Double Bass A Child Is Born

[stretch80]

I just think it's cool to see this kind of conversation here, from a player who long on playing and listening experience, and has work to do on the harmonic understanding side. Carry on!

 

[Sam Sherry]

I just think it's cool to see this kind of conversation here

On any site which is not as well-moderated as TB/DB this would have broken down into insults.

, from a player who long on playing and listening experience, and has work to do on the harmonic understanding side. Carry on!

Well yes. That would be two people: @Don Kasper, who is long on playing and listening experience, and me, a player who has work to do on every aspect of playing jazz music on DB and on guitar.

My quartet plays more than a few of Don's pulls. I am deeply grateful to him for his work and for the chance to use his work to make music. I don't have to agree about every single note to honor him, and if it turns out that I hear something inaccurately I learn from that.

But it's a joyous tune, and B/Bb conveys that for me as long as nobody on the stand is tapping on that "C" key.
Once somebody does that it's time to Shut Up And Support The Music.

 

[Chris Fitzgerald]

Do you hear a Bnatural or a C in the second chord?

Honestly? B natural. As a passing tone, but not a part of the chord.

I think the B would change the character of the Harmony significantly.
Are you aware of any recordings with a "B" in that second chord?
Thanks.

Honestly, I don’t have time to research this and it doesn’t really matter. I hear it the way I hear it, and I believe it’s always best to play it the way you hear it. I could be wrong, but I would rather believe in what I’m doing and be technically “wrong” than not believe in what I’m doing.

 

[Don Kasper]

Honestly? B natural. As a passing tone, but not a part of the chord.

Yes. Thank You. We are/were talking about the "...part(s) of the chord".
Honestly.

Honestly, I don’t have time to research this and it doesn’t really matter. I hear it the way I hear it, and I believe it’s always best to play it the way you hear it. I could be wrong, but I would rather believe in what I’m doing and be technically “wrong” than not believe in what I’m doing.

Nice. You should have this printed on a huge banner and hang it in your "Jazz Harmony" classroom!
I think I'm done here.
Thanks(?)

 

[Chris Fitzgerald]

Yes. Thank You. We are/were talking about the "...part(s) of the chord".
Honestly.

That’s fine. To clarify, then, I don’t hear either a B or a C in the chord as being an essential part of the chord, but when playing lines over that harmony, I hear a B rather than a C as the more organic note between the chord tones.

Nice. You should have this printed on a huge banner and hang it in your "Jazz Harmony" classroom!
I think I'm done here.
Thanks(?)

Actually, “Play what you hear, as evidenced by what you can sing in any given harmonic context” is exactly what I do teach in improvisation classes. Expanding what you are able to hear is a lifelong journey for all musicians, and one that never ends. But as with language, I feel it’s better to speak using the words we know and understand, while understanding that as our vocabulary increases, we will use different words once we really understand how to use them.