“Minor-isation”For Backing Track Improvisation:

Posted on April 30, 2024April 30, 2024 by Modern Music Theory

“Minor-isation”or the minor topic.[Backing Track]

Hi Guys,

Today, a quick look at applying minor-isation for improvisation over a backing track:

This is a very useful way to play over ambiguous harmony or Jazz fusion chord progressions, slash chords and sometimes illogical movement/chord shifts.

So, what do we do? and how does this work?

ANSWER=Employ the minor key for everything!

Let’s say we take this chord FMaj#11 – we will go to chord iii of F Major and use that for our improvisational point. In this case it’s A minor.

minor-topic-pat-martino-minorisation-track

Let’s apply the same principle to DbMaj7#11

If we apply chord iii we have F minor:

This time we will apply it to B Maj7#11

Chord iii being D#minor [Although I have notated it enharmonically with Eb minor as some people find that easier to visualise on the guitar fingerboard]

BARS 9 TO 12

In bars 9 to 12 you will see slash chords. For these we will go to chord Vi. So for instance on Db/Eb we will use Bb minor.

Bars 9 to 11: Chord Vi:

And on C/D chord Vi will be A minor:

We could also use chord iii as we did in the first 8 bars:

Bars 9 to 11: Chord iii Employed:

LAST 4 BARS

For the last part we will employ chord iii of Db Major throughout: This of course being F minor:

Here is the chart for the full backing track and you will see how all of this works:

IN CONCLUSION:

This is just a basic example of how “minor-isation” can be exploited to create really fluid improvisation especially on the guitar in a modern smooth jazz fusion context:

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minor-isation Download

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Polytonality:For Concerto/Orchestral Writing

Posted on February 27, 2024March 16, 2024 by Modern Music Theory

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Polytonality: For Concerto/OrchestralWriting lesson

Please watch the video above for detailed analysis:

Hi Guys

Today, a quick look at composing with Polytonality for orchestral and concerto writing.

What is Polytonality?

Polytonality is the use of two or more keys at the same time:

Example 1:

Db Major/C Major [Basic root position]

poly-tonality-orchestral-composing-chords-example

In this first example we have 4 bars of Polytonality with Eminor/DbMajor and EbMajor/CMajor

This then resolves itself with a “Tonal” diatonic cadence of B7/D# to Em:

This method is really useful because we can use the polytonal approach sparingly with it’s thicker and richer harmonic texture whilst then then playing its opposite it with the thinner aspect of diatonicism.

This way the Polytonal nature of the music compliments the diatonic cadences and visa versa.

Example 2:

Polytonality-Orchestral Example

This example explores “Implication”. In this case it is implying the melodic minor but avoiding the cliche by employing the richness of Polytonality:

From here, we will again employ diatonic harmony for a cadence.

To complete this short orchestral example we will go back into Polytonality with another melodic minor implication by employing Dminor/DbMajor:

Here is the chart:

poly-tonality-orchestral-composing-example

Example 3:

Polytonality-Orchestral Example

In this final example we will just “Reverse” the chords. This time it is DbMajor/Cmajor which is then played the other way around with CMajor/DbMajor.