I think I was about 15 when I wrote "jazz theory" on the back of a matchbox: "Taken all possible substitutions and extensions together, any of the 12 notes are possible. Now listen." Thanks for the great content~
I'd also like very much to watch them talk about the difference of the traditional/tonal vs modern/modal way of using and looking at this scale, if there is any
I love the tonic diminished chord over the five. It reminds me of Chopin’s Ballade No.1, and that is the most tearing part of transforming the darkness to a bright major key.
A♭°/E♭ going to A♭⁶/₉ works because there is a deeper harmonic relationship between the notes present in the chords, which is not evident either in the chord or staff notation presented in the video; and is masked further by the V-I cadence present in the bass. If we analyze the harmonic identity of both chords, we’ll realize that -in origin- both are contained in symmetrical structures composed of two perfect fifth dyads -one overtonal (or from the ‘bright’ fifths side) and one reciprocal (or from the ‘dark’ fourths side)- in relation to a pole. In this case, the poles are C♭ and B♭, which connect the each chord’s harmonic pole by a semitone. This is easier to grasp if we visualize this relationship by listing a chain of fifths, starting from A𝄫, going up to C: [ A𝄫 E𝄫 B𝄫 F♭ C♭ G♭ D♭ A♭ E♭ B♭ F C ] In A♭⁶/₉ we have the notes: A♭ E♭ B♭ F C. The pole is B♭ and the dyads are located a perfect fifth apart in opposing directions from it. In A♭°/E♭ we have the notes: E♭ G A♭ B D. This chord -if its harmonic origin is deeply analyzed- is actually a clustered polychord composed of A𝄫 and A♭ᴍɪ. In the (enharmonic) notation presented in the video, the A♭ᴍɪ is arranged in second inversion and drop3 voicing, and the A𝄫 is arranged in root position with its root note doubled up an octave. If we reorder the notes, in relation to its order of appearance in the chain of fifths listed above, we have: A𝄫 E𝄫 C♭ A♭ E♭. So, in this chord, the pole is C♭ and the dyads are located a major sixth apart in opposing directions from it. An interesting thing to note about this chord is that the notes forming it are both sixths and thirds in relation to the pole: the major sixth (A♭) and third (E♭) -from the overtonal (‘bright’ fifths) side-, and the minor sixth (A𝄫) and third (E𝄫)-from the reciprocal (‘dark’ fourths) side. One way to grasp the harmonic relationship between these two chords, without taking into account a given melody, would be to play the A♭ᴍɪ|A𝄫 cluster in root position (notated enharmonically: G A♭ B D E♭), followed by A♭⁶/₉ in quartal voicing (C F B♭ E♭ A♭). By doing this, the symmetrical construction of each chord around a pole and the connection between each chord’s pole is easily heard and visualized.
Man, you are a gem of jazz. I have been going through al of your videos and just wanna say you are singlehandedly giving me what feels like a degree in jazz
I think Herbie in one of his videos with Jacob Collier alludes to the diminished of the I over the V as something old fashioned he picked up from Chris Anderson. "or Chris Anderson would play it like this..." (showing it to Jacob. Lovely how the tradition travels sometimes just by the appeal of the sound, picked up aurally in a thousand ears and given a name; sometimes by one single famous song (Waltz For Debby, intro Like Someone In Love Dave Brubeck ?)) establishing it and sometimes by a young legend remembering looking over the shoulder of the older master and learning it right there, or over a glass of beer on the bar, remembering, fondly and attributing it to him :)
I was expecting you would go there. A couple of other similar really nice choices for the penultimate chord are 1. Ab dim (LH Ab F RH B D G) 2. G6 (LH G D RH B E G). These sound nice with an Eb 9 (dom 7) right before (instead of the sus) IMO. For the final chord, LH Ab Eb RH C F Ab works nice. With what you did, really nice, I’d use an F instead of a G. That is Eb F on the bottom. What do you think? I love these sorts of videos where you do a deep dive on a small thing. I was just working on this very thing for “Tenderly” so this was excellent timing. One final thing is I like this sound so much I looked for ways to use it more, because the 7th note of the scale isn’t a common melody note, but I noticed you can do it on the 4 chord as well. That is, in the key of Ab, C followed by Db is something one sees a lot, so another opportunity to use the same idea.
I play guitar and still love your channel because of the way you explain musical concepts! It’s fun and challenging for me to go try out these ideas on guitar.
Hi, an alternative explanation why the last one works: your resolving to the 6th dim system of Eb to get that sweet major 9 sound, so you already play its diminished chord.
I think the Ab dim/Eb works because it functions as a sort of a disrupted cadence in relative minor mode. So, the Ab diminished can be seen as a voicing substitution for a G7 chord. G7 going to Ab major tonic (acting as if the progression was in the key of C minor or Eb major).
I was thinking the same thing but you beat me to it. If you don't think about the bass notes, the A flat diminished chord is just a G 7 flat 9 chord which wants to go to C minor which is a substitute for The A flat major 7 chord, (The minor 7 three chord can always be a sub for the major one chord), but instead of going to the C minor 7, it does a deceptive cadence and goes up the Major 1 chord. But in all this the base is just going five to one.
A♭°/E♭ going to A♭⁶/₉ works because there is a deeper harmonic relationship between the notes present in the chords, which is not evident either in the chord or staff notation presented in the video; and is masked further by the V-I cadence present in the bass. If we analyze the harmonic identity of both chords, we’ll realize that -in origin- both are contained in symmetrical structures composed of two perfect fifth dyads -one overtonal (or from the ‘bright’ fifths side) and one reciprocal (or from the ‘dark’ fourths side)- in relation to a pole. In this case, the poles are C♭ and B♭, which connect the each chord’s harmonic pole by a semitone. This is easier to grasp if we visualize this relationship by listing a chain of fifths, starting from A𝄫, going up to C: [ A𝄫 E𝄫 B𝄫 F♭ C♭ G♭ D♭ A♭ E♭ B♭ F C ] In A♭⁶/₉ we have the notes: A♭ E♭ B♭ F C. The pole is B♭ and the dyads are located a perfect fifth apart in opposing directions from it. In A♭°/E♭ we have the notes: E♭ G A♭ B D. This chord -if its harmonic origin is deeply analyzed- is actually a clustered polychord composed of A𝄫 and A♭ᴍɪ. In the (enharmonic) notation presented in the video, the A♭ᴍɪ is arranged in second inversion and drop3 voicing, and the A𝄫 is arranged in root position with its root note doubled up an octave. If we reorder the notes, in relation to its order of appearance in the chain of fifths listed above, we have: A𝄫 E𝄫 C♭ A♭ E♭. So, in this chord, the pole is C♭ and the dyads are located a major sixth apart in opposing directions from it. An interesting thing to note about this chord is that the notes forming it are both sixths and thirds in relation to the pole: the major sixth (A♭) and third (E♭) -from the overtonal (‘bright’ fifths) side-, and the minor sixth (A𝄫) and third (E𝄫)-from the reciprocal (‘dark’ fourths) side. One way to grasp the harmonic relationship between these two chords, without taking into account a given melody, would be to play the A♭ᴍɪ|A𝄫 cluster in root position (notated enharmonically: G A♭ B D E♭), followed by A♭⁶/₉ in quartal voicing (C F B♭ E♭ A♭). By doing this, the symmetrical construction of each chord around a pole and the connection between each chord’s pole is easily heard and visualized.
Great lesson Adam! Good to walk us through some options with a critique of their merits or lack of same. Personally, I liked the diminished over the V7. Just one bit of weirdness though, what’s the deal with the unrelated music underscoring?? I found it hard to take in what you were saying. I’d say that’s an idea to leave out. Marred an otherwise 9 outa 10 lesson. Anyone else agree? 🤷♂️
I liked the underscoring, though I certainly experienced some cognitive dissonance between the spoken content and the unrelated music. I kept listening for dominant qualities. 😂😂😂
@@5geezers Indeed, I agree with you, objectively. But somehow I enjoyed the unrelated music.... maybe I do likes me a bit of cognitive dissonance now and then... in any case, the underscoring seems to make more sense when the video switched into "advertisement mode", which is certainly a convention on TH-cam.
@@FrictionFive "Advertisement mode" is one I pay TH-cam to avoid. But as to your possible liking for a bit of cognitive dissonance, yes a bit of underscoring can be effective on Netflix or something ha ha .....I think we've done this to death,you're a good sport Alec, I'm an old guy so maybe you gots to make allowances. I still hope that Adam gets the memo. Best wishes with your musical endeavors! : -)
I'm a guitar player so I had to make adjustments to the voicing of the Ab tonic dim leaving some notes out. What I noticed is that B F G over Eb is a G7 with +5 in the bass or a 7thless Eb 9 b5. Another voicing B D G (G triad) over Eb is Eb maj 7th +5
For the flat-9 example, you discuss it a lot in terms of functionality (e.g., coming from the 6 diminished scale). I only think of it in terms of color (like the "crunch" you talk about it). Do you find that approach lacking? If so, what is it missing?
I'm surprised that you didn't cover THE juiciest way to play that Eb13(b9) which would be to play the 7th with your left hand so that it no longer fights against the 13th and the flat-9th in the upper register, like this: Eb Db G C E G (notes listed bottom-up) which then resolves nicely into quartal tonic voicing: Ab C F Bb Eb Ab
I love your videos! Keep up the good work! BUT, here’s some constructive criticism: I think using background music when Adam is teaching is downright distracting, and preventing me (and possibly others) from focusing 100% om what he’s saying. Adam i such a good teacher that he doesn’t need the music to grab/keep our attention. ☺️
Someone I know just named feeling that can result from this problem for me. The problem being: "Damn WHICH DOMINANT CHORD should one use? SO MANY CHOICES" I call it: "Option Anxiety."
What about in funk music? I started playing classical piano at 9 but now play in a funk band and am always trying to figure better voicing for funk doms
At around 14:00 I do not hear a b13 at all. To my ears it is a Eb7+. Anyway. Both Bill Evans and his ancestor J.S. Bach are polyphony experts, thus quite often think inner melodies and not scales. The scales/voicings then are the results of these thoughts, not their prerequisite.
The last example uses a major 7 on a dominant chord. I have never seen that described as an available color tone. Can you elaborate? Is it really a dominant or just an elaboration of the tonic?
Great video, as always. I'm puzzled, however, by something about the last example: wouldn't a dim7 chord with the melody note of G *not* be Ab diminished (the tonic diminished), by definition? Isn't it G diminished (or any other of its notes) over Eb, i.e. Eb7(b9)?
Are we all just gonna ignore the fact that the altered chord example was identical to the flat 9? 😆 Try a sharp 9 chord and change melody note to Gb and then last note to G. Keep the last chord the same. I haven't played it yet but can hear it in my head as a dichotomy of peculiar poignancy and sweet melted brown butter, my man. LOVE your vids!
I think I was about 15 when I wrote "jazz theory" on the back of a matchbox: "Taken all possible substitutions and extensions together, any of the 12 notes are possible. Now listen." Thanks for the great content~
that's a really neat quote, thanks :)
You could make a video talking about the history of using melodic minor scale and it's modes (like the altered), what jazz albums first showed it etc
yes that would be amazing
Good idea
I'd also like very much to watch them talk about the difference of the traditional/tonal vs modern/modal way of using and looking at this scale, if there is any
I love the tonic diminished chord over the five. It reminds me of Chopin’s Ballade No.1, and that is the most tearing part of transforming the darkness to a bright major key.
The diminished I on the V is straight out of JS Bach.
Yet another great lesson from Adam! Not only you gave us the « How to sound great » but also the « Why » & « When » Thank you!
A♭°/E♭ going to A♭⁶/₉ works because there is a deeper harmonic relationship between the notes present in the chords, which is not evident either in the chord or staff notation presented in the video; and is masked further by the V-I cadence present in the bass.
If we analyze the harmonic identity of both chords, we’ll realize that -in origin- both are contained in symmetrical structures composed of two perfect fifth dyads -one overtonal (or from the ‘bright’ fifths side) and one reciprocal (or from the ‘dark’ fourths side)- in relation to a pole. In this case, the poles are C♭ and B♭, which connect the each chord’s harmonic pole by a semitone.
This is easier to grasp if we visualize this relationship by listing a chain of fifths, starting from A𝄫, going up to C:
[ A𝄫 E𝄫 B𝄫 F♭ C♭ G♭ D♭ A♭ E♭ B♭ F C ]
In A♭⁶/₉ we have the notes: A♭ E♭ B♭ F C. The pole is B♭ and the dyads are located a perfect fifth apart in opposing directions from it.
In A♭°/E♭ we have the notes: E♭ G A♭ B D. This chord -if its harmonic origin is deeply analyzed- is actually a clustered polychord composed of A𝄫 and A♭ᴍɪ. In the (enharmonic) notation presented in the video, the A♭ᴍɪ is arranged in second inversion and drop3 voicing, and the A𝄫 is arranged in root position with its root note doubled up an octave. If we reorder the notes, in relation to its order of appearance in the chain of fifths listed above, we have: A𝄫 E𝄫 C♭ A♭ E♭. So, in this chord, the pole is C♭ and the dyads are located a major sixth apart in opposing directions from it.
An interesting thing to note about this chord is that the notes forming it are both sixths and thirds in relation to the pole: the major sixth (A♭) and third (E♭) -from the overtonal (‘bright’ fifths) side-, and the minor sixth (A𝄫) and third (E𝄫)-from the reciprocal (‘dark’ fourths) side.
One way to grasp the harmonic relationship between these two chords, without taking into account a given melody, would be to play the A♭ᴍɪ|A𝄫 cluster in root position (notated enharmonically: G A♭ B D E♭), followed by A♭⁶/₉ in quartal voicing (C F B♭ E♭ A♭). By doing this, the symmetrical construction of each chord around a pole and the connection between each chord’s pole is easily heard and visualized.
Man, you are a gem of jazz. I have been going through al of your videos and just wanna say you are singlehandedly giving me what feels like a degree in jazz
I really dig it...having so much fun with that Dom/6 scale
I think Herbie in one of his videos with Jacob Collier alludes to the diminished of the I over the V as something old fashioned he picked up from Chris Anderson. "or Chris Anderson would play it like this..." (showing it to Jacob. Lovely how the tradition travels sometimes just by the appeal of the sound, picked up aurally in a thousand ears and given a name; sometimes by one single famous song (Waltz For Debby, intro Like Someone In Love Dave Brubeck ?)) establishing it and sometimes by a young legend remembering looking over the shoulder of the older master and learning it right there, or over a glass of beer on the bar, remembering, fondly and attributing it to him :)
Major pros to Adam. Dude is a real Maness at the piano.
Bruhhh this just changed how I want to arrange some of my music. 10:40 mark really hit me
Well done, your enthusiasm is infectious
I was expecting you would go there. A couple of other similar really nice choices for the penultimate chord are 1. Ab dim (LH Ab F RH B D G) 2. G6 (LH G D RH B E G). These sound nice with an Eb 9 (dom 7) right before (instead of the sus) IMO. For the final chord, LH Ab Eb RH C F Ab works nice.
With what you did, really nice, I’d use an F instead of a G. That is Eb F on the bottom. What do you think?
I love these sorts of videos where you do a deep dive on a small thing. I was just working on this very thing for “Tenderly” so this was excellent timing.
One final thing is I like this sound so much I looked for ways to use it more, because the 7th note of the scale isn’t a common melody note, but I noticed you can do it on the 4 chord as well. That is, in the key of Ab, C followed by Db is something one sees a lot, so another opportunity to use the same idea.
I play guitar and still love your channel because of the way you explain musical concepts! It’s fun and challenging for me to go try out these ideas on guitar.
I remember hearing that chord on misty when oscar was playing on it, I love it
Seriously....you are such a good teacher!!! Thank you for sharing the knowledge.
Hi, an alternative explanation why the last one works: your resolving to the 6th dim system of Eb to get that sweet major 9 sound, so you already play its diminished chord.
Thanks for preaching Barry Harris.
You said it Man! A soft but pretty real tribute
I love this. Adapting this to the song I’m currently learning.
Thanks for keeping that 6th diminished scale in the foreground. I miss Barry Harris so much.
I think the Ab dim/Eb works because it functions as a sort of a disrupted cadence in relative minor mode. So, the Ab diminished can be seen as a voicing substitution for a G7 chord. G7 going to Ab major tonic (acting as if the progression was in the key of C minor or Eb major).
I was thinking the same thing but you beat me to it. If you don't think about the bass notes, the A flat diminished chord is just a G 7 flat 9 chord which wants to go to C minor which is a substitute for The A flat major 7 chord,
(The minor 7 three chord can always be a sub for the major one chord), but instead of going to the C minor 7, it does a deceptive cadence and goes up the Major 1 chord. But in all this the base is just going five to one.
A♭°/E♭ going to A♭⁶/₉ works because there is a deeper harmonic relationship between the notes present in the chords, which is not evident either in the chord or staff notation presented in the video; and is masked further by the V-I cadence present in the bass.
If we analyze the harmonic identity of both chords, we’ll realize that -in origin- both are contained in symmetrical structures composed of two perfect fifth dyads -one overtonal (or from the ‘bright’ fifths side) and one reciprocal (or from the ‘dark’ fourths side)- in relation to a pole. In this case, the poles are C♭ and B♭, which connect the each chord’s harmonic pole by a semitone.
This is easier to grasp if we visualize this relationship by listing a chain of fifths, starting from A𝄫, going up to C:
[ A𝄫 E𝄫 B𝄫 F♭ C♭ G♭ D♭ A♭ E♭ B♭ F C ]
In A♭⁶/₉ we have the notes: A♭ E♭ B♭ F C. The pole is B♭ and the dyads are located a perfect fifth apart in opposing directions from it.
In A♭°/E♭ we have the notes: E♭ G A♭ B D. This chord -if its harmonic origin is deeply analyzed- is actually a clustered polychord composed of A𝄫 and A♭ᴍɪ. In the (enharmonic) notation presented in the video, the A♭ᴍɪ is arranged in second inversion and drop3 voicing, and the A𝄫 is arranged in root position with its root note doubled up an octave. If we reorder the notes, in relation to its order of appearance in the chain of fifths listed above, we have: A𝄫 E𝄫 C♭ A♭ E♭. So, in this chord, the pole is C♭ and the dyads are located a major sixth apart in opposing directions from it.
An interesting thing to note about this chord is that the notes forming it are both sixths and thirds in relation to the pole: the major sixth (A♭) and third (E♭) -from the overtonal (‘bright’ fifths) side-, and the minor sixth (A𝄫) and third (E𝄫)-from the reciprocal (‘dark’ fourths) side.
One way to grasp the harmonic relationship between these two chords, without taking into account a given melody, would be to play the A♭ᴍɪ|A𝄫 cluster in root position (notated enharmonically: G A♭ B D E♭), followed by A♭⁶/₉ in quartal voicing (C F B♭ E♭ A♭). By doing this, the symmetrical construction of each chord around a pole and the connection between each chord’s pole is easily heard and visualized.
Adammmmmmmmmmm!!!!!!!!! Love you man! Great lesson! Thank you very much!!!
Great lesson Adam! Good to walk us through some options with a critique of their merits or lack of same. Personally, I liked the diminished over the V7. Just one bit of weirdness though, what’s the deal with the unrelated music underscoring?? I found it hard to take in what you were saying. I’d say that’s an idea to leave out. Marred an otherwise 9 outa 10 lesson. Anyone else agree? 🤷♂️
I liked the underscoring, though I certainly experienced some cognitive dissonance between the spoken content and the unrelated music. I kept listening for dominant qualities. 😂😂😂
@@FrictionFive Well, "cognitive dissonance" Call it what you want, I call it messin' with the kid. So in essence you agree with me?
@@5geezers Indeed, I agree with you, objectively. But somehow I enjoyed the unrelated music.... maybe I do likes me a bit of cognitive dissonance now and then... in any case, the underscoring seems to make more sense when the video switched into "advertisement mode", which is certainly a convention on TH-cam.
@@FrictionFive "Advertisement mode" is one I pay TH-cam to avoid. But as to your possible liking for a bit of cognitive dissonance, yes a bit of underscoring can be effective on Netflix or something ha ha .....I think we've done this to death,you're a good sport Alec, I'm an old guy so maybe you gots to make allowances. I still hope that Adam gets the memo. Best wishes with your musical endeavors! : -)
@@5geezers Thanks, all the best to you as well!
Thanks Adam, that's so cool.
Great lesson, thanks!
I'm a guitar player so I had to make adjustments to the voicing of the Ab tonic dim leaving some notes out. What I noticed is that B F G over Eb is a G7 with +5 in the bass or a 7thless Eb 9 b5. Another voicing B D G (G triad) over Eb is Eb maj 7th +5
That should be 7thless Eb9+5. Also I want to thank you for saying the diminished in 6th diminished scale functions as a V dom b9.
Beautiful lesson 👏👏
please do the video about the minor 6th diminished!
kick ass video!! thank you for the content.
For the flat-9 example, you discuss it a lot in terms of functionality (e.g., coming from the 6 diminished scale). I only think of it in terms of color (like the "crunch" you talk about it). Do you find that approach lacking? If so, what is it missing?
Love these thank you!
I'm surprised that you didn't cover THE juiciest way to play that Eb13(b9) which would be to play the 7th with your left hand so that it no longer fights against the 13th and the flat-9th in the upper register, like this: Eb Db G C E G (notes listed bottom-up) which then resolves nicely into quartal tonic voicing: Ab C F Bb Eb Ab
I love your videos! Keep up the good work! BUT, here’s some constructive criticism:
I think using background music when Adam is teaching is downright distracting, and preventing me (and possibly others) from focusing 100% om what he’s saying. Adam i such a good teacher that he doesn’t need the music to grab/keep our attention. ☺️
Yep.
Someone I know just named feeling that can result from this problem for me. The problem being: "Damn WHICH DOMINANT CHORD should one use? SO MANY CHOICES"
I call it: "Option Anxiety."
What is the music that starts up in the background at :49? It sounds fantastic.
Thank you 🙏❤️
What about in funk music? I started playing classical piano at 9 but now play in a funk band and am always trying to figure better voicing for funk doms
you could look at some sus voicings
❤
Adam: “We could do this…..?”
Me (…and my untrained ear): mmmh sounds the same? 🤷🏾♂️👀👀😅
The Larry Golding's "This?" intro 😉
At around 14:00 I do not hear a b13 at all. To my ears it is a Eb7+. Anyway. Both Bill Evans and his ancestor J.S. Bach are polyphony experts, thus quite often think inner melodies and not scales. The scales/voicings then are the results of these thoughts, not their prerequisite.
I think I'll come to this a little later.
Can you please give us some alternate ways for us to voice the chords if we can't reach a 10th? Thank you!
Can someone help me out - why is it Barry Harris's diminished 6th. Pretty sure Bach was onto this. Am i wrong ?
Tonic’s diminished/V ..Bach would be proud..
anyone knows which video Adam is referring to @15:07, about b section of On Green Dolphin Street which uses altered sound?
You are playing Dominants RIGHT!
The last example uses a major 7 on a dominant chord. I have never seen that described as an available color tone. Can you elaborate? Is it really a dominant or just an elaboration of the tonic?
Which one? All of them
oooooh, so the 7 and the 9 form a minor V chord. Wow
Thanks! Chanson, chanson... d'amour. (There are some badsome versions of that tune.. prefer the movie version)
You forgot the tritone sub. A7
Or if we can't reach a 9th even?
Great video, as always. I'm puzzled, however, by something about the last example: wouldn't a dim7 chord with the melody note of G *not* be Ab diminished (the tonic diminished), by definition? Isn't it G diminished (or any other of its notes) over Eb, i.e. Eb7(b9)?
tonic diminished always refers to a whole-half diminished scale:
Ab Bb B Db D E F G
@@michaelhill3513 Oh yes! Of course. I should have thought of that. Thanks!
cool
I know, already, that this lesson is going to mess me up! In a good way.
audio sync is off- distracting
Barry Harris on why everyone is wrong about dominants ;)
Are we all just gonna ignore the fact that the altered chord example was identical to the flat 9? 😆 Try a sharp 9 chord and change melody note to Gb and then last note to G. Keep the last chord the same. I haven't played it yet but can hear it in my head as a dichotomy of peculiar poignancy and sweet melted brown butter, my man. LOVE your vids!
12:17 thicc boy diminished
No shot bro I just talked to my piano teacher about this
L0
I don't know Adam; are you? XD
Please God, ditch the background muzak when you're speaking!
I know i am, because they never seem to connect in a satisfactory way
Someone's jamming your signal to drown out your voice with canned music. Is it yet another form of TH-cam censorship?
What is with the background music 😂
Its wrong if its not a tritone sub 😈