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Rootless chord question

AndyMania

AndyMania

Jan 3, 2010
195
2
46
Trenton, NJ
#1
I was watching this awesome Jeff Berlin tutorial where he demonstrated the Bb 12 bar blues using only 3rds and 7ths for every chord. It sounded awesome and it had a different melodic quality to it.

I tried to emulate it but couldnt figure out how he made it so cool with just 3rds and 7ths. Anyway, I went to mess around with a NO root concept in the key of C using a ii V I progression.

We know that:

iim7=D F A C
V7= G B D F
Imaj7= C E G B

WITHOUT the root we have:

iim7= F A C
V7= B D F
Imaj7=E G B

My question is: without the root, wouldn't the ii V I be
technically a IV vii iii?????

It sounds like the 3rd of each chord becomes the new root if we drop the original root............

Im trying to figure out how to use the other intervals on beat 1 instead of always using the root. I am currently working on Ed Friedland's "Creating Walking Basslines" but he uses the root on beat 1 always. I know later in the book he mentions using 3rds and 5ths on beat 1 but I am impatient and am asking ahead of time.
 
#5
AndyMania said:
I was watching this awesome Jeff Berlin tutorial where he demonstrated the Bb 12 bar blues using only 3rds and 7ths for every chord. It sounded awesome and it had a different melodic quality to it.

I tried to emulate it but couldnt figure out how he made it so cool with just 3rds and 7ths. Anyway, I went to mess around with a NO root concept in the key of C using a ii V I progression.

We know that:

iim7=D F A C
V7= G B D F
Imaj7= C E G B

WITHOUT the root we have:

iim7= F A C
V7= B D F
Imaj7=E G B

My question is: without the root, wouldn't the ii V I be
technically a IV vii iii?????

It sounds like the 3rd of each chord becomes the new root if we drop the original root............

Im trying to figure out how to use the other intervals on beat 1 instead of always using the root. I am currently working on Ed Friedland's "Creating Walking Basslines" but he uses the root on beat 1 always. I know later in the book he mentions using 3rds and 5ths on beat 1 but I am impatient and am asking ahead of time.
Click to expand...



this is great stuff ....it's standard intro to jazz type training. The reasoning is that in jazz the most important chord tones are the 3rd and 7th ....they call em "guidetones"

and you're right ....if know one is playing the root ...a ii V I seems like a IV V I ......a 2 5 1 is simply a bit more subtle sounding 4 5 1 anyway .....
 
#6
If you want to understand what your are talking about the 2 5 1 that you are showing is correct but usually in Jazz we add the 9th to the top to make a 4 note chord that gives the voicing a little cooler sound. You could try that.
 
#7
Here's a good music lesson on this topic: Link Removed

The general idea is instead of outlining each chord and using the root note on the first downbeat of the bar, you use chord inversions to set up a bassline that's more linear and less jumpy.

So for any given chord, you would either start off with the root, the 3rd, the 5th, or the 7th (if it's a 7th chord), and then fill in the spaces with notes that move through these roots in a cleaner, more linear fashion.

The lesson I linked gives some great audio examples that more clearly demonstrate what I've explained above, and the author goes into much more detail. It's a great lesson that demonstrates the very idea you're talking about.
 
#8
when I was going at piano, I picked up a left hand technique of root or reeot 5 and a right hand technique that always included the 3 and 7 -- most of the time starting on the 3 -- and came to the same conclusion. I could think of the right hand as a different set of chords above the left hand roots.

It turns out 'real' piano players have this down AND a lot of extended chords are thought of in this way and are notated as slash chords because it's a lot simpler.

I would suggest picking up Garry Willis'
http://www.amazon.com/Fingerboard-Harmony-Bass-Builders/dp/0793560438

He talks in there about playing above the root -- suitable for soloing
but also exercises of playing in one direction using chord tones of the given chords until one runs out of room within a fretboard range and then reversing (going down rather than up). It's possible to practice the same exercise avoiding the root (as the 7 is so close to the root)
It's not an esp easy book (and I'm sure my explanation is even worse) but I'm finding it very useful.
Starting out most books are going to emphasize playing the root on beat one to drill that idea home, but progressing from there it's possible to expand to a much more melodic/musical set of ideas by playing other chor tones on the 1. But it's a balancing act to continue to outline the harmony.
I think the bass player can add a certain ambiguity about the harmony now and then to add interest. By playing a lot of 3's and 7's it's possible to shift the harmony but stay true to outline.
emphasizing 6ths can add ambiguity in another way -- the old is it a f6: f a c d or dm7: d f a c and a lot of great bas players threw in a lot of 6ths
 
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#13
AndyMania said:
Sloop John: Thats a great site. I was wondering, what is a V6 chord? Its mentioned in that Beethoven piece...
Click to expand...

V6 is a chord inversion. Chord inversions are named after the interval of the notes above them. For example, a V chord in root position would be a V5/3, meaning you have the root, then the note a third above, followed by the note a fifth above. The V 6/3 chord is a chord in first inversion, which means you play the 3rd in the bass instead of the root, then the note a 3rd above (which ends up being the 5th) and then the note a 6th above (which ends up being the root). It is customary to shorten a 6/3 chord to 6, so you can just say V6.

The same website gives a more detailed explanation here: Link Removed

As he stated in the other lesson I posted, chord inversions can be a handy way to make the bass line move in a smoother pattern. For example, if you go from I to V and back to I, playing the root notes of each chord causes you to make this big leap up a 5th and then back down a 4th, which doesn't necessarily sound all that clean. But if you play the V with the 3rd in the root instead, then the bass line moves from the tonic down one half-step, and then back up one half-step, making for a smoother sounding transition.

For example, in the key of C major, going from I to V to I (Or Cmaj, Gmaj, Cmaj), if you play all chords in root position, the bass line moves from C to G to C. If you play the V chord in the first inversion, the 3rd note (B) goes in the bass instead of the G. Now your bass line goes C to B to C. It's a smaller movement and it sounds a bit smoother.

It's not necessary to play like this all the time, but some musicians do prefer these types of movements, and it's another way of thinking about playing bass which can be helpful for getting new ideas.
 
#15
What Sloop said. Here are other inversion symbols:

Triads

Root position - root in bass - no change. (Ex. I V vii° ii ii° iv IV... Leadsheet symbol is just chord name; E, A, Dm, Bm, C#°)
First inversion - third in bass - 6 (Ex. I6, i6, ii6, IV6, etc. Leadsheet would be like this: Eb/G, Fm/Ab)
Second inversion - fifth in bass - 6/4 (Ex. I6/4, V6/4, iii6/4. C/G, Cm/G, A/E, F#°/C)

Seventh Chords

Root position - root in bass - 7 (I also prefer to use '∆' for maj7)(I∆, V7, ii7. C7, Bb∆, Em7, G#°7, Eø7)
First inversion - third in bass - 6/5 (I6/5, V6/5, iv6/5. E7/G#, Dm7/F)
Second inversion - fifth in bass - 4/3 (III4/3, vi4/3. G∆/D, Eø7/Bb, A7/C#)
Third inversion - seventh in bass - 4/2 (iv4/2, V4/2. B∆/A#, Em7/D, Gb7/Fb)
 
#16
Also, keep in mind that this system of labeling breaks down very quickly once you start looking at more modern harmony. This stuff was meant to describe tertian harmony circa 1760-something. Of course, anybody that is knowledgeable in figured bass symbols has a wider vocabulary of chord types and voicings that they can quantify with those little numbers. However, it's not a big concern in my experience.
 
#17
Sloopy I had a light bulb moment. I noticed that chords played in root position sound jumpy and not as smooth. This was one of my main issues. I was messing around with inversions and I did notice my grooves had way more life to them. Bainbridge, in regards to seventh chord inversions, what does 4/3 and 4/2 exactly refer too?
 
#18
4/3: the root is a fourth above the bass note, and the seventh is a third above the bass note. Example, in the key of B major:

V4/3

A#
F#
E
C#

4/2: the third of the chord is a fourth above the bass note, and the root is a second above the bass note. Another example, key of B major:

V4/2

C#
A#
F#
E

The numbers aren't meant to specify the exact chord members, but rather "these intervals are above this note".
 

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