Chords for John Scofield harmony class

[G] _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
[Db] _ _ _ [G] Hi, in this video [D] we are going to put the [A] microscope on [Eb] a cool harmonic device that John [Em] Schofield used in his tune
Rule of Thumb [Cm] from his 1986 album [E] Still [Em] Warm. _ _
[G] _ _ _ There are three main components to the A section of this tune that we are going to look at closely.
_ _ 1.
The ostinato-ish melody.
2.
The chords that all feature G as the top note.
3.
The ascending chromatic bassline.
So now let's look at each component separately.
1.
The ostinato melody.
[B] _ [G] _ _
[C] _ _ _ [Db] _ _ _ _ [G] _
[C] _ _ _ [G] _ [Eb] _ _ _ _
[Em] _ _ _ _ [F] _ _ _ [Eb] _
[E] _ [G] _ [Em] _ _ [G] _ [B] This [G] melody uses mainly three notes, G, A [Em] and B.
[G] Sometimes we will hear an Eb [C] and a [D] D.
[A] But the core [E] of the melody [Eb] is these three notes which actually never become [Em] boring as
A.
They sound [A] and feel differently heard over each subsequent chord.
[E] And B.
[G] They are presented in such a funky, rhythmic way.
In fact, Schofield manages to make these notes sound fresh as they are never heard rhythmically in the same place.
Special point of interest.
These three notes [Gm] B, Bb and G [B] in G major.
[Gm] Major third, minor third and root.
[Em] _ _ [Eb] _ _ [G] _ _
[Gm] _ [G] The second and third components, the chord and bass, we will look at together.
_ _ _ _ [C] _ _ _
_ [Em] _ _ [Db] _ _ [C] _ _ _
_ [Eb] _ _ _ _ [Em] _ _ _
_ [F] _ _ _ _ [E] _ _ [Em] _
_ [G] _ _ So the top note of each and [C] every chord is G.
[Db] The bassline of each chord [C] changes, ascending the chromatic scale starting from B.
So the [Eb] function of this G melody [Em] changes with each subsequent chord.
[Cm] This combination of a static melody played against a [E] chromatically ascending [G] bass yields interesting chords.
_ G2 over B. _
[C] C6 add 9.
_ [Db] C sharp minor 7.
Flat 5.
[C] C over D.
C sharp [Eb] diminished over D sharp. _
[Em] E7 sharp 9.
_ [F] _ _ F9.
[E] F sharp [Em] 7 flat 9.
[G] G13. _ _
[Bm] Some of these chords are quite tense and unstable.
The whole thing is kind of knitted together by the sustained G top note of the chords and this ostinato-like melody.
[G] By the way, this idea is not new of the static [Ab] melody [Bm] and changing chords.
[Gm] A famous [Dm] example is the one note [Ab] samba.
[G] Here is the A section with all the bits together.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
[Db] _ _ _ [G] _ _ _ _ _
[Eb] _ _ _ _ [Em] _ _ _ _
[Cm] _ _ _ _ [E] _ [Em] _ _ _
[G] _ A great take away [C] exercise is to take a note and experiment harmonizing it with different chords.
Example 1, descending chromatic bassline. _
_ [Cm] _ _ _ [D] _ _ _ [C] _
_ _ _ [Ab] _ _ _ [F] _ _
[C] _ _ _ _ _ [Cm] _ _ _
[C] _ _ _ _ [Cm] _ _ _ _
[D] _ _ _ _ [Db] _ _ _ _
_ [C] _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ Example 2, can you guess which famous tune [Am] this is?
_ _ [D] _ _ _ [F] _
_ [C] _ _ _ _ _ _ [D] _
_ _ [F] _ _ _ [C] _ _ _
[F] _ _ _ [E] _ _ _ [Am] _ _
_ [D] _ _ _ [F] _ _ _ _
_ _ [C] _ [A] _ [F] _ _ [Ab] I hope this video has provided you with some food for thought.
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[Dbm] _ _ _ [Gb] _ _ _ [Bm] _ _ _ _ _