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TOPICS Moving Beyond Typical Jazz Harmony
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This article is a lesson that comes to us courtesy of world-renown saxophonist,
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Jon Gordon, and also appears in his book, Foundations for Improvisors
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For nearly all jazz improvisors, the chord progression that is most familiar is the
two-five-one (ii-7, V7, I), which is the basis of be-bop harmony. However, as we
Saxophone Brand learn to expand our harmonic knowledge, we learn that harmonies are not
Overviews
always easily defined (e.g. Wagner’s prelude to Tristan and Isolde), and often
Saxophone Lessons move in ways other than sub-dominant, dominant, tonic.

Saxophone Parts
First, let’s try to review and understand a bit more about functional harmony.

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Expanding Your Musical Language by Moving Beyond Typical Jazz Harmony and Song Form » Best. Saxophone. Website. Ever. 5/7/19, 7(41 PM

Saxophone Technique Subdominant refers to a chord, often a ii or IV chord, which leads to or sets up
the dominant chord. The dominant chord, often a V7, is thought of as
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the one with the most tension and therefore, the most impetus
Transcriptions towards the I chord
chord, which is considered the release of that tension, and
called the tonic. In classical terminology, if the IV chord resolves to the I, which is
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common in rock and blues, it’s called a Plagal cadence – and can also be thought
of as the “Amen” cadence.

This idea of sub-dominant to dominant to tonic can be and often is expanded in

many ways. For example, D7 will usually resolve to G (major or minor). However,
in classical theory, if that D7 resolved to an E minor, it would be
considered a deceptive cadence. Depending on the key center you’re
coming from (in this case G), if that D7 resolved to Eb or C#, these would also be
considered deceptive cadences, as would anything other than a resolution to G.
Many of us have come across these kinds of harmonic sequences in
the past, but perhaps used different language to think about them.

Obviously many tunes played by jazz musicians extend the ii-V’s for 4-8
measures before resolving them to a one chord. Tunes such as “Honeysuckle
Rose”, and “Woody n’ You”.

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Also, many pre be-bop era tunes did not rely as heavily on the ii-V-I
progression and often simply cadenced V7 to II, or moved between
various dominant chords. The traditional 12-bar blues is a perfect example of
this, as is the tune “Limehouse Blues” or Jelly Roll Morton’s “Tiger Rag”.

But when you look at and analyze certain music written and played by jazz
musicians, it expands the idea of functional harmony even further. Take some of
Monk’s music for instance. “Epistrophy” stays on a I chord (minor) for the first
four measures of the bridge after alternating dominant chords on the first two A-
sections:

Db7 – D7 for 4 bars

Eb7 – E7 for 8 bars

Db7 – D7 for 4 bars.

Thelonious Monk "Epistrophy" (1957)

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Expanding Your Musical Language by Moving Beyond Typical Jazz Harmony and Song Form » Best. Saxophone. Website. Ever. 5/7/19, 7(41 PM

You could also look at the first dominant chord in the A-section as
the tonic, as we do on a blues blues, but the harmonic movement is very different
in this case. Also pieces like”Skippy” and “Monk’s Dream” used dominant chords
in a way that no one else did. (By the way, “Skippy” is a line written over a
brilliantly re-harmonized set of changes that Monk wrote over “Tea for Two”.
And the dominant chords move one-per-beat towards the end of the last A-
section. Very challenging to play on!)

Thelonius Monk - Skippy

Miles Davis’ “So What”, which is simply D minor on the A-sections and Eb minor
on the B-section, is a perfect example of what began to be called modal music,
and shaped much of the music written and played from the late 50’s to the
present time. A piece like “Epistrophy” might also be considered modal.

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the previous ideas of standard harmonic movement. Some tunes that I’d like
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Expanding Your Musical Language by Moving Beyond Typical Jazz Harmony and Song Form » Best. Saxophone. Website. Ever. 5/7/19, 7(41 PM

“Nefertiti”, “Fall”, and “E.S.P”.

Miles Davis - Iris

It’s not that tension and resolution are not taking place, obviously they are.
However, these pieces are going about that process in ways that were not
previously done. You will quickly find that some of your vocabulary that worked
on standards and earlier jazz compositions will not work as well over these kinds
of pieces. In short, ii-7 V7 I’s can no longer be the sole basis of your
vocabulary.

The Role of Form

I also want you to consider form. As you may have noticed, many standard
American songs were written using the A-A-B-A form. They’re often 32 bars,
though some may have an extended last A-section (like “I Got Rhythm”).

There are also 32-bar tunes like “Days of Wine and Roses”, or “Like Someone in
Love”, which could be interpreted as “A-B-A-B prime” (“prime” referring to a
similar but somewhat different take on the earlier material). “Limehouse Blues”,
also 32 bars, could be interpreted as A-B-A-C. Blues as we know it today is
usually a 12-bar form, though it’s not limited to that form, and in it’s earlier
incarnations was often not 12 bars.

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Also, many of the great standard songs that are played by jazz
musicians have verses, usually played only once at the beginning of a
piece. These obviously expand the form and often set up the rest of the piece
brilliantly, as in Hoagy Carmichael’s “Stardust”, Strayhorn’s “LushLife”, Monk’s
“Round Midnight”, the standards “Tea for Two”, “A Foggy Day”, and others.

But a piece like Wayne Shorter’s “Infant Eyes”, for example, which is three 9 bar

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phrases, is unlike almost any other standard or jazz composition before it. Or
Monk’s tune, “Boo Boo’s Birthday”, which is two 8 bar A-sections followed by a 5
bar section (or perhaps a 3 bar B-section and 2-bar last A), is clearly another
brilliant and original take on form. Much of this information may be evident to
many students, but it’s very important to be aware of and to take into
consideration as an improviser, composer or arranger.

Wayne Shorter - Infant Eyes

Thelonious Monk - Boo Boo's Birthday

Lastly, I think now is a good time to mention that while this article deals with
many post be-bop concepts, I strongly urge you to work backwards in
time and music history as well as forward in the process of learning and
appreciating this music. Regardless of your direction or aesthetic, you need to
know the history of your instrument. And by going both forward and
backward in time with your studies, you will also certainly learn a great deal
about form and harmony, as mentioned above, as well many other things about
time, your instrument, and the music.

And if you’ve not yet checked it out, you’ll be amazed at Duke’s “The Clothed
Woman”, Bix’s impressionistic, “Clouds”, Hawkins’ use of chromatic passing tones
on his classic3recording of “Body and Soul”, or Tatum’s uses of polytonality.
Notice the forms of the pieces being played, and be aware of the different
harmonic conceptions from ii-V-I’s. Duke’s music, the Scott Joplin rags, Jelly Roll
Morton, et al.

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Expanding Your Musical Language by Moving Beyond Typical Jazz Harmony and Song Form » Best. Saxophone. Website. Ever. 5/7/19, 7(41 PM

Duke Ellington - The Clothed Woman

So, along with doing all of the suggested listening, I want you to learn all the
tunes mentioned in this lesson. You should probably also be investigating
other pieces not mentioned specifically by the aforementioned musicians-
they’re all prolific!

I also want you to write two contrasting pieces that each have forms
that are somewhat unusual (e.g. A, B, C, D, 10 bars each), and that
utilize harmonies that stay away from ii-7, V7, I language that we’ve
become accustomed to.

For example:

Try to avoid a direct V7-I resolution and only use “deceptive

cadences” on one of the pieces.

On the other, try to write something in the style of Scott Joplin or

Jelly Roll Morton.

Then try to play over what you’ve written.

You will teach yourself quite a lot and expand your musical language and
thinking over these different options on form and harmony.

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Be a part of Jon Gordon’s new Artishshare project! You can pre-buy the CD, or
become a producer level supporter of the recording. There are also offers
designed specifically to bring students into the process of the creation of the
CD. Click here to check out the
project!http://www.artistshare.com/Projects/Experience/64/506
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http://www.jongordonmusic.com

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Jon Gordon
Jon Gordon is a world-renowned artist and one of the most
successful, accomplished and in-demand alto and soprano
saxophonists of his generation. Jazz Improv magazine journalist
Brandon Bernstein said, “Jon Gordon is a master. His
compositions, improvisation, tone, and technical virtuosity set him
apart as an elite musician of our time.” He is a winner of the Thelonious Monk award.
His 2008 C.D., "Within Worlds", received 4+1/2 stars from Down Beat and was
selected as one of the top Jazz C.D.'s released in that decade. His next C.D., "Evolution",
was selected by The Jazz Journal and the Penguin Guide to Jazz, as well as journalists
Neil Tesser and Gene Seymour, as one of the Best Jazz C.D.'s of 2009. He has been
voted numerous times as a "Rising Star", or "Talent Deserving Wider Recognition" on
multiple saxophones, as well as in the composition category, in the annual Down Beat
Critic's Polls. He is currently assistant Professor of Jazz Saxophone at the University of
Manitoba.
→ Jon Gordon

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