Re: Pat Martino #2

CLAY MOORE ( cmoore4@ix.netcom.com )
Mon, 03 Mar 1997 13:35:45 -0600

> There is another way to look at this, though once again Pat's
> treatment may yield a more practical solution for guitar players rather
> than a theoretical one. I need to think about your post. It took me a few
> days to digest the last one.
>
> Anyway, I have a different way that I would normally view this
> substitution.
>
> The Dbm/Gb7 is a minor plagal cadence leading into the Abmaj7.
> This is a common reharmonization technique. ii/V is substituted
> with some kind of ivm . Sometimes it takes the form of bVII7
> or ivm7,bVII7. And sometimes tunes which have the minor plagal
> cadence have the ii/V7 subsituted for that.
>
> In this case Dbm is the ivm in the key of Ab so we have
> the ivm/bVII7 substitution.
>
> Then the Ebm7/Ab7 is just a ii/V leading to the minor plagal
> cadence.
>
> BTW, this subsitution is particularly well suited in instances
> where the ii/V is a iim7b5/V7 as in this tune.
>
> The reason being that Bbm7b5 == Dbm6.
>
> So it's really a matter of what the function of those notes
> are. Either a ii chord or a ivm.

Your explanation certainly makes sense and one that is written into the
structure of many tunes. The practical side of Pat's approach for guitar
players is that you can take advantage of the symmetrical nature of the
instrument to move things around, changing the harmonic\melodic
relationships without changing the fingering for the chord or the line.
A famous guitarist (who shall remain nameless) criticized Pat for this,
saying that he didn't know how to play over changes. To each his own,
but I think he does pretty well over changes. From what I have heard Pat
say about improvising concepts, he believes the changes are but one
structure which you can use or not; he doesn't think that the verbatum
chnges to a tune should define your entire approach. He told us that you
could use *any* musical element to form the architecture of an
improvisation- dynamics, repetition, intervallic patterns, metric
re-grouping of measures, etc.

Clay