Two chords per Measure

Craig Bumgarner

Playing two chords to per measure seems to be common modern gypsy jazz. Are there any guidelines for this? Two things I've observed is often the second chord is just a different voicing or a sub for the first chord. Other times it is a way to acentuate the transision between two different chords of the harmony, say throough the bass line. Are there guidelines that allow this to be worked out on the fly?

Craig

Jack

Hi Craig,

It seems like you mean playing two chords where maybe a chart only lists one? An easy example is from Minor Swing:

Chart:
Am |Am |
You could play:
Am Bdim| Am/C C#dim|

Or for a slightly different example, from Swing Gitan, you'll often hear a bar of Cm or Cm6 before a bar of D7 in measures 5 and 6. The first example illustrates the use of passing chords and inversions, while the second is about extending the harmonic sequence (the Cm6 is aka Am7b5, which means you're just playing a ii-V-i in Gm for Swing Gitan). This one isn't two to the bar, but it could be in another situation.

There are certain underlying ideas to it all (to my mind)-really know your inversions and different fingerings above all, and keep a keen ear tuned to how one chord leads to another. A final for instance in that regard-I was working on a waltz recently and had originally had a few bars of F#7 leading back to a tonic Bm. Replacing the last bar of F#7 with F#9/Bb:

--
-2
-1
-2
-1
-
helped create a nice sense of return going to the Bm.

Anyway, I know it's a big subject, but I hope that helps a bit. Once you really get into it, the 'on the fly' part will become second nature.

Best,
Jack.

Bob Holo

The Cosimini books go into this concept on a few songs. In many places he shows a more traditional method with an alternate line demonstrating a more modern method. Two of the things Cosimini likes to hilight are the gypsy style turnarounds and the two chord per measure thing.

You'll hear people from time to time say that "The Nolan chords and the Cosimini chords don't work togehter." Well... I have all of Cosimini's stuff and all of Nolan's stuff and I've stumbled through learning both ways on a lot of songs and I'm not sure that I agree that the basic chords don't go together (sure on one or two songs I guess that's the case) but mostly what clashes is that slightly different turnarounds and chord movements are happening simultaneously and so things sound crowded because they're pursuing resolution differently. I'm not a theory guy... can't tell you more than that... but if you want a few examples of the 2 per measure... you can find them in the Cosimini. I was reading some tunes out of #3 (the purple one) tonight so I know there are a few in there.

Jack

Actually, having both books side by side is a GREAT way to learn more about this subject. The Nolan books are often bare-bones simple changes, while the Cosimini doesn't always show you the basic harmony (without all the subs/chord motion); side by side you can look at a more complex Cosimini progression and by comparing it to the same measures in the Nolan book you can figure out why the Cosimini changes work. That was a big help for me (it does help if you're a little bit of a theory geek.)

Best,
Jack.

badjazz

I've come at this slightly differently, but I find that information on the style of Freddie Green can be very helpful in learning how to connect different inversions together to get some movement without changing the fundamental harmonization of the lines.

Jack

badjazz wrote:

I've come at this slightly differently, but I find that information on the style of Freddie Green can be very helpful in learning how to connect different inversions together to get some movement without changing the fundamental harmonization of the lines.

Yeah, before I got into gypsy jazz I played a lot of Freddie style rhythm. It's definitely easier to learn with the three note forms so often used in that style...the only trouble might be learning that way and then trying to adapt to the fuller chords used in this style. In the end, though, I think it's great to know as many ways of playing as you you can!

Best,
Jack.