning this harmonic concept. In the next article on polychords, polychord progressions and its application to composition will be discussed. Andrew Hanna is the CEO & Production Manager of At Hand Productions, Inc. At Hand Productions is a leading Philadelphia concert and theatrical production company. Andrew Hanna has 20 years of composition experience and 16 years of performance experience. His compositions range from duets to large theatrical productions such as My Journal, Requiem for the Now, and Prophecies of War.
MORE RESOURCES:
Music - Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
The Acoustic Guitar The steel-stringed acoustic guitar is usually credited with being developed by C.F. Tips for Buying Digital Pianos and Keyboards Buying a digital piano could be a very delicate attempt, especially if you have no idea about pianos in the first place. This article is written to help you out how to choose the best digital piano. Music: Uniting Nations, Dividing Generations Cultures around the world since the beginning of time have appreciated, enjoyed, and incorporated some form of music in their everyday lives. However, just as one man's trash is another man's treasure, one man's music can often be another man's noise, and vice versa. Composing for Dummies When most people hear the word composer, they automatically think of classical composers like Mozart or Beethoven. This is the point where many "would be" composers freeze up because they tell themselves that their music could never be as good. The Art of Music Music is the art of arranging sounds in periodic time so as to produce a continuous, unified, and evocative composition, as through melody, harmony, rhythm, and timbre.It is also the vocal or instrumental sounds possessing a degree of melody, harmony, or rhythm. Guitar Tuning Tips Most new guitar players and even some experienced ones have trouble staying and playing in tune. I'll try listing here some of the common mistakes and there solutions. Automatic Control of Chords CORRECT PRACTICE IS INDISPENSABLE!Your success or failure at the keyboard may well hinge on how quickly and accurately you can memorize a new chord. To be really efficient at this you must use your eyes, your ears, and the muscles of your hands. Ibanez SR400 Bass Guitar The Ibanez SR400 bass guitar is very comfortable to play. The neck is thin up at the headstock, you can move your hand along it well because of the necks finish. Play The Piano Like A Pro Meet the 12 Major Notes:1. C (do)2. Learning to Play the Piano with Chords Part 2 Do you want to learn how to play chords on the piano? Can you already read sheet music or basic notes on the treble and or bass clef?Do you look at the notes on a piece of sheet music and are unable to name the chords?Or do you look at a piece of sheet music, see the letter "C" and are not sure which notes to play?If you answered yes to the first and second question this is easy to remedy. Knowing which chords are being represented by notes in sheet music comes with practice just like reading the basic notes does. A Guitar Lesson To Help You Test Your Note Knowledge In this guitar lesson we look at a great way to test your note knowledge of the guitar fretboard. But before we look at that, why even bother learning the notes?Knowing the notes on your guitar fretboard is an essential skill. Radio - What's Happened To It? Remember when radio stations played great music?OK, before you accuse me of sounding like your dad, I'll rephrase that. Remember when radio stations played an exciting variety of music and artists and you never knew what they would play and when?Well my friends if you do remember that, you've probably been around awhile. How Many Chords Are There, Anyway? Since chords (the main component of harmony) are one of the three most vital elements of music - the others being melody and rhythm - it would be useful to know how many chords there are. And it doesn't matter whether you play piano or guitar or some other instrument - chords are chords. Rabbitt Productions - Up & Coming Atlanta Producer When you think of music in Atlanta you generally think of Crunk Music but there is more to Atlanta's musical soundscape than that. Lots of young musicians in the A-Town venture off into different musical directions. Health Insurance for Creative Artists -- A Multi-Talented Health Investment For the Creative Artist -- Good Health Insurance is Truly a Lifetime InvestmentFellow artists, buying good health insurance is the best investment you can make in your lifetime! You can purchase fine jewelry, art works, vintage cars -- but none of these can assure you the value, well-being, and peace of mind that a comprehensive health insurance plan will bring you. And you don't have to pay for expensive expert advice before buying, either. Is the Record Album Dead? Not by a Long Shot In 1982, Sony and Philips introduced the compact disc, a digital music playback format that used a laser to read the disc. The compact disc was expected to quickly replace the long play record album (LP) that Columbia had introduced in 1949. Fiddle Tab Makes Learning Fiddle Fast and Easy Learning fiddle tab is so intuitive and so easy that a student picks it up in five minutes. This is true even for five-year-olds. How to Create an Original Melody Here's a method I use that works. First, sit down at your piano or keyboard and just improvise. The Future for Independent Record Labels Small independent record labels are facing a different fight today to obtain a share of the music industry. The best possible means in which small labels were able to get their CD's sold vanished in 2003 when Southwest Wholesale Records and Tapes closed the doors. Creating Caverns - an Improvisation Exercise In a recent post to my Yahoo group, I mentioned that I created the piece "Caverns" using one chord. I'd like to explain how I accomplished this.
|
 |