Wow.....duh

[Dadocaster]

I'm on a jazz kick right now what with no punk band currently and my kid doing jazzy boi studies in college. I am really enjoying it and all but it is a bit different. So my son suggests things I should work on. He told me to get "rhythm changes" down. I have messed with them before but I always thought that was an odd name, Rhythm Changes.

Duh. They are derived from George Gershwin's "I Got Rhythm." Always thought they were named for their functions. Duh.

 

[monte merrick]

we learn what we learn when we learn it.

 

[monte merrick]

personally i'm a sucker for a I-IV-vii˚

 

[monte merrick]

you've heard this bit of utter magnificence?

 

[Bob the builder]

Ya can still be punk
Just do it with a swing

 

[Dadocaster]

Ya can still be punk
Just do it with a swing

Strangely, I swing pretty well. Don't recall working at it.

 

[BluesForDan]

I'm on a jazz kick right now what with no punk band currently and my kid doing jazzy boi studies in college. I am really enjoying it and all but it is a bit different. So my son suggests things I should work on. He told me to get "rhythm changes" down. I have messed with them before but I always thought that was an odd name, Rhythm Changes.

Duh. They are derived from George Gershwin's "I Got Rhythm." Always thought they were named for their functions. Duh.

confused. Is "Rhythm Changes" a song?

 

[El Gobernador]

personally i'm a sucker for a I-IV-vii˚

Explain to the audience why that vii° works so well.

 

[El Gobernador]

confused. Is "Rhythm Changes" a song?

Gershwin. I've Got Rhythm. It's right there at the bottom of his post. Are you confused by octagonal red signs with the word "stop" in the middle? LoL

Rhythm Changes. I/vi/ii/V. The fountainhead of modern jazz.

This is "Rhythm Changes". The whole tune.

 

[amstratnut]

confused. Is "Rhythm Changes" a song?

I Got Rhythm is a song. The chords have become standard for tons of jazz, similar to the way blues changes have.

 

[trapdoor2]

Gershwin published it in 1930. You can watch him playing it in 1931 on youtube. The progression "changes" were so popular that Sidney Bechet used them for his "Shag" in 1932 (not released for 10 yrs!).



The changes have been used (no copyright on chord progressions) on hundreds of cuts.

Watching this lady makes me want to drag out a guitar and learn them myself!

 

[El Gobernador]

Here's where the I/vi/ii/V and the ii/V/I come from:

Major Circle chord progression:
I-IV-vii*-iii-vi-ii-V-I.

In C: Cmaj7-Fmaj7-Bm7b5-Em7-Am7-Dm7-G7-Cmaj7.

The Minor Circle progression is this:
i-iv-VII-III-VI-ii*-V-i.

In Am : Am7-Dm7-G7-Cmaj7-Fmaj7-Bm7b5-Em7-Am7

 

[monte merrick]

Explain to the audience why that vii° works so well.

well to me, it's kind of a more interesting V7 - less predictable sounding - but really closely related, so even though its in the sequence of the Rhythm Changes - I IV vii˚ iii vi ii V I - resolving to the I from it isnt that much different than reloving from the V7 - in Eb - the V7 is Bb7 - Bb D F Ab which is the stacked triads of Bb (Bb, D , F) and D˚ (D, F, Ab)
and the vii˚ in Eb would be Dm7b5 - D, F, Ab, C - which is the stacked triads of D˚ (D, F, Ab) and Fm (F, Ab, C) - so when resolving back to the I, its pretty dang close to the more common super-harmonious resolution of the V7 back the I - yet more fun to hear, to me.

 

[crankmeister]

well to me, it's kind of a more interesting V7 - less predictable sounding - but really closely related, so even though its in the sequence of the Rhythm Changes - I IV vii˚ iii vi ii V I - resolving to the I from it isnt that much different than reloving from the V7 - in Eb - the V7 is Bb7 - Bb D F Ab which is the stacked triads of Bb (Bb, D , F) and D˚ (D, F, Ab)
and the vii˚ in Eb would be Dm7b5 - D, F, Ab, C - which is the stacked triads of D˚ (D, F, Ab) and Fm (F, Ab, C) - so when resolving back to the I, its pretty dang close to the more common super-harmonious resolution of the V7 back the I - yet more fun to hear, to me.

V7 and vii˚ are basically inversions of each other.

Jazz guys use them together/interchangeably a lot (from what I hear.)

I like it, too. It’s a nice break from the more predictable. I think a vii˚-bVII7-I sounds nice too (really I’m thinking “half diminished). Or like Bm7b5˚-Dm7b5˚-Cmaj7. That Dm7b5 can even do a chromatic thingy from half to full diminished en route to the Cmaj7. Or Bm7b5-Dm7b5-Fm7b5-Cmaj7. Peaceful to my ears.

 

[El Gobernador]

well to me, it's kind of a more interesting V7 - less predictable sounding - but really closely related, so even though its in the sequence of the Rhythm Changes - I IV vii˚ iii vi ii V I - resolving to the I from it isnt that much different than reloving from the V7 - in Eb - the V7 is Bb7 - Bb D F Ab which is the stacked triads of Bb (Bb, D , F) and D˚ (D, F, Ab)
and the vii˚ in Eb would be Dm7b5 - D, F, Ab, C - which is the stacked triads of D˚ (D, F, Ab) and Fm (F, Ab, C) - so when resolving back to the I, its pretty dang close to the more common super-harmonious resolution of the V7 back the I - yet more fun to hear, to me.

Rhythm Changes are I/vi/ii/V.

Short answer is this:

The V7 has the stacked triads of the V and the vii°. So it's a natural sub to go for the full m7b5. The V and the vii° are also the most demanding when it comes to resolution to the I. The Dominant and the leading tone. The other benefit of the m7b5 is that it contains the supertonic ( the ii ) which also wants to resolve back to the tonic, or I.

Also note where the I/IV/vii° are in the major circle progression.

Guess that wasn't so short. LoL

 

[rolandson]

He told me to get "rhythm changes" down.

I was once told something similar. So I did. I thought.
Then they chuckled. Told me ..."ahhhh, no. Not that."
Then a fellow handed me a book. About "Rhythm Changes" by Jamey Aebersold.

Jamey Aebersold Jazz: Product Display

www.jazzbooks.com

I thought it a really good study. I recommend it.