Reharmonisation Recording: Until my Dying Day

I was unable to record this with a singer in time, which I was disappointed with.  This song choice was one of the last minute additions to the project.

This one required a completely different approach - since the original chord seuqence was so simple I kept the reharmonisation simple.  I only added tritone substitution and other more adventurous reharm techniques at the end of lines or on specifically strong melody notes.

As always, this version was played in a very simple fashion so that the chords and melody are heard the most.

Reharmonisation Recording - Stay

This isn't how I intended to submit this song at all.  I briefly ran over it with a singer and we decided to record it after seeing that it worked.  I've not had the opportunity to lay down a successful recording with her.

I may soon, but it will soon be past portfolio deadline time.  

Below is a very basic MIDI recording I was forced to throw together in order to meet the deadline.  It does nothing to show how effective the reharmonisation really is.  There are automation errors (specifically with the sustain pedal) I was unable to fix and velocity errors are numerous.  

Hopefully I'll be able to upload a version with the singer soon, but I'm not sure how likely that will be.  This is one of the later tracks I decided to record, so time was short anyways.  Hopefully I'll have another recording uploaded soon.

I'm frustrated because I know the ruleset works.  This song is one of the most successful songs I've reharmonised, and this basic piano recording does not do it justice.

Please note that as with all piano only recordings I played in a very way so that the melody and chords beneath it can be heard clearly.  There's no complicated rhythms or accompany bass parts - just melody and block chords.

J

Couldn't get the singers to record.

I had plans for two singers to record with me two reharmonised versions of songs - one singing "stay" by Rhianna and the other an original hard rock track that used the same four chords over and over - see other blog posts for the chord charts. 

 Unfortunately, I was forced to cancel both recording sessions due to unforeseen circumstances. I've been unable to schedule a time for us both to record between then and now, and it's unlikely that I'll have the recordings done for the portfolio deadline.  Possibly for the dissertation deadline, so that they can be played on the CD provided, but they won't feature on my portfolio.

As a result, I've had to quickly throw down a basic piano only version of each of these tracks - the melody played on one track with the reharmonised chords payed over it.  This is no where near as effective as I'd have liked the end result to be, but unfortunately i'm going to have to stick with it.  The other reharminsation examples can and will be uploaded in a similar way, but I'm disappointed as  I really wanted to present work with live vocals as a part of my portfolio.

I'll be able to present these audio tracks at my presentation and at my showcase, and hopefully will be able to include them in the CD that will accompany my dissertation, but I'll have to submit a version of the reharminsations with my portfolio at a much lower standard that I had hoped for.

This month is not going well.  I'm losing all confidence in delivery of my project.  

J

A final reflection on the year and my thoughts on the project.

It's now nearing the end of the year and I'm struggling to finish everything.

At the start of this project I had no idea how large it would become.  I had no idea of how much work it would take, how much time it would take and how much energy it would take.  At the start of the year I agreed to perform for three other people for their own degree shows at another institute - Edinburgh college.  I agreed to three shows and turned many others down as

1) I wanted to keep performing this year as my honours project had no live performance aspects involved with it and

2) I thought doing three shows of relatively simple material would be manageable in addition to my honours project.

I was wrong.

I had no idea how much time and effort my own project would require.  I knew I would need to spend   a great deal of time in front of the piano practicing the reharmonistions, but I never expected them to be as time consuming as they turned out to be.  

I also didn't anticipate how challenging the material I'd be working for the other shows would be.  Hours and hours of practice was required to get the pieces to the required standard - hours that I could have spent on my honours project.  As a result - by my own foolishness - my project has suffered.  Where as I should have been able to focus all of my time effort and energy on my honours project alone, I've had to spread them over four different projects, each more difficult than I anticipated.  

I'm not happy with the result of my project, and am also not happy with the standard of my playing in the degree shows that I've been rehearsing for.  To make matters even worse, I've found that many of the shows fall on the same week as many of my honours project hand-ins.  This is far from ideal, and something that wasn't revealed until very recently.  As if my time wasn't strained enough, this is going to make any last minute workings impossible.

If anything, I've learnt that it is very easy to bite off more than you can chew.  I thought three degree shows would be manageable - I was wrong.  So very wrong.  If I could go back to September again, I'd say no to everyone who asked - even those who helped me out for my own show last year.  I'd focus purely on my honours project and make sure that I was working at it with the best of my ability.  Sadly, that hasn't happened this year, and I'm angry at myself for it.

As if my time wasn't being shared out enough, I had a baby at the end of semester 1.  I wouldn't recommend this to anyone planning on sitting an honours project.  That alone, even without the other degree shows, has taken up a massive amount of time and energy on my behalf.  I don't think I got any work done at all the weeks directly after my daughter's birth.  She has brought me more joy than I thought possible, and has helped me realise what is truly important, but at the same time, I've been unable to focus on my honours project as much as I'd have liked.

Perhaps if circumstances had been different, if I'd waited a year, or if this was a different time, my project may have ran more successfully.  Unfortunately however, it hasn't.  The project is currently strained, and I'm struggling to get it finished.

I can't blame everything on circumstance - the times where I have been free, I've often simply decided to rest.  The times I've come home from a long day of rehearsals or have had hours alone at home to myself where I could have been working, I've often rested instead.  Due partly to the business of life around me, but also due to my own lack of motivation for the honours project.  If I'd sat the project last year, or was even able to sit parts of it next year, I'd be much more motivated.  Unfortunately, it's fallen on one of the busiest years of my life, and whereas I should have been able to focus all of my energy on it, I've only been able to spare a fraction of the time I would have liked on it.  This will no doubt reveal itself in the results.  

I'm not trying to make excuses - simply reflecting, and acknowledging that my own lack of time management and knowledgable foresight has let me down this year.  If anything, I've learned from these mistakes, and will know not to make them again if I should ever pursue a large scale, self-sustained project again.

-Jordan

The Most Up To Date Ruleset

Below is the most recent version of the ruleset.  I say most recent and not "finalised" as the ruleset constantly changes as I reharmonises new material.  This may be near the end of the project, though the ruleset may change long after the project is finished.

For official purposes, this can be seen as the final iteration of the ruleset within this academic project. Rather than have the rules labeled 1-2-3, etc, I've spit them into sections as per the older posts.  

These have come about as a result of trial and error; through studying theory textbooks, websites, online lessons, personal experimentation, lessons with my piano teacher, etc...

They have been selected as they are the ones I found to work in most circumstances.  Whereas other rules may have worked well in certain songs, many simply did not work for the vast majority of material I was working with.  As a result, this ruleset is significantly smaller and more concise than the first draughts I posted.  It is also a much simpler ruleset.  It got this way after I began reharmonising more and more tunes and began to realise what worked and what didn't.

While this means the resulting reharmonisations will be similar, it provides a good starting point for anyone wishing to reharmonise songs from scratch - which was the purpose of this project in the first place.  

I'm pleased to say that I've committed many of these rules to memory - I'm finding myself using them throughout my day to day playing, using them to explore harmonic options when performing, covering and composing songs.  Examples of the rulesets in use can be found throughout this blog.  More posts will be added in the coming days with recorded versions of songs reharmonised using the ruleset.

You can find the rules listed here in order of category.  Instead of having contextual rules in their own category I've added contextual notes under rules that they apply to.

Chord Extensions

1) If  chord is a simple triad, add the seventh relating to the key.  Eg. in key of C, C major can be come Cmaj7.  E minor can become Em7, G major can become G7, etc...

2) In most cases, simple triads can have the extended variations of their chords attached to them.  Eg. C major triad - add Maj 7, Maj 6, Maj 9, etc.

3) Major chords can be replaced with the relative minor chords: for example, Gmaj7 can become Em7, etc.

4) If the melody note does not fall on the fifth or perfect fourth, a flattened fifth can be added to a minor chord to create diminished colour.

TENSION NOTES - A list of notes that can be added sporadically to chords for colour:
ONLY ADD IF THE MELODY NOTE DOES NOT FALL ON A NOTE A SEMI-TONE APART FROM THE ALTERED NOTE

Major 6th - Add 9
Minor 6th - Add 9
Minor 7th - Add 9 or #11
Minor Major 7th - Add 9
Dominant 7th - add 9 OR b9, 11, #11, 13, b13
Minor 7th - add 9, 11
Minor 7th (lowered fifth) - 9, b13
Diminished 7th - Any note a whole step above a basic chord tone.

Chord Substitution

1) Dominant 7th chords may be replaced by minor seventh chords (eg. B7 can become Bm7) ONLY if the melody note does not fall upon the major third.  (This minor seven chord can then become the introduction to an imposed ii-V sequence).

2) Similarly, minor chords can be replaced with dominant seventh chords.  Same rules as above apply.

3) Any major triad can be made into a major 7 - those major 7 chords can then be replaced by the related mIII or mVI (eg. Cmaj 7 may be substituted for Em7 or Am7).

4) Those substituted chords may then be replaced by their major counterpart - e.g., Em7 may then become Gmaj 7.  Rule 3 can then apply to the same Gmaj7.  By doing this you can get a Bm7 chord from a Cmaj7 chord - MELODY DEPENDENT. 

5) If going into a ii-V especially, the ii chord can be substituted for a ii#9 b 5 chord.

6) You can change the chord a strong melody note falls on depending on the chord surrounding it.  For example, if you're in the key of C and the melody falls on a G, an A7 chord may be played over it due to the G being the seventh of A7.  Preferably the dominant chord will want to fall on a diatonic minor chord, such as Am7 or Dm7, etc...

Adding ii-V Sequences

1) A ii-V sequence can be added anywhere if the target chord is a major chord.  Eg, if the target chord is a Gmaj, Am-D7 can be added before the Gmaj.  

2) If there are multiple 4-5 sequences in a single line/passage, introduce a ii-V in the key of the 5.  Eg. in the key of D - if there's a G-A sequence, add an Em after the G leading into the A, leading to a G-Em-A sequence. 

3) Alternatively, replace the G with an Em, changing G-A into Em-A.

4) If there's a 1-4 (eg. F-Bb in the key of F), add a minor ii-v in the key of the 4.  Eg. F-Bb will become F-Adim7-D7b9 - Bb.  NOTE: DO NOT USE THIS MORE THAN ONCE IN A SINGLE VERSE/CHORUS OR IF THE MELODY FALLS WITHIN A SEMI-TONE ON EITHER SIDE OF THE GUIDE TONES OF THE ADDED CHORDS

5) Any dominant7 chord can have the minor seventh chord a fourth below placed before it.  Eg. A7 can have Em7 before it, or a Dm7 can be placed before a G7, etc.    

6) Any minor 7 chord can have the dominant seventh chord a fourth above it placed after it, for example B7 can be placed after any F#m7 chord, etc...

7) A ii-V can be added in the key above a target ii-V sequence.  Eg, if the target chord is Cmaj and the ii-V preceding it is Dm-G7, Em-A7 can be played prior to the Dm-G7 ii-V.

Tritone Substitution

1) Any dominant seventh chord can be replaced by it's tritone substitute if THE MELODY DOES NOT FALL WITHIN A SEMI-TONE OF THE CHORD'S GUIDE TONES.  Eg. G7 can become Db7/G, or G7/Db, etc...

2) Tritone substitution should be used sparingly.  Do not alter every dominant chord into it's tritone substitute.  The tritone substitute should be used for colour, especially near the end of lines where a resolution is likely.

3) ONLY WHEN IT DOES NOT CONFLICT WITH THE MELODY you may alter the tritone chord even more - instead of flattening the fifth and 9th, sharpen them and play them on top of the tritone.  Eg. F7-Bbmaj7  can become | B7/Db7 - Bb | (which is tritone/altered chord - Bb).  Again, this should only be used sparingly, preferably at the end of lines to build tension.

Reharmonisation recording - "Shepherd" by Bethel

I posted weeks ago that I'd been working on this.  I decided to record it last week, just to give another example of the ruleset in practice.

The original track can be found here:

While I was recording it, I changed the reharmonisations slightly.  Now that I've worked on a good few recordings with my updated ruleset, I know what works and what doesn't.  The back-cycling found in the original workouts I did earlier simply didn't work while I was recording.  It may have sounded okay months ago when I first tried it and sang along, but it didn't work now.  Perhaps it's because my ears have become more attuned to the kind of reharmonisations I'm going for.

I recorded a simple "Verse, chorus, middle section x2, chorus" structure.  As always, there could be any number of possible reharmonisations using my ruleset, but I opted instead to record the track once though, so that a general overview of the reharmonisation may be heard.

Reharmonization working sheet: Until my Dying Day

Below is a music video of a local Scottish rock band "The King Lot" performing the song "Until my Dying day".

I decided to cover a song by a band that will be relatively unknown on a global scale to show that the ruleset doesn't have to be applied to famous songs.

The song was also picked to show how the ruleset can be implemented on songs of any genre.

The chord sequence for this song is as follows:

Em - C - G -D

That's it.  The same four chords repeated over and over.

At first this was daunting.  I pushed on however and began to use some basic chord substitution and expending to make the sequence more interesting, and closer to a smooth-jazz style.  Below is the initial working taken from a document on my iPad.

Until my dying day

Em C G D

Em7 Cmaj7 Gmaj7 D7

Gmaj7 Am7 Em7 Bm7 

Cmaj7 Em7 Am7 Em9

Am7 Gmaj7 Cmaj7 Gmaj7 

ii-V-Is

Em7 - A7(6) - Dmaj7

Am7 - D7 - Gmaj7 

Bm7 - E7(6) - Amaj7 

F#halfdim - Balt - Em(maj7) 

MELODY: 

Verse 

BAG (EDB)

Ch:

BAG

CBA

v2:

EDBA

GF#EDs

Br: 

G-E

(Promise this) : G A Bb 

Here I began to substitute the chord sequence, seeing how many different versions I could get.  I then began to develop ii-V ideas, though when it came to putting these into practice, most of them didn't work.  The melody notes were jotted down at the bottom for reference.

You can see at the start of my working that I write down the original chord sequence.  Then I implement the rule that turns everything into a seventh chord.  Then I swap each chord for it's relevant minor/major.  Then I apply the rule that says I can substitute minor chords for similar minor chords within the same key.  It goes on and on.  The result us that I'm left with a handful of chords that can be put in place of any of the original chords.

The result is a very simple reharmonisation, with very few chords taken out of key.  This is an example of one of the many ways the ruleset can be applied to a chord sequence.  The original chords do not have to be edited and substituted and removed and warped and altered - they can simply be changed by chords from the same key but with different guide tones.  This makes the melody notes take on a different form - the melody in this song is based on E minor pentatonic.  The notes relation to the chords are almost always based on guide tones.  By substituting the chords for different chords within the same key, the melody notes become 9th, 11th and 13ths, as opposed to firsts, thirds and fifths.

Below is the work sheet I wrote when I put the above iPad workings into practice at the piano.  The first thing you may notice is that I've halved the time in which chords are played.  In the space of the "Em-C-G-D" heard in the original, I've instead placed Cmaj7-Bmaj 7.  I've halved the number of chords used.  This leads to a sound closer to that of smooth jazz than rock due to the spareness of the played chords.

Apart from the end of the song where the vocal melody hits a Bb (this is where an altered chord can be played to give it colour), the repetitive chord sequences can just be exchanged for one another.  So for example in verse one a player may play Am Bm Cmaj7 Gmaj7, then Bm7 Cmaj7 Em7 Am7; from then onwards the song could be reharmonised using the exact same chords as mentioned above

but in different orders.  Since the original chord sequence is based on four repeating chords, this works well and leads to a simple but effective reharmonisation.

Reharmonisation Recording: Amazing Grace

Below is a version of Amazing Grace I reharmonised using the ruleset.  As with most reharmonised parts I delve into more complex harmonic territory the more times it repeats.  The final version of it sounds most "out there" but it shows the depth of the ruleset.

Rules used for this include:

All rules used under the "chord extension" subheading.
Chord substitution rules 1,2,3 and 6.
Rules 1 & 2 of the ii-V section.
All three tritone substitution based rules.

The result for this one was mixed.  Some parts worked, others didn't.  I struggled to reharmonise this song as easily as some of the others.  Perhaps it was due to the homophonic melody, or the fact that almost every on-beat note of the hymn is a tonic chord tone.  Regardless, here are the results: Whether or not it was successful is up to the listener.

Reharmonisation Recording: Somewhere in Time

A key part of my project was to show that the ruleset can be applied to pieces of music from any style.

So far I've reharmonised love ballads, hymns, christmas tunes, hard rock songs, contemporary pop, and now I'm trying out an orchestral piece - "Somewhere in Time", by John Barry.

The trick is finding a distinguishable melody in a piece, then working out the chords to it.

In this case the chords are based on the C major scale.  C, Am, Dm and F are the chords used mostly throughout.  There's a part near the end of the "A" section where E7 and B7 are played.  I tried to get interesting here with tritone substitution, but it proved tricky.

Below you will find a brief piano recording I made of the "A" section of the piece, repeated twice.  The first time features a simpler, 'easier' sounding reharmonisation.  The second A section features a wider variety of rules used - based on minor scale and diminished harmony, the second play through is full of tritone substitution, and minor ii-Vs.  The result?  It works, but I'm not sure if it's exactly "smooth jazz".  If anything, it demonstrates the diversity of sound that the ruleset can produce.

As I begin to reharmonise more and more pieces I'm starting to see how this project and the ruleset itself is developing past what I intended.  It's gone beyond "can I get this to sound like smooth jazz?" and is now "how far can I let the ruleset take this song?"  Perhaps I should reel it in a bit...

(Please note it isn't supposed to be four minutes, I stupidly forgot to crop it when bouncing the file. The A section will repeat twice, with different harmonies.  Once that's done the track is over.)

I'm not sure I'm really following the ruleset any more...

...This is both a good thing and a bad thing.  I've spent so much time trying to reharmonise different versions of things that I've began to reharmomise tunes without even looking at the rules on my iPad. I'm simply playing things, hearing where I want them to go in my head and then fumbling around at the piano until I can remember where the reharmoised chord I want is.

 I can be working on a reharmonisation then think "I want to go to this chord".  I'll then think about other reharmonisations I've done, and remember what I did there and lo and behold, it's the chord I want to go to.  This is good as it means the project is working and that my ear is beginning to develop more, which is what I wanted from the start.

This is bad because it means some of the reharmonisations may be coming from me and not the ruleset, nulling them - this project is ultimately about me, yes, but the academic side is to be focused on the ruleset.  What does it matter if by the end of this I have a handful of reharmonisations that sound good, but they all bypassed the ruleset? What does that prove?  What I want to be able to say is "The ruleset works because" or "the ruleset doesn't work because."  Not "I picked this chord here because I wanted it to be there."

To actually be quite honest, this might be a good thing.  I'm not sure.  So I'm documenting it here.  Perhaps this realisation has become a vital part in the development of my project.  I don't know!  What I do know is that with or without the ruleset next to me, it's getting progressively easier to reharmonise tunes into something that sounds remotely like smooth-jazz.

And it's no coincidence that the reharmonisations are getting simpler.  TO start with I was trying to fill every bar with complex harmonic progressions.  Now I'm focused more on simply extending existing chords and adding substituted ii-V-I progressions where the melody calls for it.  If it leads to a more authentic sound, who am I to criticise it?  It's just going to make evaluating my project that little bit harder at the end.  Ah well.  At least I'm getting better.

Please note, I'm by no means saying I'm a reharmonisation master, I'm just saying that it's become a damn sight easier for me to reharmonises things from the top of my head than it was when I first started reharmonising things in January!

J

Stay - Rhianna Reharmonisation

Below is the music video for "Stay" by Rhianna.  The song is in 4/4 and is based on the same four chords: C Dm Am F, with the occasional G/Em thrown in.

Here is the song:

Below is the reharmonised chord chart:

Cmaj9 Dm7 Am7

Em7 Dm7 Am7

Cmaj9 Dm7-G b9 #13 Cmaj7

Am11 Abdim7 Am7

Cmaj9 Dm7 Cmaj7

Cmaj7 Dm7b5 G7 Am7

Fmaj7 Dm9 Am7

Atritone D b9 #13 G7

Ch

Cmaj7 Dmin7 Am7 F

Em7 Atriton Dm7 G7tritone sub

Cmaj7 Dm7 Am7 Bb/F 

Am7 D7 Dm7-G7 

Cmaj7 Dm7 Am7 

Fmaj7 Am7 D7 E7

Fmaj7 Cmaj7 Dm7 

Dm7 E7#9#5 Am7 

Fmaj7 Dmin7 Gtritone

Less rules were added here than one would think - for this song I simply added a number of ii-Vs and reharmonised them using tritone substitution, as detailed in previous blog posts.  Some chords were substituted for others - chords that are in the similar key and share a similar tonality.  In this case melody notes that were guide tones (like the 3rd of 7th) became extended chord tones, like 11th and 13th, etc.

I'll be uploading a recorded version of this with a singer singing the original melody soon.

J

YouTube link: Reharmonising Happy Birthday

I found another interesting youTube link which talks about finding target chords and working backwards to them, back cycling through various V and ii-V sequences.

This is useful to an extent, though the video's creator has embellished the melody too much for the purposes relating to this blog.  My plan is to reharmonises songs while touching the melody as little as possible.

The author's end result leads to a chord sequence that looks like this:


Cmaj7 - Adom7 - Dm7 - Gdom7
Bm7b5 - Edom7 - A7 - Ddom7
Dm7 - Gdom7 - Em7 - Adom7 - Dm7 - Gdom7 - Cmaj7

Considering the original sequence looks similar to this:

C G
G C
C F
C G C

We can see that it's a rather intense reharmonisation.  The A7 leads down a fifth to the Dm7, which then moves down a fifth to the G7.  We can see that the chord sequence continually moves down in fifths.  This is similar to a small set of rules I've composed which include back-cycling in fifths.  The user here seems to alternate between minor seven chords and dominant seven chords.  This is something I'll have to look at, though since I'm trying to adhere to the melody in my own reharmonisations, this may not work for me.

If anything, it's food for thought, and gives me a chance to see how other people reharmonises well known tunes.

J

Rules narrowed down: chord substitution

Below are a group of the near-finalised versions of the chord substitution based rules.  These may change before the final ruleset is released.

1) Dominant 7th chords may be replaced by minor seventh chords (eg. B7 can become Bm7) ONLY if the melody note does not fall upon the major third.  (This minor seven chord can then become the introduction to an imposed ii-V sequence).

2) Similarly, minor chords can be replaced with dominant seventh chords.  Same rules as above apply.

3) Any major triad can be made into a major 7 - those major 7 chords can then be replaced by the related mIII or mVI (eg. Cmaj 7 may be substituted for Em7 or Am7).

4) Those substituted chords may then be replaced by their major counterpart - e.g., Em7 may then become Gmaj 7.  Rule 3 can then apply to the same Gmaj7.  By doing this you can get a Bm7 chord from a Cmaj7 chord - MELODY DEPENDENT. 

5) If going into a ii-V especially, the ii chord can be substituted for a ii#9 b 5 chord.

Tritone Substitution

1) Any dominant seventh chord can be replaced by it's tritone substitute if THE MELODY DOES NOT FALL WITHIN A SEMI-TONE OF THE CHORD'S GUIDE TONES.  Eg. G7 can become Db7/G, or G7/Db, etc...

2) Tritone substitution should be used sparingly.  Do not alter every dominant chord into it's tritone substitute.  Tritone substitute should be used for colour, especially near the end of lines where a resolution is likely.

3) ONLY WHEN IT DOES NOT CONFLICT WITH THE MELODY you may alter the tritone chord even more - instead of flattening the fifth and 9th, sharpen them and play them on top of the tritone.  Eg. F7-Bbmaj7 - B7/Db7 - Bb (tritone/altered chord - Bb).  Again, this should only be used sparingly, preferably at the end of lines to build tension.

Rules Narrowed Down: Adding ii-Vs

Below are the rules which relate to the addition of ii-V sequences to existing chord charts.  By adding ii-Vs, chord sequences can be made more interesting - the original chord sequence can even stay the same.  The ii-Vs need not replace anything - they can just be input as additions.

1) A ii-V sequence can be added anywhere if the target chord is a major chord.  Eg, if the target chord is a Gmaj, Am-D7 can be added before the Gmaj.  

2) If there are multiple 4-5 sequences in a single line/passage, introduce a ii-V in the key of the 5.  Eg. in the key of D - if there's a G-A sequence, add an Em after the G leading into the A, leading to a G-Em-A sequence. 

3) Alternatively, replace the G with an Em, changing G-A into Em-A.

4) If there's a 1-4 (eg. F-Bb in the key of F), add a minor ii-v in the key of the 4.  Eg. F-Bb will become F-Adim7-D7b9 - Bb.  NOTE: DO NOT USE THIS MORE THAN ONCE IN A SINGLE VERSE/CHORUS OR IF THE MELODY FALLS WITHIN A SEMI-TONE ON EITHER SIDE OF THE GUIDE TONES OF THE ADDED CHORDS

5) Any dominant7 chord can have the minor seventh chord a fourth below placed before it.  Eg. A7 can have Em7 before it, or a Dm7 can be placed before a G7, etc.    

6) Any minor 7 chord can have the dominant seventh chord a fourth above it placed after it, for example B7 can be placed after any F#m7 chord, etc...

7) A ii-V can be added in the key above a target ii-V sequence.  Eg, if the target chord is Cmaj and the ii-V preceding it is Dm-G7, Em-A7 can be played prior to the Dm-G7 ii-V.

Rules narrowed down: Chord extensions

Below is a narrowed down version of the ruleset.  In this post we'll be looking at rules relating to chord extensions. Rules from previous iterations have been removed and edited.  A finalised version will be posted later.

These rules exist to "spice" up existing chords.  There's little reharmonisation involved in these chords.  Some tunes can be reharmonised using these rules alone.

RULES

1) If  chord is a simple triad, add the seventh relating to the key.  Eg. in key of C, C major can be come Cmaj7.  E minor can become Em7, G major can become G7, etc...

2) In most cases, simple triads can have the extended variations of their chords attached to them.  Eg. C major triad - add Maj 7, Maj 6, Maj 9, etc.

3) Major chords can be replaced with the relative minor chords: for example, Gmaj7 can become Em7, etc.

4) If the melody note does not fall on the fifth or perfect fourth, a flattened fifth can be added to a minor chord to create diminished colour.

TENSION NOTES - A list of notes that can be added sporadically to chords for colour:
ONLY ADD IF THE MELODY NOTE DOES NOT FALL ON A NOTE A SEMI-TONE APART FROM THE ALTERED NOTE

Major 6th - Add 9
Minor 6th - Add 9
Minor 7th - Add 9 or #11
Minor Major 7th - Add 9
Dominant 7th - add 9 OR b9, 11, #11, 13, b13
Minor 7th - add 9, 11
Minor 7th (lowered fifth) - 9, b13
Diminished 7th - Any note a whole step above a basic chord tone.

More Rules

The rule set has grown greatly since I first started it. I'm going to have to cut them down and contextualise them properly before ending up with a finalised product.

Here is how the rule set exists in its current form as of March the 19th, taken directly from a document in my iPad where they're all kept for easy access: 

DRAUGHT RULES:

MAJOR TRIAD

-If major triad chord replace with Maj6 (add9)

-Major triad can be replaced with relative minor triad (Mostly bass line - if G triad play G/E)

-One chord can be made a major 7 - major 7 can be replaced by the mIII or mVI (eg. Cmaj7 may become Em7 or Am7

-Add the flattened fifth to a minor triad to make it half diminished

1-4-5 AND ii-V

-If there exists more than one 4-5 introduce a ii-V in thief key of the 5 chord every second time

-1-4 add minor ii-v in relative minor key of 4. Eg. F-Bb play F- Adim7-D7b9 - Bb

-If V-I add ii before V OR VII9

-Root chords that do not start or resolve a line can be replaced with vi

-The vi can then include ii-V afterwards

-The ii chord can be substituted for a ii#9 b5 (if going to a ii-V)

-If a one begins a chorus, add V7 before it

BACKCYCLING

-If going to a V7, on each beat of the preceding bar backcycle into it (if G7 play 

| B7 Bb7 A7 Ab7 | G7) 

-Can cycle down the circle of fifths to target chord (Eg. If aiming for Cmaj7, precede it with a G7, then Precede G7 with a D7, A7, etc

VI7 CHORD-

-Minor vi chord can be replaced by VI7 (B7 instead of Bm7 D)

-VI7 can be placed in front of ii of key (eg. B7 to Em on key of D)

-If 4-1 replace 1 with VI7 (Bb to D7 in key of F)

MISC

-Minor 7 chord - add dominant seventh chord who's root is a fourth below (or 5th above) before chord

-Dominant 7th chord - add minor 7th chord who's root is a fourth below (or 5th above) before chord

-Dominant chord (7,9,11,13) switch bass note with tritone. Eg. C13 becomes Gb+9

-Replace 3rd with 4th in any chord for colour without changing too much (if melody is not 3rd)

-ii-I - play diminished chord between.  Eg. C Dm7 D#halfdim C/E

-Dominant 7th - replace 3rd with 11 (C7(11))

-Any strong target chord can be preceded by a Dom 7 a fifth up

-Dominant 7th chords can be altered into (sharp 9 sharp 5). Eg instead of G7 play Eb/G

WITHOUT THINKING OF MELODY

Before or after a dominant chord, a dim7 chord a major 3rd up can be placed. (eg. G7 - Bmin7b5 can be put before or after

Before or after a dominant chord, a maj7 or dom7 chord a minor 3rd up can be placed (Eg. G7 - Bb7 or Bbmaj7 can be put before or after

REMOVING CHORDS

If 2-3 chords per bar, remove secondary chords and substitute first chord using one of the above rules

TENSION NOTES

Major 6th - add 9

Minor 6th - add 9

Major 7th - add 9 or #11

Minor major 7th - add 9

dominant 7th - add 9 OR b9, #9, 11, #11, 13, b13

Minor 7th - add 9, 11

Minor 7th (lowered fifth) - 9, b13

Diminished 7th - any note a whole step above a basic chord tone

CONTEXTUAL NOTES:

-No tritone sub if the melody is within a semitone of the tritones root

-If a melody note conflicts with the third of a substituted chord the third can be replaced with the fourth.

-Do not play more than two tritone substitutions in one passage until at least the second verse.

II-V-Is and their uses

The basis of most of my reharmonisations can be found in the well known ii-V-I sequence.  I've explained this in a previous post.

One thing I've started to notice as I've began to develop and reharmonise existing tunes for my portfolio is that I'm using the same rules over and over:  the rules that extend vanilla chords into deeper chords (eg. a A major triad into a Cmaj7 or an A minor triad into an A minor 7).  I'm then using other rules to turn those extended chords into ii-V-Is, then simply reharmonising the ii-V-Is using tritone substitution or other rules.  By using this simple method (and adjusting to fit the melody), I can make most contemporary tunes sound reasonably smooth-jazzy.

I'm using rules on rules on rules.  By doing this I'm ignoring a large number of the rules I've created, but it seems to work a lot of the time.  Perhaps this is me unintentionally whittling away at the draught ruleset I've created.  As the weeks go by I'll post smaller and smaller rulesets until there's only a few core rules remaining.

Using and abusing ii-V-Is like this may seem like a cheap method, but for what I'm trying to accomplish, it seems to be working wonders.  There are still songs like jingle bells and amazing grace that I'm struggling to apply these rules to.  I'm not sure why, but those songs seem to require a little more work.  Rules that work for many other tunes simply do not work on these ones.

I'll try to investigate why this is and post my findings later.  

J

Reharmonisation working sheet: Amazing Grace

Below are two photos of the working sheets I wrote while working on Amazing Grace.  The first image shows the original chord sequence on top, followed by a reharmonised version using the rules.  The second image shows two more reharmonised versions of the same verse.  This is to show the diversity of the ruleset.  Note that this is different to the version of Amazing Grace I linked earlier - that was an early version.  This is a newer version I made.  There is yet no recording of this version, though one will be uploaded soon.

Rules used here include substitution rules (eg. Exchange major for minor, exchange minor vi for minor ii), including ii-V based rules where ii-V sequences have been implemented and substituted for their tritone counterparts.

This song was one of the harder songs to reharmonises as traditional substituting didn't work.  In some cases I struggled to make it sound smooth-jazzy enough using simple substitution, so you can see in the final reharmonisation during the second line a part where I implemented back cycling, going chromatically down in dominant seventh chords in order to reach my target chord of A7.  This clashes with the melody, but they can sound okay if played quickly and they are voiced properly.

Note this exists purely as evidence of ongoing work.

Question: What makes a good reharmonisation?

As a part of my plan to get feedback and input from as many musicians as possible, I took to an online forum full of keyboard players to ask for opinions from the fine folks there.

The forums on musicplayer.com's keyboard corner are full to the brim with useful information on a variety of subjects.  Many of the guys there are jazz players, and there's a whole thread tens of pages long based on reharmonisation alone.

I posed the question "What makes a good reharmonisation" and was met with various responses.  Here are a few that stick out:

"The only cardinal rule I know is that the reharmonization can't require changing the melody to fit the new chords. At that point you're not reharmonizing as much as rewriting. Unless that's what you're trying to do, of course...  "

"Not overdoing it-that's a good reharmonization. If you change the hole song it might get an A+ from your harmony teacher, but it's not the song any more. On the contrary adding some coloring here and there gives surprise, and i think this is the purpose of it IMHO."

"If it sounds good, it IS good."  "

I posted two followup questions asking:

1) When playing through a tune or improvising, how do you choose when to reharmonise and when to stick with the original chord sequence ?(if it's not completely automated)

2) How do you pick what chords/passages you substitute the original chords with? 

The responses varied:


- First, reharmonization, like composition or arranging, can be an art in itself if done well. There are no rules, except knowing your harmony inside out in order to have a large vocabulary of possibilities in your head.

It's really the same as asking what makes good music. The only difference with reharm is to express an existing song that you hear in a different way - possibly to emphasize a different groove or to bring out a subtle harmonic character that's already in the song. It's like changing the lighting on a song, so you see different aspects of it.


A 'good reharm' would be when reharm choices reflect your musical tastes or intent, not just for the academic freedom to change it... or because you 'can'. 



"As an older musician who lived through ( endured ) the questioning of all traditional ideas... I am pleased and at the same time shocked to hear you ask the "good bad.. age old question, as well as the   evil "judge" word. 

Tradition says things like: 'One man's good is another woman's bad'. "One mans food is another's poison". 
Those are general truths ( generalizations have in the past half century been under heavy attack ) from the past. I believe generalizations serve a useful purpose, and the above quote is quite true. 
That is why only you can decide of a "rearm" is good."

The full thread and its contents can be found here.

The Journal of Jazz Studies

I've found a fantastic resource with a wealth of information to help me write my dissertation.

The journal of jazz studies was shown to me by Kenny, and it's full of useful essays, journals and documents.  While the hard part will be selecting which parts are relevant for going in the write up, it's nice to know that I've got a good source of reliable information at my hands.

J

What is tritone substitution? (my own explanation)

I was in a meeting with Kenny the other day and he asked me on the spot what tritone substitution was.

The answer I gave from the top of my head was something like this: 

Tritone substitution is a method of chord substitution, mostly used in jazz harmony.  It can work in two ways: 1) substituting the notes of a dominant seventh chord with the major triad of the related tritone to the root chord (eg. replacing a G7 with a Db7 in the right hand while keeping the G in the left hand on the piano) or 2) replacing the bass/root note of a chord with the bass/root note of the tritone relevant to that key (eg. G7 would become G7/Db).  The former method is the one more commonly used.

Tritone substitution can be very dissonant and must be used in the correct context in order for it to sound good.  However, it works because tritone dominant 7th chords share the guide tones (3rd and 7th) - only they're flipped around.  So for example, G7 has B as its 3rd and F as it's 7th.  Db has F as its 3rd and B as it's 7th.  This means the only notes that change are the fifth and root. If you have a G7 chord and replace the G triad with a Db7 triad, the fifth becomes flattened, along with the 9th, altering the chord.  Again, this can sound horrible if not within the right context - it almost always works in a ii-V-I setting.  Why?  Because in a ii-V-I setting, the tritone substitution is implying a chromatic run down.  If you have a ii-V-I in the key of C, you have Dm7-G7-Cmaj7.  Tritone sub the G7 for Db and you have Dm7-Db7-Cmaj7.  The chord moves down chromatically from D to C, giving a sense of harmonic movement and purpose.  There is tension, but it's instantly released as the guide tones of the substituted chord move down to resolve into the C.

Phew!

Tritone substitution is a very important part of the ruleset.  I'll soon be uploading a section of the rules  based on chord substitution - the tritone based rules can be found there.

J

Reharmonisation Notes: Shepherd, by Bethel

This is a quick post detailing some work I did last night.  I didn't plan on doing this as a part of my portfolio but I was playing around on the piano and heard this song come on.  I decided to try and reharmonises it on the spot using my ruleset.  I was pleasantly surprised by the results. 

I haven't recorded any of this yet and I'm unsure if I want to record it, but by looking at the work sheet (or by trying to, I apologise for my messy notes, I didn't think I'd be posting it here when I began working on it) you can kind of get an idea of my reharmonisation techniques, and of how the ruleset works in practice. 

This was the first time I attempted to use back-cycling in a reharmonisation.  At first I thought it wouldn't work, but since I resolved on a strong melody note, it worked surprisingly well.( Jazz reharmonisation purists may disagree, but for the basic purposes of this project, it worked well!)

The original chord sequence can be found in its numeric form on the left hand side of the page.  The bottom section of the sequence represents the verses, and the right hand side represents the reharmonised chorus'.  There are less chorus' parts because I struggled with them more.  This was just an on the cuff reharm I did, and it exists purely as 1) evidence of work and 2) an example of the draught ruleset in practice.

J

How am I finding the rules? An example.

I'm finding many ways to create new rules.  Some come directly from listening to songs - others come from reading theory books, and others come from looking at jazz guide books.  Below is an example photo where reharmonisation "rules" have already been clearly lain out.  I simply simplified the rules and added them into the ruleset list.

By reading books like this, I'm able to find rules that are proven to 'work' in certain contexts.  Whether they work in the smooth-jazz context remains to be seen.  However, due to the wide variety of rules that exist, and the different types of chord sequences that I'm working with, some of these may work in specific contexts.  That's the fun of the project - trying things out at the piano and seeing what works and what doesn't work!

The ii-V-I

In an effort to further consolidate information I've been gathering, I'm writing a series of posts on key topics relating to jazz harmony, where a short summary paragraph of the topic at hand will be written, simply so that I'm able to describe it.

For this post, I'll be posting about the ii-V-I progression, a vital part of many of the rules I've created for the ruleset.

The ii-V-I

The ii-V-I progression takes its name from the name of the chord relating to the tonic or root chord.  ii means the second chord, V means the fifth, and I means the root. This is based on the major scale the root key is derived from.

For example, the C major scale features the following notes: C D E F G A B C

By using every second note in this scale, we can begin to create chords:

C E G B - C major7 - I

D F A C- D minor7 - ii

E G B D- E minor7 - iii

F A C E - F major7 - IV

G B D F - G7 - V

A C E G - Am7 - vi

B D F A - Bhalfdim7 - VII

Roman numeral characters in lower case are minor chords.  

The ii-V-I in the key of C then would be Dm7 - G7 - Cmaj7, based on the C major scale.  There are various alterations and different versions of the ii-V-I (the minor ii-v) for example, which is taken from other scales) though for the purposes of this post we'll focus on the 2-5-1 in it's most basic form.

The ii-V-I is a very popular progression.  It is used widely in pop and jazz music - in jazz especially, the ii-V-I sequence is the most popular chord progression used (though in forms other than its simplest).

To sum up why this progression is so harmonically effective in a single post wouldn't do it much justice - entire essays could be dedicated to the discussion of this chord progression.  However, for the sake of this blog post and the portfolio, I'll sum it up very briefly.

The ii-V is effective due to the relation between the two chords guide tones.  A guide tone is simply the tone that guides the chords tonality.  In G7 for example, the guide tones are G (the root) B ( the third) and F (the seventh).  These are the guide tones because they guide the tonality of the chord - the G signifies the root, the third signifies the major tonality, and the seventh signifies the dominant seventh.  

Let's look at the notes of Dm7 and G7-

Dm7 - D F A C

G7 - G B D F

Let's now look at the guide tones of those two chords.

Dm7 - F C

G7 - B F

We can see that they share a common note - F.  In Dm7, the F is the third.  In G7 the F is the seventh. The C and B are also semitones apart - in order to reach the B of the G7 from the C of the Dm7, one simply has to drop the seventh by a semi-tone.  The seventh of the Dm7 drops to become the third and the third stays the same but becomes the seventh.  

Due to the simplicity of this change, a clear sense of progression can be heard when played.  

The V-I is effective as it invokes a perfect cadence.  A perfect cadence is 'perfect' because it sounds as if the chord has resolved completely.  Again, this could be explained os much more in depth, but for the purposes of this project and the blog, I've kept it simple.

Lets look at the guide tones in the V and I chord:

V - G7 - B F

I - Cmaj7 - E B

See something similar?  The B (the third of the G) is the same as the seventh of the C - just like the relationship with the ii and the V.  The F (seventh) of the G drops a semi tone to become the third of the C - again, just like the ii-V progression did.  ii-V and V-I are exact mirrors of each other, ending with a perfect cadence.  In the simplest terms possible, this is why the ii-V-I works so well.  The sense of progression and voice-led harmonic movement creates a chord sequence which is very pleasing to the those who's ears are used to westernised harmony, based on resolution.

While this was a brief overview, it shows how the ii-V-I progression has become so monumentally important whilst creating my reharmonisation ruleset.  Next we'll look at how to reharmonises the ii-V-I itself to create more colour within the reharmonisations.

For now, take a look at this YouTube video which shows the ii-V-I in use.

Youtube Link: Reharmonisation Techniques

I've been browsing youtube and have found a handful of videos that have helped me write more rules.

This one in particular mentions dominant seventh chords replacing other dominant seventh chords, while going on to talk about how dominant seventh chords can replace target chords that would otherwise resolve a line.

A couple of rules found here include:

-REPLACE MINOR SEVENTH CHORD WITH A DIMINISHED SEVENTH CHORD A MINOR THIRD BELOW
-REPLACE A TARGET RESOLVING CHORD WITH A DOMINANT SEVENTH CHORD A FIFTH UP

There are more rules that can be found within this video (in the video the presenter creates rules that he uses himself), and they'll be introduced later on as I develop the ruleset.

J

Amazing Grace Reharmonisation - Cory Henry

While not particularly smooth jazz based, this version of amazing grace by Grammy award winning keyboard player Cory Henry features several interesting reharmonised lines from the original chord sequence.  Some listeners have likened some of the voicing and chord-changes to those used by David Benoit, a prominent smooth-jazz pianist.

Many of these chord changes can be seen featured on the Amazing Grace reharmonisation I posted elsewhere in this blog.

What is smooth jazz? George Duke - Because You Loved Me

Okay, so some may say this isn't strictly smooth jazz, and some other may lynch me for even relating it to smooth jazz, but here George Duke (one of my favourite keyboard players of all time, may he rest in peace...) can be see playing a reharmonised version of Celine Dion's "because you loved me", featuring legendary smooth jazz saxophonist Kirk Whallum.  I tried transcribing some of the chords.  The original track had a large plethora of extended and non-diatonic chords in it, so it was harder to tell which chords were reharmonised and which were just different versions of the chords already in the track.

I found that Mr. Duke uses a lot of major sixths throughout the song.  I've noticed that elsewhere too. Maybe a rule of some sort could be "If you have a major triad, add in a major sixth for colour".  Something along those lines.  Simple rules like that will likely make up most of the ruleset.  The rules don't have to be complicated - they simply have to work.

Anyways, here's the recording.  I recommend listening to it all the way through.  I'm not a Celine Dion fan (who am I kidding...) but I'm a big George Duke fan, and this is phenomenal.

Note the spine-tingling use of tension and release starting at 5:05.  When I talk about tension and release and it's effectiveness in my dissertation, this is what I mean.  Unbelievable.

There is so much that can be done with reharmonisation...

...It's slightly intimidating.  BY looking at pages like THIS on the Berklee website (a place I've found myself visiting frequently since beginning my project) with it's detailed analysis of why certain chords were reharmonised has me scratching my head.

This page talks of "constant structure", specifically, reharmonising in such a way that a steady stream of minor chords replace the existing chord sequence.  It's an interesting topic, and one that I'd recommend having a read of.  

While this isn't strictly related to smooth jazz, it's a part of my ongoing study into reharmonisation techniques as a whole - as I've put in my dissertation, I'm studying general reharmonisation techniques and am simply applying the harmony lessons I'm gaining from studying smooth jazz tunes and artist to what I learn.  It seems to be working.  One thing on this page that sticks out is this:

"Sometimes the chords that you choose to reharmonize will not work with the melody. In such situations, you can either adjust the melody slightly to fit the new chord or use the new progression for the solo sections only."

When I'm creating reharmonisations just now I'm simply singing the melody as I create the chords.  It's leading me to believe that I'm subconsciously changing the melody as I sing it to fit my new chords, as when it comes to placing the bare melody down on the piano over my new chord sequence, I'm finding a lot of dissonance.  Do I change the melody then?  Or do I find another chord?

It's also made me think: Am I taking into account the fact that the new chord changes may be used to solo over? If so, it certainly gives me more freedom, but will be more difficult to show.  The purpose I have for this project just now is to create a ruleset that works with the melody.  Not because I want it to work with the melody, but because the project will be easier to showcase if I reharmonize chords over melodies that people know.  If I showcase the reharmonised chords over a solo, the song could be anything.  It won't show the effectiveness of my ruleset.

I've a lot to think about, and a lot to do.  I'm enjoying it though, and am certainly learning more than I thought I would.  At least I've stopped listening to jingle bells...

What is smooth jazz? Example: George Benson - The Ghetto

The Ghetto is a piece of music written and performed by George Benson.  The song one of the most popular from Benson's album "Absolute Benson", featuring keyboard player Joe Sample, who is also well associated with the Smooth Jazz style.

The song is around 115 bpm, featuring a steady latin based groove.  The song is in 4/4 and is based on two chords - Abm7 and Dbmaj9.  There are no stand out sections of the song where the harmony goes incredibly dissonant, and the piece remains in 4/4 throughout the whole piece.

The improvised solos are based on the blues scale - there are few if any diminished or altered runs in any of the solos, nothing that goes too far outside of the chords apart from the sharpened fourth (or flattened fifth...), the "blues" note that gives the solo most of its crunch.   This song is a fine example of a smooth jazz piece.

This song may not be an example of a reharmonized piece but the stylistic elements - the simple funk based harmony, straight groove and easy-to-listen-to feel encapsulates the feel I should be aiming to achieve when reharmonizing and playing the tunes I'm looking to reharmonize.

J

What is smooth jazz?

Before embarking on the adventure that is soon to be my project, I first need to examine what smooth jazz actually is.

Smooth jazz is an offset of jazz fusion.  It is a style that is influenced by jazz, r&b, funk, rock and pop musical styles.  The most often played smooth jazz pieces (most played meaning played on radio or downloaded/bought) are often slower than their similarly styled counterparts.

All music.com says of Smooth jazz:

Smooth Jazz is an outgrowth of fusion, one that emphasizes its polished side. Generally, smooth jazz relies on rhythms and grooves instead of improvisation. There are layers of synthesizers, lite-funk rhythms, lite-funk bass, elastic guitars, and either trumpets, alto, or soprano saxophones. The music isn't cerebral, like hard bop, nor is it gritty and funky like soul-jazz or groove -- it is unobtrusive, slick, and highly polished, where the overall sound matters more than the individual parts

The word "smooth" in the term smooth jazz is perhaps the best word to describe it.  In typical smooth jazz pieces of music it is unlikely that one is going to hear chords and phrases that throw a listener off and make them go "what was that?" like they may do whilst listening to another fusion based style.  It's intended to be easy, or "smooth" listening.

What about its harmony? What does this mean for my project?

Smooth jazz harmony is less obtrusive than other forms of jazz harmony.  Reharmonizing pieces into the smooth jazz style will require me to pay much closer attention to the melody of the piece being examined.
Earlier in the blog I talked about harmony that can cause a tune to be unrecognisable until a certain point.  With these new smooth jazz reharmonisations I'll focus on making the tune recognisable, keeping key melodic and harmonic elements as they are whilst spicing up the harmony around it.

Within the next few posts, I'll begin posting links to some examples of smooth jazz pieces from artists most commonly associated with the genre.  In addition to this, I'll post existing smooth jazz covers of well known tunes, analysing certain snippets of the reharmonized chord sequences, taking a close look at the theory behind each chord that has been reharmonized.

J

Reharmonising - how I do it.

Every reharmonisation I undertake begins at a piano with a piece of paper and a pen.  I write out the original sequence, play the melody along with it, then sit with my iPad (which has all of the rules on it) and work through the piece using a process of trial and error.  I try to create several versions of each verse/chorus so that 

1) The utility and diversity of the ruleset can be shown off and 

2) To make it so that each verse and chorus isn't simply the same as the previous one.  This allows more fluid movement in the piece.  

Often once I've written a handful of versions (3-4 verses, which can take any time up to four hours) I record them at home.  When recording, I usually keep the simpler, more "vanilla" reharmonisations at the start, and put the more complex and dissonant ones later on in order to build harmonic tension.  As the harmony moves, it feels like the piece is moving too.

In the coming weeks I will be posting up photos of these initial worksheets as evidence.  I'll followup by posting a brief sound recording of each one, showing how each one sounds as opposed to what it looks like.

J