Did you know all of these dominant chords? ✅ Why You Want To Think in Functional Harmony: ua-cam.com/video/8Lx926gI1QM/v-deo.html ✅ Understand Diminished Chords: ua-cam.com/video/1egY4wnLLuA/v-deo.html
Jens, I've said it a year ago, I think. But I feel it's necessary to repeat it. You're truly one of the greatest to learn things from. I, as a bass player, couldn't be happier to have a harmony instrumentalist explain all that so precisely and condensed without any unnecessary blubber around it. Big thank you!
This is the kind of information I seek from my Jazz friends, but none of them seem to know it, or else they cannot describe it clearly. Thank you for this valuable info!
Basically, whether I already know, what you are talking about, or I am totally lost within some very few moments. I still do appreciate your fun way to rush in all of those rabbit holes. 🤩
Great and clear explanations. It's corious. The bVII "dominant" resolving to the I it's a funny chord, another explanation for it that changes a bit the point of view but that it is quite useful for improvising lines is that If that Bb7 resolves to C6 instead of CMaj7 ( C6= A-7) then the Bb7 is acting as a tritone substitute and resolving to the A-7. It's a different point of view.
@@JensLarsen haha, not too much ;) All fine here, busy teaching and with a recording right now. I see you are doing great, there is no lock down that can hold you, 😂
An amazingly dense and thorough exploration of this complicated subject. So much to learn here. Thank you, Jens, for this wonderful video on this easily misunderstood and complicated subject.
The tonic dominant in a blues is another one. It often sounds like the old bop guys treat them as a straight major until it's near moving to the IV chord to which it becomes a traditional dominant. Great video as usual!
This lesson was incredibly important. These are the kinds of rules that are very often overlooked here on youtube. All these hacks about how certain chords work inside chord progressions are really useful. Thanks for that Jens, if you have more of these please share, We're hungry of this stuff!
Awesome video as always. #IV diminished stuff seems very underutilized and widely misunderstood. I think the confusion comes from its versatile nature. Barry Harris tells us all chords come from the diminished. Take a look at his “Major 6th diminished scale” which is like a Bdim7 and a C6 chord put together to make a scale. If you turn the C6 into a Cdim7 the scale becomes a diminished scale and the Cdim7 is the #IV diminished. I think the reason why #IV diminished can resolve to both Tonic and Subdominant chords is because it essentially reduces the key to the parent diminished scale and adds tension in that slightly unfamiliar way. Add the fact that it can also serve as a secondary dominant to the V and it can now go to any diatonic chord. I'm comfortable with the idea of the “#IV double diminished” because Barry tells us all dominants come from lowering a note of a diminished chord. Interesting to note that the “#IV double Diminished” is one of 4 other dominant chords that can be created the same way and might have similar functions. In the key of C that family is B7, D7, F7, and Ab7.
Wow, very important lesson that a lot of educators shy away from! Raised IV was the king of confusion for a lot of people at my conservatory. Took like a month to explain bIII diminished in theory class. And also what we call moll dur, IV degree minor6 plagal cadence going to I or derivative there of. Maybe an idea for another topic, how not every II-V is a cadence, or were even part of the original tune (like bye bye bye blackbird is actually just 4 bar F major). Which can simplify things a lot for soloing, although it's in my opinion actually an advanced technique to know what are embellishment chords that you can leave out. Great video again!
In “All of Me” the chords of bars 1 through 7 are | CM7 | CM7 | E7 | E7 | A7 | A7 | Dm | What kind of “dominant” chords are the E7 and A7? Do you hear E7 as the secondary dominant of A7? Do you hear A7 as essentially an Am7 chord with a passing tone which changes it to A7? This is how I think I am hearing it. What do you think, Jens?
They are both secondary dominants: ua-cam.com/video/8dp1upexGCQ/v-deo.html The A7 is not an Am7, there is a Bb in the melody. I have an old video analyzing All of me, maybe check that out 🙂
Hey Jens, always love the content! Been teaching for 20 years and I always try to teach people to listen to individual chord tones and see where they may want to go if they’re not too familiar with theory. It’s easy to get bogged down on and I say just explore. However though that Eb7, I see that as being the tri-tone sub of A7 as a secondary dominant, and going back to the age old jazz theory where they say to approach chord tones from either below or above, that’s exactly what the Eb9 is doing, each note apart from the 3rd as it’s the root of Gmaj7, I know it’s such a simplified way of looking at it but that’s very useful for young or beginner students that want to have some basic understanding of perhaps difficult concepts. I find so much theory is made to sound difficult when in fact it’s not! Sound comes first
I think sound comes first as well, but that also means that Eb7 resolving to Gmaj7 is not sounding like Eb7 D7. Looking at it as a tritone sub is a little like giving up on understanding and trying to ignore your ears. Notice, that I am not saying you can't play this without knowing what it is (I played Out Of Nowhere when I did my entrance exam, and that went fine before I learned what it was ) At the same time, I feel like you are saying that it is wrong to explain what a chord is? That I don't agree with. Knowing what it is won't hold you back. Of course, diving too much into theory without learning how to use it won't help you, but that is also the case for almost all theory topics like voice-leading, scale choices, super-imposed pentatonics. Anything you only learn on a cognitive level can make you focus on the wrong things, but that is not a reason not to explain what they are. Instead your job as a teacher is to say how to use that knowledge, even if that means telling them to just look at the chord tones and how to resolve them.
me atrevo a decir , sin duda este episodio es uno de los mejores de la serie, la relación entre tensión y resolver de los acordes dominantes y sub esta bien explicada, excelente trabajo prof. jens L.
Hi, thak you. i don't understand Solège and so on ; i play just by hear. But You're right. All you said was important. When you play, you show us more color. Kind regards.
My man Jens Larsen! It goes to show how much I'm learning with your videos (dare I say people are learning) that I'm watching this because I saw the term 'backdoor dominant' in another of your videos and 1 went looking for another vid to better understand the thing and... Here it is, another video from you! And then some more! 2 I'm finally understanding that pesky neapolitan 6th chord! I knew the flat ii came from it but had no clue other dominants I'd seen before work like this I mean 🤯 even better, how to use them. Please correct me if I'm mixing stuff (or don't, man you're doing enough for us ignorant wanna be better guitar players all over the world) Can't thank you enough! I'm saving money to get your course. Thank you so much again!
Hi, love your video! Could you explain why you play Bb Lydian Dom in 4:47? How about using Bb mixolidian here? What's the difference? Thank you, master!
There are two ways to get to that scale choice. You can take a C major scale and then alter it to fit a Bb7 (so that would changing B to Bb and A to Ab) or you can also look at it from a IVm point of view where you usually use melodic minor on a IVm chord like Fm6. Another thing that you can lean on is what notes are in the melody of standards where you have a bVII, like There Will Never Be Another You or It Could Happen To You. Does that help?
@@JensLarsen Grateful!🙏🙏🙏 so the first scale choice you said is like Bb mixolidian in this case (fit Bb7)? Can I say it is the most common scale to play over the chord Bb7?
@@JensLarsen so Its because the Bb7→C△ is not working as a dominant, the Bb mixolidian is not the choice here? If changing Bb7→Eb△, then mixolidian scale works, am I right?
For your example #5, why not call it a tritone substitution for the minor ii chord (sub[ii])? In key of Cmaj, Dmin is the ii, and Aflat 7 is the tritone sub. Yes?
Yeah I made it all the way to 7:00 in my first view before I lost it. Will watch again when I have my guitar ready :). Awesome video still. Just challenging.
To me, analyzing harmony should also describe how the chord works in the song. In this case, there is no II chord, so that isn't much of a description.
There is another, perhaps simpler, interpretation of the Eb7 in "Out of Nowhere". It can be identified as a borrowed chord from the parallel Locrian which has the diatonic chords: AbM7, Bbm7, Cm7, DbM7, Eb7, Fm7, Gm7b5. In this light, it is more like a backdoor dominant... just from the parallel Locrian instead of the parallel minor. This view can be extended to include the Bbm7 preceding the Eb7 as an analogous "backdoor" cadence, but in parallel Locrian instead of parallel minor. Another song this phrase occurs in is "317 E. 32nd St." As an aside, there are also examples of "backdoor" type movements in all of the other parallel modes.
Hi Jens. I like to think of the bVI7 (as in "Out of Nowhere") as a sub[V] approaching the V, or tritone approaching the V7 (if that makes any sense) - it seems simpler way to think about it compared to a "double diminished". Or are we talking two different situations between "Angel Eyes" and "Out of Nowhere"? I can actually think of lots of tunes that use this type of dominant. Thanks, I love your lessons!
You should of course do what works for you, but thinking of a tritone substitution for another chord that it does not resolve to does not really seem simpler to me. It certainly does not help you hear how it resolves, does it?
@@JensLarsen Philip, did you mean the bVII7 as subV of vi? That makes more sense to me, given the strong tonic relationship between vi and I. And isn’t Jens great? Cheers, Daniel F
Same here. Its killing me that he's saying it's a #4 double diminished. I just have nothing to attach that information to. AAAAGH it seems totally random
@@MrUrech How about the chords that I reference in the video that are also #IV? If you know a few standards you probably know some with a #IVdim in there :)
@@JensLarsen may not seem simpler theory-wise, but if the end result is playing the lydian dom over it, what's the difference? Plus, my thinking is we use the sub[V] of ii, the sub[V] of iii, the sub[V] of iv, sub[V] of VI7, etc... why not the sub[V] of V? My ear has so used to it that I do hear it resolving in the same way I hear a bVII7 resolving to a VI7 (although yes it's a temporary resolution). That said, Jens, I like the different possibilities opened up by your #iv dim idea.
Great lesson Jens! I was familiar with most of the dominants and their explanations but this was a great refresher. The last one with the C# double diminished through me for a loop though haha I have to get more familiar with diminished chords, I'll check out your other video about that for sure! I really tend to think of them mostly as inversions of b9 dominant chords, but sometimes I see them as subs for for a the vi chords in a vi ii V I progression or as chromatic passing chords.
Jens, I liked that disclaimer for music theory trolls lol and well, now that we’re on the subject, just wanted to point out that the third and the seventh of the dominant are inverted on the standard tritone sub, so it’s the same tritone, just inverted.. but you know that; Just pointing that out if anybody didn’t get it..😆 😍your channel… Happy Holidays!🥳👨🏻
Love this. Love the theory troll, and thanks for the heads up on the sandwich, Jens. Fwiw, Nettles and Graf in their book on chordscale theory treat V7b13/ii with b13 and natural 9, as a primary choice. Otherwise V7b9b13/iii and V7b9b13/vi, as presented here. Just something to explore as an option I guess. Cheers, D
@@JensLarsen Well, the late Nettles certainly did. “A graduate of Berklee in 1969, Barrie began teaching at the college in 1972 and retired in 2006. During his 34-year tenure, he was a foundational member of the Harmony Department, serving as chair from 1984-1993 and subsequently as professor until his retirement. He taught almost all of the harmony and arranging courses at the college, authored many of the core harmony texts and workbooks, and created the Scoring for Woodwinds course.” They offer b9b13 as as a secondary choice for V7 of ii, not as a dictate by any means!
@@rockstarjazzcat Well, I actually think that is a mistake. It is super rare that you will see that being played in a solo and it doesn't really matter if you are checking Parker or Metheny, or anyone in between.
@@JensLarsen I just bring it up as an outlier from a reputable source. In as much as [VI7] (V7 of ii) comes up as a passing chord in turnarounds, keeping it closer to the parent key sort of made sense to me, but yeah, I defer to the greats for the final word, and I appreciate your take based on experience. Thanks for considering it. Best, D
@@rockstarjazzcat I think there is more to it than experience, even though my conclusion is from wondering about why I hear it like that. I do see the logic in thinking that it should be the diatonic note and not the b9, but it is not what I hear (have you tried to hear the difference?) While I was studying then I spent some time wondering about why we always play the V of II with a b9, and the few songs where there is a 9th in the melody are really exceptions in the repertoire (My Ideal and Everything Happens To Me are the most famous I think) The best explanation I could come up with is that the II chord is subdominant, and the note in the key that signals that we are moving to the subdominant function is the b7 of the tonic, and that is the b9 of this dominant. Another hint is that the V of II is never replaced with a m7(b5) but always with a secondary dominant diminished chord, so here again you have the b9 and not the 9th in the context, and that is also what our ear naturally expects which is why you have a b9 in 99% of the solos and bebop themes with a V of II (really just grab any Parker solo or Joe Pass transcription to see this) Does that make sense? I suspect that there are quite a few things that are less than optimal in the chord scale theory book, most schools don't use that approach anymore, probably for a reason :)
Hi Jens, you asked me with reference to the example of dominant #5 (what you call the #iv diminished), what does it resolved to. I was looking at it as a tritone substitution for the ii chord, resolving to the V that then resolves to the I. In G major, the ii is Amin, the tritone is Eb7 which then resolves to the V (D7) and then I. Like in blues when you enclose D7 with Eb7 and Db7. Does that make sense to you?
B flat 7 “Tritone substitution” to Amaj or Am is just E dominant 7 flat 5, flat 9 because it functions that way. It’s good to hear classical terminology re. German aug 6. There are Italian and French versions too used in jazz.
@@JensLarsen Aug 6th chords resolve to the dominant or Tonic with the 5th in the bass. In Lullaby of Birdland, Db 7th resolves to C7, the Dominant in F. In classical terminology, this would be an aug6 chord since Db goes down to the C and C flat (B) goes up to C. Db to B is an augmented 6th. When all 4 parts of the chord are used, it is a German aug 6th. If you leave out the 5th (Ab), it becomes an Italian aug 6th chord and, if you flat the 5th (Abb or G) it becomes a French aug 6th chord. The names just reflect the nation that originated those voicings.
@@JensLarsen Yes, I guess that was too much detail. You're right, the tri-tone sub works as an altered dominant and also as an altered secondary dominant - VofV. I love your channel!
@@larrylorenzen2449 No, that was the right amount of detail. My point was that we have tools to explain those chords as tritone subs (so essentially secondary dominants) but the one in Out Of Nowhere that explanation doesn't work which is why that case is described with the Double Dim/German Aug. 6th. Would you say that the different types of Aug 6th chords are as much a description of specific voice-leading as they are a description of a chord? I am trying to guess why my (late) teacher went with the double dim name as a description.
Great explanation Jens! Ive been confused about some family of dominants ideas as they relate to diminished chords and this clears up alot! If im in C major i can and create 4 dom chords from Bdim or G7, I get an Bb, Db, E and G - as E resolves to relative minor, can i also use it to resolve to major 6th tonic chord?
Thanks! That family of dominants thing is, how shall I put it..., not an exact science. You can play E7(9,13) to Cmaj7 or C7, but whether that sounds fantastic is a matter of taste :) I would not invest too much time in it when you already have Bb7, Db7 and G7 as options.
@@JensLarsen no it doesn’t 😊 so, dominant implies that it wants to move somewhere. I thought that any major chord with a minor 7 would be called dominant.
@@marcopasetti6682 It is about the function of the chord, not the type of chord. That is really the point of this video. You need to understand a chord by the context it is in. If you play happy birthday in C and start playing G blues lick on the G chord then that probably sounds like crap, because you don't understand that the G7 is not in a G blues.
I am not sure if there is any intent behind this, but you have landed on topics that to me relate to the Barry Harris method lately. As I have tried to incorporate his teachings, I find myself seeing tension and resolution, movement and tonic, instead of Diatonic chords. I feel the four (or five...or six...or three) voices that guitarists work with create tension with the flat 2, sharp 4, flat 6, and leading tone. 2, 4, 6, and even a flat 7 without leading tone function can be consonant. These are all musings, I am not speaking with authority.
There isn't. If you reduce the Barry Harris method to tension and resolution then most lessons will fit that description. That said, both Barry and I think a lot in Functional harmony since that is what describes Standards the best, so what I do is always similar to that part of his teaching.
@@JensLarsen All of it draws me back to your instinct in finding important topics. Please do not take this as challenging, I am so appreciative of everything you do. I am honored to even be replied to!
Great lesson Jens! I'm wondering how this applies to the chords on the B section of rhythm changes? Can each of those chords be treated as dominants? If so, would the appropriate extensions also be a 9 and a 13th?
@@JensLarsen I'm not sure :). The tension in the first chord is resolved by its third moving up a semitone to the root of the next. But the next chord also introduces a new tension. So I'm going to say 'no', they don't resolve. Is that right?
@@CliffieVanR I actually define what resolving is in this video, and these certainly resolve. The melody suggest that they are unaltered which is not what you expect, but they are still just a row of dominants resolving and finally taking you back to the tonic in the last A
Hey Jens. Great content. May I ask a question? You gave the example of A7 / Dm7 / G7 / resolving in C7M, and you said that the A7 is a secondary dominant because it's non existent on the key of C major, but could I think that A7 resolving to Dm7 is a V - I minor, and even though we are on the key of C major, but that part changed temporally for the key of D minor (or F major)? Would that make sense? In that case when playing the A7 could I use the E melodic minor for soloing? Thx
Glad you like the videos! No, that is not how it works. If you listen to the music at that point then you are not hearing Dm as the key, you are hearing C major and therefore it is not a V I but a [V] I In most cases, A7 Lydian dominant (or E melodic minor over A7) resolving to Dm will sound a bit off, maybe just try it and compare it to what D harmonic minor sounds like? Your ear can probably tell.
@@JensLarsen you are right 😁 I already tested and it sounds odd. I am still trying to understand the concepts. Quite advanced to me especially with the speed you explain. But thanks God I can always stop the video to process the info. Using D harmonic minor means that the A7 is its fifth degree with a b2 or b9 (Bb). I like this scale and I use it a lot over some V7 or [V]7, I was just trying to find a different scale to use over that chord. In this case, using the song "All the things you are" as an example, that G7 right after the Db7M would be the same case? The G7 would be a secondary dominant? Because in the key of Ab major (or F minor), the G would be a half diminished chord [Gm7(b5)], but it's only G7. Does that make sense?
@@rafaelcunha5360 Yes, the G7 would also make more sense with a b9 and a b13. I talk about it in this (old) video: ua-cam.com/video/pAnT_wi2WJY/v-deo.html
@@JensLarsen Jens, one last comment / questions, how to figure out scales for soloing with songs only with sevenths (secondary dominantes chords), e.g. the chicken of Jaco Pastorius, how does it work? How to decide the key and which cord is dominant or secondary dominant? A bit trick in those cases. Another example is Blue Monk, and Bag's Groove full of dominant chords. Do you have any video explaining that?
You say the Eb7 in Out of Nowhere is functioning as minor subdominant, and I see and hear how most of the notes relate. But D flat is not in the parallel minor key and it just sits there for two measures before resolving, at least the way the chords are usually written.
@@JensLarsen I am trying to relate it to the overall harmonic structure. If it is not part of the basic harmony, then it is either some form of secondary dominant or it is a passing or leading chord. You do say that minor subdominant is one way to describe it in your commentary, but say that you prefer to call it sharp IV. But what is the harmonic function of sharp IV? Is the fundamental underlying cadence IV-I or V-I, or a diminished function as a sort of leading chord, as in the first original chord of Stella by Starlight?
@@davideichler4302 Maybe check out this video for examples of #IV dim chords, since the Eb7 is a double diminished #IV chord: ua-cam.com/video/wjZzJViRiPQ/v-deo.html
@@JensLarsen , yeah. I just don't agree with calling chords #IV or flat VII. Doesn't really express the harmonic function clearly to me. To me, the second chord in Out of Nowhere is a sort of substitute dominant (tritone sub) for the V chord (that is, a sub for V of V).
Interesting and well explained! I missed the #IVm7 VII7 I progression but I'm sure there are videos about it on your channel. 😊 A "UA-camr" question: Do you edit your videos yourself?
Thank you! Yes, I did think about that one, but I always think of that as the diminished chord that it is a reharmonization of, so I forget to consider it a dominant :D (I know that is a little weird, but that is actually how that went) As for editing: It is a collaboration between me and my brilliant editor, Luciano Poli.
@@DanielKJohanssonTrombone Thank you! We have been working together for 3 years now. I think you will find a dim chord there in the original sheet music every time. Certainly, Stella, I remember you, embraceable you and alone together (not to mention all the Cole Porter ones :D )
Did you know all of these dominant chords?
✅ Why You Want To Think in Functional Harmony:
ua-cam.com/video/8Lx926gI1QM/v-deo.html
✅ Understand Diminished Chords:
ua-cam.com/video/1egY4wnLLuA/v-deo.html
I think you said Em7 (3:05) but correctly showed Dm7.
@@randyzeitman1354 I actually say Dm7 maybe it is because I am playing the chord at the same time?
Your channel is like a high-class-level-knowledge-boutique
Glad you think so!
Jens, I've said it a year ago, I think.
But I feel it's necessary to repeat it. You're truly one of the greatest to learn things from.
I, as a bass player, couldn't be happier to have a harmony instrumentalist explain all that so precisely and condensed without any unnecessary blubber around it.
Big thank you!
Thank you! 🙂
This is the kind of information I seek from my Jazz friends, but none of them seem to know it, or else they cannot describe it clearly. Thank you for this valuable info!
Thank you! :) Glad you like it!
Basically, whether I already know, what you are talking about, or I am totally lost within some very few moments. I still do appreciate your fun way to rush in all of those rabbit holes. 🤩
You can do it! 😄
Great and clear explanations. It's corious. The bVII "dominant" resolving to the I it's a funny chord, another explanation for it that changes a bit the point of view but that it is quite useful for improvising lines is that If that Bb7 resolves to C6 instead of CMaj7 ( C6= A-7) then the Bb7 is acting as a tritone substitute and resolving to the A-7. It's a different point of view.
Thanks Andres! Yes, but actually more chords can have different functions depending on where they are placed. In music, context is everything.
@@JensLarsen that's it, haha.🤟
@@AndresGBmusic Hope you are well! Not too tied down by lockdown or burdonned by fatherhood 🙂
@@JensLarsen haha, not too much ;) All fine here, busy teaching and with a recording right now. I see you are doing great, there is no lock down that can hold you, 😂
This is so helpful! The more standards I learn the more I get confused about how dominant chords are being used
Glad you find it useful 🙂
I haven't watched a video from this channel in a while, and I'm loving the meme edits!
An amazingly dense and thorough exploration of this complicated subject. So much to learn here. Thank you, Jens, for this wonderful video on this easily misunderstood and complicated subject.
Glad you enjoyed it!
The tonic dominant in a blues is another one. It often sounds like the old bop guys treat them as a straight major until it's near moving to the IV chord to which it becomes a traditional dominant. Great video as usual!
Yes, in fact the tonic chord is often not dominant all the way in Bebop and earlier.
This lesson was incredibly important. These are the kinds of rules that are very often overlooked here on youtube. All these hacks about how certain chords work inside chord progressions are really useful. Thanks for that Jens, if you have more of these please share, We're hungry of this stuff!
Glad it was helpful, Fabio! :)
Awesome video as always. #IV diminished stuff seems very underutilized and widely misunderstood. I think the confusion comes from its versatile nature. Barry Harris tells us all chords come from the diminished. Take a look at his “Major 6th diminished scale” which is like a Bdim7 and a C6 chord put together to make a scale. If you turn the C6 into a Cdim7 the scale becomes a diminished scale and the Cdim7 is the #IV diminished. I think the reason why #IV diminished can resolve to both Tonic and Subdominant chords is because it essentially reduces the key to the parent diminished scale and adds tension in that slightly unfamiliar way. Add the fact that it can also serve as a secondary dominant to the V and it can now go to any diatonic chord. I'm comfortable with the idea of the “#IV double diminished” because Barry tells us all dominants come from lowering a note of a diminished chord. Interesting to note that the “#IV double Diminished” is one of 4 other dominant chords that can be created the same way and might have similar functions. In the key of C that family is B7, D7, F7, and Ab7.
Finally understood the backdoor-dominat! Thank you very much.
You are very welcome 🙂
I love your Sense of humor.
Thank you 🙂
I've saved this to my 'Bass Lessons' folder, thank you 😊 👍
Go for it 🙂
@@JensLarsen 😊 👍
I am thankful (on Thanksgiving Day) for this video on dominant chords & how they work - where to use them.
Glad to hear it :) Hope you have a great thanksgiving!
@@JensLarsen You too! Thanks again. Your videos are all helpful.
Wow, very important lesson that a lot of educators shy away from!
Raised IV was the king of confusion for a lot of people at my conservatory. Took like a month to explain bIII diminished in theory class. And also what we call moll dur, IV degree minor6 plagal cadence going to I or derivative there of.
Maybe an idea for another topic, how not every II-V is a cadence, or were even part of the original tune (like bye bye bye blackbird is actually just 4 bar F major).
Which can simplify things a lot for soloing, although it's in my opinion actually an advanced technique to know what are embellishment chords that you can leave out.
Great video again!
Thank you very much, Frederick! Indeed, #IV was something that the theory teacher had to explain 7-8 times every year :D
In “All of Me” the chords of bars 1 through 7 are
| CM7 | CM7 | E7 | E7 | A7 | A7 | Dm |
What kind of “dominant” chords are the E7 and A7?
Do you hear E7 as the secondary dominant of A7? Do you hear A7 as essentially an Am7 chord with a passing tone which changes it to A7? This is how I think I am hearing it. What do you think, Jens?
They are both secondary dominants: ua-cam.com/video/8dp1upexGCQ/v-deo.html
The A7 is not an Am7, there is a Bb in the melody.
I have an old video analyzing All of me, maybe check that out 🙂
Hey Jens, always love the content! Been teaching for 20 years and I always try to teach people to listen to individual chord tones and see where they may want to go if they’re not too familiar with theory. It’s easy to get bogged down on and I say just explore.
However though that Eb7, I see that as being the tri-tone sub of A7 as a secondary dominant, and going back to the age old jazz theory where they say to approach chord tones from either below or above, that’s exactly what the Eb9 is doing, each note apart from the 3rd as it’s the root of Gmaj7, I know it’s such a simplified way of looking at it but that’s very useful for young or beginner students that want to have some basic understanding of perhaps difficult concepts. I find so much theory is made to sound difficult when in fact it’s not! Sound comes first
I think sound comes first as well, but that also means that Eb7 resolving to Gmaj7 is not sounding like Eb7 D7. Looking at it as a tritone sub is a little like giving up on understanding and trying to ignore your ears.
Notice, that I am not saying you can't play this without knowing what it is (I played Out Of Nowhere when I did my entrance exam, and that went fine before I learned what it was )
At the same time, I feel like you are saying that it is wrong to explain what a chord is? That I don't agree with. Knowing what it is won't hold you back. Of course, diving too much into theory without learning how to use it won't help you, but that is also the case for almost all theory topics like voice-leading, scale choices, super-imposed pentatonics. Anything you only learn on a cognitive level can make you focus on the wrong things, but that is not a reason not to explain what they are. Instead your job as a teacher is to say how to use that knowledge, even if that means telling them to just look at the chord tones and how to resolve them.
me atrevo a decir , sin duda este episodio es uno de los mejores de la serie, la relación entre tensión y resolver de los acordes dominantes y sub esta bien explicada, excelente trabajo prof. jens L.
More great information...!
Thanks Jens...!
Glad it was helpful!
Hi, thak you. i don't understand Solège and so on ; i play just by hear. But You're right. All you said was important. When you play, you show us more color. Kind regards.
You're very welcome
My man Jens Larsen! It goes to show how much I'm learning with your videos (dare I say people are learning) that I'm watching this because I saw the term 'backdoor dominant' in another of your videos and 1 went looking for another vid to better understand the thing and... Here it is, another video from you! And then some more! 2 I'm finally understanding that pesky neapolitan 6th chord! I knew the flat ii came from it but had no clue other dominants I'd seen before work like this I mean 🤯 even better, how to use them. Please correct me if I'm mixing stuff (or don't, man you're doing enough for us ignorant wanna be better guitar players all over the world) Can't thank you enough! I'm saving money to get your course. Thank you so much again!
Hi, love your video!
Could you explain why you play Bb Lydian Dom in 4:47? How about using Bb mixolidian here? What's the difference? Thank you, master!
There are two ways to get to that scale choice. You can take a C major scale and then alter it to fit a Bb7 (so that would changing B to Bb and A to Ab) or you can also look at it from a IVm point of view where you usually use melodic minor on a IVm chord like Fm6.
Another thing that you can lean on is what notes are in the melody of standards where you have a bVII, like There Will Never Be Another You or It Could Happen To You.
Does that help?
@@JensLarsen Grateful!🙏🙏🙏 so the first scale choice you said is like Bb mixolidian in this case (fit Bb7)? Can I say it is the most common scale to play over the chord Bb7?
@@lljj5754 No, both of these are F melodic minor, just two different ways to explain why.
@@JensLarsen so Its because the Bb7→C△ is not working as a dominant, the Bb mixolidian is not the choice here? If changing Bb7→Eb△, then mixolidian scale works, am I right?
@@lljj5754 Yes, the scale is context sensitive. G7 in C major and G7 in C minor is not the same thing.
Thank you, I love your concise explanations. Very conducive for implementing new ideas in practice.
You're very welcome!
For your example #5, why not call it a tritone substitution for the minor ii chord (sub[ii])? In key of Cmaj, Dmin is the ii, and Aflat 7 is the tritone sub. Yes?
Does it resolve to the V chord? 🙂
Great information and presentation as always!
Glad you liked it!
Molt bona explicació.
Very well explained.
Thank you, professor!
You're very welcome! I am glad you like it! 🙂
Yeah I made it all the way to 7:00 in my first view before I lost it. Will watch again when I have my guitar ready :). Awesome video still. Just challenging.
Awesome! Thank you!
More usual analysis of bVI7 is b5-sub of II7, where b5-sub gives lydian dominant as preferred scale. Diminished harmony is nice alternative though.
To me, analyzing harmony should also describe how the chord works in the song. In this case, there is no II chord, so that isn't much of a description.
Thanks you. Very Useful!
Glad it was helpful!
Great Video, Thank you. Greetings, Tom 👍😄👀
There is another, perhaps simpler, interpretation of the Eb7 in "Out of Nowhere". It can be identified as a borrowed chord from the parallel Locrian which has the diatonic chords: AbM7, Bbm7, Cm7, DbM7, Eb7, Fm7, Gm7b5. In this light, it is more like a backdoor dominant... just from the parallel Locrian instead of the parallel minor. This view can be extended to include the Bbm7 preceding the Eb7 as an analogous "backdoor" cadence, but in parallel Locrian instead of parallel minor. Another song this phrase occurs in is "317 E. 32nd St." As an aside, there are also examples of "backdoor" type movements in all of the other parallel modes.
this lesson is sick! thanks
Glad you like it!
Hi Jens. I like to think of the bVI7 (as in "Out of Nowhere") as a sub[V] approaching the V, or tritone approaching the V7 (if that makes any sense) - it seems simpler way to think about it compared to a "double diminished". Or are we talking two different situations between "Angel Eyes" and "Out of Nowhere"?
I can actually think of lots of tunes that use this type of dominant.
Thanks, I love your lessons!
You should of course do what works for you, but thinking of a tritone substitution for another chord that it does not resolve to does not really seem simpler to me. It certainly does not help you hear how it resolves, does it?
@@JensLarsen Philip, did you mean the bVII7 as subV of vi? That makes more sense to me, given the strong tonic relationship between vi and I. And isn’t Jens great? Cheers, Daniel F
Same here. Its killing me that he's saying it's a #4 double diminished. I just have nothing to attach that information to. AAAAGH it seems totally random
@@MrUrech How about the chords that I reference in the video that are also #IV? If you know a few standards you probably know some with a #IVdim in there :)
@@JensLarsen may not seem simpler theory-wise, but if the end result is playing the lydian dom over it, what's the difference?
Plus, my thinking is we use the sub[V] of ii, the sub[V] of iii, the sub[V] of iv, sub[V] of VI7, etc... why not the sub[V] of V? My ear has so used to it that I do hear it resolving in the same way I hear a bVII7 resolving to a VI7 (although yes it's a temporary resolution).
That said, Jens, I like the different possibilities opened up by your #iv dim idea.
Thanks, genius and helpful as always!
You're very welcome! I am glad you like it! 🙂
Great lesson Jens! I was familiar with most of the dominants and their explanations but this was a great refresher. The last one with the C# double diminished through me for a loop though haha
I have to get more familiar with diminished chords, I'll check out your other video about that for sure! I really tend to think of them mostly as inversions of b9 dominant chords, but sometimes I see them as subs for for a the vi chords in a vi ii V I progression or as chromatic passing chords.
Thanks! I think you will find it easier to get used to the #IV dim chords as a sound and not trying to force it to be something else :)
Jens, I liked that disclaimer for music theory trolls lol and well, now that we’re on the subject, just wanted to point out that the third and the seventh of the dominant are inverted on the standard tritone sub, so it’s the same tritone, just inverted.. but you know that; Just pointing that out if anybody didn’t get it..😆
😍your channel…
Happy Holidays!🥳👨🏻
Indeed :)
Mind blown. Thanks so much.
Glad you liked it!
Love this. Love the theory troll, and thanks for the heads up on the sandwich, Jens. Fwiw, Nettles and Graf in their book on chordscale theory treat V7b13/ii with b13 and natural 9, as a primary choice. Otherwise V7b9b13/iii and V7b9b13/vi, as presented here. Just something to explore as an option I guess. Cheers, D
Thanks! I guess Nettles and Graf don't play Jazz or analyze jazz standards?
@@JensLarsen Well, the late Nettles certainly did. “A graduate of Berklee in 1969, Barrie began teaching at the college in 1972 and retired in 2006. During his 34-year tenure, he was a foundational member of the Harmony Department, serving as chair from 1984-1993 and subsequently as professor until his retirement. He taught almost all of the harmony and arranging courses at the college, authored many of the core harmony texts and workbooks, and created the Scoring for Woodwinds course.” They offer b9b13 as as a secondary choice for V7 of ii, not as a dictate by any means!
@@rockstarjazzcat Well, I actually think that is a mistake. It is super rare that you will see that being played in a solo and it doesn't really matter if you are checking Parker or Metheny, or anyone in between.
@@JensLarsen I just bring it up as an outlier from a reputable source. In as much as [VI7] (V7 of ii) comes up as a passing chord in turnarounds, keeping it closer to the parent key sort of made sense to me, but yeah, I defer to the greats for the final word, and I appreciate your take based on experience. Thanks for considering it. Best, D
@@rockstarjazzcat I think there is more to it than experience, even though my conclusion is from wondering about why I hear it like that. I do see the logic in thinking that it should be the diatonic note and not the b9, but it is not what I hear (have you tried to hear the difference?)
While I was studying then I spent some time wondering about why we always play the V of II with a b9, and the few songs where there is a 9th in the melody are really exceptions in the repertoire (My Ideal and Everything Happens To Me are the most famous I think) The best explanation I could come up with is that the II chord is subdominant, and the note in the key that signals that we are moving to the subdominant function is the b7 of the tonic, and that is the b9 of this dominant. Another hint is that the V of II is never replaced with a m7(b5) but always with a secondary dominant diminished chord, so here again you have the b9 and not the 9th in the context, and that is also what our ear naturally expects which is why you have a b9 in 99% of the solos and bebop themes with a V of II (really just grab any Parker solo or Joe Pass transcription to see this)
Does that make sense?
I suspect that there are quite a few things that are less than optimal in the chord scale theory book, most schools don't use that approach anymore, probably for a reason :)
Hi Jens, you asked me with reference to the example of dominant #5 (what you call the #iv diminished), what does it resolved to. I was looking at it as a tritone substitution for the ii chord, resolving to the V that then resolves to the I. In G major, the ii is Amin, the tritone is Eb7 which then resolves to the V (D7) and then I. Like in blues when you enclose D7 with Eb7 and Db7. Does that make sense to you?
That makes sense, and I don't think it makes sense to call it a tritone sub if it doesn't resolve to a V chord.
Do not watch this video while indulging in a drinking game where everytime Jens says dominant you take a shot. You'll be on the floor by minute two.
There is a reaction video needing to be made :)
@@JensLarsen Definitely :)
What was the third thing you said ? LOL. Wow !!! I'll need to watch this quite a few times 😵💫
Haha! What was the middle part? :)
Teach it to me like I'm -5 years old
B flat 7 “Tritone substitution” to Amaj or Am is just E dominant 7 flat 5, flat 9 because it functions that way.
It’s good to hear classical terminology re. German aug 6. There are Italian and French versions too used in jazz.
Thank you! Do you have examples of standards that use the French and Italian Aug 6th chords?
@@JensLarsen Aug 6th chords resolve to the dominant or Tonic with the 5th in the bass. In Lullaby of Birdland, Db 7th resolves to C7, the Dominant in F. In classical terminology, this would be an aug6 chord since Db goes down to the C and C flat (B) goes up to C. Db to B is an augmented 6th. When all 4 parts of the chord are used, it is a German aug 6th. If you leave out the 5th (Ab), it becomes an Italian aug 6th chord and, if you flat the 5th (Abb or G) it becomes a French aug 6th chord. The names just reflect the nation that originated those voicings.
@@larrylorenzen2449 so, in most cases you can't tell them from a regular tritone substitution, I guess.
@@JensLarsen Yes, I guess that was too much detail. You're right, the tri-tone sub works as an altered dominant and also as an altered secondary dominant - VofV.
I love your channel!
@@larrylorenzen2449 No, that was the right amount of detail. My point was that we have tools to explain those chords as tritone subs (so essentially secondary dominants) but the one in Out Of Nowhere that explanation doesn't work which is why that case is described with the Double Dim/German Aug. 6th.
Would you say that the different types of Aug 6th chords are as much a description of specific voice-leading as they are a description of a chord? I am trying to guess why my (late) teacher went with the double dim name as a description.
Great explanation Jens! Ive been confused about some family of dominants ideas as they relate to diminished chords and this clears up alot! If im in C major i can and create 4 dom chords from Bdim or G7, I get an Bb, Db, E and G - as E resolves to relative minor, can i also use it to resolve to major 6th tonic chord?
Thanks! That family of dominants thing is, how shall I put it..., not an exact science. You can play E7(9,13) to Cmaj7 or C7, but whether that sounds fantastic is a matter of taste :)
I would not invest too much time in it when you already have Bb7, Db7 and G7 as options.
Would you say the #IV double diminished functions as the V7 chord? So in C it would be a
G#9#5/Db ?
No, as I say in the video, it is a subdominant. Try to listen to the #IV dim and how it resolves in the songs you know :)
@@JensLarsen thanks man I will
How about the I7 chord, should we not consider it a Dom?
Does it sound like it wants to resolve in the context?
@@JensLarsen no it doesn’t 😊 so, dominant implies that it wants to move somewhere. I thought that any major chord with a minor 7 would be called dominant.
@@marcopasetti6682 It is about the function of the chord, not the type of chord. That is really the point of this video. You need to understand a chord by the context it is in.
If you play happy birthday in C and start playing G blues lick on the G chord then that probably sounds like crap, because you don't understand that the G7 is not in a G blues.
Could the #lVd.dim also be (in the G scale) Eb7 as the Modal bVl7 from Locrian?
I am not sure if there is any intent behind this, but you have landed on topics that to me relate to the Barry Harris method lately. As I have tried to incorporate his teachings, I find myself seeing tension and resolution, movement and tonic, instead of Diatonic chords. I feel the four (or five...or six...or three) voices that guitarists work with create tension with the flat 2, sharp 4, flat 6, and leading tone. 2, 4, 6, and even a flat 7 without leading tone function can be consonant. These are all musings, I am not speaking with authority.
There isn't. If you reduce the Barry Harris method to tension and resolution then most lessons will fit that description. That said, both Barry and I think a lot in Functional harmony since that is what describes Standards the best, so what I do is always similar to that part of his teaching.
@@JensLarsen All of it draws me back to your instinct in finding important topics. Please do not take this as challenging, I am so appreciative of everything you do. I am honored to even be replied to!
The Ab7 in Angel eyes (7 '15) can be A triton sub ( Same triton as D7) ? And Am7b5 is like Cm6 or can be seen as a borrrowed chord from C dorian ?
Ab7 going back to Cm is not a tritone of D7, even if the Ab7 G7 Cm is.
Aø is the 6th degree in Melodic minor.
I need some work with dominant chords.
Go for it!
Great lesson Jens! I'm wondering how this applies to the chords on the B section of rhythm changes? Can each of those chords be treated as dominants? If so, would the appropriate extensions also be a 9 and a 13th?
Do they resolve? :)
@@JensLarsen I'm not sure :). The tension in the first chord is resolved by its third moving up a semitone to the root of the next. But the next chord also introduces a new tension. So I'm going to say 'no', they don't resolve. Is that right?
@@CliffieVanR I actually define what resolving is in this video, and these certainly resolve.
The melody suggest that they are unaltered which is not what you expect, but they are still just a row of dominants resolving and finally taking you back to the tonic in the last A
@@JensLarsen Sorry - I must have missed that bit. I best watch it again :)
Hey Jens. Great content. May I ask a question? You gave the example of A7 / Dm7 / G7 / resolving in C7M, and you said that the A7 is a secondary dominant because it's non existent on the key of C major, but could I think that A7 resolving to Dm7 is a V - I minor, and even though we are on the key of C major, but that part changed temporally for the key of D minor (or F major)? Would that make sense? In that case when playing the A7 could I use the E melodic minor for soloing? Thx
Glad you like the videos!
No, that is not how it works. If you listen to the music at that point then you are not hearing Dm as the key, you are hearing C major and therefore it is not a V I but a [V] I
In most cases, A7 Lydian dominant (or E melodic minor over A7) resolving to Dm will sound a bit off, maybe just try it and compare it to what D harmonic minor sounds like? Your ear can probably tell.
@@JensLarsen you are right 😁 I already tested and it sounds odd. I am still trying to understand the concepts. Quite advanced to me especially with the speed you explain. But thanks God I can always stop the video to process the info. Using D harmonic minor means that the A7 is its fifth degree with a b2 or b9 (Bb). I like this scale and I use it a lot over some V7 or [V]7, I was just trying to find a different scale to use over that chord. In this case, using the song "All the things you are" as an example, that G7 right after the Db7M would be the same case? The G7 would be a secondary dominant? Because in the key of Ab major (or F minor), the G would be a half diminished chord [Gm7(b5)], but it's only G7. Does that make sense?
@@rafaelcunha5360 Yes, the G7 would also make more sense with a b9 and a b13. I talk about it in this (old) video: ua-cam.com/video/pAnT_wi2WJY/v-deo.html
@@JensLarsen thanks Jens. That is very handy. As a bass player I benefit a lot with your videos.
@@JensLarsen Jens, one last comment / questions, how to figure out scales for soloing with songs only with sevenths (secondary dominantes chords), e.g. the chicken of Jaco Pastorius, how does it work? How to decide the key and which cord is dominant or secondary dominant? A bit trick in those cases. Another example is Blue Monk, and Bag's Groove full of dominant chords. Do you have any video explaining that?
You say the Eb7 in Out of Nowhere is functioning as minor subdominant, and I see and hear how most of the notes relate. But D flat is not in the parallel minor key and it just sits there for two measures before resolving, at least the way the chords are usually written.
No, I am saying that it is a #IV chord
@@JensLarsen I am trying to relate it to the overall harmonic structure. If it is not part of the basic harmony, then it is either some form of secondary dominant or it is a passing or leading chord. You do say that minor subdominant is one way to describe it in your commentary, but say that you prefer to call it sharp IV. But what is the harmonic function of sharp IV? Is the fundamental underlying cadence IV-I or V-I, or a diminished function as a sort of leading chord, as in the first original chord of Stella by Starlight?
@@davideichler4302 Maybe check out this video for examples of #IV dim chords, since the Eb7 is a double diminished #IV chord:
ua-cam.com/video/wjZzJViRiPQ/v-deo.html
@@JensLarsen , yeah. I just don't agree with calling chords #IV or flat VII. Doesn't really express the harmonic function clearly to me. To me, the second chord in Out of Nowhere is a sort of substitute dominant (tritone sub) for the V chord (that is, a sub for V of V).
@@davideichler4302 You don't have to agree with me. I don't mind.
please make a video explaining this video we need reaction upon reaction videos
Interesting and well explained! I missed the #IVm7 VII7 I progression but I'm sure there are videos about it on your channel. 😊 A "UA-camr" question: Do you edit your videos yourself?
Thank you! Yes, I did think about that one, but I always think of that as the diminished chord that it is a reharmonization of, so I forget to consider it a dominant :D (I know that is a little weird, but that is actually how that went)
As for editing: It is a collaboration between me and my brilliant editor, Luciano Poli.
@@JensLarsen That's true, it has a very "diminished" feel. 😊 Ok, great colab - really gives the videos a fresh professional pace and look! 👍
@@DanielKJohanssonTrombone Thank you! We have been working together for 3 years now.
I think you will find a dim chord there in the original sheet music every time. Certainly, Stella, I remember you, embraceable you and alone together (not to mention all the Cole Porter ones :D )
thank you :)
Thank you for using chord diagrams and standard notation. Tab hurts my eyes and my head.
I always do?
@@JensLarsen New to the channel.
Mozart had a great sense of humor .
I was midway through eating my sandwich whilst watching this...
Sorry... :D
your videos are getting more entertaining all the time. Maybe the cartoons and Videoinserts are a bit overdone. Anyway the content is good.
Glad you like them! ;)
Before clicking on the video, I thought it was about chess.
It's mislabeling. Dominant is a chord function, but there word is also used to describe a chord type.
"Poison Sandwich" would be a great band name.
They play only jazz, soul, and fusion covers, but they switch the lyrics to be sandwich oriented.
No need to ask... it's a good muffuletta
😂😂👍
This is so far over my head lol
Bb7 can be 4th lol