Post 387: 'WHO WOULDN'T LOVE YOU?'

My friend Chris the pianist suggested that we should learn a tune called Who Wouldn't Love You?

I had never heard of it, but I was able to find several examples of the tune on YouTube and I then discovered that it was a pop song of 1942, written by Carl Fischer (music) and Bill Carey (words).

It's a very pleasant tune, apparently in 16 bars (8 + 8), but with the possibility of extending to 18 bars, for example with a tag in a final Chorus. Who Wouldn't Love You? has some appealing harmonies. The melody note seems occasionally to be on the 6th or 9th of the chord.

I wrote it out in G (for trumpet use): this means I will be playing it in Concert F, which seems right for it, though it also goes well in Bb, as in some performances on YouTube, such as this one (click on to listen).

I store all my tunes in mini-filofaxes and here's the result. It's a bit messy: I struggled with some of the chords and changed my mind in a couple of places.

Post 350: TRY FLOATING ON THE 9th

Something to learn when you are mastering the art of improvisation is that playing the 9th above a chord can be very effective.

Assume that the chord for a couple of bars is C7th. This means the notes in the chord are:

  C  -  E  -  G  -  Bb.

While the rest of the band sustains this chord, try playing the D above it, in effect turning the chord into a 9th. It can be quite exciting. It gives a pleasant sensation of 'floating' above the chord. 

For a simple example on YouTube, 

CLICK HERE

and notice how (at 36 seconds until 38 seconds) Shaye on the cornet plays a series of Ds above the chord of C7th. It is one of her favourite devices, though she probably does it so instinctively that I doubt whether she herself is aware of it. In other performances, you will find her holding the 9th as one long continuous note.

When improvising, try occasionally playing a D above a C chord, an E above a D chord, a G above an F chord, a C above a Bb chord, etc.

You will also frequently come across moments in songs where the composers themselves use the 9th as the melody note. Here's a simple example. Think of the song from 1930 'I'm Confessing That I Love You'. It begins with the words 'I'm confessin' that I love you. Tell me do you love me too?'

That word 'too' is the 9th of the chord in the harmony at that point. If the song is being played in the key of F (as it usually is), the chord is D7th (D     F#   A    C) but the melody note is E.

You can hear the effect in your head, can't you?

Post 173: USE THOSE 6THS AND 9THS

Introducing flattened thirds and sevenths adds colour and excitement to a tune; but it's also interesting to throw sixths and ninths into your improvisations.

Listen to a great creative player such as Shaye Cohn and note how frequently she gives a lot of emphasis to 6ths and 9ths - especially at the start of one of the final choruses, when she is still finding fresh approaches. For example, a tune may begin with two bars firmly on the C major chord but you may find Shaye decisively hitting several 'A's (the 6th). Or in a tune beginning with the D major chord, she will deliberately and firmly go for the 'E' above the chord, making a 9th.

Composers have been well aware of the effect gained by making the sixth or the ninth the melody note at a particular point, too.

Think, for example, of You're The Cream in My Coffee played in the key of C. You find many of the melody notes are D played above a C major chord, or A played above a G chord.

Or take There'll Be Some Changes Made played in the key of C. What do you find? Lots of Bs above the A chord, and plenty of Es above the D chord. 

Another is If I Had You: Think of it in the key of Bb. Numerous times in this song, you find (yes - in the composed melody) a C being played above a Bb chord. You find a G being played above an F7th chord. And you find Cs being played above Eb chords.

I'm Crazy 'Bout My Baby is another. Its Middle Eight is unusual, its special effect being achieved by the fact that the melody notes are so often the 6ths or the 9th of the chords.

Effective, isn't it?
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Reader Barrie adds:

Hi Ivan,

I agree with your statement about using a 6th and a 9th. I use the 6th a lot, a very useful note. At times it can be sustained over several chords. I mainly use the 9th on the fourth bar of a 12 bar blues. It works well.