On Apr 30, 2006, at 1:28 PM, Dean M. Estabrook wrote:
It's been a long time since I studied harmonic analysis in grad
school, via the Shenker (sp?) system, but if I recall correctly, with
any vertical aggregate, one finds the first perfect 5th (starting at
the bottom, of course) in the stack, and proclaims the root of that
interval as the root of the entire chord. If there is no perfect 5th,
one searches for the first perfect 4th, and uses the top note as the
root .... etc. Usually worked for me.
Yes, but...
The problem with that is in classical and jazz harmony the 5th is the
first note to be dropped when chords have fewer notes. So a Cm7 chord
without a G might be misread as an Eb6 if one stuck to that system,
since you would choose the Eb-Bb fifth as announcing the root.
Generally in common-practice jazz one looks for a third and a seventh
above the bass note to find the chord function, then everything else is
colour (extensions and the like) unless there is an altered fifth
present. Obviously, inverted chords start to present a problem in this
system, as they get ambiguous pretty fast when the bass is not the
root, but there are some common progressions that show up often enough
so that one can generally sort it out pretty easily (or at least with
no casualties!)
I'm realising more and more as things wear on that our system of
identifying chords by intervals above the root, while useful enough,
doesn't tell the whole story. I'm really starting to get involved much
more with harmony that is the result of voiceleading, which is a very
old concept dating back to Renaissance, but is original-sounding and
quite easy to hear even in modern contexts. There are examples in jazz
as early as George Gershwin, Fletcher Henderson, and early Duke
Ellington, and it really gets interesting with composers such as late
Duke, Gil Evans, Clare Fischer, Bob Brookmeyer and Maria Schneider. Of
course, this is old hat to classical composers, but us jazz guys need
it simple!
Christopher
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