Thanks, Chris. I just wanted to say that I appreciate your humility in presenting jazz material. I’ve had the privilege of working with true jazz artists in my community. I can comp and swing and hold my own with chord changes well enough to function, but my ability to improvise, and the breadth of my knowledge is nowhere near that of my friends who have immersed themselves in jazz their whole lives. Your acknowledgement resonated with me. I loved your metaphor of dipping into the stream. This is a great introduction to quartal harmony! Cheers!
Thanks for this excellent lesson! Coming to piano from guitar, which is of course tuned in 4ths, this makes a ton of sense to me. Not to mention connecting it to the pentatonic scale, which is the first scale most of us guitarists learn. Great sounds, great information!
You are so right. I can see so much mileage in this. My guiding light, Joni Mitchell, utilizes this phenomenon to very great effect. I don't know why it feels both comforting and challenging, like having a very tough friend watching your back
Very nice video. I'm essentially self-taught, and one of the big things I still want to learn, or at least learn better, is exactly these kind of beautiful jazz voicings. You present it in a way that's extremely helpful, without relying on an assumed encyclopedic knowledge of music theory. I'm finding that I'm learning more and more concepts on this channel that I can actually use and easily integrate with my existing understanding of music... Well done. This channel is way underrated.
thank you for this Chris! I think i asked for a video like this some time ago. so pleased to have your perspective on this. thanks and best wishes from Aotearoa New Zealand
OK, that kind of blew my mind! How the Pentatonic scale relates to the very cool Quartal harmony - stacks of 4ths sound. I love "So What" and also "Little Sunflower" (I'll need to dig into "Impressions"). This analysis provides a great way to look at these! Hey - (off-topic) - I just grabbed the Max Richter piano virtual instrument and it is really something special, you might want to check it out (Guy Michelmore has a cute review of it!)
Love it . thx. Q: Take a stack of two 4rths = three notes. Inverse the 4rths while keeping the middle note, and we get a stack of two 5ths. Same notes but a COMPLETELY different sound. It is kind of like a portal into another musical territory. Stacking 5ths. Is it Barry Harris, Lyle Mays, or ... Can you pls speak to that. ?
that is a great sound. it's so open that feels almost atonal. that doubled 5th sound has applications when each hand grabs 3 notes in that arrangement. i.e. LH CGD RH EBF# for Cmaj#11 or LH CGD RH EbFC for Cmin11. both great sounds.
I have been working with this kind of thing for years. Except I have treated it all from the viewpoint of sus2 chords. I think, to be honest, the only reason I gravitated towards sus2 is how naturally they fall for the right hand fingers, so easy and natural. Here is a cool source of voicings: take C and G in the left hand and play these sus2 chords over that, C; D; Eb; E; F; G; A; Bb. It takes you through major and minor tonalities and offers so much freedom of movement and "safe" choices to leap to at any moment in an improvisation. That's 8 voicings using the same shape! For lazy people like me that is precious. Check it out for a few weeks and see. Maybe do a video on it. (actually, if you want, youi could throw in the Absus2 and have nine choices. But only if you want. LOL)
And of course use inversions for the next level. Then you will have sus4 and quartal stacks as well! (Especially "out there" in a sweet way is Eb and E sus2 over the C5..., Mmmmm that will grab attention!)
Of course you can turn everything around and play different triads below a stable sus2 chord. The potential for modulating is immense! And finally, here is an interesting note about these three note structures that is very powerful for modulation each tone in a sus2, sus4 or quartal stack of 3 is also a family member of the three diminished seventh chords. For example: with Csus2 you have C, D, and G. each tone is a member of which diminished seventh chord? check it out for yourself. So from any sus2 chord you are one step away from any diminished seventh chord using a common tone. And we all know how powerful dim7 chords are for modulating. Also ties in well with Bartoks Axis system. Now there's another topic for a video! Bela Bartok and his Axis system.
thanks. it's the "chordie" app, running in parallel. useful, though sometimes irritating. that's also the keyboard, and staff... there's a fretboard too.
Another great video, Chris. It sounds like you're saying that the 'permitted' quartal stacks come from the related Mixolydian of the mode you're in? G mixo for D Dorian; Bb mixo for Eb? The pentatonic scale being baked into the mixo. Might be an easier way to look at it, maybe (unless I'm miles off!) Cheers.
Yes, though there’s the tritone to avoid. For Dorian, up a fourth, and track along the Major Pentatonic. For the Major scale, up a Fifth and track along the that Major Pentatonic.
Hi Chris, the tritones didn't sound entirely out of place to me. The music is somewhat tense, they add some more, but the next quarter-chord resolves it nicely. I grok you're more into ambient and calm composition and they may be too tense, but I'm more into sad if not tragic sound, so I'm certainly stealing your quarter cord trick. And the tritones, too! I _love_ harmonic ambiguity! If you don't mind answering, what is the program that you're using in this and many other screencasts?
Thanks. Absolutely. So mostly we’re looking at Logic Pro and “Chordie “ running together. Audio is routed through Loopback, and captured in real time with the apple OS screen recording app, whatever it’s called these days. My piano sound is Pianoteq
@@davidasher22 absolutely. Its strong functional role in conventional harmony tends to bully the more demure perfect 4ths though. I use them sparingly. 😎
Hi Chris Your channel is amazing and really opens up so much knowledge about music. I would love for you to check out a new artist that is taking the younger generation by storm using a lot of chord ideas you have shared on your channel. Her name is Laufey. Please do a search for her. It would be great to have you analyze one of her songs. Two of her songs that come to mind are "Fragile" and "Bewitched". Thank you again for all of the knowledge you have shared!
Great stuff. I’ve been trying to wrap my head around quartal chords for years. Thanks for the excellent illumination of the theory behind it.
Happy to help!
Wonderful Chirs. Thanks and take care.
Thanks, you too!
Thanks, Chris. I just wanted to say that I appreciate your humility in presenting jazz material. I’ve had the privilege of working with true jazz artists in my community. I can comp and swing and hold my own with chord changes well enough to function, but my ability to improvise, and the breadth of my knowledge is nowhere near that of my friends who have immersed themselves in jazz their whole lives. Your acknowledgement resonated with me. I loved your metaphor of dipping into the stream. This is a great introduction to quartal harmony! Cheers!
thanks man. even the first floor of the tower is interesting, right?
Great! Modal jazz builds on this approach a lot.
Indeed!
Thanks for this excellent lesson! Coming to piano from guitar, which is of course tuned in 4ths, this makes a ton of sense to me. Not to mention connecting it to the pentatonic scale, which is the first scale most of us guitarists learn. Great sounds, great information!
Glad it was helpful!
Well this is pretty enormous, thanks Chris. Giving this info away for free, you are a scholar and a gentleman sir. Chapeau!
"you may have anything you want, if you're willing to give it away first."
You are so right. I can see so much mileage in this.
My guiding light, Joni Mitchell, utilizes this phenomenon to very great effect.
I don't know why it feels both comforting and challenging, like having a very tough friend watching your back
Well said!
Thanks Chris, such a rich and warm presentation
My pleasure!
Very nice video. I'm essentially self-taught, and one of the big things I still want to learn, or at least learn better, is exactly these kind of beautiful jazz voicings. You present it in a way that's extremely helpful, without relying on an assumed encyclopedic knowledge of music theory. I'm finding that I'm learning more and more concepts on this channel that I can actually use and easily integrate with my existing understanding of music... Well done. This channel is way underrated.
thank you so much.
thank you for this Chris! I think i asked for a video like this some time ago. so pleased to have your perspective on this. thanks and best wishes from Aotearoa New Zealand
My pleasure!
As a guitarist I know that Em7 (11) chord very well!
Interesting that the EADGB chord is open strings on a guitar in standard tuning.
yes! coincidence, or evidence of ancient alien artistry....?😆
OK, that kind of blew my mind! How the Pentatonic scale relates to the very cool Quartal harmony - stacks of 4ths sound. I love "So What" and also "Little Sunflower" (I'll need to dig into "Impressions"). This analysis provides a great way to look at these!
Hey - (off-topic) - I just grabbed the Max Richter piano virtual instrument and it is really something special, you might want to check it out (Guy Michelmore has a cute review of it!)
i've been meaning to check that out...
Love it . thx. Q: Take a stack of two 4rths = three notes. Inverse the 4rths while keeping the middle note, and we get a stack of two 5ths. Same notes but a COMPLETELY different sound. It is kind of like a portal into another musical territory. Stacking 5ths. Is it Barry Harris, Lyle Mays, or ... Can you pls speak to that. ?
that is a great sound. it's so open that feels almost atonal. that doubled 5th sound has applications when each hand grabs 3 notes in that arrangement. i.e. LH CGD RH EBF# for Cmaj#11 or LH CGD RH EbFC for Cmin11. both great sounds.
I have been working with this kind of thing for years. Except I have treated it all from the viewpoint of sus2 chords. I think, to be honest, the only reason I gravitated towards sus2 is how naturally they fall for the right hand fingers, so easy and natural. Here is a cool source of voicings: take C and G in the left hand and play these sus2 chords over that, C; D; Eb; E; F; G; A; Bb. It takes you through major and minor tonalities and offers so much freedom of movement and "safe" choices to leap to at any moment in an improvisation. That's 8 voicings using the same shape! For lazy people like me that is precious. Check it out for a few weeks and see. Maybe do a video on it. (actually, if you want, youi could throw in the Absus2 and have nine choices. But only if you want. LOL)
And of course use inversions for the next level. Then you will have sus4 and quartal stacks as well! (Especially "out there" in a sweet way is Eb and E sus2 over the C5..., Mmmmm that will grab attention!)
Kunzang is my Tibetan name. I am James, from Marin County. I enjoy your channel often. thanks.
Of course you can turn everything around and play different triads below a stable sus2 chord. The potential for modulating is immense! And finally, here is an interesting note about these three note structures that is very powerful for modulation each tone in a sus2, sus4 or quartal stack of 3 is also a family member of the three diminished seventh chords. For example: with Csus2 you have C, D, and G. each tone is a member of which diminished seventh chord? check it out for yourself. So from any sus2 chord you are one step away from any diminished seventh chord using a common tone. And we all know how powerful dim7 chords are for modulating. Also ties in well with Bartoks Axis system. Now there's another topic for a video! Bela Bartok and his Axis system.
awesome. i think this is a video for YOU to do....😆@@kunzangrangdrol
I thought hitting that tritone sounded pretty good!
What chord finder are you using to determine chord names, and does it integrate with the DAW?
thanks. it's the "chordie" app, running in parallel. useful, though sometimes irritating. that's also the keyboard, and staff... there's a fretboard too.
Another great video, Chris. It sounds like you're saying that the 'permitted' quartal stacks come from the related Mixolydian of the mode you're in? G mixo for D Dorian; Bb mixo for Eb? The pentatonic scale being baked into the mixo. Might be an easier way to look at it, maybe (unless I'm miles off!) Cheers.
Yes, though there’s the tritone to avoid. For Dorian, up a fourth, and track along the Major Pentatonic. For the Major scale, up a Fifth and track along the that Major Pentatonic.
Hi Chris, the tritones didn't sound entirely out of place to me. The music is somewhat tense, they add some more, but the next quarter-chord resolves it nicely. I grok you're more into ambient and calm composition and they may be too tense, but I'm more into sad if not tragic sound, so I'm certainly stealing your quarter cord trick. And the tritones, too! I _love_ harmonic ambiguity!
If you don't mind answering, what is the program that you're using in this and many other screencasts?
Thanks. Absolutely. So mostly we’re looking at Logic Pro and “Chordie “ running together. Audio is routed through Loopback, and captured in real time with the apple OS screen recording app, whatever it’s called these days. My piano sound is Pianoteq
@@ImpliedMusic Thank you!!! I should have a serious look at the Chordie-I've never even heard about this program.
Couldn't you also call the tritone an augmented 4th?
@@davidasher22 absolutely. Its strong functional role in conventional harmony tends to bully the more demure perfect 4ths though. I use them sparingly. 😎
Hi Chris Your channel is amazing and really opens up so much knowledge about music. I would love for you to check out a new artist that is taking the younger generation by storm using a lot of chord ideas you have shared on your channel. Her name is Laufey. Please do a search for her. It would be great to have you analyze one of her songs. Two of her songs that come to mind are "Fragile" and "Bewitched". Thank you again for all of the knowledge you have shared!
I'll check it out!
Thank you Chris I think you will enjoy hearing her!@@ImpliedMusic