Man, I hate when studied musicians are like "yeah, you don't need theory." Such bullcrap. I am studying theory now after years of playing by ear and it makes a huge difference. It makes you a better musician.
In my opinion, and its only that, jamming and real experience playing in various bands will lead one to many of the same places that theory does. I spent time with a restaurant trio and learned more playing standards than in school. However, once I had my ear in shape, working through the theory was a great deal easier and I was able to progress rapidly. I think that both practical experience and theory are very helpful.
Jimmy, I love the way you cut through the bullshit straight to what's what. I have been playing for over 35 years instinctively. I am only just catching up with the Grammar/theory. I watched your "No Nonsense Jazz Guitar" video and picked up quite a lot which helped me advance into Jazz. Thank you dude!
wow....this has got to be the clearest explanation of substations I've seen....ok granted i've kind of read up on it before....its only now that it seems clear to me...maybe because he actually laid it out the way he did....always loved Jimmy's teaching:)
Jimmy again you are awesome not just as player. Thanks for sharing and passing on the tradition of Jazz music. I believe the theory helps us communicate to the best of our abilities to explain what we are trying to say musically. Blessings
Thanks to RU-vid for this recommendation ..... This is great Diego .... I subscribed on the strength of this clip. Well explained ....... Hi from London UK!
You can also illustrate the relationship of the tritone substitution (A7 -> Eb7) by flattening the 5th of A7 to get A7b5 which is the same chord as Eb7b5. You can think of the similarity of the chords by observing that they contain each other's guide tones. The 3rd and b7 of A7 is C# and G. And the 3rd and b7 of Eb7 are G and C#(Db). Then the other two notes in the chord can be thought of as optional 5th and root.
how tritones are formed? i lack in guitar theory and plays fast any scales like robotic.. can any1 can send me pdf link or videos for basic theory like how chords are formed, how diminished and augmented are played, about triads or tritones, etc.. thank you..
you should have a class on how to approach a chord. example - ways to approach a Am7 or G7 or how to, etc. example - most chords can be approached by a dim 7 chord 1/2 step above or below.
My Jazz Guitar teacher would tell me every so often, after seeing me get tied up in knots over harmony and theory issues, to remember what is really important...making the sound.
If the guitarist replaces the CMaj7 with Em7, as shown in the video, does the bass player (playing the single root note), also change from C to E? The guitarist should inform the bass player of the substitution?
If the bass player switched roots it would change the harmony because the lowest note determines the chord. What would happen if they played e-7 over Cmaj7 is you would be making an extension of Cmaj7 chord. E-7 has E G B D. Cmaj7 is C E G B they share 3/4 notes so adding that D adding the 9 on top of the Cmaj7 chord. Making it a Cmaj9 chord essentially.
Playing Em is just leaving off the root of C chord C major 7th notes = C E G B. Em notes = E G B. If the bass player plays C then bass + your Em is still a C chord. For that matter a G chord = G B D is the 5 7 9 of a C chord. G chord with C or E in the bass is C major 9.
Is Jimmy Bruno big into learning to read? I completely understand harmony and rhythm, and have played in jazz bands with rudimentary chord charts, but never learned how to read notation. I'm wondering if I should bother.
Jimmy was taught to read by a violin player at an early age and worked in high-stress reading situations in LA and Las Vegas. Jimmy was also kind of a protege of Tommy Tedesco in LA, one of the greatest studio guitarists of all time, know to be able to read anything.
He doesn't explain why those substitutions work though. Like for example could someone explain why he substitutes an A7 for the Am7 at the start? These 2 chords don't have nearly the same function right? If he just used it bcuz the tritone creates more tension, why not use the G7 (the dominant chord in the key of C)? I mean like, I understand that you choose chords based on what they sound like so maybe he just thought A7 sounds better than G7 here, but I was just wondering if there is some kind of theory that I'm missing behind it? :)
it works because it just changes one note from C in Am7 to C# in A7, and that C# is the leading tone to the chord that follows it (Dm7). It just pushes the ear toward the next chord (Dm7) a little more, while keeping the root movement and the rest of the chord the same. It's also like just temporarily moving into the key of D minor and doing a V7-i (A7-Dm). You wouldn't use G7 there because that's going to lead your ear toward C. G7 would imply a V-I going to C, not to Dm, and the whole point of changing Am7 to A7 is to get the leading tone (C#) for the next chord (Dm7) and create the sound of a V-i to Dm (A7 to Dm7).
@@jdoc1357b9g bro great explanation.....that cleared up what was going in in my head...i had a feeling thats where he was going with the substitutions but this is really clear and makes sense!
Liam Zuiderhoek for me it is easier to think in terms of parent scales, Eb7 is the 4th chord of Bbm (melodic minor) for me it way simpler just to think of melodic minor 1/2 step up while understanding it is s b5 substitution
Only guitarists and basists ignore theory because is such a mess to learn because all notes are all over the place, pianists can just count alphabets in order and so on. Just play what you like and enjoy the time, same time dip your toes in theory little bit so you dont get confused. Theory helps you understand what you did and why it works or sound good + it help you to come back to that chord progression what you "jammed" without getting lost because lack of understanding.
Considering the guitar ITSELF was made on behalf of the theory...Not the other way around (12 tones and then the cycle starts over)...the 12 tone system was invented to STANDARDIZE and simplify sounds so that people all around the world could play together instead of getting together with instruments that have all forms of tuning and random intervals...and people who understand the theoretical language can get together and share VAST amounts of information in two or three sentences with large groups of people instead of having to walk around to everybody individually and show each person what sounds they are playing and wasting vast amounts of time...You know...just maybe the theory might be vaguely important to have as a tool in the tool box.
Not sure why he went with Em7 at 2:25. He said you could put a II or a III chord as a substitute, but those are not even tritone (ie flat 5) substitutions and seems so random. Although, a Cmaj7 (C-E-G-B) is basically an Em with C in the base...so maybe I answered my own question...
Em7 is the iii chord in C major, but when you're substituting an A7 for Am in the key of C it's common to put the Em7 in front of it like a temporary ii chord in front of the temporary V7 (A7). But you're also right that the Em is like the upper structure of Cmaj7. It's OK to understand and explain concepts more than one way.
The Eb7 is the tritone substitution for the A7, which is the V chord of D. The tritone in the A7 is composed of the the C# (3rd) and G(b7) notes. The Eb7 has those same 2 notes as the 3rd and 7th (G (3rd in Eb7), C# or Db (the flatted 7th in the Eb7).
as addition to what was said... Em7 is relative to Cmaj7. It is common classical relation based on triads and extended to jazz chords in jazz. In classical it's the triads that have two tones in common, in jazz it's 7th chords that have 3 tones in common. Simple way to play relatiives is to think a 3rd above and a 3rd below of teh main chord (repectively to scale of course).
This is describing the music, it is a long way from reading notation which is merely responding to written directions, this is not really theory it is practical
Music theory the way it's used today is largely about naming and categorizing the elements used - keys, chords, intervals, progressions, etc. He is most definitely using music theory to explain these chord progressions.
Hasan Sahbas, i always find it interesting when musicians say they never studied music theory, yet they know what scales and in what key they are playing in....you cant play without knowing theory sooooo.....
tim hitt just look up the chords in each line he's talking about and find different ways of playing them. Play through each line is slowly as you need to, look at the notes in each chord and you will see why each chord is named what it is then play through each progression slowly as you need to. It all starts with understanding each chord. A lot of times the language applied makes it sound very daunting but it really isn't.
A music dictionary is a handy thing to have , nomenclature is a large part of learning music theory. Having common words for concepts and sounds is essential for musicians to be able to communicate effectively. Once you know the vocabulary you will understand what trained musicians are talking about.
