Chromatically connecting 3rds, in a position, has 2 categories for determining rhythmic schemes; major 3rds (5 notes) and minor 3rds (4 notes). So it seems. Easy way to organize them?
Yep. You got it. Major and minor 3rds have a different number of notes, so we have to work around them to accentuate the triad tones on the strong beats. And then the perfect 4th intervals from the 5th of the triad back up to the root note we have to make some decisions about which notes to avoid.
@@jordanklemonsjazzguitar Too true! It’s the notes between the 5th and the 8th that cause all of problems with the 7 note diatonic scale. …. That’s yet another reason to construct non-scaler melodic schemes.
i like the melodic triad bebop concept a lot... but why do you use the sixth as a passing tone instead of the major 7th- since that's only a half step away from the root (and should be a more powerful resolution)?
It's a little tough to explain typed out as the melodic triads approach is ultimately a means of looking at and working on traditional theory in a more "ear-centered" way that puts sound and listening (and the basic fundamentals) at the heart of everything. So explaining it with words is more difficult than I'm able to do in our courses and study group hangs where it's all video and I can play things for others to HEAR. You'd be surprised how many acceptable theory rules don't really make sense once we slow down and listen to them. But I'll try and answer my best here. One of the big goals when starting out with melodic triads is breaking free from assuming everything is some type of 7 chord, letting go of 7 chord arpeggios, and digging deeper than scales can take us. Instead we begin with a basic triad. Nothing more. From there we add other notes... but slowly, and with LOTS of listening practices and games to develop creativity and phrase based improvisation developed around the triad as a set of stable notes, and other additional notes as "tension" note that want to resolve back into the triad... tension and resolution... emotion... color... phrases. No arpeggiating chord tones or running around inside of scales or sequences. Those elements get brought back in later once our ear is opening up and the musician's mind is accepting the limitations and learning to elicit more creativity and phrase-based playing where we're not relying on tricks or pre-memorized ideas. So one rule I recommend to our study group members follow quite strictly in the beginning... never use a "tension 7" or "tension b7" note. Meaning... don't add the 7 or b7 against the triad to create melodic tension notes. Not that we can't ever use them. We can. And should. But in the beginning, most people who study with (who are usually already intermediate if not advanced) have spent years or decades shedding 7 chord arpeggios. Allowing the use of the tension 7s makes it almost impossible to break the mental habit of thinking of these 4 note structures as arpeggios... and that makes it almost impossible to stop running up and down them as opposed to hearing the emotional quality of the 7/b7 as a melodic tension note and learning to use it to create melody. So for a variety of reason (the above being a big one), we simply avoid it in the beginning. When it comes to our bebop scales (6, 9, and 12 notes)... we begin by adding an individual passing tones (melodic tension note) in between every set of triad notes. This gives us the stable/tension/stable/tension etc quality of placing the triad notes on the strong, down beats and the passing tones on the weak, up beats. And this creates that "bebop scale" effect of aligning harmony, melody, and rhythm. The 6 is a more ideal passing tone (A) because of the above reason mention, (B) because it offers a more "pure major" sound vs Maj7 sound (which we can create through other devices), and (C) because it cuts the distance between the 5th of the triad and the root note (a perfect 4th) more evenly... creating a less of kilter and angular sound... allowing for smoother and more balanced scalar ideas. As we add more passing notes, the major 7th can start to get added in. But in the beginning, I find it less than ideal. You're of course welcome to take the general ideas I teach and alter them to your own. Many of my ideas are explorations and alterations to things I learned from my own teachers. But I've spent a lot of years listening and exploring, so I recommend giving the ideas I share a shot as I present them... then if you want to alter them, use your EAR to figure out if there's something that SOUNDS better... as opposed to your INTELLECT to figure out if you THINK something seems cooler. As long as the ear is the one playing detective and you're paying attention to IT, and not ignoring it for the shiniest object to your intellect... you can't go wrong.
Thank you for your video. Very clear and usefull.
You're welcome
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It's not worth it... you have so much to live for! 💙
Chromatically connecting 3rds, in a position, has 2 categories for determining rhythmic schemes; major 3rds (5 notes) and minor 3rds (4 notes). So it seems. Easy way to organize them?
Yep. You got it. Major and minor 3rds have a different number of notes, so we have to work around them to accentuate the triad tones on the strong beats. And then the perfect 4th intervals from the 5th of the triad back up to the root note we have to make some decisions about which notes to avoid.
@@jordanklemonsjazzguitar
Too true! It’s the notes between the 5th and the 8th that cause all of problems with the 7 note diatonic scale. …. That’s yet another reason to construct non-scaler melodic schemes.
i like the melodic triad bebop concept a lot... but why do you use the sixth as a passing tone instead of the major 7th- since that's only a half step away from the root (and should be a more powerful resolution)?
It's a little tough to explain typed out as the melodic triads approach is ultimately a means of looking at and working on traditional theory in a more "ear-centered" way that puts sound and listening (and the basic fundamentals) at the heart of everything. So explaining it with words is more difficult than I'm able to do in our courses and study group hangs where it's all video and I can play things for others to HEAR. You'd be surprised how many acceptable theory rules don't really make sense once we slow down and listen to them.
But I'll try and answer my best here.
One of the big goals when starting out with melodic triads is breaking free from assuming everything is some type of 7 chord, letting go of 7 chord arpeggios, and digging deeper than scales can take us. Instead we begin with a basic triad. Nothing more. From there we add other notes... but slowly, and with LOTS of listening practices and games to develop creativity and phrase based improvisation developed around the triad as a set of stable notes, and other additional notes as "tension" note that want to resolve back into the triad... tension and resolution... emotion... color... phrases. No arpeggiating chord tones or running around inside of scales or sequences. Those elements get brought back in later once our ear is opening up and the musician's mind is accepting the limitations and learning to elicit more creativity and phrase-based playing where we're not relying on tricks or pre-memorized ideas.
So one rule I recommend to our study group members follow quite strictly in the beginning... never use a "tension 7" or "tension b7" note. Meaning... don't add the 7 or b7 against the triad to create melodic tension notes. Not that we can't ever use them. We can. And should. But in the beginning, most people who study with (who are usually already intermediate if not advanced) have spent years or decades shedding 7 chord arpeggios. Allowing the use of the tension 7s makes it almost impossible to break the mental habit of thinking of these 4 note structures as arpeggios... and that makes it almost impossible to stop running up and down them as opposed to hearing the emotional quality of the 7/b7 as a melodic tension note and learning to use it to create melody.
So for a variety of reason (the above being a big one), we simply avoid it in the beginning.
When it comes to our bebop scales (6, 9, and 12 notes)... we begin by adding an individual passing tones (melodic tension note) in between every set of triad notes. This gives us the stable/tension/stable/tension etc quality of placing the triad notes on the strong, down beats and the passing tones on the weak, up beats. And this creates that "bebop scale" effect of aligning harmony, melody, and rhythm. The 6 is a more ideal passing tone (A) because of the above reason mention, (B) because it offers a more "pure major" sound vs Maj7 sound (which we can create through other devices), and (C) because it cuts the distance between the 5th of the triad and the root note (a perfect 4th) more evenly... creating a less of kilter and angular sound... allowing for smoother and more balanced scalar ideas.
As we add more passing notes, the major 7th can start to get added in. But in the beginning, I find it less than ideal. You're of course welcome to take the general ideas I teach and alter them to your own. Many of my ideas are explorations and alterations to things I learned from my own teachers. But I've spent a lot of years listening and exploring, so I recommend giving the ideas I share a shot as I present them... then if you want to alter them, use your EAR to figure out if there's something that SOUNDS better... as opposed to your INTELLECT to figure out if you THINK something seems cooler.
As long as the ear is the one playing detective and you're paying attention to IT, and not ignoring it for the shiniest object to your intellect... you can't go wrong.