As you recall in the last installment a single Eb dim. 7th yielded four
dominant 7ths, D7, F7, Ab7, and B7. Some interesting things come out of
this. The D7 chord is of course the V chord in the key of G and resolves
normally to a G major or G minor chord. The Ab7 chord is the tri-tone
sub for D7, which also resolves well into G major or G minor. Turning
this around means that both chords resolve into Db major or minor as
well, but for the moment let's stay on the resolution to G major. The
relative minor to G major is of course E minor. The V chord of E minor
is B7, and the tri-tone sub for B7 is F7, which uses up all 4 dominant
chords we got from the diminished. The reason that this is all relevant
is because Pat has a somewhat open concept as far as chord resolutions
work. To him there is not a big difference between an E minor and a G
major chord, indeed we can all see and hear that they are similar, so
*any* of these 4 dominant chords will resolve into a G major, or for
that matter a G minor. As Reed mentioned in a response to my last post,
simplifying is a common trait of all great players- the simpler the
concepts, the easier it is to incorporate them into one's playing. Pat
tends to resolve to basic sound-shapes and the specifics of whether it's
mixolydian or whatever be damned. An interesting example of this occurs
on his solo on the tune "Along Came Betty" from the album
"Consciousness!".
Toward the end of the form there is a series of m7b5 to dom.7th chords
moving in a cycle of 4ths (or 5ths, depending on your point of view).
The original changes go as follows:
|Cm7b5 |F7 |Bbm7b5 |Eb7 |Abmaj7 |
>>From what I can decipher from transcribing the solo Pat uses a different
approach than one might normally take through this section. He treats
all these chords except the Ab as relative m7ths and dom7ths as follows:
|Ebm7 |Ab7 |Dbm7 |Gb7 |Abmaj7 |
One thing that makes this unusual is that he plays the Ab7 as an altered
7th, with the #5, #9, and b9. A #5 on Ab7 is E natural, which is a
*major* 7th note on an F7, the chord he is subbing the Ab7 over.
One reason Pat cites for doing this kind of thing is that he believes it
frees your improvising and allows you to use your lines in more ways
than over the 'regular' V chord. Because the alternate changes and his
lines over them are so strong it sounds
perfectly reasonable when listening to the solo. He will use whatever
quality of dominant sound appeals to him at the moment- Ab9, Ab7#11,
Ab7#5#9 etc. to sub over the F7, because his resolution is to the Db
minor, not necessarily the Bbm7b5. I think a lot of players do this kind
of thing by ear- Dexter Gordon springs to mind- but in Pat's case I
believe that it was also worked out structurally, because he was able to
*see* the shapes of chords on the fingerboard and relate that an Em was
the same *shape* as a G6, an A9, a C#m7b5, an Eb7 altered, and so on. If
they look and sound similar why shouldn't the lines work the same way?
That's it for now; stay tuned for part 3.
Clay