The 7 Secrets of Jazz & Soul
The 7 Secrets of Jazz & Soul was a method of Jazz & Gospel Harmony and Improv instruction that I began to develop over 10 years ago. Its aim is to take the all of the rules of playing Jazz, Gospel & Soulful music and create a simplistic yet well organized rule of thumb method that anybody can apply on the spot to get the sound they want. I developed the method by interviewing hundreds of self taught old school Jazz musicians picking their brain to find out how they thought about the music they played. I then translated what they told me into a method loosely inspired by music theorists Schenker and Schillinger and summed up my research in a paper as a student at Goddard College. The book was then released as a 120 page panthlet which went on to sell several thousand copies around the world, mainly among Hammond, Rhodes, Gospel, Blues and R&B players. -- An instructional video was also produced in 2002 with backing members of the Sugarman 3. The book is now being edited and laid out for commercial release. Please be sure to follow me on Tumblr or Twitter if you'd like to be informed when its released.
The 7 Basic Rules of All Musical Harmony 1. The root is usually played by the bass player (if there is no bass player in the band) so you don't need to use them in your chord voicing unless you are doing voice leading or trying to sound real "down home grindy". The root is usually the tone the chord is named after. Get used to not playing them, especially if you are a keyboardist and/or guitarist. essential tones: 2. Thirds Thirds are mandatory unless you're going for a suspended sound. To find the third, count up 4 half steps from the root for a major or dominant chord; three half steps for a minor or diminished chord. 3. Sevenths These tones add stability to your chord voicings, especially when they're played with the third. A third and seventh is all you need for a professional sounding chord voicing. (Remember, the bass player is already playing the root and the soloist will be playing another tone, so together, even if you are only playing 2 notes, the band is actually playing a nice 4 part harmony.) To find the 7th, count down a half step for major chords and two half steps for minor and dominant chords. -- 4. Fifths Relatively neutral. The fifth is 7 half steps up (or 5 half steps down) from the root. They are of most importance to the bass player who uses them as subs and pedal points related to the root. Soloists can raise and flatten them. Some modern pianists like to avoid them. I don't. When you don't have a fifth to flatten you can't bop and play the blues ! -- color tones (a.k.a. upper structures): 5. Ninths Optional but they can really bring some chords to life! The ninth is just the second scale degree. A whole step above the root. In dominant chords they can be flattened or raised. Flatten them, and the chord sounds more bluesy, sharpen them and the chord sounds more funky. b9 is just a half step up from the root. A #9 is 3 half steps up from the root... 6. Thirteenth Gospel players love these, also great for altering chords in Jazz. To find the thirteenth, just count down 3 half steps from the root. They can be flattened, especially in minor and dominant chords. Alt. chords usually have a b13. Gospel chords sound great with the 7th 3rd and the 13th (instead of the fifth!) When you feel like playing a fifth, if you need something "more-ish", consider raising the fifth a half step and playing the thirteenth instead. 7. The Fourth (or eleventh) what modern Jazz is all about. I think they're somewhat over-rated, or atleast abused ! They are located 5 half steps up from the root. Modern players love raising them up a half step, especially in major chords. This will get you a Lydian Major Chord. Some modern players also prefer to view the flattened fifth (ex. half diminished chord) as a sharp fourth. Fourth Chords are also common in modernistic Jazz. By dropping the third and and playing the fourth you get a suspended chord like this : C F Bb... And if you play just the root fourth and fifth you have a "power chord". (*These are just the rules of thumb on how to pinpoint your tones. My method goes on with the simple rules of thumb on how to use and connect them. The connections and resolutions are the tricky part !) |
 by revolving the inner circle each of twelve time the tonal functions of any chord in any key can be figured out in an instant.  This visual I developed explains the 12 tones and their harmonic functions. But the most essential rule of learning any style of music is that you must listen to it first and study up on its history and players. All the music theory and music lessons in the world can not replace diligent listening, cultural understanding and conceptual awareness of what the music is about. An hour of listening with moderate coaching after is worth about 10 lessons... one gig with a good band leader in the style after you have basic instrumental skill is worth about 100.
suggested reading prior to taking up my method:
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