Theory- Chord Substitutions

Jon

One more thing is that the altered chord is commonly expressed as one, or sometimes several, upper structures (new chords from a different root, usually a triad, played over the top of the existing chord in the chart). For example, in gypsy jazz - and bossa nova incidentally - it is very common to play a minor triad or a minor 6/9 chord a half step up from the dominant chord you are playing to get an altered sound. So for an E7, you might play an F minor arpeggio, or some variation of it, giving you a b9, 3, and #5 over the chord. This is something even more traditional gypsy jazz musicians do, and is not going to freak anyone out. It's a pretty safe sound to start experimenting with.

One good example is to play the "cry me a river" lick, outlining a m9 chord - so for instance Cm9 - the notes (starting on the high E string, D,C,G,Eb,D,C, will sound great over a B7 chord (you'd probably call the Eb a D# in this situation, and you'll get, in order, #9,b9,5,3,#9,b9). Tchavolo does it (in a few variations also), Joao Gilberto does it. Django did it

A Gent

Bones wrote: »

Hey Wim, can you think of a recording where this lick is played so I can listen to it in the context of a song?

Thanks

It's not the same lick, but at 1:18 Adrien uses a simpler version of this idea in more or less the same position - in this case an F minor shape over E7. Then, just to be awkward, he moves it up a minor third.

Lango-Django

The "cry me a river lick" ^:)^

wim

just was watching a video in another thread here

http://www.djangobooks.com/forum/discussion/13830/looks-like-the-gypsy-boy-band-is-happening

and quinn throws the lick in at about 1:12