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

Endings To Songs

So, you might be saying to your buddy, "Hey, how are we going to end our song?" Maybe these ideas will help you!
Here are a few examples of Endings, all in the Key of C:

1. "The Classic Ending" Abmaj7 Bb C
Once you realize that this is really the flat six of the scale as a Major7 chord, the flat 7 as a Major chord and then the I chord, it becomes easy to reproduce by going to the key you are in and finding the numbered chords. Here are the endings of this example in some other keys:

D Major - BbMaj7, C, D
Eb Major - CbMaj7, Db, Eb
E Major - CMaj7, D, E
F Major - DbMaj7, Eb, F
G Major - EbMaj7, F, G
A Major - FMaj7, G, A
Bb Major - GbMaj7, Ab, Bb

Now if you replace the simple numbers of the scales of these it would be:
Major Key you are in - b6Maj7 Chord, b7Major chord, and 1 Major Chord

Remember - Every key functions in exactly the same way in the "numbers." Understanding the "numbers" is the key to the Key.

2. "RnBi-ish" ending Am/F G/E F/D F/G C
3. "Mellow ending" Fm/C C
4. the "oh what-an-ending" F C/E Cm/Eb Fm/D C

Here are some endings to slow songs:

CLASSICAL OR URBAN ENDINGS
Key Eb LH/RH

Ab / G-C-Eb
G / F-Bb-Eb
F / Ab-Bb-C-Eb
Eb / F-G-Bb-Eb

Eb / C, Db, Ab *hold each note down as you play
/ C-F-A or C-Eb-Ab
/ B-Eb-F-Ab
/ Bb-Eb-G

/ Eb, D
C / Ab-Bb-C-Eb
D / Bb-C-D-F
Eb / F-G-Bb-Eb

Gb / E-Bb-Eb
F / Eb-A-Eb
Bb / D-Ab-Eb
Eb / Db-G-Eb

Eb, D /
Db / F-B-Eb
Gb / E-Bb-Eb
F / A-C-Eb-Gb
Bb / Ab-C-Eb
Eb / Db-G-C-Eb

I like this great sounding ending:

Eb Bb/ GbM7, Eb Db/ C, then Ab Eb/ Cm

2-5-1 is a very common ending. The 5-1 is probably the most common ending for most songs (ie hymns and Happy Birthday). If you're in the key of C, the G chord (V Chord) would come before the last chord, the C chord (I Chord).

A lot of times, it sounds good to play the V chord as a V7 chord (dom7) chord. A dom7 chord is 1-3-5-b7 (C7 is C-E-G-Bb). If you're playing in the key of C, the V7 would be G7 (G-B-D-F). Play the V7 this way 3-7b-1 or G7 would be B-F-G, which omits the 5 note of the chord. Substituting a V7 instead of a V before going back to the I gives a song a more jazzy/gospel sounding ending. On a VI-I ending add a iv minor chord as a passing chord. It gives it a slow jazzy ending. In other words:

IV - ivmin - I

In C major, this would be:
F - Fmin - C

I wanted to add some turn around/endings here:
* 1 6 2 5 (pretty common ending w/ diatonic chords, C6 am7 Dm7 G7)
* 1 b3 b6 b2 (b3 b6 b2 would all be M7 chords)
* right before the last chord, go up 1/2 step & play a Major7 chord
* easy Amen Cadence ending is 4 -1

If you're looking for some creative endings that could be added to songs, some of them probably could be modified and used as turnarounds. My friend, James Stevens, has a great site and great info to endings:

http://www.jamesstevens.com/likeariverendings.html"

And here is a cute way to end my blog on endings...
Take a look at how Caleb likes to end his songs:

http://calebplayspiano.blogspot.com/2008/09/calebs-song-endings.htm


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