Chord progressions in early jazz  part II

Following the first part of this article, we will now examine chords with added notes that enrich the colour of the harmony. Notice that the very early jazz normally did not use any added notes, and what is described below came as a trend after the Great Depression period.

 Added notes could be used for the major chords and the dominant seventh chords:

Major and minor chords could be coloured by an added 6th, making the maj6 chord. The new chord would then be built out of the major triad and an extra sixth. As an example C6 is composed of C, E, G and A.

Dominant seventh chords could be coloured by an added 9th note. The new chord would then be built by adding the extra ninth to the dominant seventh chord. As an example: D7àD9, where D9 is composed of D, F#, A, C, E.

The V7 or V9 dominant chord could also have an added 13th. The 13th note was then added above the dominant seventh or dominant ninth chord. Example: in C major, G9àG13, where G13 contains G, B, D, F, A, E. The ninth could be excluded from the chord, depending on the taste of the composer.

 When you practice such chords on the guitar, try to use the least fretboard hand movement possible. In that way the sound and the chord progression will be more natural, without awkward jumps between notes. You must then find a way of using the common notes, or the immediately neighboring notes on the fretboard. Leading notes, especially from the dominant chords (the 3rd and the 7th) should be resolved in their natural way, which basically means a semitone movement to the nearest tone of the next chord  usually the 3rd goes up and the 7th goes down when the chord progression is based on the circle of fifths. My book covers that kind of playing and gives you some practicing tips.

 Try to practice added notes on the chord progressions learned in the previous part of this text. Observe that soloing over the coloured chords can be made more interesting when you emphasize the added note in harmony by featuring it in your solos.

The next part will shortly cover the minor subdominant chord.

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