A Boat Beneath A Sunny Sky

In one month, Rebecca and I will perform Outgrabe for the second time.

But instead of practicing, I thought I'd set another poem to music.  (For record keeping purposes, A Boat was composed between Aug 26th and Sep 1st).  And now instead of practicing, I'm doing the very important job of writing this post.

CHAPTER 1: POETRY

Here are all of the poems from both collections:

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

Opening: All in the Golden Afternoon
Chapter II: How Doth the Little Crocodile
Chapter III: The Mouse’s Tale
Chapter V: You are Old, Father William
Chapter VI: The Duchess’ Lullaby
Chapter VII: Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Bat
Chapter X: The Lobster Quadrille
Chapter X: ’Tis the Voice of the Lobster
Chapter X: Turtle Soup
Chapter XI: The Queen of Hearts
Chapter XII: The White Rabbit’s Evidence

Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There

Opening: Child of the Pure Unclouded Brow
Chapter I: Jabberwocky
Chapter IV: Tweedledum and Tweedledee
Chapter IV: The Walrus and the Carpenter
Chapter VI: Humpty Dumpty
Chapter VI: Humpty Dumpty’s Poem
Chapter VII: The Lion and The Unicorn
Chapter VIII: A-sitting On a Gate
Chapter IX: The Red Queen’s Lullaby
Chapter IX: To the Looking-Glass World
Chapter IX: The White Queen’s Riddle
After Chapter XII: A Boat Beneath a Sunny Sky

The seven purple ones make up the collection Outgrabe.

The white one was written by Carroll with a popular tune (1830) in mind already.  I will never rewrite it, but last year I arranged the poem to the original sheet music, as readers of the time would have heard it.

The three blue ones sit outside the books, and unlike the others, they are not parodies.  They're the bookends.

The six in green are nursery rhymes.  The tune for Twinkle Twinkle has been around since the mid 1700's, which is before the original poem Twinkle Twinkle Little Star (let alone Carroll's reference) was even written.  The tune for Hush-a-by Baby, as we know it in the US, was written in 1887, which is 16 years after Through The Looking-Glass was written, which means it could lend itself to a re-writing.  I will address these nursery rhymes, probably including Twinkle Twinkle, all at once some day, and that set of nursery rhymes goes like this:

Twinkle, twinkle, little bat!

How I wonder what you’re at!

Up above the world you fly,

Like a tea-tray in the sky.

The Queen of Hearts, she made some tarts,

All on a summer day:

The Knave of Hearts, he stole those tarts,

And took them quite away!

‘Tweedledum and Tweedledee

Agreed to have a battle;

For Tweedledum said Tweedledee

Had spoiled his nice new rattle.

Just then flew down a monstrous crow,

As black as a tar-barrel;

Which frightened both the heroes so,

They quite forgot their quarrel.’

‘The Lion and the Unicorn were fighting for the crown:

The Lion beat the Unicorn all round the town.

Some gave them white bread, some gave them brown;

Some gave them plum-cake and drummed them out of town.’

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall:

Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.

All the King’s horses and all the King’s men

Couldn’t put Humpty Dumpty in his place again.

Hush-a-by lady, in Alice’s lap!

Till the feast’s ready, we’ve time for a nap:

When the feast’s over, we’ll go to the ball —

Red Queen, and White Queen, and Alice, and all!

That will leave the six in pink, along with the nursery rhymes, to form a second collection of seven songs written in 1-7 sharps.  As Outgrabe is written in 1-7 flats, and my three blue bookends will be composed with no sharps and no flats, it will become quite the well-tempered collection.  (If you didn't just blow a kiss to Bach, kindly take a moment to do so now.)

This year, I chose my favorite of the blues, A Boat Beneath A Sunny Sky.

It is an acrostic poem, and the first letter of each line spells "Alice Pleasance Liddell."

A boat beneath a sunny sky,

Lingering onward dreamily

In an evening of July —

Children three that nestle near,

Eager eye and willing ear,

Pleased a simple tale to hear —

Long has paled that sunny sky:

Echoes fade and memories die:

Autumn frosts have slain July.

Still she haunts me, phantomwise,

Alice moving under skies

Never seen by waking eyes.

Children yet, the tale to hear,

Eager eye and willing ear,

Lovingly shall nestle near.

In a Wonderland they lie,

Dreaming as the days go by,

Dreaming as the summers die:

Ever drifting down the stream —

Lingering in the golden gleam —

Life, what is it but a dream?

CHAPTER 2: COMPOSITION NOTES

(Score Link: A Boat Beneath A Sunny Sky)
Because this is the last poem of the entire book, this song is written to be an epilogue of Outgrabe, evoking memories and dreams.

Memories are never perfect, so I wanted to include some of the most memorable moments without looking them up or thinking very much about it.  In other words, I purposely tried to compose this with a little more instinct and a little less calculation than usual, but who knows if I really did.  I knew I had to pay homage to the origin of this entire project, Jabberwocky.  I knew I wanted to include Queen Alice.  Other than that, the poetry is rather melodic, which brings both Crocodile and Turtle to mind.  So the William Byrd and the tarantella were cast aside.  And although there's no specific quote from the Walrus, the general harmonic ideas of clashing and bitonality, as well as quoting a popular (Disney) tune, can all be found in that ridiculously long-winded song.

Jabberwocky fits the fourth verse (section C) best due to the lead-in of "slain" and the diamond of a word "phantomwise."  That entire verse is a direct quote from the song, and it's not even transposed.  The rhythm has been stretched to 4/4 instead of its original 3/4, which gives off a suspended-in-time sort of feeling, like when you see a teacup falling to the floor, ever so slowly, and yet you can't catch it.  This suspension in time happens right before the slaying of the Jabberwock, which occurs more dramatically in the original, and is here referenced in the left hand crossover in measure 36.  (All of this means that I was saying teacup to be polite, and it was really the neck of my beloved Jabberwocky our gazes have been transfixed upon.)

The very opening of A Boat - a dissonant chord setting the stage for the vocal entrance - comes directly from Jabberwocky.  (Rebecca very sweetly pointed out that it's harder to find the opening pitch this time.  Luckily for me, she is more than capable of finding it.)  But speaking of all of this, I did quote the original dissonance, which is the juxtaposition of the Neapolitan against the tonic.

Before I show you how, I have to bring up Chris' glockenspiel part.  He plays every note of Sammy Fain's "Alice in Wonderland" in its original key of G major, written for the 1951 Disney Film.  It's a charming piece which is not only traditionally harmonized, but also of the popular form AABA.  More on Chris' part in a bit.  Fain's A section avoids f's of any kind (which means there aren't f#'s), so that entire section remains diatonic to my setting in C.  The B section and the bridge leading to it, however, have a few f#'s and c#s.  I took advantage of that to help ease the piano part into an F# major chord over an F outline as illustrated below:

Jabberwocky (Neapolitan in the right hand)

A Boat (Chris helping me get there in the glockenspiel)

That's really all I wanted to say about Jabberwocky, so let's take a look at the other references.

The accompaniment pattern in the B sections is a variation on the bridge in m. 38-40 of Turtle Soup, and the glockenspiel quotes the opening theme of Turtle in m. 12-14 and 38-40.  Large vocal leaps are just something I like, and they're present in both Alice and Turtle.  The interval is from Alice, but the idea of ending a phrase in a dramatic descending plummet is from Turtle.  (Again, this set is written for Rebecca's voice, and she has proven herself so capable that I need not behave.)

Queen Alice is first referenced by the descending 9ths I just mentioned, which are arranged in an ascending sequence of three in Chris' glockenspiel part.  We later find out that this was a truncated version of an ascending sequence of nine descending 9ths, which appear at the end of the second B section.  In the original, there are three descending thirds followed by nine descending 9ths to represent the lyrics "30 times 3" and "90 times 9."

Crocodile is referenced with the double harmonic minor scale in m. 35-36 and the coinciding glockenspiel part.  Short and sweet.

Circling back to Chris' glockenspiel part, I'd like to chat a little bit about the overall concept of this song.  Rebecca mentioned that Chris' part is like "a little voice that's like a little dream," and I couldn't have described my intention more accurately.  Because the Sammy Fain tune is so famous, and played in a clear and projecting bell tone over the slight muddiness that I tend to write into piano parts, it is my hope to force my audience into the uncomfortable task of hearing two keys at once.  Due to the overall absence of f#'s, however, it's rather easygoing as far as bitonality goes.  The Fain coexists in a parallel universe, sort of being consonant and accidentally diatonic, and sort of holding it's G majorness all on its own.

I actually wrote my opening phrase without realizing its similarity to the first phrase of this song, and once I did, I just superimposed the Fain and paid the combination my best attempt at half-hearted attentions.  For example, I wanted to write the e-flat at the end of Rebecca's first phrase, and then when I saw that the Fain ended on a d-natural at that moment, I was just like, "cool."

The thing about music in general is that there are no physical bounds, which makes it a playground for imagination.  Debussy can pull Sunken Cathedrals out of the water, Ravel can introduce us to a Water Nymph, and Berlioz can make us poison ourselves with opium from heartache.  And if they can do all of that, then we can most certainly go through a Looking-Glass and step into Wonderland.  All we have to do is enter the key of G major and write our stuff off of Fain's harmonies for a moment.  And suddenly, we're in one tonality, which means the universes have converged.  Rebecca's line remains true to our universe's style, but we're finally paying more than half hearted attentions to Chris and the Wonderland he lives in.  So that was easy - for the D section, I just wrote a duet.

It was at this point that I ran into my first and only compositional puzzle in this song: we had just firmly established G major with functional harmonies, and now we had but 3 short lines to cadence, rather inevitably, into C major (without the help of authentic cadences, which are currently being withheld for Wonderland and Wonderland alone).  Having a massive C pedal was a start, but I needed more.  I needed help from the vocal line, and Rebecca's triplets with two f-naturals in m. 59 is that turn - the solution.  She noticed this right away, and longed for our familiar (yet strange) minor-major 7th, but I'm certain that she'll make it sound entirely effortless, and the audience will not hear this as the secretly violent pivot that sends us down the path to C major.  In fact, I trust that they won't even notice the fork in the road.

Speaking of tonal plans, it's not important, but I'll just mention that the sections cadence thusly:

    A1 - in C

    B1 - in C

    A2 - in F

    C - in A

    B2 - in C

    D - in G

    A3 - in C

Anyway, if section C is a Jabberwocky quote and D is a merging of universes, I'll give you a quick word on the A's and B's, and that will be all there is left to say about this little song.

The verses are short, so I never have time to do very much.

The B sections are about the "children three," so they're sequences starting with triplets.  They end with Rebecca's descending ninth, which opens the door for Chris' descending ninth sequences.  The two B sections are nearly identical, with some slight piano alterations.

In the A sections, I establish the minor-major 7th (C-E♭-G-B), which is home in our universe, do something else, and then cadence.  In the first A, Rebecca floats down to a g# on "dreamily" because if you're doing something dreamily, you're not really paying attention, and a #5 is a nice place to settle.  That's where I imagined a feather floating down and landing onto my tea table.  Yes, of course there's a #5 on my tea table.

In the second A section, "Echoes fade and memories die" called for its own little sequence of echoes and distortion.  And in that distortion, instead of a #5, we encounter a ♭5.  And you already know all about the last A section, where the weirdest thing I do is simply stay in the key.

Yours,

Jazz Theory Notes, Mark Levine

INTRO

Scales are Chords and Chords are Scales

The 5 scales you must learn for improvising are:
    The major scale and its modes
    The melodic minor scale and its modes
    The diminished scale
    The whole tone scale
    The blues scale

MAJOR

Major Scale (avoid note 4) - major 7th chords; Imaj7's usually work with an optional 6 or 69
Dorian - minor 7th chords
Phrygian - sus ♭9 chords; can replace sus chords, dominant 7ths, and ii-Vs
Lydian - major 7th ♯4 chords; IVmaj7's usually work with an optional ♯4
Mixolydian (avoid note 4) - dominant 7th chords, sus chords
Aeolian - minor♭6 chords
Locrain (avoid note 2) - half diminished chords

MINOR

Melodic Minor/ Minor Major - minor major chords

    Can replace ii7s if not part of a ii-V, unless melody note is the 7th
Phrygian-Dorian - sus ♭9 chords; can replace sus chords, dominant 7ths, and ii-Vs

    Phrygian-Dorian is less dissonant than Phrygian
Lydian Augmented - major 7th ♯5 chords (implied ♯4)

Lydian Dominant - dominant 7th ♯11 chords

Mixolydian♭6 - rarely used; tonic minor major chords with 5th in bass
Locrian ♯2/ Half Diminished - half diminished chords

    Locrian ♯2 is less dissonant than Locrian

Altered/ Diminished Whole Tone - dominant 7th altered chords (alt = 7♭9♯9♯11♭13)

MAJOR & MINOR

Chords in C major: CM7, Dm7, Esus♭9, FM7♯4, G7, G sus, Am♭6, Bm7♭5

Chords in C minor: CmM, Dsus♭9, E♭M♯5, F7♯11, Am7♭5, B7alt

In major keys, there are avoid notes; in minor keys there are none.

This means that patterns, motifs, phrases, etc will work with any of these chords.

However, while [ii V I] are all derived from one major scale,

    [ii7♭5 Valt7 ImM7] are derived from three different melodic minor scales.

    Dm7♭5 - F melodic minor; Galt7 - A♭ melodic minor; CmM7 - C melodic minor

DIMINISHED

Octatonic Scales/Diminished Scales

    Half-whole scales - dominant 7th ♭9 chords

    Whole-half scales - diminished chords

Dominant 7th ♭9 chords/ dominant 7th ♯9 chords imply both ♭ & ♯9ths as well as ♯11s.

Diminished chords replace dominant 7th ♭9 chords to create a chromatic bassline.

Diminished scales have no avoid notes.

Patterns, motifs, etc work with C7♭9,  E♭7♭9, G♭7♭9, and A♭7♭9.

Every time you play something from the diminished scale, you're playing in 4 tonalities.

WHOLE TONE

Whole Tone Scale - dominant 7th♯5 chords

Dominant 7th♯5 chords imply both ♯5s and ♯11s.

Dominant 7th♭13 chords imply dominant 7th alts, or ♭9, ♯9, ♯11, and ♭13.

Dominant 7th♯5 chords sometimes replace dominant 7th alts.

Whole tone scales have no avoid notes.

Patterns, motifs, etc work with:

    C7♯5, D7♯5, E7♯5, F♯7♯5, G♯7♯5, and A♯7♯5.

Every time you play something from the whole tone scale, you're playing in 6 tonalities.

Whole tone is used fairly sparingly, and in short doses.

SLASH CHORDS

Slash Chords

C/C - C major and C Lydian

D♭/C - C Phrygian and C Locrian

D/C - C Lydian

E♭/C - C Dorian

E/C - C Lydian augmented

F/C - F major

G♭/C - C altered and C half/whole diminished

G/C - C major

A♭/C - A♭ major

A/C - C half-whole diminished

B♭/C - C Mixolydian

B/C - C whole/half diminished

BEBOP

Bebop Dominant (major, add ♭7) - V chords and ii V progressions

Bebop Dorian (dorian, add ♯3) - ii chords

Bebop Major (major, add ♯5) - I chords

Bebop Melodic Minor (melodic minor, add ♯5) - i chords

PENTATONIC

The standard pentatonic scale is the major (1 2 3 5 6).

The minor pentatonic scale is the 5th mode, or minor (1 3 4 5 7).

The major pentatonic scale is present on the I, IV, and V of every major key.

Each pentatonic scale belongs to 3 different keys.

The I, IV, and V major pentatonic scales have no avoid notes over a ii chord.

The I and V pentatonic scales have no avoid notes over a I chord.

The V pentatonic scale has no avoid note over a V chord.

So the V pentatonic scale can be played over ii V I.

Also, the G pentatonic scale can be played over:

    CM7, Dm7, Esus♭9, FM♯4, G7, Gsus, and B half dim.

The II pentatonic scale can be played over a Imaj♯4.

In melodic minor, there is only one naturally occurring pentatonic scale.

It is the major pentatonic scale starting on the IV (F pentatonic over C melodic minor).

The altered chord can be improvised on with the pentatonic scale starting a tritone away.

Pentatonic scales do not occur in diminished or whole-tone scales.

A different 5-note (pentatonic) scale is called "in-sen."

The intervals for this are shown in this example (E F A B D).

It is built off of the III of the C major scale or the II of the D melodic minor.

Another 5-note (pentatonic) scale is called the "altered pentatonic."

The intervals for this are shown in this example (E F A B C♯)

Both the in-sen and the altered pentatonic are played over sus♭9 chords.

BLUES

Jazz evolved from African-American, European, Latin-American sources, and the blues.

The blues are a form, a sound, a feeling, and an attitude.

The main elements of the blues are the changes and the blues scale.

Original Blues

    I7, I7, I7, I7

    IV7, IV7, I7, I7

    V7, IV7, I7, I7

1930's Blues

    I7, IV7, I7, I7

    IV7, IV7, I7, I7

    V7, IV7, I7, V7

Bebop Blues

    I7, IV7, I7, ♯IIm7 ♯IV7

    IV7, IVm7 ♭VII7, IIIm7 VIm7, ♭IIIm7 ♭VIm7

    IIm7, V7, I7 VI7, IIm7 V7

Minor Blues

    Im, Im, Im, I7alt

    IVm, IVm, Im, Im

    ♭VI7, V7, Im, V7alt

Blues Waltz

    V7, V7, V7, V7

    V7, V7, V7, V7

    Isus, Isus, Isus, Isus

    V7, V7, V7, V7

    II7♯9, II7♯9, ♭III7♯9, II7♯9

    V7, V7, V7, V7

The minor pentatonic scale is largely interchangeable with the blues scale.

Minor pentatonic (A C D E G); blues (A C D D♯ E G).

Major, melodic minor, diminished, and whole-tone scales can be played on the blues.

The blues scale can be played outside of the blues.

It is mostly played over V7 and m7 chords.

The blues scale can be played over all three chords I7, IV7, and V7.

PENTATONIC & BLUES SUMMARY

Play pentatonic scales on all major and melodic scale chords.

Play blues scales starting a m3 down from the root of the pentatonic scale.

II chords: I, IV, and V pentatonics; VI, II, and III blues/minor pentatonics

V chords: V pentatonic; III blues/minor pentatonic

I chords: I and V pentatonics; VI and III blues/minor pentatonics

II V I: V pentatonic; III blues/minor pentatonic

RHYTHM CHANGES

The blues changes are most famous.

The second are "I've Got Rhythm," but they're not easy.

AABA.

Original:

B♭	Gm7	Cm7	F7
B♭	Gm7	Cm7	F7
B♭	B♭7	E♭	E♭m
B♭	Gm7	Cm7	F7
B♭	Gm7	Cm7	F7
B♭	Gm7	Cm7	F7
B♭	B♭7	E♭	E♭m
B♭	F7	B♭	B♭
D7	D7	D7	D7
G7	G7	G7	G7
C7	C7	C7	C7
F7	F7	F7	F7
B♭	Gm7	Cm7	F7
B♭	Gm7	Cm7	F7
B♭	B♭7	E♭	E♭m
B♭	F7	B♭	B♭

1930's:

B♭	B°7	Cm7	C♯°7
Dm7	G7	Cm7	F7
B♭	B♭7/D	E♭	E°7
B♭/F	G7♯5	Cm7	F7
B♭	B°7	Cm7	C♯°7
Dm7	G7	Cm7	F7
B♭	B♭7/D	E♭	E°7
F7	F7♯5	B♭6	B♭6
D7	D7	D7	D7
G7	G7	G7	G7
C7	C7	C7	C7
F7	F7	F7	F7♯5
B♭	B°7	Cm7	C♯°7
B♭	G7	Cm7	F7
B♭	B♭7/D	E♭	E°7
F7	F7♯5	B♭6	B♭6

Bebop:

B♭	G7♭9/G7alt	Cm7	F7♭9/F7alt
Dm7	G7♭9/G7alt	Cm7	F7♭9/F7alt
Fm7	B♭7♭9/B♭7alt	E♭7M	A♭7♯11
Dm7	G7♭9/G7alt	Cm7	F7♭9/F7alt
B♭	G7♭9/G7alt	Cm7	F7♭9/F7alt
Dm7	G7♭9/G7alt	Cm7	F7♭9/F7alt
Fm7	B♭7♭9/B♭7alt	E♭7M	A♭7♯11
Cm7	F7♭9/F7alt	B♭	B♭
Am7	Am7	D7♭9/D7alt	D7♭9/D7alt
Dm7	Dm7	G7♭9/G7alt	G7♭9/G7alt
Gm7	Gm7	C7♭9/C7alt	C7♭9/C7alt
Cm7	Cm7	F7♭9/F7alt	F7♭9/F7alt
B♭	G7♭9/G7alt	Cm7	F7♭9/F7alt
Dm7	G7♭9/G7alt	Cm7	F7♭9/F7alt
Fm7	B♭7♭9/B♭7alt	E♭7M	A♭7♯11
Cm7	F7♭9/F7alt	B♭	B♭

Alternate beginnings:

F♯7	B7	E7	A7
D7	G7	C7	F7

B♭7	A♭7	G♭7	F7
B♭7	A♭7	G♭7	F7

Alternate B sections:

D7	D7	D7	D7
D♭7	D♭7	D♭7	D♭7
C7	C7	C7	C7
B7	B7	B7	B7

E7	E7	E7	E7
E♭7	E♭7	E♭7	E♭7
D7	D7	D♭7	D♭7
C7	C7	B7	B7

BASIC REHARMONIZATION

1.  Replace a V with II-V (Dm7 G7 instead of G7))

2.  Tritone substitution for a dominant 7 (C♯7 instead of G7)

    (Try in the 4th bar of the blues)

    Can create chromatic bass lines or change melody lines

3.  Do both (G♯m7 C♯7 instead of G7)

4.  Replace a Im7 with Im6 or a ImM7 (Cm6 or CmM7 instead of Cm7)

5.  When a Im chord lasts for 2 bars or more, the bass line can descend chromatically.

    (Cm, CmM7, Cm7, Cm6, (G) instead of Cm)

    Or the fifth of the chord can ascend chromatically.

    (Cm, Cm♭6, Cm6, Cm7 instead of Cm)

6.  Replace a IIm7 V with II half dim V (Dm7♭5 G instead of Dm7 G)

7.  If the melody of a tonic minor chord is on the 3rd or 7th scale degree,

    Replace Im with VII/I (B/C instead of Cm).

8.  Replace a IIm7 V with a V7/V V (D7 G instead of Dm G)

9.  Replacing V7 chords:

    Options are V7♭9, V7♯9, Valt, V♯11, V7♯5, Vsus, and Vsus♭9.

    V♭9 (from the half-step/whole-step diminished scale) often resolves down a 5th.

        Doesn't work when the melody is 9th or the ♭13, which are not from that scale.

    V7alt and V7♯11 are tritone substitutions from the same melodic minor scale.

        There are no avoid chords in melodic minor.

        All melodic minor chords are interchangeable.

        So these chords are treated the same way and resolve to the same chords.

        (In C minor, these are B7alt or F7♯11).

        Strongest resolutions for V7alts are down a fifth, up a half step, or down a major third.

        Strongest resolutions for V7♯11s are down a half step, down a 4th, or up a whole step.

        Alt won't work if the melody is a 9th or 13th, which aren't from the altered scale.

        V7♯11 won't work if melody is a ♭9, ♯9, ♭13, or ♯11; which aren't Lydian dominant.

        V♯11 is also a good replacement for a V/V resolving to a IIm7.

        (D♯11 to Dm7 instead of D7 to Dm7 in the key of C)

    V7♯5 (from the whole tone scale) , like V7♭9s and V7alts, resolve down a fifth.

    V7♯9 chords often function as a type of I chord.

        These are sometimes played as the first chord in a blues progression.

        They don't resolve anywhere in particular.

    Replacing VI chords:

        In a I-VI-II-V or a III-VI-II-V, replace VIm7 with a VI7 (A7 instead of Am7).

        Dominant seventh chords have more reharmonization options.

        In a I-VI-II-V or a II-VI-II-V, replace VIm7 with ♭II° (C#°7 instead of Am7).

    Replacing a IM7 with I6, I9/6, or I#4 (C6, C9/6, or C#4 instead of CM7).

        IM#4 chords (from the Lydian mode) can almost always replace a IM7.

        This sounds really bad if the melody uses the natural fourth scale degree (avoid note).

    Replace a IM7 with a ♭IIM7 if the melody is on the first or fifth scale degree.

    Replace a IM7 with a VII/I (B/C instead of CM7), but know this is adventurous.

10.  Sus and sus ♭9 chords are used to replace II chords, V chords, and II-V progressions.

    Replace with the same root as the V chord.

BASIC MUSICAL CONCEPTS

Contrary Motion & Parallelism

Chromatic Motion & Building a Chord with Melody on Any Root

Tonicize Any Chord with its Dominant

Diminished Chords & Augmented Sixths

Common Tones & Pedal Points

John Coltrane is credited with popularizing progression movement in major thirds.

McCoy Tyner is credited with using a Locrian scale over a dominant chord.