Harmony & Analysis
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Playing Scales vs. Playing Out of Scales
I’ve been asked many times “Why do I need to learn and practice scales?” or “Why do I need to understand chords-scales and tonal harmony?” Some other people complain about the chord-scale theory, saying that they don’t want to play… Read article →
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Lush Life – Full Harmonic Analysis
Here’s a song by Billy Strayhorn that I’ve always loved and never fully analyzed until writing The Jazz Standards Progressions Book. I’ve been fascinated by Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn compositions since the first time I heard an Ellington album,… Read article →
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Can We Have a IVmaj7 Chord With an Ionian Chord-Scale?
Here’s a musical concept nobody taught me at school. While analyzing 1000+ jazz tunes for The Jazz Standards Progressions Book, I noticed a great number of songs in major keys tonicize the IV degree at the beginning of the bridge.… Read article →
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A New Symbol in Harmonic Analysis
In the process of writing The Jazz Standards Progressions Book Series I realized the need to express a very common harmonic event with a new symbol. So far we had solid and dotted arrows and brackets to express II-V relationships… Read article →
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100 Essential Jazz Standards
Since the release of The Jazz Standards Progressions Book where I analyzed 1000+ songs I have been asked many times for a list of essential jazz standards. I do not want to promote uniformity in repertoire nor do I believe in… Read article →
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What is Tonality?
Can we map tonal harmony in a coherent landscape that includes all possible harmonic functions, cadences and expected paths? It’s all in Mapping Tonal Harmony Pro. Learn More here… Read article →
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GIRL FROM IPANEMA HARMONIC ANALYSIS
Check out our new post: Unlocking the Magic of Jobim’s Harmony: A Step-by-Step Guide to ‘The Girl From Ipanema’ Jazz Harmony Lesson I found many discussions online regarding the harmonic analysis of Antonio Carlos Jobim’s Girl From Ipanema. Here’s my two… Read article →
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