Bare Knuckle Pickups Forum
At The Back => Time Out => Topic started by: JDC on January 23, 2008, 12:14:14 PM
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I know bit of theory, but I'm self taught so I've got holes in my knowledge
I've been reading about jazz theory, I don't fully understand all of it but I'm getting better, anyway it says that G7 (G B D F) wants to resolve to C major, and it says the B wants to resolve up to C and the F wants to resolve down to E, so I'm wondering
1. does this mean that only major and minor notes in chords want to resolve?
2. why does the B resolve up to C and why does the F resolve down to E
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The b-c and f-e progression happens simply because that's what sounds best, and there are a number of little rules written a long time ago which address these kinds of things... this is most likely because the 2 notes are a semitone apart, and it would make less sense for f to jump right down to c, nor would it sound as good in the context of a harmony.
it usually doesnt matter which direction the notes move in, its basically about finding the shortest distance between the notes so that even though there is a chord change, there is still a feeling of unity between the 2 harmonies (ps, does this make sense so far?)
also, when you have lots of notes moving in opposite directions rather than just one, it creates richer harmony... in fact, there is quite a common law of harmony saying that PARALLEL FIFTHS are to be avoided like THE PLAGUE! that is, moving from a fifth (eg, G-D) to another fifth (eg, C-G) with all the notes going in the same direction. Laws as such can basically be discounted in rock and popular music but in most other western styles they're quite apt.
I know i'm throwing a lot of info around but i'm just putting it out there :)
When learning harmony and cadences (which are the changes between 2 chords, basically), it's a good idea to think not so much in terms of chords, but as separate voices, each which have to resolve. put all those voices together, and voila, chords!
sorry if this is quite poorly explained, firstly i'm bad at explaining and also it's quite alot to explain in one post :)
ok. class dismissed! :D
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oh yeah, and sorry i couldnt really answer you very well. I'm a 16 year old kid... well, thats my excuse! :D
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Ok I can help with the G7. In the key of C the G7 chord would be the 5th of the scale. C D E F G A B So the 5th is just resolving to the 1 in this case.
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As bird said, its connected with basic Jazz progressions which are II V I so after a V chord you want to resolve to the I chord.
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As bird said, its connected with basic Jazz progressions which are II V I so after a V chord you want to resolve to the I chord.
One of em, anyway. There are many standard progressions used in jazz, the ii-V-I progression is probably the most abused, which is why it's considered the standard progression.