min- maj 7 revisited

[motherlode]

To revisit the BLUE ICE post of a week or so ago...the min-maj 7 chord is (for me) one of the most intriguing colors in western music...my personal handling of this chord is to treat it as a member of the family which also includes the 7thb5...the the 7th#5b9, 7th#5#9,etc...and so on...I wish to share three examples: 1. CHELSEA BRIDGE by Billy Strayhorn...the min-maj7 is the color and mood of this classic 2. A not so apparent example is found in the second chorus of BEGIN THE BEGUINE by Cole Porter, the the line that goes..." and now when I hear people curse the chance that they wasted"...the changes are Fmin to Dm7b5 with a maj 7th sung on the word " curse "...very nice and and not so apparent 3. Last, the song BLUE IN GREEN by Miles Davis, the very first chord, many play Gmin there, I played it and was asked to play the

Gmin-maj7 there by the composer himself, the melody is a 13th against the chord...play it softly and and... Thank you for such an interesting observation

[Factor]

I find it to be a bit hard to use. Proabably as how I felt dominant seventh chords were hard to use at first. I guess I need to practice more with the min-maj7 chords, learning to appreciate their sounds.

Is it a chord which is stable or unstable? To me it feels unstable...

Am-maj7 contains the augmented triad C E G#, where does that resolve? I haven't really practiced augmented triads either, perhaps that is why their function eludes me.

[Poparad]

Originally posted by Factor I find it to be a bit hard to use. Proabably as how I felt dominant seventh chords were hard to use at first. I guess I need to practice more with the min-maj7 chords, learning to appreciate their sounds. Is it a chord which is stable or unstable? To me it feels unstable... Am-maj7 contains the augmented triad C E G#, where does that resolve? I haven't really practiced augmented triads either, perhaps that is why their function eludes me.

 

 

It's a bit of an unstable chord, but you can use it on any i chord, like in a minor ii V7b9 i. It's definately not what you'd expect, but it's a nice alternative sound.

 

You can also use this chord as part of a descending chromatic line over the i chord, ala 'My Funny Valentine' (Cm, Cm-maj7, Cm7, Cm6; also written as Cm, Cm/B, Cm/Bb, Cm/A).

 

Lastly, a little more obtuse way of thinking about it is that you can use it over any chord using a melodic minor mode.

 

Let's use Cm-maj7 as an example. Obviously it will work as a voicing/arpeggio for the i chord, Cm. It works really nicely for three other common melodic minor derrived modes:

 

Lydian Dominant - With Cmm, that would be F7(#11). You can play any Cm-maj7 voicing on an F7(#11) for a really nice and colorful sound.

 

Locrian nat. 2 - the 6th mode that is used on m7b5 chords, in this case it would be Am7b5. If you look at the 2nd 4 bars of Chick Corea's "Windows" the melody over the m7b5 chord is a min-maj7 from the third of the chord.

 

Altered - 7th mode, or B7 in Cmm. Playing Cm-maj7 voicings does work on this quite well. It really helps to have a bassist playing that B for you, but it's a nice sound by itself.

 

 

You can also simply play Augmented triads, which is Cm-maj7 without the root. On any of the three other modes I listed above, you can do the same and just play the 3 augmented triads in the scale of Cmm instead of a full Cm-maj7 voicing.

[motherlode]

I cited three eloquent examples on the the real world use if this chord color...did you here them ? Each one is unique unto itself...listen and learn, I'm sure at some point that you'll rise above a schoolboy understanding eg, stable , unstable, etc. and the begin to explore the emotional content of such colors,...chords such as these are part of the vocabulary...we all speak English... but we all are not poets...

[Factor]

Yeah I admit I'm a bit of a schoolboy, that's why I'm asking all of these questions. Part of what I meant is that because those chords aren't in my chord vocabulary so to speak, I'm not used to hearing them. In other words, I'll proabably drop by the library and borrow some Cole Porter and Billy Strayhorn cd's there

Poparad:
Thanks for the explanation. Although I still think this is a bit over my head, it is nice to get a little taste of what to come

[lazaraga]

Originally posted by motherlode Last, the song BLUE IN GREEN by Miles Davis, the very first chord, many play Gmin there, I played it and was asked to play the Gmin-maj7 there by the composer himself, the melody is a 13th against the chord...play it softly and and... Thank you for such an interesting observation

 

 

where ya been, motherlode?

 

good examples. so did miles really write blue in green? i always thought that was a bill evans tune. what chords do you use for this tune?

 

a chord i like that i find a little similar to the min-maj7 is B/C (as an example). isn't it the bitches brew chord?

 

peace

[Poparad]

Originally posted by Factor Poparad: Thanks for the explanation. Although I still think this is a bit over my head, it is nice to get a little taste of what to come

Heh, once you finally get the chords of the major scale down and understood, out comes melodic minor and opens a whole new can of worms!

There are some really great sounds available from that scale, but it takes some time to get acustomed to thinking how to use them.

[Factor]

Seems as there is more than a couple of lifetimes worth of knowledge regarding just the major scale . When will I ever get the time to research the melodic minor :/.
Of course, that's what makes it fun! The fun never ends!

Any ideas when to move over to exploring the mel-minor scale? When one feels like it? When encountering it in a song? Bit by bit?

[Poparad]

Originally posted by Factor Seems as there is more than a couple of lifetimes worth of knowledge regarding just the major scale . When will I ever get the time to research the melodic minor :/. Of course, that's what makes it fun! The fun never ends! Any ideas when to move over to exploring the mel-minor scale? When one feels like it? When encountering it in a song? Bit by bit?

The more familiar I get with the scale, the more I find myself using it. Right now I use it about 1/3 of the time when soloing, the major scale a 1/3, and 1/3 other miscellaneous scales; so it's an important one to learn.

If you're serious about studying jazz (which I get the impression that's a goal of yours) then I would say get into it as soon as possible. If you're more into rock or less harmonically complex music, then it's not so critical. In jazz however, it's been a staple sound for over 50 years; ever since Charlie Parker really. In terms of how to approach it, approach it just as you would when you were learning the major scale. There is only 1 note difference in melodic minor, and thus the chords are slightly different.

[Factor]

You are proabably right... Guess I'll set aside a day of the week to the melodic minor scale, and progressively increase the amount which I spend practicing the scale and applying it.

I'm trying to be serious about studying jazz. I have this main goal which I'm homing in on: applying to the jazzstudies at the local university in about three years. I'll hope I get some of the neccessary skills by then. I'm fairly confident considering how much I've learnt in a year and a half. But then again, can't allow myself to slack either.