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Reharmonization 2

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14 views1 page

Reharmonization 2

Uploaded by

Leonel Reyes
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Modal jazz relies upon a completely different method of organizing harmony.

Modal chord "progressions" are


chosen for their individual colors or sounds, not for their tendency to move to other chords within the overall key.
Thus a "diatonic" substitution for a specific chord in modal jazz is not chosen based upon any tendency to resolve
in any specific way. Instead, modal substitutions must produce the same sound as the original. This is generally
achieved by choosing a chord that utilizes the same scale.

For example, if a tune or section of a tune is based on F Lydian and the chord is a possible substitution
would be Cmaj7. This is not because stands in for Vmaj7 in any functional sense in a Lydian context, but
simply because they share the same chord scale. Other possibilities would be Dm7, Em7, Fmaj7, G7, and Am7.
In short, any chord built on a note in the mode, and containing only the notes of that mode, is a possible
substitution.

A serious consideration when using substitute chords in modal harmony is to avoid chords that will suggest func-
tional harmony and destroy the modal quality. For example, if a modal area were in the key of B Locrian, the sub-
stitution of Cmaj7 for would almost certainly vitiate any sense of modality, effectively forcing the key into
C major.

Tritone Substitution
Also referred to as flat five substitution (abbreviated sub), this device is used extensively in reharmonization.
In it, a dominant chord is replaced or followed with another one whose root is a tritone away. The tritone sub is
one of the basic cadences of jazz, both as a two-chord structure, and as a variation of the ii- V-I cadence, which
then becomes The interchange is possible because V7 and share the same tritone: the 3rd of one is the
of the other. (These notes are also the unstable 7th and 4th degrees of the parent key.)

The sub for G7-V in the key of C-is Either chord resolves easily to Cmaj7.

G7

<

The tritone substitute chord is often preceded by its relative iim7, which here is a minor 7th chord built on the
degree of the key.

Dm7 G7 Cmaj7 becomes: Dm7 G7 I DP7 Cmaj7

iim7 V7 Imaj7 iim7 V7 Pvim7 DII7 Imaj7

A better analytical symbol for is SubV7II (or just SV7II for short), indicating that the V of! is the chord being
replaced.

Dm7 G7 APm7 DP7 Cmaj7

iim7 V7 Dvim7 SV7II Imaj7

"SV7 I" may also be followed by any diatonic chord name for which secondary dominants are used, giving us sym-
bols such as SV7/ii, SV7/iii, SV7/IV, etc., indicating tritone subs for all the secondary dominant functions. In C
major, SV7/ii is the tritone sub for V7/ii (A7), which is SV7/iii is the tritone sub for V7/iii (B7), which is F7,
and so on for SubV7IIV, IV, and Ivi.
100 JAZZOLOGY

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