Happy Endings: Adding The Right Finish

Awhile back I wrote a post on Endings To Songs. You know, like the 'classic ending' or perhaps a very 'mellow' ending. Today I wanted to share with you an article called, Happy Endings by Michael Esterowitz. He is the author of How to Play from a Fake Book

Happy Endings

Adding The Right Finish To Your Arrangements

There are many other good deceptive cadence chords besides those we looked at last time which lie a semi-tone away from the tonic. These also may be used in combinations or by themselves. A major chord built a full tone below the I (the bVII chord in a major key) is often used, sometimes "walking up" chromatically to the I, or skipping up to the II before the final chord resolves.

bVII (Bb6) = GbF/DG

VII   (B6)   = BF#/D#G#

I        (C6)  = CG/EA

or

bVII (Bb maj7) = BbF/DFA

bII    (Db7)      = DbAb/BFAb

I        (C maj7) = CG/BEG 

or

bVII (Bb maj7) = BbF/DFA

bII   (Db maj7)  = DbAb/CFAb

I      (C maj7)   = CG/BEG

Also possible is the bVI, a major chord built a major third below the I. This deceptive cadence is especially effective with a sustained note at the end when that note is a common tone for both the bVI and the I chord. (For instance, the note C held for the final note of a song in C is part of both the deceptive Ab major chord and the final C major chord.) The bVI can have a subtle effect when combined with other passing chords, but when used along with the bVII, also creates a big climatic ending (as shown below).

Dm7 = DAFA/CFAC

G7 = GBFB/DFBD (V7)

Ab = ABEBAb/CEbAbC (bVI)

Bb (add9) = BbFBb/DFBbC (bVII)

C = CC/EGC (I)

There are several longer and more sophisticated chord progressions that work equally well as deceptive endings or as introductions. We can't go into all of them, but one frequently used progression starts on a half-diminished chord built an augmented fourth (diminished 5th) above the I chord and then descends chromatically. Here is an example of this progression in Bb; work it out in other keys as well. In the pattern, the chromatic bass line is the key element, while the specific chord type (major, minor, diminished, sixth, seventh, or ninth) can often be altered without much difference in effect.

Cm7 = CGBb/EbGBbD

F7b9 = FA/EbGbAD

E dim = EGBbD/GBb

Ebm6 = EbGbBbC/GbBb

Bbmaj7/D = DFABb/FBb

C#aug = C#EGBb/EBb

Cm7 = CEbGBb/EbBb

Cbmaj7 = CbEbGbBb/EbBb

Bbmaj7 = BbDFA/DBb

So, the ability to use a Fake Book successfully is the idea of improvising the harmony based on the chords and playing the melody line along with the left hand chords. Do you know your chords? Here's a great audio resource to listen to, Chords 101 & 102

Happy Mother's Day to all the ladies!

Blessings,







"The beautiful thing about learning is that no one can take it away from you." B.B.King

Three Steps To Passing Chords

Passing Chords= Passing notes are non chord notes that lead from one chord note to another. They can be diatonic or chromatic; they can be in a melody or in a harmony part. If you read notes, then Pete Thomas explains passing chords with great illustrations:

http://www.petethomas.co.uk/jazz-passing-chords.html

Learn how to use cool Passing Tones, Turnaround Chords and Endings that Black Gospel And Jazz Music are so famous for. Any chord can be changed or altered, thereby changing its color, its sound.
http://www.jazzchrisitan.com/workbook-pages/passing-chords

The passing note fills in the gap between the two harmony notes in the chords before and after the passing note. The short duration and nature of the passing note does not create a feeling of a change of harmony. The passing chord is an extension of the passing note such that the duration of the passing note and the way the note sounds, in conjunction with other notes of the chord, creates a senses of a change in harmony.

There are three steps in getting passing chords to work for you. The first, is to learn how to simplify the changes down to their bare basics so you can hear the actual changes of the tune as you play through it. The second step is learning to play passing chords comfortably and in time to start with. Third step involves learning to hear where the bass line is going as this will key you in on where you need to go with the chords. As you have more and more experience listening to Jazz, and as you get more experience playing and used to playing with a more analytical ear, you'll eventually just naturally feel what's missing.

Here's an example of a song that uses passing chords:
I Don't Feel No Ways Tired
F/ACDF.....I
A/GCE.....don’t
F/ACDF....feel
Bb/BbCDF..no
C/BbDEG...ways
F/ACDF....tired
Bb/BbCDF...come too
A/GCE......far
D/ACDF....from where
G/BbDFG...I started
C/BbDEG....from
Db/BbDbEG...(passing chord)
D/ACDF......nobody
A/GCE.......told me
Bb/ACDF.....that the road
A/ACDF......would be easy
G,A,Bb,C/DbFGBb-CFA (alternate the chords with the bass LH)
C/CFA.......I don’t
A/CEG.......(passing chord)
D/CFA.......believe
G/DbFGBb.....He brought me this far
G,A,Bb,C/DbFGBb-CFA (alternate the chords with the bass LH)
C/CFA.......I don’t
A/CEG.......(passing chord)
D/CFA.......believe
G/DbFGBb.....He brought me this far
C/BbDFG......to leave
F/ACDF.......me

The Spirituals of Harry T. Burleigh: Low Voice Arranged by For Solo Voice By Harry T. Burleigh. For Voice. (Low Voice). Vocal Collection. Spiritual. Book. 208 pages. Published by Alfred Publishing. (EL03150) See more info...

To sum it up, my dear friend James says:
"Passing chords are chords that move in between the main chords in a progression, but don't necessarily have the same strong PULL that a dominant or diminished chord may have by wanting to move up a perfect 4th or up a minor 2nd, respectively.

Here is an example of PASSING chords where each chord would represent 1 beat:

C - C - Dm7 - C/E - F. Notice the main chords are C and F. The Dm7 and C/E are just passing chords, but don't by themselves lead strongly in any direction.

Let me give you an example of a Dominant Chord being used as a passing chord. Suppose I was beginning on a C chord and heading to A7, just for fun I might insert a B7 and Bb7 on the way to A7. Even though these two are dominant 7 chords, in this setting, they would be just PASSING chords.

So whereas Dominant and Diminished chords my lead strongly to a certain chord, major or minor, passing chords are just "Passing Through" filling the space in between the main chords of a line to provide a little color." I think I'm getting the hang of passing chords.


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