Question About My Lesson

[stephanie]

Hello,

I have a question regarding one part of my lesson for the week that my teacher gave me. I hate when I understand what he gives me then get home and totally forget it and I'd hate to have to bother him by calling about a simple thing.

Anyway, on my lesson sheet is written:

C, F, Bb, Eb: play mode, triad, 7th, 9th for each step of the scale. My question is, for example, take the second step of the C major scale, D. I'll play the D Dorian mode, then where I get stuck is would the triad be D Major or D minor? In regards to harmonization it would be Dm, right? cuz the ii is minor. If that's right then the 7th would be Dm7. When I get to 9th I get stuck. I know the 9th would be E but it doesn't seem to sound right.

I hope I have explained this clearly enough. What we are working on right now is Harmonization of the Major Scale, also using 4-note chords; diminished-7ths and half-diminished-7ths, and 9ths.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Stephanie

[Pacman]

Stephanie,

Looks right to me - E is the 9th of D minor. It might help you to write out each scale, so that you can clearly see the diatonic harmony for your exercise.

[lump]

Steph,

Pacman's right (go figure). Stay in key. The point of the exercise is to hear the difference between the intervals in each mode. And E against D sounds less like poo if you are truly playing it as a 9th and not as a 2nd (that is, up an octave from the root D). Do you have a keyboard? If you do, play the chords on that (triad, triad with 7th, triad with 7th and 9th). It will give you a much better idea of how they sound than trying to arpeggiate them on the bass. And a Dm9 chord actually sounds kinda purdy, once you can hear all of the notes together.

[jazzbo]

I would also suggest recording your lessons. I'm always amazed how much everything makes sense during the lesson, and when I'm back at home it doesn't seem nearly as clear. The recordings are extremely helpful.

[stephanie]

Thanks everyone for your help. It looks clearer to me now.

Be well,
Stephanie

[stephanie]

Ok, one more (I hope!) quick question and then I'll be off...

Here's this exercise:

"Play the half-diminished 7th/half-diminished 9th and diminished 7th/diminished 9th Arpeggios for all notes chromatically."

The question:

If I take, say, the note F: how do I determine the notes for this? Ok, that makes me sound a little stupid, but I mean, would it be F major chord and then add the 7th and 9th and then for half-diminished just lower the 7th and 9th each a step?

Ex:

F (diminished): F, A, C, E, G
F (half-diminished): F, A, C, Eb, Gb

I think I can faintly remember this from my lesson as being correct.

And, yes, Jazzbo, I think I should record my lessons. LOL...or get a better memory!

Thanks,
Stephanie

[Pacman]

no. the half diminished chord is also called the minor 7b5 chord. That is, spell a minor 7 chord (add the natural 9 for the other chord) and lower the 5th one half step. 1 3 b5 b7 9

The diminished chords are spelled by stacking minor 3rds. 1 b3 b5 bb7 (or 6)

for your examples:

F diminished F Ab Cb Ebb (then Gb for the 9)
F half diminished: F Ab Cb Eb (then Gb for the 9)

hope this helps

[stephanie]

Pacman,

Thanks. I learned about the minor7b5 chords and I understand what you wrote.

I really think my teacher might have showed me this wrong cuz one thing I do remember is playing different notes for the 9ths. I think I will have to bring this up with him at my next lesson. Hehe.

Thanks again,
Stephanie