Q. I'd like to be able to improvise chord progressions other than the basic IV-V-I or I-vi-ii-V-I etc... id like to bring across a jazzy, chromatic sound to my improvisation to make more interesting chord progressions. I'm told tritone substitution is a common harmonic technique in jazz music. Id appreciate it if someone would explain it to me :)
A. Hi,
What you want to substitute are chords that share the same tri-tone, not the tri-tone itself.
The progressions that you mention can be made to sound very interesting when you understand the how to use substitutions, you'll have a blast. Tri-tone substitution only exsist in dominant seventh chords. They are theonly chords that contain substitutable tri-tones.
Example: C7 has a root (C)
a third (E) (this is a major third from the root)
a fifth (G)
and..................... a seventh (Bflat) (this seventh is considered minor or a flat 7th.
The tri-tone within the C7 chord is it's:
third and seventh (E & Bflat)
This tri-tone divides the octave equally. C to Gfllat is a tri-tone
and Gflat to C is a tri-tone. Tri-tones create tensions that want to be resolved.
NOW, I hope your still with me,
Think of C7---Now if you build another dominant 7 chord exactly one tri-tone away from C (in this case Gflat7) it posses the exact same tri-tone as C7.
The Bflat is the 7th of C7 and The Bflat is the third of Gflat.
The E is the third of C7 and The 7th of Gflat.
Here is what I think you like to be able to do and sound really interesting and musical etc...(and very jazzesque)
If you have a C7 as a chord change, as you could have in your progression you listed. You would play this.
Here are your changes----
G-7-------C7---------Fmajor7
When you are improvizing over these changes, or changes like these imn ANY key, you could chose from play the following.
1. You could approach your solo from a purely diatonic sound and play all the notes in the key of F, because these changes are in the key of F.
Notes available diatoniclly (in F) are: F-G-A-Bflat-C-D-E)
2. You coud play in F over the G-7 and THEN use a Gflat dominant 7 scale with a sharp 4th. The fourth of the Gflat scale is sharp because it is C which is th chord your substituting.
SOOO......
WHEN C7 is what's indicated, solo using the Gflat dominnt 7 scale with a shrp 4th.
(a mixolidian mode with a sharp 4th)
This scale is spelled like this:
Gflat-Aflat-Bflat-C-Dflat-Eflat-Fflat(or E natural)
You can use any combinationsof both the diatonic and substituted chord scale to spice up your solos.
It is really not half as complicted as it may sound. Just listen, experiment and have fun. And when in doubt just play what you think sounds good, your ears can provide a lot of unexplained, technical theory, after you understand all this stuff that's the way you're going to be playing anyway. This is just a great way to apply chord scales over different changes.
I have been playing piano for over 30 years and graduated from Berklee College of Music. (if that even matters).
Be good.
What do you think about the Piano?
Q. Ok so I am 14 years old, I started learning how to play the piano at age 13 which was not too long ago.
I am so stressed! I always wanted to play but I had no idea it was so much work! Feels like the notes will never end! lol
Do you know how to play the piano?
What was it first like when you started learning?
A. First let me say that it's refreshing to read a question from someone who is 14 that is written in proper English.
As for your question: I started taking piano lessons when I was in sixth grade. At first I was very enthusiastic but soon I got frustrated and stopped practicing. My parents continued to pay for lessons and told me that if I missed a lesson I would have to pay for it myself. I kept going to lessons but I didn't practice very much. But once I got into high school I started enjoying piano more. I ended up learning enough that when I went to college to study music education I was able to skip out of the first two years of piano classes. I love playing piano now and do so nearly everyday.
You're right that it is daunting to learn piano. Unlike most instruments you have multiple notes to keep track of at one time. Try setting aside 15-20 minutes everyday to practice. Whatever you get done in that amount of time is what you get done. Don't worry that you're not learning fast enough, just work at your own pace. It's better to practice a couple times a day for 15 minutes than it is to sit down for an hour and get stressed out about you mistakes. Set a timer and stop when it goes off. If you are able to practice for 15 minutes two or three times a day then you will be even better off. Each time you practice will be like a new day of practicing because you have to start over again. Don't stress yourself out. Remember that you are doing this for fun.
Work on it one bar at a time. Don't overwhelm yourself by trying to deal with an entire piece at once. Practice the parts that give you trouble until you feel comfortable with them. Bring the tempo down as much as you need to and check your fingerings. Is there an easier way to play the notes? A lot of times the suggested fingerings are noted above the notes and you should follow them even if they don't seem to make any sense. Ask your teacher if you have questions, that's what they're there for.
Set a goal for yourself. Ask your music teacher at school if there is a piece in the winter or spring chorus concert where they would need a pianist for a piece they singing. They might even choose music that has a piano part at your level specifically so you can play. Or you could work towards an adjudication. In NYS we have NYSSMA. Students choose a piece from the repertory list and learn it. Then they go to the competition and play the piece as well as some scales and sight reading. There are all different levels to choose from and it's not a performance, rather it's an opportunity to get feedback from someone else who is an expert in the field.
Practice the scales/chord progressions/exercises you are given and do the theory work. It may seem dry but if you pay attention it will help you. The general rule of thumb is that piano music is based on chords. Each measure or beat or phrase is built on a specific chord. Once you determine the chord then the notes in the measure should match the notes in the chord. It's not always true but it's a good starting point.
Are you learning in the style that you are interested in? I took classical lessons until I was a senior in high school and while it wasn't bad I found that I was working on the same piece for months on end. If I was going to continue to learn piano I needed to try something new. I changed teachers and started focusing on accompanying and sight reading. I learned how to read lead sheet music and found that all of the sudden I could play many more songs than I could before. Lead sheet is when you are given a melody line and then there is the chord names written above it. So if I had a Cm about the melody then I would play C, E-flat, and G. There is no rhythm given for the chords so you have to improvise. It's a lot of fun, but you will probably need a few more years before you have the skills to try it.
Be patient and keep at it. With a little bit of work you'll be surprised how much you will learn.
Good luck!
how to convert piano chords into minor?
Q. like I wanna play a song, and I wanna make the chords minor to make it sound darker, but how do I do it. Is there like a way to do such? Help would be great, thanks!
A. You might want to mean a minor progression chord. Yup, it is possible. Converting pieces from major progression(where your main chord is a major) to minor progression(where your main chord is a minor) is a little bit tiresome. But, I'll try to explain this as brief but precise and easy to understand as i could.
The result of converting the major progression depends on what minor scale you would like to use.
The most common scale is the Harmonic Minor on its descending order (I call it personally HMDO). That is, 1 2 â3 4 5 â6 â7 8. Why HMDO? It is because HMDO scales are very similar to Major scales(1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8). For example in A minor scale(on HMDO):A-B-C-D-E-F-G-A', just move the first two notes and you'll get the C Major scale!
Legend used: converted to: =>
1.) Ok. Start making a list of the chords that are used.
2.) Identify what is the main/root chord being used. Move or transpose that chord 3 halfsteps/frets(or 1 & 1/2 wholesteps) DOWN . Example: G => E, C => A, D => B, and etc.
3.) Minor that chord. Ex: E =>Em, A => Am, B => Bm, etc. This will later become you root chord.
4.) Look for the fifth chords(if available) from the list. 5th chords are found by moving 4 notes up from the root note of a major scale. For example, if you have a C major chord progression, the major scale therefore is on C scale. That is, C-D-E-F-G-A-B-C'. Moving 4 notes from the root note which is C, we get G. Another one is, if you have an F major chord progression, the major scale therefore is on F scale. That is, F-G-A-Bb-C-D-E-F'. Moving 4 notes from the root note which is F, we get C.
5.) OPTIONALLY, move or transpose that chord(i refer to the 5th chord) down 3 halfsteps/frets. For example: D => B, G =>E and etc. So why optionally? Doing this step will make your chord progression more darker and 'minorer' to listen. But, if this results to a terrible sound/output, leave this step. Sometimes, you can also play either the natural 5th chord or the transposed 5th chord on one song. There are song that really have this type of progression.
6.) Leave the other chords as is. Don't change anything on them but if you think that you must have to do something on those chords, just do it. There's no NOs in music. Your style, your music!
7.) That's all, You're now have the converted minor progression chord
Those are the basics of transposing major progressions to minor progressions. And lastly, Experiment!
That's all for not now. Hope i helped.
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Title : What are the basic principles of tritone substitution?
Description : Q. I'd like to be able to improvise chord progressions other than the basic IV-V-I or I-vi-ii-V-I etc... id like to bring across a jazz...