Jazz Etude # 3

[Ervin C Osvart]

Hi Richie:

I’ve noticed in Blues Etude #3, measure 7, moving from the IV7 chord to the V7 chord, the first note in measure 7 is the 5 of the V7 chord. It sounds strong and is clearly appealing to the ear, but what I’m wondering is if it is a deviation of the use of the 3 and the 7 in the arpeggio, as guide tones, as described earlier, when moving to the new chord. It is the only measure in the Etude where neither the 3 nor the 7 of the new chord are not being utilized as Guide Tones.

I am about to begin transcribing lines in the rhythm templates that I’ve printed out, and I’m just wondering if this is an additional application that could be utilized or should I just stick to resolving to the 3 and the 7 as suggested, for the time being.

Or, was this done purposely to illustrate a new possible application?

Your thoughts are greatly appreciated.

Ervin

[Richie]

I looked at measure 7 in Blues Etude Opus 3, and yes the first note is a 5. However we are on a I7 chord and not on a V7 chord like you state. We have just transitioned here from the IV7 back to the I7.

I did purposely deviate from going to a a primary guide tone (3 or 7) here just for the sake of variety and change of direction. Transitioning to 3rds and 7s is something I drill and reinforce very hard in the first stage of the course. This is because these are the 2 guide tones that identify the main essence of a chord (unlike the 1 and 5 which are hybrids). So, I am trying to get you into this “habit”.

However, this does not mean that we can’t occasionally transition to a 5, especially if it is soon after followed by a 3 or 7. To that effect, as the course progresses I will also introduce upper extensions as alternate guide tones.

The bottom line is that a line must infer the actual changes of the progression you are improvising over without the need of any accompaniment. That is the ultimate test! So to conclude, if for the most part we keep 3rds and 7ths as our initial chord tones at the point of chord change, we should infer the changes fairly well through our lines.

[Ervin C Osvart]

Hi Richie,

I stand corrected, we are on the I7 chord. With what you’ve illustrated in Module 1, I’ll make a point to utilize the 3 and 7 as my guide tones through the changes as I begin to compose my own lines with the resources available up until now.

Thanks for your input.

Ervin

[Author]

Posts