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In jazz theory, an avoid note is a scale degree which is considered especially dissonant relative to the harmony implied by the root chord, and is thus better avoided. In major-key tonality the avoid note is the fourth diatonic scale step , or 11th, which is a minor ninth above the 3rd of the chord, and thus very harsh. [ 1 ]
An avoid note is a note in a jazz scale that is considered, in jazz theory and practice, too dissonant to be emphasised against the underlying chord, and so is either avoided, used as a passing tone or chromatically altered. [3]
(Note: the root C is omitted here, and is often done so by jazz pianists for ease of playing, or because a bass player is present.) Example 2 : The following example illustrates the notes of an F ♯ minor triad functioning as part of a C 13 ♭ 9 ♯ 11 chord (C major chord with a minor 7th, minor 9th, augmented 11th, and major 13th):
Students now typically learn as many as twenty-one scales, which may be compared with the four scales commonly used in jazz in the 1940s (major, minor, mixolydian, and blues) and the two later added by bebop (diminished and whole-tone) to the tonal resources of jazz. [8] The corresponding scale for the C 7 ♯ 11 chord, with added ninth and ...
"The number of the notes that make up a scale as well as the quality of the intervals between successive notes of the scale help to give the music of a culture area its peculiar sound quality." [6] "The pitch distances or intervals among the notes of a scale tell us more about the sound of the music than does the mere number of tones." [7]
For example, if a seventh chord, such as G 7, appears in a lead sheet or fake book, many chord-playing performers add the ninth, thirteenth or other notes to the chord, even though the lead sheet does not specify these additional notes. Jazz players can add these additional, upper notes because they can create an important part of the jazz sound.
The lower note is a constant A (440 Hz in either scale), the upper note is a C ♯ in the equal-tempered scale for the first 1", and a C ♯ in the just intonation scale for the last 1". Phase differences make it easier to detect the transition than in the previous sample.
As it contains the notes and alterations (I, ♭ 9, m3/ ♯ 9, M3, ♭ 5/ ♯ 11, ♭ 13, m7), it is particularly important in the jazz harmonic idiom, notably as a V chord in a minor key. For our example key of C-minor, the V chord is G7, so the improviser would draw upon the G7 altered scale (mode VII of the A ♭ melodic minor). A complete ...