Because functional harmony isn't just about naming individual chords, it is
about understanding how they relate to each other. And the F7-G resolution
doesn't make a whole lot of sense. I mean, you can accept it at face
value, and say "dominant seventh chords can resolve up a step to the tonic"
but the point is, there is a more basic explanation - we can understand
this resolution in terms of ones we already accept. And the way to do this
is to first look at a simple Cm-G progression, which is easily understood
as iv-I, and then realize the F7 is just elaboration - an optional chord
thrown in to delay the resolution. The music sounds more or less the same
whether or not you throw that chord in. It doesn't change the essential
harmony of the song. It just suggests some extra motion. So yes, the
chord *is* an F7 chord, in the sense that this is the best name for the
vertical structure in place at that moment. But it is *functioning* as a
Cm chord.
> I
> don't think you can convince me to think your way, and I don't think I
will
> convince you to think mine. It has been very interesting to get another
> view.
It isn't really a matter of opinion. Reed's analysis *does* explain the
overall harmonic motion very well; much better than merely saying "this
particular dominant seventh resolves up a step for no reason". However,
you are certainly free to disregard this explanation in improvisation. I
got along just fine without it for years, and I don't expect my playing
will change significantly as a result of Reed showing me this. I do get
some amount of satisfaction from knowing what is going on functionally.
But in improvisation, I am likely to still want to honor the
tension/release implications inherent in thinking of it as Cm7-F7.
> So, onto the next changes in Just Friends...
>
> How do you see the Bbm7 to Eb7 ?
I'll first observe that the next two chords are Am7 and D7. Thus we have a
ii-V in one key followed by a ii-V in the key a half step below. This is a
pretty common idiom (think of the last half of "Blues For Alice": Bbm7-Eb7,
Am7-D7, Abm7-Db7, Gm7-C7; also the latter part of the A-section to "Joy
Spring", which features the same progression).
Again, we could simply take this at face value (ii-V's can descend by half
step), but I think there is something underlying this. First,
*functionally*, we can ignore the minor seventh chords; they are just
setting up the dominant chords. So I see Eb7-D7-Db7-C7. This looks like a
tritone sub for A7-D7-G7-C7, which is a simple trip along the
circle-of-fifths. That, in general, is how I would "explain" the Bm7-Eb7:
as an elaborated tritone sub for the A7, which is a secondary dominant
leading the D7, which happens to be preceded by its ii chord.
This is perhaps an even better opportunity to illustrate what is meant by
"function". In this case, knowledge that the Bm7-Eb7 is *functioning* as
an A7 chord is of almost no direct help in improvisation, aside from the
warm fuzzy of knowing that it isn't some random detour, so you can
hopefully keep the destination in mind better when improvising. But
certainly it doesn't suggest to me I use A mixolydian, or indeed any type
of A scale, over the Bbm7-Eb7; I still need to honor the feeling of
temporary key change, and the tension-release cycle between the Bbm7 and
Eb7. This analysis merely gives one possible explanation of why the
Bbm7-Eb7 works so well in that situation. And the same is true regarding
the preceeding F7 - functional analysis may explain why the F7 works well
there, but this doesn't mean it tells us to play something different from
what the F7 itself might have told us. Indeed, if we weren't supposed to
do anything different, they wouldn't have bothered putting the substitution
in the sheet music! A tritone sub is yet another example. Sure, when we
see Db7-C, we may play something different than if we saw G7, as we'd
assume the substitution was made for a reason, and we should honor that,
unless we choose to make our own substitution and put the G7 back. And
when looking at the Db7 chord, it certainly *looks* more like a Db7 chord
than a G7b9b5/Db. But it is often useful to realize that the Db7 is
*functioning* as a G7 chord in this situation - it helps us realize that
the overall goal is to create the effect of a V-I.
--------------
Marc Sabatella
marc@outsideshore.com
"The Outside Shore"
A Jazz Improvisation Primer, Scores, Sounds, & More:
http://www.outsideshore.com/