2. analysis of a progression based on the changes to +all the things you are

8/14/2019 2. Analysis of a Progression Based on the Changes to +All the Things You Are

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www.tonygreybassacademy.com

2012 tonygreymusic

Tony Grey Bass Academy

Analysis Of A Tune Based On The Changes To

All The Things You Are

Why We Do This!

When we are trying to learn how to solo and improvise over Jazz

Standards and other tricky song progressions it is important to

give ourselves as many different options and ideas as possible.

In the Tony Grey Bass Academy all the lessons are geared

towards giving you the tools and ideas to create your own voice

as a musician. Jazz is an amazing art form where we are able to

express and explore our ideas with no limitations.

There are literally infinite ways to play a solo you just want to

make sure you are armed with as many options as possible to

create your own world as an improvising musician.

My system of learning is a little different to standard methods in

the sense that everything you learn has to be applied in a musical

way.

In my opinion its the best way to except where you are in your

own development.
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2012 tonygreymusic

Too many students get scared or put off by thinking they have too

much to learn before they can sound good. The answer to that is

you cant really change your current level overnight; it does take

time to properly absorb all the different sounds and colors not to

mention vocabulary into your playing naturally.

John McLaughlin once told me. You cant force music. What I

took from this is I need to relax, get organized and use anything I

learn to create music. This way Im always maximizing my current

level and building musical habits.

Preparing To Improvise

When you feel like you are ready to take the plunge into soloing

over Jazz Standards you have to have certain knowledge of the

construction and functionality of the harmony.

Like I said earlier there are an infinite amount of ideas and

techniques you can apply into your solos and phrasing so its

important to understand your road map.

Over the months in the Tony Grey Bass Academy we will be

using this progression along with a few others as our templates for

working on applying melodic content and ideas. I will explain

some functional harmony as we move through the progression to

help you understand where these different chords are coming

from so we can analyze and find the appropriate chord scales.


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2012 tonygreymusic

We will be using these scales as tools to improvise and add

melodic content in later lessons. If you dont fully understand the

modes and where these chords are coming from along with their

functionality within harmony there are lessons in the Academy to

guide you through more thoroughly.

The 1ststep on our quest is to really understand Harmony, Form

and Melody. I definitely recommend that you do check out the

melody for the Standard All The Things You Are and analyze itagainst the chord progression. If you are ever in doubt of the

functionality of a chord or a chord scale sometimes the answer is

spelt out in the melody.

For this lesson we will be analyzing the chord progression, figuring

out the functionality of the chords, identifying the key changes

and looking at the chord scales.

A lot of Jazz Standards have a lot of common chord structures so

we start to notice patterns in the bass or Root motion.

It is very common for the root of the chords to move down in

intervals of a perfect 5th.

The Cycle Of 5ths will become a very important tool for us in

practicing phrases and ideas in all keys.


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2012 tonygreymusic

For this lesson I will briefly go over the chords that we can relate

to the Major and Natural Minor Modes and see how they function

within this progression. We will also find a Secondary Dominant

chord and a Functional Diminished chord in which I will be

explaining the theory and chord scale to use.

Here are the C Major Modes and their related chords.

C Ionian Cmaj7 (Imaj7)D Dorian D-7 (II-7)

E Phrygian E-7 (III-7)

F Lydian Fmaj7 (IVmaj7)

G Mixolydian G7 (V7)

A Aeolian A-7 (VI-7)

B Locrian B-7b5 (VII-7b5)

The Roman Numerals will indicate the functionality of the chord

within the key throughout the progression. Just be aware there are

12 Keys and there are some Key Changes found within this

progression. There are lessons available on the construction of Key

Signatures and Modes in the Academy.

Throughout the analysis of this progression we will come across

some chords that cant be analyzed as a part of these Major

Modes. As they appear we will discuss them.


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2012 tonygreymusic

Lets now look at the 1st5 bars of our progression.

The first thing you should be looking at is the Root Motion. Here

we can see the F moving to the Bb, Eb, Ab ending on the Db. This

is a Cycle 5movement. To figure out the key we need to observe

the chord qualities, where the energy of the chords are going and

what the target chord is. Basically where the harmony feels like

home.

We can also see the II-7 V7 Imaj7, which is the most commonchord movement in music. The II chord has a strong pull to the V

chord. There is a high level of tension in (V7) Dominant chords

and you can really hear the resolution when you land on the Imaj7

Chord. This movement really tells our ears we have arrived at

home.


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2012 tonygreymusic

Im analyzing these chords with Roman Numerals

All 5 bars are in the Key of Ab.Once the key is established at bar 4 the harmony starts moving

away again to its less defining IVmaj7

Bar from bar 5 to bar 6 the progression jumps up an interval of a

tri-tone to a G7.

We now know the connection and sound of a V7 chord moving

down a perfect 5thto the maj7 is indicating a new key.

Bar 6, 7 and 8 are in the key of C Major.


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The next 8 bars 9-16 is exactly the same progression transposed

up a perfect 4thfrom the first 8 measures.

Bar 9-13 is all in the key of Eb Major then again the harmony

moves up a tri-tone to the key of G Major. In Bar 17 the key

remains in G Major with the use of this II V I.

Bar 21-23 is the II V I in the key of E Major followed by our 1 st

chord outside of the Major Modes it is a Dominant Chord with

added altered tensions b9 and b13. To understand the function of

the chord we must understand what its target is. Because it is a

Dominant chord moving down a perfect 5thwe could analyze it in


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2012 tonygreymusic

the key of F Minor if this was the case the chord scale choice and

sound would be different.

This is the beauty of Jazz and improvising, we can choose from

many different sources to create the tension and release in our

lines.

Once you understand the rules you can break them and use them

in anyway you please.

Because of what proceeds the F-7 I will analyze the C7 chord as a

Secondary Dominantand it is labeled V7/VI.

A Secondary Dominant chord is a chord that resolves down to a

chord that is not the Tonic. It is very common in Jazz Standards for

the II-7, III-7, IVmaj7, V7, VI-7 to have a Dominant 7 th up an

interval of a perfect 5thplaced before it. In this case we have a C7

resolving to an F-7 (VI-7) in the key of Ab.

Each of the Secondary Dominant chords have there own Chord

scale. The way to construct these scales is to first spell out the

chord.

Next figure out which key you are in, in this case Ab.


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Fill in the gaps with diatonic notes from the key.

Note that when a Dominant Chord contains the tension b9 also #9

will be available too.

Build the scale from the Root of the key (Ab).

When we analyze the chord scale you will notice it contains the

tensions b9, #9 and b13 and it is an 8 note scale.

This scale can be called an Ionian add #5 the #5 is the 3rddegree

of C7.

Bar 25-28 continues in the Key of Ab.

As we move into the last 8 bars of the progression we are faced

with a Modal Interchange chord a Functional Diminished chord

and a Secondary Dominant.


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Bar 29 is the IVmaj7 chord in the key of Ab followed by a chord

outside of the major key. The Db-7 is sandwiched between 2

diatonic chords to the key of Ab Major and is not considered to

be coming from a different key. It is just a borrowed chord from

the Natural Minor Modes.

Here are the C Natural Minor Modes and their related chords.

C Aeolian C-7 (I-7)

D Locrian D-7b5 (II-7b5)Eb Ionian Emaj7 (IIImaj7)

F Dorian F-7 (IV-7)

G Phrygian G-7 (V-7)

Ab Lydian Abmaj7 (bVImaj7)

Bb Mixolydian Bb7 (bVII7)

A series of new modes can be built off each degree of the Major

Scale to give us a series of new chords to substitute and play with.


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These borrowed chords are great for composing and finding new

colors within your music. Again there are lessons available on this

subject in more depth in the Academy.

We can label bar 30 as a IV-7 and it takes the Ab Aeolian Scale. In

bar 31we return to the Ab Major tonality.

In bar 32 we encounter our Functional DiminishedChord. As with

the Secondary Dominant Chord you analyze the Diminished Chord

by which chord it is targeting. It is very common for a Functional

Diminished chord to be in-between 2 diatonic chords with achromatic Root Motion.

The diminished chord is a great passing chord. We would analyze

this chord as a bIII Diminished Chord. It is coming from the III-7

down to the II-7.


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Like the Secondary Dominant chord the Functional Diminished

chords have there own chord scales. The way to construct these

scales is to first spell out the chord.

Next figure out which key you are in, in this case Ab.

Fill in the gaps with diatonic notes from the key.

Build thescale from the Root of the key (Ab).

The closest scale we can relate this too is the Ab Lydian with anadded #2 degree. The #2 is the note B, which is the Root of the

Diminished Chord. The scale Ab Lydian add #2contains 8 notes.


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Bar 33 is the II V I in the key of Ab Major followed by the last bar,

which is the Secondary Dominant V7/VI which brings us nicely

back to the top of the form.

Recap

Here is a list of all the keys.

Bar 1-5 Ab MajorBar 6-8 C Major

Bar 9-13 Eb Major

Bar 14-20 G Major

Bar 21-23 E Major

Bar 24 Secondary Dominant V7/VI Ab Ionian add #5

Bar 25-29 Ab Major

Bar 30 Ab Aeolian

Bar 31 Ab Major

Bar 32 Functional bIII Diminished Ab Lydian add #2

Bar 33-35 Ab Major

Bar 36 Secondary Dominant V7/VI Ab Ionian add #5

In future lessons we will be using this analysis to add melodic

content and ideas over this progression.


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Here is the full chord progression.

2. analysis of a progression based on the changes to +all the things you are

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