• How To Book House Concerts With Side Door (Review)Not only are house concerts fun to play, they can be quite lucrative. Side Door looks to bridge the gap between artist and host.

    Side Door is the latest company to tackle the house concert landscape and best positioned for healthy disruption.

  • Madison McFerrin Stays “Fiercely Independent” With Her Nontraditional TeamThis week on the New Music Business podcast, Ari is joined by the completely independent and incomparable neo-soul artist and producer, Madison McFerrin (recorded live at the Labelcoin x Roland House at SXSW last week).

    Ari Herstand is joined by the completely independent and incomparable neo-soul artist and producer, Madison McFerrin.

  • SXSW Is Worth It (If You Know How To Work It)I just got back from SXSW and true to SX form, I’m in need of some serious recovery. 

    This was my 8th year in a row at the festival (save for the two years during the pandemic that it didn’t happen) and, as always, it was a blast. An exhausting blast. But a blast no less. And it flew by too fast. 

    SXSW Is Worth It (If You Know How To Work It)

  • Bring more life to your mixes with dynamic panning.
    #Immersive #spatialaudio #Mixing #SoundParticles #webinar

    Everything needed to elevate your tracks and provide Dynamic Panning is included in the Spatial Music Bundle. Here’s your chance to see these plugins LIVE and in action – Join our YouTube Live Stream on March 23rd for a LIVE demonstration of Sound Particles’ Dynamic Panning Plugins.

  • The Ultimate Guide to Pentatonic Voicings for Jazz Pianists: An Interactive CourseIntroduction

    Pentatonic voicings are a valuable tool for jazz pianists and arrangers, as demonstrated by masters such as McCoy Tyner, Chick Corea, and Herbie Hancock. They provide a fresh perspective on voicings and can add depth and interest to your playing.

    In this interactive PDF course, Pentatonic Voicings by mDecks Music, you’ll learn how to build and practice these essential voicings, and add them to your playing arsenal. With step-by-step video lessons and exercises accompanied by backing tracks, you’ll gain the skills and confidence to incorporate these versatile voicings into your own playing.

    What are Pentatonic Voicings?

    Traditionally, we think of chords as being built by stacking thirds or fourths. While this is a tried and true method for building voicings, there’s another way to think about it. By using the minor pentatonic scale as a source scale and building voicings by skips, we can create a new type of voicing, known as pentatonic voicings.

    These voicings are unique and can add a fresh sound to your playing. By using pentatonic voicings, you’ll be able to create a new palette of sounds that you can draw from when playing jazz standards.

    How to Use this Book

    Pentatonic Voicings by mDecks Music is an interactive PDF course that contains video lessons and exercises with backing tracks. You can access all of the material from within the PDF. To view related videos, simply click on the QR codes provided.

    Start by watching the introductory videos where you’ll learn the theory behind pentatonic voicings, why they are useful, and how to approach them in this course.

    Demo Lesson from the Pentatonic Voicings course

    How the course is organized

    Substructure Studies

    In this section, you’ll learn the building blocks of pentatonic voicings. You’ll learn how to transform voicings and create exercises to help you internalize the concept. From quartals and 3rds to inversions of triads and more.

    Minor Pentatonic Voicings

    Next, you’ll dive into minor pentatonic voicings. You’ll learn how to build them and how to play them in various keys. You’ll also learn exercises to help you practice these voicings.

    Voicings Transformation Exercise

    Learn how to transform voicings to create new sounds. Voicing transformations will show you a path to new pentatonic scales, which are explored further later in the course.

    Mixolydian Exercise

    Here, you’ll learn how to build voicings using the mixolydian scale. This is the “McCoy Tyner Sound”.

    Demo Lesson from the Pentatonic Voicings course

    Other Pentatonic Source Scales

    In this section, you’ll learn how to build voicings using other pentatonic scales, which are transformations of the minor pentatonic, such as: the Minor Pentatonic b1, the Minor Pentatonic b5 and the Minor Pentatonic #1

    Diminished Voicings

    The pentatonic scale and its transformations do not offer a good set of voicings for diminished chords. In this section, you’ll learn how to build diminished voicings that match the style of the pentatonic voicings.

    Cadences

    The book also includes a section on cadences, which are an essential part of any jazz musician’s vocabulary. Cadences are the musical phrases that signal the end of a section or the end of a tune. In this section, you’ll learn how to use pentatonic voicings to create effective cadences that will add depth and interest to your playing.

    Upper Structures & Top-note Charts

    One of the most powerful techniques used by jazz musicians is the concept of upper structures. This is a way of creating complex and interesting harmonies by layering one chord on top of another. In this section, you’ll learn how to use pentatonic voicings as upper structures, and how to read the top-note charts that will help you quickly find and play these voicings in any key.

    Piano Arrangements

    The book also includes several piano arrangements of classic jazz tunes, including “Here’s That Rainy Day,” “When I Fall in Love,” and “I’ll Remember Clifford.” These arrangements are designed to showcase the pentatonic voicings you’ve learned throughout the course, and will help you integrate them into your playing in a practical way.

    Comping Etude

    Finally, the book concludes with a comping etude that will allow you to practice all of the techniques you’ve learned in a musical context. The etude features a simple chord progression, and will give you the opportunity to experiment with different pentatonic voicings and explore their musical possibilities.

    Conclusion

    If you’re looking for a comprehensive guide to pentatonic voicings, this book/course from mDecks Music is an excellent resource. With detailed explanations, clear demonstrations, and practical exercises, you’ll learn how to build and use these voicings in a variety of musical contexts. Whether you’re a beginner or an experienced jazz musician, this course will help you take your playing to the next level. So why wait? Visit mDecks.com and start exploring the world of pentatonic voicings today!

  • 7-Step Exercise to Improve Your Bebop Skills: Learning Charlie Parker’s “Confirmation”Are you a jazz musician looking to improve your improvisation skills and develop your bebop techniques? If so, learning Charlie Parker’s “Confirmation” is a great place to start. In this blog post, we’ll take you through a 7-step exercise that will help you achieve these goals.

    We’ve created an entire video with slow and fast versions of each step so you can play along. We’ve also included two backing tracks (slow & fast) for you to practice. The complete PDF is available on the mDecks Music Youtube Channel on their “Exclusive Access” membership tab. They have amazing content with hundreds of lessons like this one. You can join here: Join mDecks “Exclusive Access”

    Charlie Parker’s Confirmation 7-Step Exercise explained step-by-step

    Let’s take a look at the 7-step exercise outlined in the video:

    Step 1 and 2 involve playing the broken chords up in root position and inversions, respectively, focusing on target notes. These exercises help you gain a solid understanding of the chord structure of the tune, which is essential for improvisation.

    Step 1: Broken chords up in root position Begin by playing the basic chords of the tune in root position, but instead of playing them all at once, play them one note at a time. This is known as playing broken chords.

    Step 2: Broken chord up in inversions (think of target notes) Next, play the broken chords in inversions, and focus on hitting target notes as you play each chord.

    Step 3 and 4 help you build speed and agility by playing the broken chords in ascending and descending order. These exercises help you gain dexterity in your fingers and become more comfortable moving around the chords.

    Step 3: Up then down Play the broken chords in ascending order, then descend back down the chords in the same order.

    Step 4: Down then up Now, do the opposite of step 3. Descend the chords, and then ascend back up in the same order.

    Step 5 is all about playing the notes in an angular and broken pattern, focusing on key target notes. This step helps you break away from the strict chord structure and adds an interesting element to your playing.

    Step 6 is where you add chromaticism to your playing. You’ll approach the first note of the chord from one half-step below, giving your playing a more sophisticated sound.

    Step 7 is the most advanced step, where you add enclosures to your playing. By trapping a note with notes above and below before resolving to the target note, you’ll create a more complex sound. You’ll also learn how to anticipate the enclosure by adding both diatonic and chromatic notes.

    Once you’ve completed all seven steps, it’s time to practice “free play,” where you can take the skills you’ve learned and improvise over the tune in your unique way.

    By following this 7-step exercise, you’ll improve your bebop skills and get closer to the sound of Charlie Parker. This exercise is an excellent way to develop your jazz musicianship and improvisation skills, and is a fundamental part of any jazz education. So grab your instrument and start practicing!

    If you’re looking for a great book with a collection of bebop lines in all keys, backing tracks and a more advanced approach, check out Bebop Lines You Should Know.

    This book is an essential guide for anyone who wants to master bebop improvisation. It covers everything from basic to advanced concepts like Chromatic Approaches, Enclosures, Scale Combinations, Lick Transformations, and Beat Targeting.The book also includes a collection of bebop lines from legendary artists like Bud Powell, Kenny Barron, Wynton Kelly, and Bill Evans, along with play-along backing tracks, video lessons, and a Mapping Tonal Harmony Pro XML file with progressions from the bebop lines.

  • Sync and licensing explained by the agents.
    #MusicBusiness #Synchronization #Licensing #Music #Authors #Musicians

  • Explaining Sync Licensing From the AgentsEstablished in 2002, Blue Buddha Entertainment is a boutique music licensing firm.

    Established in 2002, Blue Buddha Entertainment is a boutique music licensing firm.

  • Best Online Jazz Piano Lessons in 2023Learning jazz piano can be a daunting task, but with the right guidance and resources, it can be an incredibly rewarding experience. While traditional jazz piano lessons with a private instructor can be helpful, they can also be expensive and time-consuming. Fortunately, there are now many excellent online jazz piano lesson programs available that offer the convenience and flexibility that many people need. One of the best online jazz piano lesson programs available in 2023 is MDecks.com.

    MDecks.com is a comprehensive online music education platform that offers a wide range of apps, courses, books, and resources for jazz pianists of all levels. Their jazz piano books are especially noteworthy, as they cover a wide range of topics and provide clear and concise explanations of jazz theory and technique.

    Also, mDecks Music uses an interactive PDF format that allows the user to watch video lessons and interact with the material all within the pdf (even the paperback versions of the books offer qr-codes to access linked material on every page of the books)

    One of the standout jazz piano books from MDecks.com isEssential Voicings For Jazz Piano Vol.1 & 2

    This comprehensive guide covers everything you need to know about 4-note rootless voicings, essential for all jazz piano players. The book is written by Ariel J. Ramos and presented by Adam Turano, both renowned jazz pianist and educator, and is designed to be accessible to students of all levels. The course offers amazing workouts to master 4-note rootless voicings in every key, and also complete jazz standards solos using 4-note rootless voicings on the left hand.

    Another excellent jazz piano book from MDecks.com isAdvanced Piano Tricks Vol.1

    This book covers a range of topics, including jazz theory, chord voicings, improvisation, and more. The book is designed to be a comprehensive guide for jazz pianists of all levels, from beginners to advanced players. A clear example of how good this course is, is in the following demo of Yesterday by The Beatles, which was arranged using quite a few techniques taught in this course.

    For Advanced Players looking for modern jazz voicings you should check outPentatonic Voicings Course

    Pentatonic voicings is an interactive piano course that aims to help students improve their comping and arranging skills by mastering essential voicings of the standard jazz vocabulary.The course offers comprehensive lessons, exercises, and backing tracks, providing a complete, step-by-step guide to pentatonic voicings. Students will learn the theory behind pentatonic voicings and how to build, practice, and add them to their repertoire. The course also includes piano arrangements and transformation studies to help students bring their pentatonic voicings to life. The course is designed to be viewed on any device and includes QR codes to access the accompanying videos with ease. Unlock the Power of Pentatonic Voicings with this amazing piano course.

    In addition to these, MDecks.com also offers a wide range of courses and resources to help jazz pianists improve their skills. Some of their courses, books & apps include:

    The Music Theory Journal: A comprehensive journal that covers a wide range of topics and techniques in music theory and practice. With a new volume published every two months, it offers video lessons from the mDecks Music YouTube channel, accompanied by supplementary materials to study and practice.The journal explores tonal harmony, scales and modes, jazz harmony, innovative piano tricks and techniques, chord symbol knowledge, songwriting techniques, and advanced harmony concepts. It also provides insights into reharmonization techniques and offers a wealth of resources for anyone looking to deepen their understanding of music theory and expand their musical horizons.

    Bebop Lines You Should Know: This book is an essential guide for anyone who wants to master bebop improvisation. It covers everything from basic to advanced concepts like Chromatic Approaches, Enclosures, Scale Combinations, Lick Transformations, and Beat Targeting. The book also includes a collection of bebop lines from legendary artists like Bud Powell, Kenny Barron, Wynton Kelly, and Bill Evans, along with play-along backing tracks, video lessons, and a Mapping Tonal Harmony Pro XML file with progressions from the bebop lines. Whether you’re a beginner or an experienced musician, this book is an indispensable tool for mastering bebop improvisation.

    Upper Structures for Piano Voicings & Improvisation Vol.1&2: The Upper Structures for Piano Voicings & Improvisation course is a comprehensive guide for pianists who want to take their skills to the next level.The course includes two volumes of interactive PDFs, video lessons, and challenges, along with complete song charts of well-known jazz standards. Taught with the help of comic strips, the course covers upper structure triads, perfect and altered quartals, and chord building with colors. This course is designed for all levels of players and offers a complete practice method for voicings using Upper Structures.

    Mapping Tonal Harmony Pro App: If you’re looking to master tonal harmony, Mapping Tonal Harmony Pro is the app you need! With a vast library of backing tracks, chord progressions, and exercises, our comprehensive app is designed to assist musicians of all levels in understanding and exploring the complex world of tonal harmony. Featuring an interactive chord and scale map, advanced analysis tools, and customizable practice modes, our app is the ultimate tool for musicians looking to take their skills to the next level. Download Mapping Tonal Harmony Pro today and start exploring the fascinating world of tonal harmony like never before!

    The Jazz Standards Progressions Book Collection: The Jazz Standards Progressions Book Collection is a comprehensive resource for jazz enthusiasts looking to improve their skills. It includes 64 volumes and over 29,973 pages in PDF format, with chord progressions fully analyzed for over 1300 jazz standards.Unlike traditional fake-books, the collection provides chord-by-chord analysis with chord symbols, functions, chord-scales, and arrows and brackets analysis. The harmonic analysis was created by well-versed jazz musicians and includes an XML file for each jazz standard that can be imported into Mapping Tonal Harmony Pro to study each progression in-depth. The collection is available in PDF format and paperback for Concert, Eb, and Bb instruments and also includes a re-harmonized version of each volume.This is an essential resource for anyone looking to deepen their knowledge and understanding of jazz standards.

    Overall, MDecks.com is one of the best online jazz piano lesson programs available in 2023. With a comprehensive range of books, courses, and resources, it is an excellent choice for anyone looking to learn or improve their jazz piano skills. And we cannot leave without mentioning their mDecks Music Youtube Channel, which is an amazing source of materials for musicians of all levels and tastes.Whether you are a beginner or an advanced player, MDecks.com can help you achieve your goals and become a better jazz pianist.

  • This is the true #music and #MusicIndustry #decentralization era.

  • We add even more valuable information, podcasts and blogs. Now from Ari's Take who wrote really good book about #MusicBusiness and #Education. Find more by the link below.
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  • Learning Jazz Harmony the Berklee Way: Deconstructing ‘Misty’ – Part 2Introduction: In this lesson, we will be discussing the harmony of the jazz standard “Misty” and applying some new techniques to “There Will Never Be Another You”. This post is a follow-up to a previous video by mDecks Music, so make sure to watch Part One first if you haven’t already.

    Learning Jazz Harmony the Berklee Way: Deconstructing ‘Misty’ – Part 1

    We will cover the 2-5-1 progression and its extension, the 1-6-2-5, and how they are used in “Misty”. We will also explore a variation of the 3-6-2-5 progression in “Misty” using secondary dominance that tonicizes the ii.

    Here’s a summary of the lesson:

    Section 1: The 2-5-1 Progression in “Misty”

    Definition of the 2-5-1 progression

    How it is used in “Misty”

    Examples of the 2-5-1 in “Misty”

    Explanation of the bracket and arrow notation used to find ii-V-Is

    Section 2: The 1-6-2-5 Progression in “Misty”

    Definition of the 1-6-2-5 progression

    How it is an extension of the 2-5-1

    Examples of the 1-6-2-5 in “Misty”

    Explanation of the chord progression in the key of C and Eb major

    Section 3: Variation of the 3-6-2-5 Progression in “Misty”

    Definition of the 3-6-2-5 progression

    Explanation of the variation in “Misty” using secondary dominance

    Analysis of the Gm7 chord in measures 7 and 8

    Explanation of the ii/ii – V/ii – ii – V progression

    Section 4: The Back-door Progression applied to “There Will Never Be Another You”

    Conclusion: In conclusion, the harmony of “Misty” demonstrates the importance of the 2-5-1 and 1-6-2-5 progressions in jazz music. The variation of the 3-6-2-5 in “Misty” using secondary dominance shows the versatility and creativity of jazz musicians. By applying these techniques to “There Will Never Be Another You”, we can see how they can be used in different contexts and expand our understanding of jazz harmony.

    For more jazz tutorials like this one check our mDecks Music YouTube Channel and visit mDecks.com

  • Learning Jazz Harmony the Berklee Way: Deconstructing ‘Misty’ – Part 1If you’re a songwriter or a musician, you may have come across the term “harmony” before. But do you know what it means? Harmony is the simultaneous sounding of two or more notes, creating chords that give a sense of structure and tonality to a piece of music. In jazz, harmony is the best tool that we have for songwriting, yet it’s often neglected by many songwriters and musicians. In this blog post, we’ll explore jazz harmony and how you can use it to play, improvise, arrange or even write music.

    To start, let’s take a look at the harmony in the jazz standard “Misty”. The song is in the key of Eb major, and the first chord is an Imaj7 (Ebmaj7). The next chord is a IVmaj7 (Abmaj7), which is a target chord approached by way of its 2-5. This is where the Berklee College of Music’s method of harmonic analysis comes in handy, using arrows and brackets to show the progression harmonically, without any chord symbols.

    By studying the harmony of “Misty” from this perspective, we can clearly see that this is a secondary 2-5-1, where the target is not the I of the key. Instead, the ii/IV and the V7/IV are called secondary functions, because they target a primary function. The ii prepares the target by positioning the listener in the subdominant of that target, which then goes to the V in the dominant region which in turn, desperately wants to resolve to the target.

    An important aspect of the 2-5-1 is that harmony follows the expected path of resolution towards a target. The ii chord prepares the target by positioning the listener in the subdominant of that target, which then goes to the V in the dominant region which in turn, desperately wants to resolve to the target. Also, the 2-5-1 creates the strongest bass movement of two consecutive perfect fifths.

    Using this method of contextual deduction, we can work our way backwards from the target to determine the 2-5-1 progression. For example, in the case of Eb, the ii is Fm7, which would make our progression Gm7 to C7 to Fm7. If the target is the I (Eb), we would have Fm7 Bb7 to Eb, a primary 2-5-1.

    Throughout “Misty”, we can see several 2-5-1 progressions using this method of analysis. It’s essential to consider the target when dealing with harmony, and always work backwards from there.

    The 2-5-1 progression is crucial to understanding and playing jazz. It creates tension and release, and adds a sense of movement and resolution to a piece of music. By studying the harmony of great jazz standards like “Misty”, you can learn a bunch of new concepts that you can apply to your own process.

    In conclusion, harmony is the best tool that we have for songwriting, and it’s important to study and understand it to become a better musician. By using the Berklee method of harmonic analysis, we can learn how to look at the progression harmonically, and study the different techniques used in jazz music. Whether you’re playing, improvising, arranging, or writing music, understanding jazz harmony can help you take your music to the next level.

    If you want a workbook with harmony worksheets containing more than 1300 Jazz Standards to study and work on, check out The Ultimate Jazz Harmony Workbooks Bundle by mDecks Music

    And if you want all Jazz Standards fully analyzed (with chord symbols, chord-scales, and arrows & brackets) check out The Jazz Standards Progressions Book by mDecks Music

    If you want to learn more about the harmony in ‘Misty’ you can check out part 2: Learning Jazz Harmony the Berklee Way: Deconstructing ‘Misty’ – Part 2

  • Unlocking the Magic of Jobim’s Harmony: A Step-by-Step Guide to ‘The Girl From Ipanema’ Jazz Harmony LessonWelcome to this jazz tutorial on Jobim’s timeless classic, The Girl From Ipanema. Let’s take a closer look at the intricate harmony of this song.

    In this video we’ll see how Jobim’s use of out-of-the-ordinary dominant chords is simply brilliant. It’s no wonder why Jobim is known for pushing the boundaries of traditional harmony, always keeping us on our toes with unexpected but stunning chord progressions. No matter how much you think you know about jazz harmony, Jobim’s genius will continue to challenge and inspire you.

    And stick around until the end of the video where I’ll show you how to download a pdf for today’s lesson.

    In this video, we’re going to explore the unconventional chord progressions and clever pivots that make Jobim’s composition a true masterpiece. So get your ears ready and your mind open, because we’re about to reveal the brilliance of one of the greatest composers of all time.

    So, what makes “The Girl From Ipanema” so special? Well, let me tell you, it’s all about Jobim’s interesting use of dominant chords! Dominant chords are usually used as primary or secondary V7 chords, but Jobim switches it up by avoiding these functions most of the time. Even when he does use them in the progression, he adds his own unique twist to keep things interesting.

    Let’s take a look at measure 6. If you listen closely, you’ll notice that the chord progression is a reharmonization of a typical 2-5-1 progression. But instead of using the V7 (C7), Jobim gets creative and replaces it with the subV7 (Gb7b5), giving us a 2-sub5-1 path. Here’s where it gets even more interesting: normally, the subV7 is paired with the lydianb7 scale, creating a 7#11 chord. However, Jobim turns the #11 into a b5, making it a chord tone, and eliminating the natural 5 altogether. This little trick adds a unique flavor to the progression and sheds light on Jobim’s treatment of dominant chords.

    At first glance, the G7 in measure 3 might seem like a V7/V chord. In fact, the V7/V is a great chord to use when targeting a 2-5 progression, which is just a V chord that’s been embellished with an interpolated ii chord.

    Let’s take the example of the key of F major. The C7 chord is the V7, and we can target it with its V chord, which is G7. This tonicizes the V7 chord, which then resolves to the I chord, which is Fmaj7. This gives us a standard and effective progression: I – V7/V – V7 – I.

    Now, if we interpolate the related ii before the V7, we get Fmaj7 – G7 – Gm7 – C7 – Fmaj7. This turns the progression into a Imaj7 – V7/V – iim7 – V7 – Imaj7.

    But here’s where things get interesting. In “The Girl From Ipanema”, the G7 chord sounds much better when paired with the Lydianb7 scale, turning the G7 into a G7#11. This is a dominant chord with a #11, and thus turns the G7 into a II7 chord. And yes, the II7 is a real function!

    This II7 chord is very closely related to the V7/V, but it’s a 7#11 chord. You’ll find this chord in many jazz standards, like in “Take The A Train”, and also “Desafinado” (another Jobim song).

    So, the path Imaj7 – V7/V – iim7 – V7 – Imaj7 turns into a Imaj7 – II7#11 – iim7 – V7 – Imaj7. And if you listen to great jazz players, you’ll hear how they use a C# in their lines (the #11 of G7) when they improvise over that G7 chord.

    But, as we said before, Jobim takes it one step further and reharmonizes the V7 (C7) chord with the subV7 (Gb7), and reinterprets the #11 as the b5 turning the Gb7 into a Gb7b5. This reharmonization turns this: (Imaj7 – II7#11 – iim7 – V7 – Imaj7) and turns it into this: (Imaj7 – II7#11 – iim7 – subV7b5 – Imaj7.)

    This is a testament to Jobim’s genius and creativity, as he was able to take a common chord progression and completely transform it into something unique and beautiful.

    But things get really interesting in the B section when we analyze the dominant chords B7, D7, and Eb7. At first glance, they seem to not follow any pattern at all, but a clue is hidden in the melody. When we look at the roots of these dominant chords, we see a modulation pattern of a minor 3rd up and then a half-step up, which is exactly the modulation pattern in the melody.

    But what’s the function of these dominant chords? And where’s the tonic? The trick is to understand dominant chords as Jobim does. They’re not primary or secondary dominant chords, but rather bVII7 chords borrowed from the minor mode. The bVII7 is a great modal interchange chord that’s usually preceded by the iv minor chord, targeting the I chord in a progression known as the backdoor progression.  In fact, we could just replace the V7 chord with the bVII7 in a 2-5 progression if we wanted to, and that’s exactly what Jobim is doing. We actually have a whole video dedicated to the bVII7 chord so be sure to check that out after you finish watching this.

    So, if we consider these three dominant chords in the B section as bVII7 chords, then they should all be paired with the lydianb7 scale, becoming 7#11 chords. By reharmonizing the Gbmaj7 in the first measure of the B section with an Ebm7 dorian, we now have an entire sequence of iim7 to bVII7 chords. Ebm7 to B7#11 is a ii – bVII7 in the key of Db. Modulating a minor third up gets us to F#m7 to D7#11, also a ii – bVII7, but now in the key of E. And if we modulate again, a half-step up, we get Gm7 to Eb7, which is also a ii – bVII7, only back in the original key of F major.

    All these dominant chords are functioning as bVII7’s, and the first chords are iim7’s. We just need to reharmonize the first ii in Db major with a Gbmaj7. Don’t forget that the Gbmaj7 is the IV in the key of Db. And the IV chord is a very common reharmonization of the ii chord, both of them belonging to the subdominant region.

    Once we understand this interpretation of the harmony, we can see how creative and tricky Jobim is at harmonization. The Gbmaj7 chord throws everyone off at first, because it seems like a modulation a half-step up, but in reality, it’s the IV chord in the key of Db and is actually functioning as a lydian chord.

    So, the actual modulation is from F major to Db major, a major 3rd down. And Jobim gets back to the original key by modulating first a minor third up and then a half-step up. When we look at this sequence in the map, it becomes obvious what’s going on in the B section. The harmonic movement is exactly the same in all three iterations of the sequence, from the subdominant to the dominant but never resolving to the Imaj7 of the current key. It’s simply genius!

    So there you have it, the genius behind Antonio Carlos Jobim’s harmonic progressions. If you’re fascinated by the intricate details of harmony in music and want to explore it further, I highly recommend getting the Mapping Tonal Harmony Pro app, available for Mac, iPhone & iPad. With its comprehensive features and tools, you can dive deep into the world of tonal harmony and analyze any piece of music you want. So why not give it a try and see where your musical curiosity takes you?

  • Mapping Tonal Harmony Pro VideosIn this playlist we show a bunch of tutorials and demos using Mapping Tonal Harmony Pro

    you can learn more about Mapping Tonal Harmony Pro here: Mapping Tonal Harmony Pro Official Website