Post 299: MORE CHORD SUBSTITUTION AND SIMPLIFICATION

I have previously mentioned that you can sometimes simplify matters by playing a basic triad major chord instead of the minor 7th of the note three semitones below it.

For example, play C major triad instead of A minor 7th. (Nobody will notice!)

Banjo-playing friends have since reminded me of two more similar tricks. One friend said 'Because we have four strings, we often play partial chords, as the full chord pattern on each inversion would stretch fingers beyond human limits at times'.

TRICK ONE

The music calls for a Diminished Chord. Instead, play the 7th of the chord one semitone below it. But LEAVE OUT THE BOTTOM NOTE. For example, for F diminished, play E7th (but leaving out the E at the bottom). It works.

For C diminished, play B7th without the B;

For F# diminished, play F7th without the F, etc.

TRICK TWO

The music calls for a Minor 7th with flattened fifth (sometimes called the 'half-diminished' chord). Instead, play the Minor 6th based on the note three semitones above.

For example,

For Cm7-5, play Ebm6;

For Dm7-5, play Fm6;

For Gm7-5, play Bbm6;

etc.

Tricks. But you will get away with them.

Post 298: MAJOR 6th AND MINOR 9th

Think of a chord containing the notes C - E - G - A. Which chord is it?

C6th, of course. But it is also the chord of A minor 7th (in its first inversion).

Knowing this can be very helpful if you are trying to keep your playing as simple as possible or if you are improvising over a chord progression at high speed.

You can make things even simpler if you omit the 'A' in the chord above. Your audience will not notice. It means you can play the chord of C major when the music asks for A minor 7th. And you will get away with it!

Obviously this applies right through the scale. Examples:

For B minor 7th you can substitute D major.

For C minor 7th you can substitute Eb major.

For D minor 7th you can substitute F major.

For E minor 7th you can substitute G major.

For F minor 7th you can substitute Ab major.

And so on.

In traditional jazz, you come across the progression:

VIm7 / I  |

This is exactly what I'm discussing. It's good to know you get away with playing it simply as:

  I  |

But please keep this secret just between you and me. I don't want to be accused of encouraging laziness!

And we don't want to get into Big Trouble with the British government's Jazz Band Regulator - OFFSTOMP.
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P.S. Since writing the above, I have received this helpful message from Tom Corcoran:

This is an interesting post about chords that are technically different but sound the same. One of the first things uke players learn is Am7=C6, which is the four open strings in standard uke tuning.

This website has some good information on synonym chords (that's a new term I just learned). I now see why Am7=C6; both chords contain the same notes, but in a different sequence. The diminished chords on the uke are also a good example of synonyms where the same chord shape and position can apply to four different keys.

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Thanks, Tom. I like that notion of 'synonym chords' - it's new to me too. And that is a website we can certainly recommend.

And from Edward Desenne I have received this contribution:

I play both alto and soprano sax and clarinet, both transposing instruments. That means that if I play a minor third below concert pitch on my alto sax pitched in Eb I will play the same note as in concert pitch.

To play a C Major chord in concert pitch I need to finger an A minor 7th chord as notated in music on my alto sax, which is a tricky chord to finger on alto saxes, which is played more easily in second inversion. However if I wish to play an Eb minor 7th concert pitch chord I just play up a minor third a Major C chord on my alto sax, it's easiest natural scale.

That is why the easiest, natural scales for the alto sax are concert Eb, Ab Bb, E, F but the clarinet, trumpet, tenor sax and all instruments pitched in Bb only need to rise one whole tone in order to play the same note as in concert key. The fingering for playing most scales on tenor sax is much easier on alto sax and with a larger tonal range over the octaves, but sometimes the pitch of the alto corresponds better to accompany the female voice. End of my lecture!!!!!!

Post 290: MINOR 7ths AND FLATTENED 5ths

Don't get me wrong: I think the Minor 7th with Flattened Fifth is one of the loveliest and most luscious in the entire lexicon of chords. If you doubt me, try playing it on your keyboard.

C minor 7th with flattened fifth, for example, comprises these notes:

C   -   Eb   -  Gb  - Bb

But I always find it awkward to play. I am a poor keyboard player, so when I am trying to play a tune from a fake book or busker's book and I come across a minor 7th with flattened fifth, I'm stumped. I have to work out what the notes are; and I can't get my fingers into position before it's too late and I'm on to the next bar. It's the flattened fifth that throws me.

However, I discovered that if - instead of playing a minor 7th with flattened 5th - you play the minor 6th of the chord 3 semitones above it, you achieve virtually the same effect. You are using the same notes, but in a different inversion.

So, for example, play the Cm7(-5) above as Eb Minor 6th:

Eb  -  Gb  -  Bb  -  C

It works.

So now, when I'm asked to play Dm7(-5), I actually play Fm6; when I'm asked to play Em7(-5), I actually play Gm6; and so on.

It's a simple little trick that I stumbled on recently. If you know much about music, you may be surprised that I was unaware of something so 'basic'.

But it has been a helpful discovery to me; and I hope it may benefit some readers.

For an example of this chord in action, think of the opening line of that lovely old song from 1913 'If I had my way, dear, forever there'd be a garden of roses for you and for me....'. The word way is sung with the chord of the minor 7th with flattened fifth.

Since I wrote the above, Allen Robnett has kindly added to my musical education by sending me this very helpful comment and tip:

Are you aware that another name for the  x7-5  is  x half dim  or  xf. (The x represents any minor chord here).  That means that if you are conversant with a dim7 chord, all you have to do is raise the 7 a half step and you have the minor 7 flat 5.

And still further thoughts have been sent to me by my old friend John Burns:

My experience of the m7b5 chord is very limited; it does not feature very often in the chords given for the majority of the jazz tunes that I am familiar with. However, in any of the chord sequences in which I have come across it I think it is extremely effective, though generally not essential. It can therefore be used as a embellishment, an example being at the start of Georgia on my Mind (often played in F) where

F /A7    /Dm can be rendered as F        /Em7b5  A7 /Dm

which I think sounds really great.

It turns up as one of various possible chords in the curious downward chromatic motion in Blue Turning Grey Over You:  Bb     /A7      /Dm7b5     /G7

again with excellent effect, and a fine accompaniment to the “middle eight” of Sweet Sue is: (in F)

F    /Am   /Am7b5    /D7     /Gm     /Gm     /Gm7b5      /C7

When looking through the various chord books, I have noticed that usually, though not always, the m7b5 is followed by a dominant 7th chord with a root a fourth higher (fifth lower) than that of the m7b5 chord, as it does in all the examples above. The fingering of these chords on my banjo is not particularly easy with the tuning I use (CGBD). However one inversion (where the root is at the bottom) is infinitely easier than all the others and the move from that inversion to the dominant 7th as described is very simple, requiring the first finger to slide one fret backwards while the other fingers stay in position. The change to the new chord also sounds particularly smooth from this inversion. This simple move led me to notice that, as the first finger is actually covering two strings, the change between these two chords involves the lowering by one semitone of two of the notes of the m7b5 chord, these being the flattened 5th and the 7th , for example:

Cm7b5 to F7 consists of

C, Eb, Gb, Bb      going to   C, Eb, F, A   which is, in root position, F, A, C, Eb, in other words F7. Fascinating, isn’t it; at least, I think so!

(So do I  - ed.)

There is nothing particularly odd about this; there are many chord changes involving the movement of one or two notes by a semitone (the “Dragon chord” is an example) but it doesn’t alter the fact that I find it all very fascinating!

The other feature of the m7b5 chord, which has already been mentioned by you, is its having the same notes as a m6 chord with a root three semitones higher. This causes some confusion for me with the same “chord shapes” being involved but different inversions. A combination of that and the fact that I don’t use these chords all that often is a bit of a problem but, of course, also a challenge…………..!