One or two questions regarding some jazz stuff.

[timaeus222]

Quick rundown:

Diatonic scale - C major

Ionian starts on C

Dorian starts on D

Phrygian starts on E

Lydian starts on F

Mixolydian starts on G

Aeolian starts on A

Locrian starts on B

Sure, you know this already (I think). But look at the scale patterns, just by comparing D dorian to D minor, E phrygian to E minor, F Lydian to F major, etc.:

Ionian - Major

Dorian - Minor with a raised 6^ (thus affecting all chords with 6^) - no leading tone, dominant must raise the 7th for strong leading

Phrygian - Minor with a lowered 2^ (thus affecting all chords with 2^) - no leading tone, dominant must raise the 7th for strong leading

Lydian - Major with a raised 4th (thus affecting all chords with 4^)

Mixolydian - Major with a lowered 7^ (thus affecting all chords with 7^) - no leading tone, dominant must raise the 7th for strong leading

Aeolian - Natural minor - no leading tone, dominant must raise the 7th for strong leading

Locrian - Phrygian with a lowered 5^, or minor with a lowered 2^ and 5^. You can not resolve in Locrian mode (the 5th of the tonic chord is flat, and therefore a tritone), so I advise you don't tonicize with a Locrian scale, or if you do, leave out the flat 5^ (or raise it when resolving). Back centuries in the days of modal music, Locrian didn't even exist for that reason. It was recognized more recently out of desire to name an all naturals scale starting on B.

Knew the first part, didn't know the second part in the technical sense. Thanks.

Edited February 1, 2014 by timaeus222

[Frederic Petitpas]

Yes. Learn the roman numeral (figured bass) notation for major and minor scales, both for triads and for seventh chords. Then you'll know how each chord in an unaltered scale will sound, and that makes writing progressions easier. It also helps drive home the relativity of all the scales and how writing within a scale is essentially just using chord tones and whichever 2nd between these tones you want will suffice. By changing the chord tones of a chord in a given scale, you are changing the scale(s)/pool of notes which would sound best over that chord.

Example: Play a I chord in C major (chord tones = C E G , but add a #11. Now you're playing C E G B (D) F# which means F is no longer really in your scale because you've sharped the 11 (which is sorta kinda the same as the 4th, or F), and F# is -- so you're now playing a C Lydian scale (1 2 3 #4 5 6 7) rather than a C Ionian (major) scale. And that's how to use modes!

That was pretty theory heavy, so if you have any questions you need to ask to clarify, ask away.

No, that was crystal clear with where I'm at actually. I know roman numbers and other things like I-IV-V is a major chord and whatnot. But I don't have a rich vocabulary. Now, I take it that "chord tone" refers to the attribute you give to the chord like 4th/7th/etc ? It actually makes sense now, thanks But terms like "tonicize" and "resolve this to that" confuse me a lot.

If you can read music fine, then look up 4-part voice leading. It is the most naturally intuitive way to study 7th chord and triad functions.

I can read but not play at the same time. I decode slowly lol

I'll have a look at that 4-part voice leading thing for sure

Edited February 1, 2014 by Metal Man

[Moseph]

Example: Play a I chord in C major (chord tones = C E G , but add a #11. Now you're playing C E G B (D) F# which means F is no longer really in your scale because you've sharped the 11 (which is sorta kinda the same as the 4th, or F), and F# is -- so you're now playing a C Lydian scale (1 2 3 #4 5 6 7) rather than a C Ionian (major) scale. And that's how to use modes!.

And if you use more heavily modified chords, you end up with strange modes that don't really show up in classical music theory but are used widely in jazz.

For example, if your C maj7 chord had both a #11 and a #5, you'd have what's known as Lydian-Augmented mode.

[ectogemia]

No, that was crystal clear with where I'm at actually. I know roman numbers and other things like I-IV-V is a major chord and whatnot. But I don't have a rich vocabulary. Now, I take it that "chord tone" refers to the attribute you give to the chord like 4th/7th/etc ? It actually makes sense now, thanks But terms like "tonicize" and "resolve this to that" confuse me a lot.

Chord tone = a tone in a given chord. So in Cmaj7, the chord tones are C E G B. A non-chord tone is a note in between the chord tones. In C Ionian, those chord tones are connected by d f a, the non-chord tones (respectively referred to in jazz as the 9th, 11th, and 13th rather than the 2nd, 4th, and 6th because if you keep stacking thirds on top of, say, C E G B, you can create extended chords containing the 9th, 11th, and 13th). In C Lydian, for example, the chord tones are connected by d f# a. So if you play the chord tones and non-chord tones in sequence, you get a scale (e.g. CdEfGaB for Ionian or CdEf#GaB for Lydian). Altering the chord or moving the root can get you different results. Flat the 3rd and 7th of Cmaj7 to make a Cmin7 chord, then connect the chord tones (C Eb G Bb) with the original non-chord tones, d f a, and you get the Dorian mode which is defined as 1 2 b3 4 5 6 b7 relative to the Ionian mode.

To tonicize means to play a I chord. If you move back to a I chord from something and it's in the same key as chords which came before it, you're simply tonicizing the chord progression. If the I chord is now in a different key than chords before it (say, you utilized secondary dominance like Neblix and I talked about), then you've REtonicized because your tonic chord is no longer the same as your previous tonic chord; it's in another key, perhaps even in another mode.

When we're talking about resolutions, we're talking about resolving dissonance into consonance, about resolving or ending the chords pull or "need" to move to something else. Dissonance doesn't mean something that sounds bad or inharmonic, it means something which sounds harmonically unstable. Consonance is something which is harmonically stable. What harmonic stability refers to is a chord or harmonizing melody's pull in a certain direction. In this vein, we're mainly talking about tones leading a half step into the note above or below them, or any other sort of less strong suspension based on whole steps or non-chord tones, like a sus2 triad with the 2nd resolving into the 3rd or something. Basically, if you play a triad which includes suspensions like a sus2 or sus4, those suspensions sound slightly dissonant compared to having just sounded the chord tones together.

In jazz theory, for instance, the 7th of a Cmaj7 chord is the leading tone (the 7th tone) of the C Ionian scale, thus it wants to pull into a C very strongly. That's why a fair number of major jazz tunes end on a major 6th chord rather than a major 7th chord, because it eliminates that dissonant leading tone and thus eliminates the tension of the chord, giving it a sound of resolution.

I try to put in bold the really important, high-yield info in long posts like this so it's easier to read and refer back to, but I sorta felt like all that info was pretty boldworthy

[timaeus222]

And if you use more heavily modified chords, you end up with strange modes that don't really show up in classical music theory but are used widely in jazz.

For example, if your C maj7 chord had both a #11 and a #5, you'd have what's known as Lydian-Augmented mode.

Just wanna check if I understand this.

So if we're talking C Lydian, which is Lydian mode in G Major, the #11 is F#, which is basically forming a tritone and thus giving the Lydian mode since all modes of major scales are in intervals from within the original scale, and the #5, which overall creates 1-3-#5-7-9-#11, makes it augmented because 1-3 is a major third which forms an augmented major triad with #5, so it's Lydian-Augmented.

Edited February 1, 2014 by timaeus222

[Nabeel Ansari]

So if we're talking C Lydian, which is Lydian mode in G Major, the #11 is F#, which is basically forming a tritone and thus giving the Lydian mode since all modes of major scales are in intervals from within the original scale, and the #5, which overall creates 1-3-#5-7-9-#11, makes it augmented because 1-3 is a major third which forms an augmented major triad with #5, so it's Lydian-Augmented.

Names

they make sense

(not trying to be crass, just agreeing with you)

Also, I personally am fond of Mixolydian. It's major without the leading tone, which makes some really nice progressions. The v7 (minor 7th chord built on 5^) resolution to I is one of my favorite chord movements next to V - i.

Edited February 1, 2014 by Neblix

[BlackPanther]

Wow, 4 pages to look though. I will digest this stuff tomorrow when I feel my brain is a bit fresher!

Edit: Man. Having a hard time wrapping my head around the stuff here. I wonder how I even made it this far in all honestly. Really appreciate it though guys. I will def be asking more questions in the future.

Edited February 3, 2014 by BlackPanther