Reharmonization Techniques ...

[Guni]

Hi all,

I just found out that Randy Felts finally released his book entitled 'Reharmonization Techniques'. I took his classes at Berklee and if this book is just a bit like the material he tought us back then I can only highly recommend it. I for sure will order it right now and review it for iBreathe.

More info can be found at http://www.berkleemusic.com/store/product?product%5fid=58600

Guni

[Bongo Boy]

Just FYI it's also available thru amazon.com for $20 USD, and remember, if you go there via the iBreathe site, you help support ibreathemusic.com.

[Guni]

Consider yourself hired !!! :D

Guni

[szulc]

So Guni,
When are you goning to write an article or post a thread on reharmonization of some simple song like We Wish You a Merry Christmas or Jingle Bells?

[Bongo Boy]

...it has to be harmonized before it can be RE-harmonized, right?

[Bongo Boy]

Originally posted by Guni
Consider yourself hired !!! :D Yeah. be careful. The way things are going in the tech sector, you just might be getting a resume.

[szulc]

Jingle Bells Re-Harmonized Quartal Style.

[szulc]

So is no one going to comment on my quartal harmonization of 'jingle bells'?

[Guni]

yep, me here:D

I'm just wondering about the natural f. Is this on purpose?

Anyway, lemme try some reharm on jingle bells. It's always a bit tricky when we have one note over and over again - hold, me jumping ahead here .....

Before actually thinking about reharmonizing we would need to define
- what style we are doing this for: Jazz, Pop, etc ... if I know this one I would go about re-writing the melody, like adding syncopation, etc...
- what instruments will be involved. Big Band, 4 piece rock band, .... ok, this already goes into arranging but it's something important to consider.


Next comes the original that we are working with

I'll just take the first 2 bars for now. 2 bars G major with the melody:
http://www.ibreathemusic.com/forums/posts/jingle_bells/jb1.gif


Next we can think about adding some reharms.

bar 1: In the first bar I use diatonic chords that fit the melody -also notice that this creates an upward motion in the bass (you can go as far as creating a chromatic line).

bar 2: is based on II-Vs leading back to the I chord (G)

and here it is:
http://www.ibreathemusic.com/forums/posts/jingle_bells/jb2.gif


Now, let's see how we can fit that onto the guitar. Let's say we wanna start out with 'big' sounding voicings and some jazzy chord solo style in bar 2.

Here's one possibility. I also added some more tensions.

http://www.ibreathemusic.com/forums/posts/jingle_bells/jb3.gif

So, does someone still recognize this as jingle bells? :D

Guni

[szulc]

The F# were the mistakes! I meant F.

[Guni]

Originally posted by szulc
The F# were the mistakes! I meant F. So, what overal chord do you base this on? G7? a bluesy jingle bells, or no chord at all?

This is what I mean with defining style and circumstances.

Guni

[szulc]

It reminds me of something you would hear on looney tunes, so I guess I would say comical or cartoonish.

[Guni]

hehe ok - I buy that.

[szulc]

Your post is very cool and informative.

[Guni]

Thanks you!

I hope that this is going much further and that someone else will give this a shot.

Guni

[szulc]

Your method is to use chords that have the melody as a chord tone, correct?

[Guni]

Originally posted by szulc
Your method is to use chords that have the melody as a chord tone, correct? yes, or as a available tension.

[szulc]

By available tension you mean 9, 11, 13 diatonic to the key at hand for the chord in question?

[Guni]

Originally posted by szulc
By available tension you mean 9, 11, 13 diatonic to the key at hand for the chord in question? yes, but it doesn't have to be in the same key, which leads to modulations and borrowing chords from related minor keys. There are quite a few different reharm techniques, each creating a different effect.

Guni

[szulc]

Let me retstate this. The chord at hand is determined by you which could be in the same key or a different key than the piece was originally at this point in the tune. So diatonic to the key of the chord at hand I mean to the key of the chord you have chosen.