Very true ... I hear you. I can remember using the system more in the
analysis of contemporary tone structures existing in atonal or
extremely dense tonal music where just nailing down an acoustic root
had its advantages .... and you are correct, the function of a given
stack varies, of course, according to its environment. Interesting
stuff ...
Dean
On Apr 30, 2006, at 12:47 PM, Christopher Smith wrote:
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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