ARosebyAnyOtherName

PostedonJune9,2014byJason2Comments

wouldsmellassweet.(ThatsyeractualShakespeare,
folks.)
Butsometimestheroseisntwhatitseems.Sowhenisa
rosenotarose?Whenisafifthafourth(oreleventh)and
athirdnotathird?

Havingpossiblythoroughlyconfusedyoualready,Illgetto
thepoint.Thispostisaresponsetosomeonewhoasked
metocommentonaYouTubevideoofsomeone
explaininghowtoplayUpperStructureII.Formytakeon
UpperStructuresseehere,butfornowallyouneedto
knowisthatthegirlonthevideowassayingyoucanplay
anAmajortriadoveraG7anditsoundsreallyjazzyand
cool.Shesright,itdoesintherightplaces
Ohdarling,theyrelovelyOuch!Ithoughtthey
wereflat,buttheyreactuallysharp
ThevideowentontodescribetheC#/Dbintheuppertriad
asaflat5.AndthatswhereIhaveaseriouscaseofthe
frownyhmmms.Hereswhy.

Okay,soaflat5andasharp4/11soundthesame,atleastinequaltemperament.Theproblemisoneof
perceptionandthewayitcanlimityou.

IthinkpeoplewhocallegaC#/DbonaG7chordaflat5arebluesinfluencedandnotveryupontheirharmonic
theory.Oratleastperhapsmorechordalthanscalarintheirthinking.Nowtheresnothingwrongwithblueinga
note3rd,5th,7th.Noristhereanythingwrongwithplayingabluesscalejustaboutanywhere.Butthatiswhat
youredoingyourenotreallyplayingtheunderlyingharmony,yourebluesingoverit.

HeresthefullscaleforaG7#11(LydianDominant):
GABC#DEF
Thats123#456b7.Orthinkingupthethirds135b79#1113

IfyoureinclinedtothinkoftheC#/Dbasaflat5youdgetthis:
123b556b7.Or135b79b513.

COMMENCINGCOUNTDOWN:
FIVE,ABITLESSTHANFIVE,THREE,TWOWAITJUSTAMINUTE,WHAT?

Seetheproblem?Ifyoureoftheflat5persuasion,yourethinkingofascalewithno4thatallandbothaperfect
andaltered5th.Whichisdodgyanyway,butthepracticalupshotisthatyoumightbeinclinedthereforetomonkey
aroundwiththeperfect4thinthescale(whichhasnobusinessthere)andmaybenotbotherwiththeperfect5th
atall(whichdoes).

IvealsocomeacrosspeopledescribingthefollowingC7#9chordascontainingaflat10th:
CEGBbEb/D#

Now,thissounddoesdependontheEb/D#beingintheoctaveabovetheE.AndIcanseewheretheflat10
thinkingmightcomefromthenotecertainlylookslikeab3rdanditsuptheoctave.Plustheresthecomparison
withthetenthstretchpianovoicingwhichisaboutasmuchasanongeneticallymodifiedhandcanmanage.
Butnope.Eventryingtogetarounditbyaddingtheoctavenumber,youresayingthischordhasbothamajor
andminor3rd.TheEbinthiscontextisactuallyaD#a#9th,notaflat3rd,becausethescaleunambiguously
alreadycontainsamajor3rd(andyoucanthaveboth).Thefullscalesthatusuallygowiththisvoicingareeither
of:

CDbD#EF#AGBb
CDbD#EF#A#/GbBb

So,inisolationboth#11thsand#9thsondominantchordsdoindeedsoundthesameasb5thsand
b3rdsandtheydomakethechordsoundbluesy.Butthinkingoftheminthosetermsisliabletolead
youtoincludinganonchordtoneandunderusingaperfectlygoodone.

Ofcourse,whateverworksforyouisfine,butbecarefulnottoconfuseyourself.Anddontletothersdoittoyou
online.Notevenme!

THEATRAINFROMIPANEMA

Incidentally,theeagerYouTubeeducatormentionedabove
wasenthusiasticaboutsticking7#11chordsinoverIIVIs,
becausetheysoundcoolandjazzy.Whilethiscouldbedone,
thischordtype(akaLydiandominant)istechnicallyeitherthe
resultofatritonesubstitutionorusedasamodalinterchange
chord,whereithardlyreallyfunctionsasadominantatall.

LookingatthetritonesubfirstDm7G7#11Cisodd,Dm7
Db7#11Ciscool.RememberthatG7alt=Db7#11andDb7alt
=G7#11.
Helovedusmadly,youknow.
Thebasisofmodalinterchangeisborrowingchordsfromother
scalesormodesbuiltontherootofthekey,butifItoldyouthat
D7#11inthekeyofCisborrowingthethirdmodeofAmelodic
minor,Idoubtyoudcareorlearnmuchuseful.Sodontworryaboutthetheory(unlessyoureallywantto).

Thereareahandfulofinterchangechordsthatareusedveryfrequentlyincertainsituationsandyoucanjust
collecttheonesyoulikeasyougoalong.Likepets.Nowpetshavebehavioursandneedtobekeptintheright
environment.Ourcutelittlefurryfriendhere,the7#11interchangechord,ishappywhenitsusedoveraII7which
thenbecomesIIm7,likethis:

||C|%|D7#11|%|
|Dm7|G7|C|%||

ThatsTaketheATrainandGirlfromIpanema(usuallyinF,butthestructureisthesame).Dukestuneleavesyou
innodoubtastothealterationitusestheG#inboththeintroandthemelody.

So,dependingoncontext,7#11tendstoeitherresolvedownasemitoneortotheIIm7chordonthesameroot.To
behonest,usingthischordtypeontheVinavanillaIIVIisabitlikethrowingatennisballforyourgoldfish.
Theresnoreasonwhyyoushouldntdoit,butlittleBubblesisjustnotgoingtoplayfetch