Inmusic,harmonization is the chordalaccompaniment to aline ormelody: "Using chords and melodies together, makingharmony by stacking scale tones as triads".[2]
Aharmonized scale can be created by using each note of amusical scale as aroot note for achord and then by taking othertones within the scale building the rest of a chord.[3]
For example, using anIonian (major scale)
Using theminor (aeolian mode) one would have:
Reharmonization is the technique of taking an existingmelodic line and altering theharmony that accompanies it. Typically, a melody is reharmonized to provide musical interest or variety. Another common use of reharmonization is to introduce a new section in the music, such as acoda orbridge.
A melodic tone can often be harmonized in a variety of different ways. For example, an E might be harmonized with an E major chord (E – G♯ – B). In this case, the melodic tone is acting as the root of the chord. That same E might be harmonized with a C major chord (C – E – G), making it the third of the chord. This concept extends to ninths (E would act as the 9th if harmonized with a Dm7 chord – D – F – A – C – E),♯fifths (E would act as♯5 on an A♭ augmented chord – A♭ – C – E), and a wide array of other options.
Typically however, reharmonizations involve not just a single melody note, but a melodic line. As a result, there are often several melodic tones which might occur over a harmony, and all of these must be considered when reharmonizing.
For example, if a melody composed of E♭ – F and G was originally harmonized with E♭maj7, choosing D7 as the reharmonization chord might not be the best choice, since each melodic tone would create semitone or minor 9th dissonance with chord members of the supporting harmony. Experienced arrangers might decide to use these kinds of highly dissonant chords when reharmonizing, however handling this dissonance requires a good ear and a deep understanding of harmony.
In jazz, the term is typically used to refer to the process of reharmonizing some or all of a tune, whereby an existing melody is refitted with a new chord progression. Jazz musicians often take the melody from a well-knownstandard and alter the changes to make the tune sound more contemporary or progressive.Art Tatum was a pioneer of reharmonization, and later onJohn Coltrane,Miles Davis andBill Evans were among the first to seriously explore its possibilities, and since then the technique has become an essential tool for the jazz musician and jazz arranger.
One of the most common techniques in jazz reharmonization is the use of substitute chords, through a technique known astritone substitution. In tritone substitution, adominant chord is replaced by another dominant chord atritone above itstonic. This technique is based on the fact that the third and seventh degrees of a dominant chord are enharmonically the same as the seventh and third degrees of the dominant chord a tritone away. For example, B and F, the third and seventh of a G7 chord, areenharmonic equivalents of C♭ and F, the seventh and third of a D♭7 chord. Since the tritone is a distinguishing feature of the sound of a dominant 7th chord,[5] a D♭7 chord may thus replace G7.
Tritone substitution works very well onstandards, because the chord progressions typically utilize the II – V–I progression and thecircle of fifths. For example, a jazz standard using a chord progression of Dm7 – G7 – Cmaj7 could easily be reharmonized to Dm7 – D♭7 – Cmaj7, (G7 is replaced with the dominant 7th chord a tritone away, D♭7). The new progression has a more contemporary sound, withchromatic bass motion and smoothvoice leading in the upper parts.
Tritone substitution is also possible withmajor seventh chords, for example Dm7 – G7 – Cmaj7 could become Dm7 – D♭maj7 – Cmaj7.Thad Jones sometimes uses this type of substitution in hisbig band writing.[6]
As opposed to the classical approach to tonal harmony, in jazz there are only three functions:tonic,subdominant anddominant. Therefore, chords can also be substituted for congruent functions: for example, the second degree can be substituted for the fourth degree, the tonic can be substituted for the sixth/third degree and so on. The fourth degree in major may be substituted for a seventh chord to create a "bluesy" sound. In a progression going up a fourth, if the first chord is a minor seventh chord, it can also be substituted for a seventh chord; a relative second degree can also be added before it to create aii–V–I turnaround. (A sole minor seventh or seventh chord can be perceived as a second degree or its dominant quality substitution, in which case a fifth may follow.) In the same progression, chord qualities are sometimes flexible: the♭IImaj7 chord mentioned in the previous paragraph may get a preceding♭VImaj7 chord instead of the relative II or its tritone substitution.
Combining the above techniques, the following progression:
C | Am7 | Dm7 | G7 | C ||
can turn into
E7 A7 | Bbm7 Eb7 | D7 F7 | Abmaj7 Dbmaj7 | C ||
Planing is a reharmonization technique used by both improvisers and arrangers. It refers to the technique of sliding a chord (or chord tone) up or down, either chromatically or atritone apart, maintaining the shape and voicing of the chord, at times resolving to the original chord. For example, F7 (F – A – C – E♭) could slide up to become G♭7 (G♭ - B♭ - D♭ - F♭), thus "planing" each note up a semitone. The planed chords can be further embellished: for example, if a D major is planed down a semitone, a minor seventh can be added to the resulting chord, C♯; as adominant chord assumed to be the fifth degree of the momentarilytonicized F♯ major, it can have a second degree added to it, thus creating an incompleteii-V-I turnaround which may or may not resolve to the original chord: G♯m7 C♯7 | (D)
Planing is often used by jazz arrangers to reharmonize melodic passing tones which, if voiced as a vertical sonority, might clash with the prevailing harmony in the progression. As well, a number of improvisers have used planing effectively, typically as part of a progression.Herbie Hancock uses improvised planing on his tune "Chameleon", on his 1973Head Hunters record;McCoy Tyner uses it extensively (specifically,pentatonic scales located a tritone apart) in his recordings withJohn Coltrane, most notably "A Love Supreme", as well as in his own albums of the same period.
A concept introduced byJoseph Schillinger andNicolas Slonimsky, the idea of multipletonics derived from equal division of theoctave appealed toJohn Coltrane, who proceeded to compose the groundbreaking tune "Giant Steps". The composition features a series ofdominant chords andii-V-I turnarounds resolving to threetonalities built on the Baugmented triad (the three-tonic system):
B D7 |G Bb7 |Eb | Am7 D7 |G Bb7 |Eb Gb7 |Cb | Fm7 Bb7 |Eb | Am7 D7 |G | C#m7 F#7 |B | E#m7 A#7 |D# | C#m7 F#7 || (B)
The harmonic structure of Giant Steps was unfamiliar territory for many jazz musicians at the time, includingTommy Flanagan, the pianist on the original 1959 recording. The relative minimalism of his solo on the tune (compared with the density of Coltrane's) is considered by many to be an indication that he was not yet comfortable improvising on such a structure, even given his extensive experience within the jazz idiom. Developing the technique further, Coltrane started utilizing the three-tonic system (and later, the four-tonic system as well, which is based on tonics derived from adiminished seventh chord) as a reharmonization tool, which has ultimately become known as "Coltrane changes".[7] In this example from "Countdown" (which is really a "Coltrane changes" version of "Tune Up", the well-knownjazz standard composed byMiles Davis), the long ii-V-I in the key of D major is laced with V-I progressions that resolve to the three tonics of the D augmented triad:
Em7 |A7 |D |D |
Em7 F7 |Bb Db7 |GbA7 |D |
This kind of reharmonization mostly requires alteration of the original melody because of the frequentmodulations[citation needed] and therefore, becomes "reharmonization of thechanges" rather than the classic concept of re-harmonizing the melody.
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