Modern Jazz - Atonal Harmony
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- Опубликовано: 28 сен 2024
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This Jazz Piano Tutorial is about Atonal Harmony.
When I talk about 'atonality' in this video I use it to mean a very specific thing - the lack of a tonal centre. Now, unfortunately, most people associate ‘atonal’ music with really dissonant and cacophonous music like 12 Tone Serialism or Free Jazz - which is atonal, in that it lacks a tonal centre, though it also sounds pretty jarring. But this does not need to be the case. You can write very pretty and very melodic and lyrical songs that are ‘atonal’, again, in the sense that they do not have a tonal centre.
So Atonal Jazz:
- Uses Non-functional harmony;
- Does NOT have a tonal centre; and
- Is generally NOT in any single key - so it is NOT diatonic. And in fact, you can use unusual non-diatonic chords that are not in any particular key - such as a Maj7♭5, which is not in any Major, natural minor, melodic minor, or harmonic minor key.
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Excellent explanation of a complex subject, as with all your wonderful videos. Great resource for people like me seeking to understand harmony/ music. You must put a lot of thought into how to convey this these things so clearly & succinctly. Big thanks
You said that Cma7b5 isn't diatonic to any major key. I disagree. Cma7#11 enharmonically equals Cma7b5, which is the 4th chord diatonic to the G major scale, as well as the 1 chord of C lydian.
ernell42 agree
I wouldn't agree. Cmaj7#11 implies a natural 5th as well as a sharp 4th
I would say no on that. I see how you got that but your theory isn’t accurate. The scale for Cmaj7#11 would be C D E F# G A B. But for Cmaj7b5 the scale would be C D E F Gb A B. So those chords are not enharmonic. If you have a piano available try playing them and you’ll hear the difference.
Easy to see it fit if you shift the chord he plays up 5 semitones, you can see its easily fits in the C scale, as the F/lydian chord FABE... but using natural construction I see that as using a sharp 4th instead of a 5th,... but in sound its the same... but technically the way I fnded it doesn't count
According to Wikipedia The work is built over four modes: dorian, phrygian, lydian, and aeolian; and is notable for lacking dominant-like seventh chords, thus only using major and minor chords and their extensions (thus employing many added 9ths, 11ths, and 13ths). According to Reilly, these two factors give the work a modal and impressionistic flavor. The work is both influenced by the sixteenth century modal works of the polyphonist masters (Palestrina, Byrd, Frescobaldi, etc.), and the oeuvre of the impressionist composers (Debussy and Ravel).
My way to understand Nonfuctional harmony, is to not think as switching by chords but switching by tonal centers.
By halfstep, wholestep, major 3rd...
Thanks that was incredibly clear and helpful! Think I got it all on the first go.
I thought there was a maj7b5 in melodic. its not stacked thirds but you can take maj7#5 on the 3rd degree and move the 5th down a scale degree i know its technically a #4.
Thank you so much for your videos
No worried :)
Thank you for this gem! BTW, I figured out my sticking point.. had not been emphasizing chord tones enough. After that everything fell into place :)
What about a chord progression (or mere succession?) of Dm Em … no melody, no pedal point, no rhythmic/temporal/dynamic emphasis on either chord … that would be an Atonal Chord Succession? (albeit, a very simple one)
If this is Atonal, any chance you could show us Bb tonal next?
Great video & knowledge sharing. Many thanks.
Excelent and thanks!
So cool and so interesting, thanks!
No worries. Thanks for the comment.
thank you a lot.
Can you mix atonal and tonal harmony or functional and non functional? So play tonally then go non tonal and back?
For sure you can
I played in Roman Kunsman's groups (The Platina ,and after ), which practiced the synthesis of tonal, modal, atonal and dodecaphonic elements. Practice shows that the rejection of tonality and functionality raises the factor of expressiveness of melodic intonation (Shoenberg's Sprechgesang)
You have such great videos! Thanks u for teaching and explaining this subject so well. What do u think of the song Sonrisa by Herbie Hancock? Would that be atonal as well?
You listen to too much Keith jarrett lol I can tell by your voicings in Time Remembered. try some Geri allen, herbie, McCoy, Andrew Hill, Billy childs, etc.
Too much words...
no !! sorry my friend ,,your title is VERY MISLEADING because your personal definition of what ATONAL CHORD PROGRESSIONS MEAN goes completely against common knowledge ,, also even though there is no ONE KEY the tune is in it is made up of SHIFTING TONAL CENTERS that are easy to discern ,,so i dont doubt your sincerity and generous willingness to give information to everyone but i must say in this case you are naiive and actually wrong in calling bills lyrical deep beautiful ballde an ATONAL CHORD PROGRESSION your PERSONAL DEFINITION OF ATONAL is unfortunately confusing and not convincing at all ,
It’s cool that a jazz legend has watched this video!
Thanks a lot for your lessons!!! You have the best teaching method I've ever found online. I'm a self-taught and not even that good since I've not played piano in many years but I can understand your lessons!
Glad you're liking the vids. I just try not to overcomplicate it. Thanks for the comment :)
What a wonderful composition Time Remembered is. Bill Evans wrote so many great tunes I've totally overlooked this one until now. It radiates such a sweet, calm feeling with this subtle lydian-ish sound underneath.. wonderful!
Do you know if these last questions regarding atonal music have been topic of some music theory books or works?
It seems to me that this really depends on the piece and in what ways it deviates from tonality like: how much the melody seems to conform to a key, like in Time Remembered or if it is all over the place. Liked that video, as it challenges new perspectives how we can analyse tunes such as this one. : )
Jazz Theory by Terefenko touches on Post-Tonal Jazz, but it's not a topic that is widely explored in most jazz textbook. There are plenty of atonal/post-tonal classical music theory textbooks out there, of course. I'm afraid I can't recommend a particular one, but you can google it and read any reviews.
And yes, I agree that analysing a non-tonal piece of music really depends on the piece of music and on how you perceive that piece of music, even more so than with regular tonal music which can also be a tad subjective at times.
Thanks for the answer. I'll have a look at at it! Also, of course, thanks for your great, great videos. I'm very thankful and I have learned a lot about playing piano and jazz because of you :)
What makes the Dm(7) want to move to the G(7), though … ? Nothing?!
Wow, fantastic explanation, to the point, great, thank you very much!
In atonal jazz in addition to not playing dominant chords, you can also play dominant chords and not play tonic chords, as in Minority by Gigi Gryce. Another one would be Twelve Tone Blues by Yuseff Lateef. And in addition to melodic improvisation, since the chords stand independently you can also use harmonic improvisation when playing solo piano.
John Maes
What model Kawai is that
It's an ES110
so good ! thank you very much, and, btw...lovely rendition of the Evans number
I disagree that "functional" music with no tonal centre doesn't exist. It doesn't use standard functional harmony, but Dodecaphonic music counts. Dodecaphony has it's own sort of function. Some has both. Take Berg's Violin Sonata. You can pracitally apply roman numerals to it, yet it is still 12 tone.