Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
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 ]
All of these scales were commonly used by late nineteenth and early twentieth-century composers such as Rimsky-Korsakov, Debussy, Ravel and Stravinsky, often in ways that directly anticipate jazz practice. [2] Some jazz scales, such as the eight-note bebop scales, add additional chromatic passing tones to the familiar seven-note diatonic scales.
(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):
The system is an example of the difference between the treatment of dissonance in jazz and classical harmony: "Classical treats all notes that don't belong to the chord ... as potential dissonances to be resolved. ... Non-classical harmony just tells you which note in the scale to [potentially] avoid... meaning that all the others are okay". [4]
The term side-slipping or side-stepping has been used to describe several similar yet distinct methods of playing outside. In one version, one plays only the five "'wrong'" non-scale notes for the given chord and none of the seven scale or three to four chord tones, given that there are twelve notes in the equal tempered scale and heptatonic scales are generally used. [3]
While the notes of a G 7 chord are G–B–D–F, jazz often omits the fifth of the chord—and even the root if playing in a group. [2] However, not all jazz pianists leave out the root when they play voicings: Bud Powell , one of the best-known of the bebop pianists, and Horace Silver , whose quintet included many of jazz's biggest names from ...
Get AOL Mail for FREE! Manage your email like never before with travel, photo & document views. Personalize your inbox with themes & tabs. You've Got Mail!
Dominant seventh chord on C: C 7 Play ⓘ.. Jazz harmony is the theory and practice of how chords are used in jazz music. Jazz bears certain similarities to other practices in the tradition of Western harmony, such as many chord progressions, and the incorporation of the major and minor scales as a basis for chordal construction.