Which approach do you use the most for understanding chord progressions: Barry Harris or Pat Martino? 😎7 Hard Guitar Skills That Pay Off Forever ruclips.net/video/TSXJe7YkI_k/видео.html
My approach is similar to what you describe, chunking out shell voicings and learning the melody by ear and trying to combine them while reducing or expanding the notes on the chord and pretending to be Barney Kessel or something. And remember Joe Pass saying that you need to break anything down to its simplest form to better understand it. Singing the song or humming the melody can help a great deal so you don't get lost in what the arranger wrote which seldom has anything to do with what the guitarist needs.
I improvise and play music for a living and briefly studied under Barry Harris. You are ENTIRELY CORRECT. He preached finding the applicable V7 chord and working the hell out of it, melodically. He was a brilliant teacher and had a whole group of us working up and down scales and encirclements on command in front of a live audience, in Milwaukee in the 90's. What an experience and you are honoring that here. Well done. AND - this is the key that unlocked improvising for me. larger chunks of tonal choices. then you can begin to bring the inner chords back in and even reharm on the fly. Very fun.
One of the best ways to learn a song is to 1. Sing the Melody. 2. Sing the Root Movement. 3. Simplify most of the Chords into 7th Chords Temporarily. 4. Think of the Chord Progression as a Series of Chord Phrases. 5. Play the Chord Progression in 8th Notes Up and Down from Root to Root, then as you get more Proficient and Comfortable, play it with better Voice Leading and Phrasing from Measure to Measure. Also its important to remember that each Jazz Genre has certain Chord Progression Habits, whether its Dixieland, Swing, Bebop, Cool, Hard Bop, Model, etc. Great Video as Always Jens. Thanks.
This is why I leave Jazz guitar to you savant/genius level players. I’m happy with my guitar tabs and piddling around the neck until something sounds neat…and that is where I start a new song.
@@longtalljay That's okay DocStar. If you can't sing then hum the Melody. Even if you get some notes wrong, that's okay because you'll get better at it the more you do it.
@@DanielPodlovics The Ionian Flat 6 Scale or as it's also called the Harmonic Major Scale, the Scale itself as well as its Modes and Arpeggios can be played over any Major Sharp 5 type of Chord or if you want to imply that sound over a Major Chord. All of the above also applies to the Mixolydian Flat 6 Scale, but in relation to a Dominant 7th or Dominant 7th Sharp 5 Chord. For ways to practice this much more, check out the books The Jazz Musicians Guide To Creative Practice and also The Jazz Hanon. Hope this helps. Thanks.
Jens puts out the best lessons on the net, and the way he plays, is just wonderful, and his guitar tone is so very jazzy. I wish I had a teacher like him when I was young.
Honestly after years of really struggling to even improvise over basic jazz chords I am finally making progress by doing exactly what you suggest: learn songs and contextualize. One thing I need to do more of is annotating charts when I learn so that I can break them down functionally but this video contains basically everything that a beginner needs to understand how to progress in jazz. Great video as always. Your video quality is becoming more professional by the year! Lighting is great
I found myself follow this approach automatically when I occasionally play jazz (not focusing on extensions at first), but it feels good to see it is an advisable approach by a great teacher. Great insightful lesson. Thanks Jens.
Jens, this is one of the best lessons I've seen about 'simplifying' chord progressions for soloing. I find both Barry and Pat's methods a little rigid, but you have given us a very practical way of incorporating them in a sensible way based on the actual song itself, and the melody. Thanks a lot!
"Context is everthing.".......YES! This, my children, is an idea that you should reflect on deeply and integrate into your intellect.... Thank you, Jens, for highlighting this very important nugget of wisdom....
Wow, I cannot begin to tell you how helpful this video is. I’m not a jazz player. I mostly do country and gospel. But your comments about the cord extensions and have them not to get hung up on that makes me want to take another look at learning chats. I will never be a lead player but I would love to do card solos. As for learning chords in groups, I have always had to do that by default. I am nearly blind and was born that way, so reading music and playing at the same time is never an option. When I play songs with friends at jam sessions and what not, I am asking them about chord groups or chord phrases. Once I have a group of chords for a particular part of a song in my mind then I can follow along but if they just tell me what kids soon and I’m trying to play it by ear it seldom works out except on three chord country songs. I am looking for ways to modify this for dobro style slide guitar. Ce it is a little more limiting because of playing with a steel bar you cannot formulate many complicated extension cords however by knowing the chord groups you can improvise something pretty close to a combination of a rhythm chords solo with accent notes. Once again thank you so very very very much. This is going to completely change how I look at certain chord changes even playing on dobro.
Yes man! Those real books helped me understand the idea and familiarize the melodies. Years later and after listening and playing you move way beyond those sheets. Very good video Thank you.
This is another very important lesson Jens. Its funny, I practice voice leading arpeggios through a progression to help get the changes in my ear. But when I'm actually playing that all goes out the window and I just try to follow the melody in my head. It seems to work well enough for me. I'm working through the materials of a guitarist named Robert Conti. He also teaches a method of reducing chord progressions but to a series of I's. Some of his phrases are typical bebop ii V I, but many are just longer phrases over the key. He also teaches how to superimpose the same phrases over minor, or to get a Valt sound. At first I didn't like it, I thought it was crude to think only of the tonal center and ignore the changes. But after working with the material for awhile I realized my ear natural gravitates to phrases that fits the changes without consciously doing so. And when I learn his transcribed solos I see he definitely does that as well. You can hear the changes in his solos but he claims he is just thinking of tonal centers. I believe him. Conti is a different cat than you Jens, very "street" in his approach to jazz, and probably not as polished as you are. But I learn a lot from you both :D
This is one of your best videos. The content is extremely valuable and I need to continually remind myself of paring down almost every tune BEFORE I play the first note!
Nicely done, Jens. It reminds me of a post-jam discussion I had with trumpeter Palle Mikkelborg many years ago. However, the most influential encounter I ever had on this was even earlier when I was taking improvisation lessons with Pat Metheny. My first lesson, Pat had me improvise on something and immediately realized I was b.s.-ing my way through. I was waiting to hear the harmony and playing blues licks in that key. He plopped All The Things You Are in front of me which I proceeded to butcher. After that I was only allowed to play root, 3, 5, and 7 on any change - no passing tones or tensions. This was a slightly different (but compatible) concept to the chord groups you're talking about which, in turn, connect well to the Berklee idea of chord-scales. However, what playing only 1,3,5,7 taught me was to really hear the changes with their common and passing tones. I still do it on any new tune and recommend it.
Brilliant way this video instruction progresses. I’m not a jazzman, but I remember teaching my students on a philosophical level what I call “two chord theory” which means the one is a chord and all the others are not. In other words, ii and V are basically the same because they are on a journey towards the one. Anyway, stuff like that. This reminded me of that. Great video, thank you!
Jens, your videos are treats, the presentation just gets better and better. So much information made easily digestible with wit - you’re pretty much the only guy on the planet that I could listen to *talk* about jazz for 10 mins and really enjoy it.
Thank you very much for this helpful Video. Just seen a lesson video from Joe Pass a few days ago, where he says he basically first simplifies every chord in Major, Minor or Dominant Chord Group. He also says that in a ii V progression, he skips the minor chord and goes directly to the Dominant. Your Video was very helpful to clarify how to look at progressions!
Fantastic lesson as always Jens. I'm still learning to read the "words" and hear the "sentences" but am sure that will come with focused practice. A couple of things that always cracks me up is when youtube guitar gurus say that playing Pentatonic position 1 at the 5th fret is "THE" Am pentatonic scale, as if that's the only place to play it 🙄 and those annoying ads that say "you don't need to know scales or complicated theory" to play great solos. That's okay if you want to keep your playing at "grade school" levels but I believe in "going to college" so to speak. When I first started teaching I had a guy come up to me and say "I finished school already, I don't need to learn anything else" 🤣🤣🤣
I've only just dipped my toe into jazz, and I've been totally in the dark as to why a composer chooses the chords he does. Your explanation does make things clearer and more understandable. Thanks.
I recently came to terms with guitar being a minor-centric instrument, including turning the circle of fifths inside out and thinking in terms of minor key centers with the major key being relative. I think it's the standard tuning consisting of an open Em11 that makes this a natural way of thinking about it this way
There is the opportunity for a book here that to the best of my no one has yet put together. However Jens you verge on it here. What we need is a book that is broken down into sections on the various functional harmonic movements that you touched on here and then gives multiple examples of them as they occur in different standards. This would be an extremely useful addition to the jazz education literature!
Jens, nice lesson. I think this one of the most important subjects you’ve covered. This opens the door for motif/sequences thru multiple chords so you can play ideas, not isolated scales. Oscar Peterson would play the E7 chord over an AM7 and resolve accordingly. Those notes are either A chord tones or A chord extensions. Thanks for covering this.
The editing for this video was so elegant and easy to understand. My brain did not appreciate seeing Korean suddenly but I was back in English soon enough lol The fret/fingers, the zooming on music sheets, the highlighting, so so so so helpful and very smooth!!!!
Ha, i'm literally, right now, deep into robbie barnby's hour long vid on the BH 6th dim concept and i was just thinking about how martino reducing to minor was the opposite of BH reducing to dom7's. Anyhow, i literally slow the whole vid down 75% with my Vidami just so i can follow what Robbie's actually saying because he speaks at a bit of a clip. Then i rewind and spend hours on one set of examples or movements. I will be on this vid for 6 months but i'm determined to be able to see and hear this stuff over tunes so gotta do the work. Meantime, will always be checkin in on my man, Jens! 🙂
So glad I saved this one in my watch later. I love starting with the C major chords and/or scale, pretty much where my first lessons started. So easy to relate to. Also loved the Danish remoteness pun, think Bornholm
I'm a youthworker and I always tell the teenagers I work with to "forget the numbers" if they struggle with chords. It's a band and someone else will play "the numbers" (me, at least). Basic chords will do just fine and often simple is better. It's amazing how much courage this simple trick gives to beginners! :)
Great video Jens! You know how much I love Barry’s “no 2, just play 5”, but I had never heard of Martino’s approach of doing the inverse. Thanks for adding that to my repertoire!
Amazingly simple but useful advice! Simplify it all into major minor or dominant and try to understand the harmony. Songs like ‘Serenade to a Cuckoo’ are great tunes to learn for this. Essentially A section F- to C7 with B section ii V in Ab then C7 back to A section
Thank you Jens. Excellent work as always. This lesson will help a lot of people. Your videos are a true gift to the world. I am so fortunate that my first teacher Ethan Fein taught me these concepts when I began taking lessons.
Bravo, agree 100%, especially for learners. I would go 1 step simpler for soloing: since jazz (& pop) have so many ii V I, treat every minor as a ii, every Dom7 as a V, and every major as a I. Hence, given a Dm7 G9 Cmaj7, solo the whole thing with a C major scale.
Musicians, The purpose of chord changes is to support a melody harmonically in rhythmically . No jazz band plays a standard tune with exactly the same chord changes but similar .Jens has an excellent explanation of how this works so pay attention. Enjoy!🎸
I’m absolutely addicted to this channel! It’s like being back at music school! I’ve lost a lot of my theory, I want to get it back! And I want to take guitar and jazz more seriously! I would love to take private lessons with Jens!
Hej Jens, your videos are getting technically more and more sophisticated, are you editing them yourself? I have been watching your videos since a couple of years. Jazz on!
James read the Omnibook and he felt like he could play bebop. Then he realized his reading was NOWHERE near good enough to play along with the records and he still had to learn those solos by ear. Which turned out to be okay anyway. Maybe even a good thing. ;) Jens, this was a great video. Your take on Martino vs Harris approaches to the ii-V is really nuanced and wise, without being overly complicated. I have had a lot of the same thoughts about where each approach makes sense, and where it becomes awkward. It’s obvious you are speaking from a place of true care. Like you have grappled with it. That’s the jam. For many years I was hung up on how Joe Pass too always said it’s all just a V chord. Joe was trying to help simplify, but this information is really tough on a beginner. The only way I was ultimately able to come to terms with it was just by growing enough that it finally made sense. But to this day, I’m more comfortable in my own version of treating the whole cadence as a V chord when I just think of it as some stuff happening within the Ionian that encompasses the whole movement. And I swear to god almost every time I am performing and I choose a mi7 arpeggio off the 5th degree of a dominant chord I say to myself “okay I’m going Pat Martino here.” It’s just that SOUND. I love what you say here about grouping chords into chunks of harmony. The book Hearin’ the Changes by Jerry Coker got me a long way with this approach. I am usually better and faster at memorizing than most of my band mates. But one place it breaks down for me is the turnarounds. I can almost always memorize a form within a couple passes and put away the chart. But those intricate little turnaround changes sometimes can’t be fudged. It’s ironic. I’m able to successfully employ this technique of summarizing big areas of the harmony. But one of the most basic areas (the turnaround) is prone to be rife with pitfalls unless i refer to the chart again, or approach it gingerly, paying a lot of attention to what the bass player is doing.
Again, great advice. I recognized the font of the Ted Green dominant licks. I always have those books handy, the dominant chords always present a challenge. Thanks!
Really love the content, the advice and the beautiful way you go about it. I also enjoy getting some support for (in other videos) my own disgust for «modes» when they are nothing but major scales from different starting points.
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa... They are NOT major scales starting from different points. You can think of them that way, but on their own, they're scales of their own, with a VASTLY DIFFERENT sound! Sorry, but your way of thinking about this is kinda... BS. You could easily turn it upside down and say, that, they're just phrygian scales starting from a different point, for example. Or any other of the modes. What they really are, are simply scales, that share the same notes in different orders, making them related. It's just that it's easy to consider them modes of the major scale.
I took lessons from a Jazz guitarist. It was 1985. This is great for those interested, I've been using this technique since then. I even use in composing my own songs.
Love your content, Jens. And the tidbits of humor you throw in I'm a working drummer trying to improve my understanding and find your approach and manner very accessible. Thank you!
I agree with both methods. sometimes outlining the harmony will make a players rigid and predictable; like an exercise. not outlining all "optional" chords can free up a player to follow an idea and over time will end up outlining written anyway, plus add other new chords in a more subtle and natural way. its important for the ear to learn the harmony and be able to navigate with the simplest melody, putting the brain/vocal ideas before the fingers default to shapes it associates with the symbols.
Your vids are always great. I learned that Harris idea as "II + V = V." And I've used it a bit, but Pat's "II + V = II" idea is new to me. Can't wait to try that out.
This was your best video so far for me Jens - really helpful - elaborate in a whole series if you want. In the meantime I'll check out the links below. Thanks!
Great video @Jens Larsen. I like these sort of high level concept videos where you give enough to us to get the general idea and leave the gritty details to us to experiment with and explore. Keep doing what you are doing.
Six seconds in ...piece of sheet music... didn't go unnoticed by the residual kid that sometimes dominates my synapses ☺️ And by god, what a pedagogue. Subscribing to you was one of my best RUclips decisions....
Whenever possible I always default to V of V. I prefer bebop (40s and 50s) and to my ear this is largely dominant harmony. I absolutely love Martino's playing and am intrigued by his approach, but personally I've found Barry's a little easier to understand and for me more intuitive.
The Man, he can give you 3hours and more of enjoyable work on your guitar, by just 8 minutes of wonderfully compressed material ! Thank you M Jens ! With this one though I might need 3 times 3² of the same work to get a touch on all you expose here :) Thank you so much to make it easier, and fun.
Man, that was some interesting info Somewhere, way back in the mists of time, somebody told me, or I read, the part about leaving off the extensions. That was some GOLD.
Very nice...and well delivered with humor! I need to read a bit more about Pat; when you first mentioned his approach as an alternative, I thought of "Oleo" from "Live at Yoshi's", where he basically blows in Gm over the A section B-flat rhythm changes. But Wes was a strong influence on Pat, and on some blues choruses Wes plays on the 2 chord instead of the 5, e.g. Cm7 instead of F7. Maybe just a way to bring in those other chord tones? I wonder if Pat picked up the 2 from Wes????
Thanks, John! It of course could be the reason, but I somehow don't think Pat took that part of his theory from Wes, he strikes me as a more philosophical type that would create other reasons
Really valuable lesson - there must be a lot of players learning jazz who are into other genres more and want to be able to expand their thought/ finger patterns/ ears in genres they play more. I can play solo melodic lines that fit something I just play along to by following my ear, and then, on the fly, try to add what I think are other notes that might fit the chord. I don’t like listening to solos that sound like scale runs and toss the melody in the bin, but this advice here about the chord ‘blocks’ is really helpful - a million thanks - and gives me something to work on - cause I am definitely a guy who sees all those chords and goes arghhhhhhh and my first anchor is a blues or minor that I then adjust/ throw away once I get the key. I wonder if other guitarists watching you are in a similar bit of guitar land.
I love that line Jens " a piece of music is more than a bunch of letters on IReal pro" Jens I have been down here in Florida trying to put my home back together. So no guitar in hand. I can't practice the guitar physically but music is so much more. Do you have any mental tasks that I can do while I am working on home. I sometimes go around the Wheel of 5ths in my head or recite triads verbally to keep music theory in my head.
Thanks Bill! Hope it is going ok with getting things back to normal. Maybe try to also spell out different scales and their diatonic chords just to get more of an overview of that, or take a I VI II V through all twelve keys just thinking of the chords?
This video is really, really good! It gives you what you need to simplify and navigate jazz harmony. Personally I find it very hard to flow if I'm thinking about chord extensions. However I can follow the "spine" of the changes and hear functional harmony by using my ear. Then I'm not thinking so much, doing more hearing instead, and able to make music more freely.
Well done - I would love to see more people teaching like this - modular jazz. I guess most of us start jazz by visually-memorizing then muscle-memorizing ii-V-I progressions on the 6th and 5th strings. At least I did. So, I guess this is just a logical extension of that. I personally have a hard time looking ahead to an upcoming chord to then squeeze in an inspired secondary dominant in enough time before I am on top of it.
Great video as always! Your video made me recall a video where Joe Pass says that whenever he sees a IIm7 - V7 he goes for the V7 and disregards the IIm7. In that video Joe Pass claims that the IIm7 - V7 sound is already in the V7 so he avoids the extra thinking.
Aside from the large dose of musical nutrients in this video, I'm really appreciating Jen's production values. Very thoughtful, fun, and they pull me along. Thank you for the effort!
I've heard Pat Martino talk about his minor approach before, and my big takeaway from it, wasn't I should ignore the V7 and play the ii7. My takeaway was it is fine to put things into a context that makes it easier for you.
Hey Jens!!! you put Korean instead of chords 😂😂 thats so funny!! I could finally follow the chord progression!! Im Korean by the way🎉🎉 Thanks for making the lessons :) ❤❤❤
Great explanation. As a bassist, the 1st trick I pulled with a new chart was to simplify the changes by writing one chord/scale over II Vs like Martino or by finding a substitute chord/scale that would cover multiple bars. Usually, I could walk one scale for entire sections and avoid 4ths against Maj chords. If I landed on the fourth, slide it to the third and smile like I meant to do it. 😃 Unless it was bebop... I always warn others "I can only play post bop jazz."
Great video as always. In my limited experience, I’d say this is the best advice. Having looked at some Pat Martino solos, seems like he sometimes turns the II-7 chord into a II-6 chord, which seems to me to be very similar to a V7 chord, making his approach very similar to Barry Harris’s.
IIm6 could be seen as a rootless V9. IIm7 could be seen as a rootless Vsus. The only note that really separates the V from the II is the leading tone. V has the leading tone of the key, II has the 1st scale degree instead. Technically there's also the difference between 5th (in V) vs 6th (in II) scale degree, but in that case, both notes are fairy consonant over both chords, so doesn't matter that much - the tonic vs the leading tone is the only important difference.
At 4:36, how is Db7 the IVm if Ab is the IV and Eb is the I? And at 4:40, how is Cm the I if Db and Dbm are the IV and IVm? Clearly I don't understand what is meant by "IV IVm I".
Good stuff! I think of the barry harris approach as going even further....where he's say...rather than thinking ii V7 i....thinks ..."this passage is in this key (whatever I is). so, rhythm changes is just Bb for at least 6 out of 8 bars of the A section.
Yes, but this is more in terms of how to solo over it. I don't think he would tell you to just play Bb major melodies up and down without hitting the changes :)
I find the grouping approach helpful for learning solos, too. It’s actually easier for me to hear groups of notes - arpeggios, scale fragments, etc. - than to hear individual intervals.
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Which approach do you use the most for understanding chord progressions: Barry Harris or Pat Martino?
😎7 Hard Guitar Skills That Pay Off Forever
ruclips.net/video/TSXJe7YkI_k/видео.html
My approach is similar to what you describe, chunking out shell voicings and learning the melody by ear and trying to combine them while reducing or expanding the notes on the chord and pretending to be Barney Kessel or something. And remember Joe Pass saying that you need to break anything down to its simplest form to better understand it. Singing the song or humming the melody can help a great deal so you don't get lost in what the arranger wrote which seldom has anything to do with what the guitarist needs.
Jens, what do you think about Pat Martino's approach to creating families of dominant chords that come from diminished chord parental forms?
I guess I got a little confused when you said V of V when I seem to see that more as 2 dominant.
@@allengoyne 2 dominant is not really a thing,. Usually you notate secondary dominants with a V to describe their function.
Pentatonic box method for life 😂
Jens that minor pentatonic box joke had me on the floor😭😭😭
Thank you! 😂
@@JensLarsen yeah too funny
I audibly laughed
After that I can start my day with a smile
It's so real that I just stared stoicly at the screen thinking. Yes. That is true.
I improvise and play music for a living and briefly studied under Barry Harris. You are ENTIRELY CORRECT. He preached finding the applicable V7 chord and working the hell out of it, melodically. He was a brilliant teacher and had a whole group of us working up and down scales and encirclements on command in front of a live audience, in Milwaukee in the 90's. What an experience and you are honoring that here. Well done.
AND - this is the key that unlocked improvising for me. larger chunks of tonal choices. then you can begin to bring the inner chords back in and even reharm on the fly. Very fun.
ruclips.net/video/VUTgG9IK3IU/видео.html
One of the best ways to learn a song is to 1. Sing the Melody. 2. Sing the Root Movement. 3. Simplify most of the Chords into 7th Chords Temporarily. 4. Think of the Chord Progression as a Series of Chord Phrases. 5. Play the Chord Progression in 8th Notes Up and Down from Root to Root, then as you get more Proficient and Comfortable, play it with better Voice Leading and Phrasing from Measure to Measure. Also its important to remember that each Jazz Genre has certain Chord Progression Habits, whether its Dixieland, Swing, Bebop, Cool, Hard Bop, Model, etc. Great Video as Always Jens. Thanks.
This is why I leave Jazz guitar to you savant/genius level players.
I’m happy with my guitar tabs and piddling around the neck until something sounds neat…and that is where I start a new song.
can't sing
@@longtalljay That's okay DocStar. If you can't sing then hum the Melody. Even if you get some notes wrong, that's okay because you'll get better at it the more you do it.
Could you go into more detail about #5? It sounds like it'd be really useful but I can't really tell what I should do to practice those things.
@@DanielPodlovics The Ionian Flat 6 Scale or as it's also called the Harmonic Major Scale, the Scale itself as well as its Modes and Arpeggios can be played over any Major Sharp 5 type of Chord or if you want to imply that sound over a Major Chord. All of the above also applies to the Mixolydian Flat 6 Scale, but in relation to a Dominant 7th or Dominant 7th Sharp 5 Chord. For ways to practice this much more, check out the books The Jazz Musicians Guide To Creative Practice and also The Jazz Hanon. Hope this helps. Thanks.
I'm so grateful for the generous folks like you who make videos like this.
Glad it was helpful 🙂
Jens puts out the best lessons on the net, and the way he plays, is just wonderful, and his guitar tone is so very jazzy. I wish I had a teacher like him when I was young.
Thank you Igor! Glad you like the videos!
Honestly after years of really struggling to even improvise over basic jazz chords I am finally making progress by doing exactly what you suggest: learn songs and contextualize. One thing I need to do more of is annotating charts when I learn so that I can break them down functionally but this video contains basically everything that a beginner needs to understand how to progress in jazz.
Great video as always. Your video quality is becoming more professional by the year! Lighting is great
Thank you 🙂
Man, the editing on this video is just beautiful. And the teaching is golden, what a perfect video
Glad you liked it!
I found myself follow this approach automatically when I occasionally play jazz (not focusing on extensions at first), but it feels good to see it is an advisable approach by a great teacher. Great insightful lesson. Thanks Jens.
Glad it was useful 🙂
Jens, this is one of the best lessons I've seen about 'simplifying' chord progressions for soloing. I find both Barry and Pat's methods a little rigid, but you have given us a very practical way of incorporating them in a sensible way based on the actual song itself, and the melody. Thanks a lot!
"Context is everthing.".......YES! This, my children, is an idea that you should reflect on deeply and integrate into your intellect.... Thank you, Jens, for highlighting this very important nugget of wisdom....
Thanks Michael!
Wow, I cannot begin to tell you how helpful this video is. I’m not a jazz player. I mostly do country and gospel. But your comments about the cord extensions and have them not to get hung up on that makes me want to take another look at learning chats. I will never be a lead player but I would love to do card solos. As for learning chords in groups, I have always had to do that by default. I am nearly blind and was born that way, so reading music and playing at the same time is never an option. When I play songs with friends at jam sessions and what not, I am asking them about chord groups or chord phrases. Once I have a group of chords for a particular part of a song in my mind then I can follow along but if they just tell me what kids soon and I’m trying to play it by ear it seldom works out except on three chord country songs.
I am looking for ways to modify this for dobro style slide guitar. Ce it is a little more limiting because of playing with a steel bar you cannot formulate many complicated extension cords however by knowing the chord groups you can improvise something pretty close to a combination of a rhythm chords solo with accent notes.
Once again thank you so very very very much. This is going to completely change how I look at certain chord changes even playing on dobro.
Excellent wisdom Jens. I remember Martin Taylor once say "Jazz is just the blues with a few more notes."
Thanks! That is a nice way of putting it 🙂
Exactly..😀
Yes man! Those real books helped me understand the idea and familiarize the melodies. Years later and after listening and playing you move way beyond those sheets. Very good video Thank you.
Glad to hear it 🙂!
This is another very important lesson Jens. Its funny, I practice voice leading arpeggios through a progression to help get the changes in my ear. But when I'm actually playing that all goes out the window and I just try to follow the melody in my head. It seems to work well enough for me.
I'm working through the materials of a guitarist named Robert Conti. He also teaches a method of reducing chord progressions but to a series of I's. Some of his phrases are typical bebop ii V I, but many are just longer phrases over the key. He also teaches how to superimpose the same phrases over minor, or to get a Valt sound.
At first I didn't like it, I thought it was crude to think only of the tonal center and ignore the changes. But after working with the material for awhile I realized my ear natural gravitates to phrases that fits the changes without consciously doing so. And when I learn his transcribed solos I see he definitely does that as well. You can hear the changes in his solos but he claims he is just thinking of tonal centers. I believe him. Conti is a different cat than you Jens, very "street" in his approach to jazz, and probably not as polished as you are. But I learn a lot from you both :D
This is one of your best videos. The content is extremely valuable and I need to continually remind myself of paring down almost every tune BEFORE I play the first note!
Thank you very much Jeff 🙂
Nicely done, Jens. It reminds me of a post-jam discussion I had with trumpeter Palle Mikkelborg many years ago.
However, the most influential encounter I ever had on this was even earlier when I was taking improvisation lessons with Pat Metheny. My first lesson, Pat had me improvise on something and immediately realized I was b.s.-ing my way through. I was waiting to hear the harmony and playing blues licks in that key. He plopped All The Things You Are in front of me which I proceeded to butcher.
After that I was only allowed to play root, 3, 5, and 7 on any change - no passing tones or tensions. This was a slightly different (but compatible) concept to the chord groups you're talking about which, in turn, connect well to the Berklee idea of chord-scales. However, what playing only 1,3,5,7 taught me was to really hear the changes with their common and passing tones. I still do it on any new tune and recommend it.
Brilliant way this video instruction progresses. I’m not a jazzman, but I remember teaching my students on a philosophical level what I call “two chord theory” which means the one is a chord and all the others are not. In other words, ii and V are basically the same because they are on a journey towards the one. Anyway, stuff like that. This reminded me of that. Great video, thank you!
Jens, your videos are treats, the presentation just gets better and better. So much information made easily digestible with
wit - you’re pretty much the only guy on the planet that I could listen to *talk* about jazz for 10 mins and really enjoy it.
Thank you 🙂
Thank you very much for this helpful Video. Just seen a lesson video from Joe Pass a few days ago, where he says he basically first simplifies every chord in Major, Minor or Dominant Chord Group. He also says that in a ii V progression, he skips the minor chord and goes directly to the Dominant. Your Video was very helpful to clarify how to look at progressions!
Glad it was helpful!
Fantastic lesson as always Jens. I'm still learning to read the "words" and hear the "sentences" but am sure that will come with focused practice. A couple of things that always cracks me up is when youtube guitar gurus say that playing Pentatonic position 1 at the 5th fret is "THE" Am pentatonic scale, as if that's the only place to play it 🙄 and those annoying ads that say "you don't need to know scales or complicated theory" to play great solos. That's okay if you want to keep your playing at "grade school" levels but I believe in "going to college" so to speak. When I first started teaching I had a guy come up to me and say "I finished school already, I don't need to learn anything else" 🤣🤣🤣
I've only just dipped my toe into jazz, and I've been totally in the dark as to why a composer chooses the chords he does. Your explanation does make things clearer and more understandable. Thanks.
I recently came to terms with guitar being a minor-centric instrument, including turning the circle of fifths inside out and thinking in terms of minor key centers with the major key being relative. I think it's the standard tuning consisting of an open Em11 that makes this a natural way of thinking about it this way
@@GarrishChristopherRobin777 first time playing guitar?
@@GarrishChristopherRobin777 you sound mad! lack of understanding truly does lead to frustration
There is the opportunity for a book here that to the best of my no one has yet put together. However Jens you verge on it here. What we need is a book that is broken down into sections on the various functional harmonic movements that you touched on here and then gives multiple examples of them as they occur in different standards. This would be an extremely useful addition to the jazz education literature!
Jens, nice lesson. I think this one of the most important subjects you’ve covered. This opens the door for motif/sequences thru multiple chords so you can play ideas, not isolated scales. Oscar Peterson would play the E7 chord over an AM7 and resolve accordingly. Those notes are either A chord tones or A chord extensions. Thanks for covering this.
Glad it was helpful!
Just ordered my first Real Book, to begin dipping into Jazz standards. This video couldn’t be more well timed, thank you 👏🏻
Go for it 🙂
The editing for this video was so elegant and easy to understand. My brain did not appreciate seeing Korean suddenly but I was back in English soon enough lol
The fret/fingers, the zooming on music sheets, the highlighting, so so so so helpful and very smooth!!!!
Thank you 🙂 Glad you like it!
Ha, i'm literally, right now, deep into robbie barnby's hour long vid on the BH 6th dim concept and i was just thinking about how martino reducing to minor was the opposite of BH reducing to dom7's. Anyhow, i literally slow the whole vid down 75% with my Vidami just so i can follow what Robbie's actually saying because he speaks at a bit of a clip. Then i rewind and spend hours on one set of examples or movements. I will be on this vid for 6 months but i'm determined to be able to see and hear this stuff over tunes so gotta do the work. Meantime, will always be checkin in on my man, Jens! 🙂
Nice! Good luck with that 🙂 👍 glad you like the videos
Great lesson Jens! Chord Progressions as building blocks to learn a song.....thanks for the clarity.
Glad it was useful 🙂
So glad I saved this one in my watch later. I love starting with the C major chords and/or scale, pretty much where my first lessons started. So easy to relate to. Also loved the Danish remoteness pun, think Bornholm
I'm a youthworker and I always tell the teenagers I work with to "forget the numbers" if they struggle with chords. It's a band and someone else will play "the numbers" (me, at least). Basic chords will do just fine and often simple is better. It's amazing how much courage this simple trick gives to beginners! :)
Glad it resonates with you :)
This was a goldmine, Jens. Thanks for your hard work!
Glad you like it 🙂
Great video Jens! You know how much I love Barry’s “no 2, just play 5”, but I had never heard of Martino’s approach of doing the inverse. Thanks for adding that to my repertoire!
Thanks Josh! 🙂 How was Vid Summit?
@@JensLarsen it was awesome! Hit me up on DM if you want to chat about it.
Amazingly simple but useful advice!
Simplify it all into major minor or dominant and try to understand the harmony. Songs like ‘Serenade to a Cuckoo’ are great tunes to learn for this.
Essentially A section F- to C7 with B section ii V in Ab then C7 back to A section
Outstanding. Pattern recognition by sight and sound, (interpolated), is key. Context and meaning spring from both.
Thank you Jens. Excellent work as always. This lesson will help a lot of people. Your videos are a true gift to the world.
I am so fortunate that my first teacher Ethan Fein taught me these concepts when I began taking lessons.
Thank you very much Dan 🙂
Bravo, agree 100%, especially for learners. I would go 1 step simpler for soloing: since jazz (& pop) have so many ii V I, treat every minor as a ii, every Dom7 as a V, and every major as a I. Hence, given a Dm7 G9 Cmaj7, solo the whole thing with a C major scale.
Musicians,
The purpose of chord changes is to support a melody harmonically in rhythmically . No jazz band plays a standard tune with exactly the same chord changes but similar .Jens has an excellent explanation of how this works so pay attention. Enjoy!🎸
Thank you!
I’m absolutely addicted to this channel! It’s like being back at music school! I’ve lost a lot of my theory, I want to get it back! And I want to take guitar and jazz more seriously! I would love to take private lessons with Jens!
Hej Jens,
your videos are getting technically more and more sophisticated, are you editing them yourself? I have been watching your videos since a couple of years. Jazz on!
Thank you, Christopher 🙂
Ah, sorry forgot to answer.....
I have an editor and we both work on the videos 🙂
You are such a valuable resource even for a Flamenco guitarist! Thank You so much, Jens
Thank you very much! Glad you find the videos useful 🙂
I have so much fun listening to and trying to grasp these kinds of discussions…and this was a really good one.
Makes me wish I was a jazz player. 😂
James read the Omnibook and he felt like he could play bebop. Then he realized his reading was NOWHERE near good enough to play along with the records and he still had to learn those solos by ear. Which turned out to be okay anyway. Maybe even a good thing. ;)
Jens, this was a great video. Your take on Martino vs Harris approaches to the ii-V is really nuanced and wise, without being overly complicated. I have had a lot of the same thoughts about where each approach makes sense, and where it becomes awkward. It’s obvious you are speaking from a place of true care. Like you have grappled with it. That’s the jam. For many years I was hung up on how Joe Pass too always said it’s all just a V chord. Joe was trying to help simplify, but this information is really tough on a beginner. The only way I was ultimately able to come to terms with it was just by growing enough that it finally made sense. But to this day, I’m more comfortable in my own version of treating the whole cadence as a V chord when I just think of it as some stuff happening within the Ionian that encompasses the whole movement. And I swear to god almost every time I am performing and I choose a mi7 arpeggio off the 5th degree of a dominant chord I say to myself “okay I’m going Pat Martino here.” It’s just that SOUND.
I love what you say here about grouping chords into chunks of harmony. The book Hearin’ the Changes by Jerry Coker got me a long way with this approach. I am usually better and faster at memorizing than most of my band mates. But one place it breaks down for me is the turnarounds. I can almost always memorize a form within a couple passes and put away the chart. But those intricate little turnaround changes sometimes can’t be fudged. It’s ironic. I’m able to successfully employ this technique of summarizing big areas of the harmony. But one of the most basic areas (the turnaround) is prone to be rife with pitfalls unless i refer to the chart again, or approach it gingerly, paying a lot of attention to what the bass player is doing.
one of the best lessons/explanations I've heard - keep it simple first then grow
Glad you liked it!
Pros are Pros for a reason! Interesting perspectives all around!
Reduction of complexity is the real way to understand the universe and here demonstrated at it's best! Mange tak, Jens! :)
Thanks Jens, thinking in blocks of chords makes so much sense for remembering and soloing. Really like this vid and your advice.
Thank you 🙂
Again, great advice. I recognized the font of the Ted Green dominant licks. I always have those books handy, the dominant chords always present a challenge. Thanks!
Really love the content, the advice and the beautiful way you go about it. I also enjoy getting some support for (in other videos) my own disgust for «modes» when they are nothing but major scales from different starting points.
Glad to hear it!
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa... They are NOT major scales starting from different points. You can think of them that way, but on their own, they're scales of their own, with a VASTLY DIFFERENT sound!
Sorry, but your way of thinking about this is kinda... BS. You could easily turn it upside down and say, that, they're just phrygian scales starting from a different point, for example. Or any other of the modes. What they really are, are simply scales, that share the same notes in different orders, making them related. It's just that it's easy to consider them modes of the major scale.
Really great explanation with supporting examples. Comes from a man who has spent a lot of timing thinking about what he is doing. Nice.
Glad you enjoyed it!
I took lessons from a Jazz guitarist. It was 1985. This is great for those interested, I've been using this technique since then. I even use in composing my own songs.
Love your content, Jens. And the tidbits of humor you throw in I'm a working drummer trying to improve my understanding and find your approach and manner very accessible. Thank you!
Glad you enjoy the videos! :)
I agree with both methods. sometimes outlining the harmony will make a players rigid and predictable; like an exercise. not outlining all "optional" chords can free up a player to follow an idea and over time will end up outlining written anyway, plus add other new chords in a more subtle and natural way. its important for the ear to learn the harmony and be able to navigate with the simplest melody, putting the brain/vocal ideas before the fingers default to shapes it associates with the symbols.
Your vids are always great. I learned that Harris idea as "II + V = V." And I've used it a bit, but Pat's "II + V = II" idea is new to me. Can't wait to try that out.
Go for it 🙂
This was your best video so far for me Jens - really helpful - elaborate in a whole series if you want. In the meantime I'll check out the links below. Thanks!
Thank you! This one goes with it: ruclips.net/video/6b87zRvGfI8/видео.html and one more is coming 🙂
Jens, you’re such a gifted teacher. Thank you!
Great video @Jens Larsen. I like these sort of high level concept videos where you give enough to us to get the general idea and leave the gritty details to us to experiment with and explore. Keep doing what you are doing.
Glad you enjoyed it!
AGAIN A AWESONME EXPLANATION AND USEFULL STRATEGY TO COPE WITH HARMONY, THANK YOU SO MUCH JENS !!!!
Glad it was useful! :)
Six seconds in ...piece of sheet music... didn't go unnoticed by the residual kid that sometimes dominates my synapses ☺️
And by god, what a pedagogue. Subscribing to you was one of my best RUclips decisions....
Thank you very much! :)
Super usable information! As a classically trained musician, thinking functionally makes more sense. Bb7 Am can be E7 Am a lot of the time.
Glad it was helpful!
Sir, Jens thank you so much for your time and you are so generous in terms of chord progressions and ideas, thank you, thank you so much
Whenever possible I always default to V of V. I prefer bebop (40s and 50s) and to my ear this is largely dominant harmony. I absolutely love Martino's playing and am intrigued by his approach, but personally I've found Barry's a little easier to understand and for me more intuitive.
It is about finding a way that fits with you 🙂👍
That 5/5 thing is true, very universal
This is the best thing I've seen all year. YES.... So beautifully articulated, Jens. Thank you!
Glad you like it 🙂
The Man, he can give you 3hours and more of enjoyable work on your guitar, by just 8 minutes of wonderfully compressed material ! Thank you M Jens !
With this one though I might need 3 times 3² of the same work to get a touch on all you expose here :) Thank you so much to make it easier, and fun.
Go for it 😁
Man, that was some interesting info
Somewhere, way back in the mists of time, somebody told me, or I read, the part about leaving off the extensions. That was some GOLD.
Yes, that is an important lesson 🙂
Very nice...and well delivered with humor! I need to read a bit more about Pat; when you first mentioned his approach as an alternative, I thought of "Oleo" from "Live at Yoshi's", where he basically blows in Gm over the A section B-flat rhythm changes. But Wes was a strong influence on Pat, and on some blues choruses Wes plays on the 2 chord instead of the 5, e.g. Cm7 instead of F7. Maybe just a way to bring in those other chord tones? I wonder if Pat picked up the 2 from Wes????
Thanks, John! It of course could be the reason, but I somehow don't think Pat took that part of his theory from Wes, he strikes me as a more philosophical type that would create other reasons
Really valuable lesson - there must be a lot of players learning jazz who are into other genres more and want to be able to expand their thought/ finger patterns/ ears in genres they play more. I can play solo melodic lines that fit something I just play along to by following my ear, and then, on the fly, try to add what I think are other notes that might fit the chord. I don’t like listening to solos that sound like scale runs and toss the melody in the bin, but this advice here about the chord ‘blocks’ is really helpful - a million thanks - and gives me something to work on - cause I am definitely a guy who sees all those chords and goes arghhhhhhh and my first anchor is a blues or minor that I then adjust/ throw away once I get the key. I wonder if other guitarists watching you are in a similar bit of guitar land.
Great lesson. You have really improved as a teacher over the years!
Thank you! To be honest, I think my video and social media skills have improved a lot more than my teaching 😁
@@JensLarsen Both❤️
Jans, you're truly phenomenal. You explain things so orderly, smoothly and simply. Thanks so much!
Glad it was helpful 🙂
Thanks, Jens. Fantastic lesson. I really appreciate all your work. 😃
Glad you like it 🙂
Beautiful playing & love the way you play chords & melody together!
Thank you very much!
What a beautiful and concise explanation of this concept! Thank you.
Glad you like it 🙂
This was very helpful, thanks! I am definitely going to try the simplified approaches you mention.
Glad it was helpful!
This is such an *important concept* to understand and a *very important lesson* video, among the best I've seen. Thanks!
As a beginner jazz ukulele player, this was very useful information I will listen to it a few times Thank you.
Glad you can put it to use 🙂
I love that line Jens " a piece of music is more than a bunch of letters on IReal pro" Jens I have been down here in Florida trying to put my home back together. So no guitar in hand. I can't practice the guitar physically but music is so much more. Do you have any mental tasks that I can do while I am working on home. I sometimes go around the Wheel of 5ths in my head or recite triads verbally to keep music theory in my head.
Thanks Bill! Hope it is going ok with getting things back to normal.
Maybe try to also spell out different scales and their diatonic chords just to get more of an overview of that, or take a I VI II V through all twelve keys just thinking of the chords?
@@JensLarsen Thanks Jens
This video is really, really good! It gives you what you need to simplify and navigate jazz harmony. Personally I find it very hard to flow if I'm thinking about chord extensions. However I can follow the "spine" of the changes and hear functional harmony by using my ear. Then I'm not thinking so much, doing more hearing instead, and able to make music more freely.
My compliments to you Jens and your editor. Nice work, both of you!
Glad you enjoyed it!
This is all so helpful and practical. Thank you Jens, you're the master!
Glad you like it, Justin 🙂
Well done - I would love to see more people teaching like this - modular jazz. I guess most of us start jazz by visually-memorizing then muscle-memorizing ii-V-I progressions on the 6th and 5th strings. At least I did. So, I guess this is just a logical extension of that. I personally have a hard time looking ahead to an upcoming chord to then squeeze in an inspired secondary dominant in enough time before I am on top of it.
Great video as always! Your video made me recall a video where Joe Pass says that whenever he sees a IIm7 - V7 he goes for the V7 and disregards the IIm7. In that video Joe Pass claims that the IIm7 - V7 sound is already in the V7 so he avoids the extra thinking.
This is great advice, Jens. Also, your video editing and humor are excellent and very entertaining!
Glad you enjoyed it!
Aside from the large dose of musical nutrients in this video, I'm really appreciating Jen's production values. Very thoughtful, fun, and they pull me along. Thank you for the effort!
Really glad to hear that 🙂
I wish you (and your videos) were around 40 years ago when I was first starting out. Thanks Jens!!
Thanks Jume 🙂
Great video Jens!
Thank you, Gary 🙂
The best music theory video I have ever seen. I have to look at it ten more times.
Thank you 🙂
I've heard Pat Martino talk about his minor approach before, and my big takeaway from it, wasn't I should ignore the V7 and play the ii7. My takeaway was it is fine to put things into a context that makes it easier for you.
Sure! As long as it works for you 🙂
I can't really comment on what you have seen.
Another very insightful lesson, thank you! A special mention for Black Books 😎.
Glad you like it!
Jens du er en legende. Tak for denne lektion!
Dejligt at det var noget du kunne bruge 🙂
hi Jens, great video! nice 'interludes' and thanks so much for mentioning me, I'm flattered!!
Thank you! Always a pleasure to play :)
Hey Jens!!! you put Korean instead of chords 😂😂 thats so funny!! I could finally follow the chord progression!! Im Korean by the way🎉🎉 Thanks for making the lessons :) ❤❤❤
Great! Thank you 😁 I couldn't actually read them myself, but I am sure it is nonsense
Great explanation. As a bassist, the 1st trick I pulled with a new chart was to simplify the changes by writing one chord/scale over II Vs like Martino or by finding a substitute chord/scale that would cover multiple bars.
Usually, I could walk one scale for entire sections and avoid 4ths against Maj chords. If I landed on the fourth, slide it to the third and smile like I meant to do it. 😃
Unless it was bebop... I always warn others "I can only play post bop jazz."
Super helpful thanks for the insight. 👌
Great video as always. In my limited experience, I’d say this is the best advice. Having looked at some Pat Martino solos, seems like he sometimes turns the II-7 chord into a II-6 chord, which seems to me to be very similar to a V7 chord, making his approach very similar to Barry Harris’s.
Thank you! They both play the chord that they say isn't there, so I think they actually just play the changes sometimes.
IIm6 could be seen as a rootless V9.
IIm7 could be seen as a rootless Vsus.
The only note that really separates the V from the II is the leading tone. V has the leading tone of the key, II has the 1st scale degree instead. Technically there's also the difference between 5th (in V) vs 6th (in II) scale degree, but in that case, both notes are fairy consonant over both chords, so doesn't matter that much - the tonic vs the leading tone is the only important difference.
Thank you Jens, very useful and helpful.
I have never heard this before
Blessings to you
Glad it was helpful 🙂
Awesome lesson Jens. You took us past some major barriers here.
Glad you enjoyed it!
Loved the Magritte reference! 😆🖼
Thanks for the great explanation, Jens.
Thank you! I was wondering if that was too vague for anyone to get 😁
At 4:36, how is Db7 the IVm if Ab is the IV and Eb is the I? And at 4:40, how is Cm the I if Db and Dbm are the IV and IVm? Clearly I don't understand what is meant by "IV IVm I".
Maybe it's explained at 6:37.
Think in functions: in Ab major, Ab, Cm and Fm are all tonic, Bbm, and Db are subdominant, Dbm, Gb7 , Bbø and Gbmaj7 are all minor subdominant.
Good stuff! I think of the barry harris approach as going even further....where he's say...rather than thinking ii V7 i....thinks ..."this passage is in this key (whatever I is). so, rhythm changes is just Bb for at least 6 out of 8 bars of the A section.
Yes, but this is more in terms of how to solo over it. I don't think he would tell you to just play Bb major melodies up and down without hitting the changes :)
Proably one of you best videos. Great work asl always thanks!
Thank you 🙂
I find the grouping approach helpful for learning solos, too. It’s actually easier for me to hear groups of notes - arpeggios, scale fragments, etc. - than to hear individual intervals.