![]() Why haven’t I given examples from a transcription of this solo? Because I didn’t do it myself, I bought it (years ago, in fact). Of course, scales are a tool, not a straitjacket… MY RULES ARE MY RULES UNTIL I BREAK THEMĮvans played upper structures, fourths, bluesy stuff and Coltrane changes… Surprised? For one thing, the perfect 4th is a fantastic tone to use on half-dims and you lose that by making this substitution. Is he playing Upper Structure bIIIm, is he doing altered dom in the LH and half-dim in the RH or is he soloing on #9 #11 b7? The answer is… yes.Īs I said, Bill doesn’t always use these alteration and nor should you. There’s no getting away from this – a #9 may be #9 from a theory point of view, but it’s also the same note as a minor 3rd.įor the second cadence, Bill often uses a D7alt chord in the LH and plays an F minor triad in the RH. ![]() You could also think of it as a Locrian scale adjusted to include a major 3rd – which instantly recasts the previous minor 3rd as the #9th. In a sense, the most altered minor chord takes just one alteration too many and cracks – it crosses the international dateline and becomes the most altered dominant major chord. ![]() In fact, the different spellings are a clue to what’s going on. Look past the different spellings and you realise that there’s only one note different. Why should it make a fool of me? Well, another name for the altered scale is the Super Locrian, and the reason for the name becomes clear when we lay the two scales out for comparison: Now I’m not saying you should always do this, and Bill doesn’t, but it’s a very useful idea to expand your options on half-diminished chords. (Incidentally, are you inclined to think of playing a dominant over every chord as a bluesy thing? Well, Evans does it all the time, and he’s one of the least overtly bluesy players.)īut it’s a substitution that works seamlessly because all the strong chord tones are in the substitute scale. As I’ve said, it’s a substitition – you aren’t really playing a half-dim anymore. The second option is one Bill uses a lot. Notice how these G dominant scales also contain the chord tones for Gø. In either of these options, we’re regarding the Bb/A# as a #9, not a b3rd and the Db/C# as #11th, not a b5th. ![]() G7 altered scale (7th mode of Ab melodic minor) G7b9 (half-step whole-step diminished scale) As I’ve said before here, the two scales most often chosen over this chord are:īut you can always substitute a dominant chord anywhere. Now a lot of people have problems over half-diminished chords – in fact, even very fluent players will often stick closer to the “just the facts, ma’am” tones than they would on other chord types. (Notice the very Cole Porterish gesture of using a minor II V going to a major I.) What is also interesting is how he chooses to treat his half-diminished chords. Actually, the fourth voicings are really just thinned down versions of the full rootless voicings, but if you’re used to thinking “rootless=Bill fourths=Tyner/Chick”, think again. He also uses a lot of fourth voicings (ditto), as opposed to the classic rootless voicings that are generally taught as “the Bill sound”. These shapes are often regarded as belonging to a later style. Bill makes lots of use of upper structures, both as voicings and as arpeggios when soloing. This is an instructive performance for many reasons. And non-pianists, stay with me – this is for you too. This week I’ll look at some ideas from Bill Evans (jazz’s very own Clark Kent, and okay I’ll give up on the superhero analogy now) playing What Is This Thing (from his early album, Portrait in Jazz). What do you play on a minor II in, say, C minor? D half-diminished, some kind of Ab7 or some kind of D7? Do you know the difference? Or, perhaps more importantly, do you know the similarity? ( Sonia Belousova in character and me mangling comic book analogies for a cheap headline.) Many ways to skin a cat: Is it a half diminished? Is it a dominant? No, it’s… Well, yes, it’s both really.
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