Vision Music Forum Index Vision Music
Community Forum
 
 FAQFAQ   SearchSearch   MemberlistMemberlist   UsergroupsUsergroups   RegisterRegister 
 ProfileProfile   Log in to check your private messagesLog in to check your private messages   Log inLog in 

One ii-V-I Line a Day

 
Post new topic   Reply to topic    Vision Music Forum Index -> Best Study Practices
View previous topic :: View next topic  
Author Message
woland99



Joined: 31 Mar 2007
Posts: 155
Location: Austin, TX

PostPosted: Mon May 14, 2007 5:28 pm    Post subject: One ii-V-I Line a Day Reply with quote

I am working thru Bird's Magic lesson now. One of the trick that Mark
demonstrates is creating nice altered lines for the V chord by simply
shifting "ii" lick by minor third then another one.
So for example in the key of C you would play Dm9 lick then repeat
it over G7 shifted by minor third to Fm9 or another one to Abm9.

When I was taking lesson from my previous teacher he offered following
approach to such substitutions.
All harmony should be thought in a functional way - tension and release
- moving from tonic to dominant and back to tonic.

So chords in a progression should always be thought and played over
taking into account their function - for example Dm7 and G7 are not
separate entities as far as choices of notes - but more by their function
in progression.

To generalize it further one can think of "partner" chord groups eg.
G7, Dm7, Fmaj7, Bmin7b5 and think in terms of groups rather than
specific scales. Over G7 one can play Dm7 lick - or in scale lingo
D-dorian.

Now if we can approach G7 substitutionas follows:
any time dom7 function resolves to tonic it can be
substituted by diminished chord half step higher: G7->G#dim7

Now diminished chords minor third apart are equivalent:
G#dim7 = Bdim7 = Ddim7 = Fdim7

So if we align original dominant chord and his partner group we get:
G#dim7 -> G7, Dm7, Fmaj7, Bmin7b5
Bdim7 -> Bb7, Fm7, Abmaj7, Dmin7b5
Ddim7 -> Db7, Abmin7, Bmaj7, Fmin7b5
Fdim7 -> E7, Bmin7, Dmaj7, G#min7b5

So we see that G7 and Db7 (and by extension eg. Abmin7 arpeggio)
are connected - we reconstructed tritone substitution with altered
tones Ab = b9, Db = #11
Other rows may provide different type of substitution (alteration)
for the G7 dominant chord:
eg E7 gives G# = b9 and E = 13
and Bb7 gives G# = b9 and Bb = #9

To summarize - over G7 one can play Dm7, Fm7 and Abm7 licks.

I have to say I learnt it logically first tie around but only after working
through example in Mark's lesson I started applying it to create ii-V-I
lines. That is really simple and effective trick to at least get started on
creating good sounding lines. I was told before that one should try to
create or memorize one ii-V-I line every day. That Dm7->Fm7/Abm7
tricks makes it MUCH easier.

JT
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
Mark
VM Coach


Joined: 26 Feb 2007
Posts: 479
Location: Portland, OR

PostPosted: Mon Jul 02, 2007 9:21 am    Post subject: Re: One ii-V-I line a day Reply with quote

woland99 wrote:
To summarize - over G7 one can play Dm7, Fm7 and Abm7 licks.

I have to say I learnt it logically first tie around but only after working
through example in Mark's lesson I started applying it to create ii-V-I
lines. That is really simple and effective trick to at least get started on
creating good sounding lines. I was told before that one should try to
create or memorize one ii-V-I line every day. That Dm7->Fm7/Abm7
tricks makes it MUCH easier.


JT,

Exactly. It's just a matter of whether you want an "inside" (D minor over G7) or "outside" (F minor/Ab minor) effect. Also note that the outside roots are a half-step away from the most common melodic resolutions (E & G) when moving back to the I (C) chord.

The great thing about the "Bird Magic" concept is two-fold. One is that it instantly creates call & response phrasing by either mirroring the original theme or playing two independent licks. The other is that it's just so easy to visualize on the neck. That's the "magic" part of the equation for guitar players, because it almost feels like it's cheating to simply move an idea a minor 3rd or flat fifth away, but hey... in my book "sounds good and easy to play" are two traits I'm always seeking when improvising. Wink

I realize that you and many others in the forum have heard my recent "Inside Out" blues tribute to Jimmy Bruno, but click here to hear a brief excerpt from the first solo chorus.

It begins at bar 7 of the 12-bar blues, but check out the "Bird Meets Trane" ideas at bars 9-12 to hear how these concepts get embedded into your work. The II-V is Cm7 to F7 but using Gb minor and mirroring over the V. The turnaround uses Trane's classic SOS (Sheets Of Sound - from Giant Steps) approach in using Bb, Db, Gb, and B sequences over the standard I-VI-II-V turnaround. Btw, Chapter 9 in the course gets into that concept.

Learn one II-V a day? Absolutely! It's the most important progression for developing the ability to play over jazz changes, and far beyond. When I realized that fact long ago, I spent years transcribing and observing literally thousands of II-V clichés. For me, it's like blues in that "Too Much Is Never Enough" (one of my song titles). Laughing

And finally...

Lowering any of the four tones a half-step from any diminished 7th chord automatically spawns a dominant 7th chord, which is an instant way of seeing and understanding the harmonic connection between the two. A diminished is almost always a dominant 7th in disguise. All for now...

- Mark
_________________
"Anyone can make the simple complicated. Creativity is making the complicated simple" - Mingus
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website
Display posts from previous:   
Post new topic   Reply to topic    Vision Music Forum Index -> Best Study Practices All times are GMT
Page 1 of 1

 
Jump to:  
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum


Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group