This little moment holds a key to at least three important intermediate concepts in jazz harmony. First you’ve got this rootless voicing, which is the shell of a G chord, and that’s also a poly chord. There’s an E major triad sitting on the top of it. And then it resolves to a C chord, a rootless C chord, built on perfect fourths. You put these concepts together, rootless voicings, shell voicings, poly chords, chord extensions and chordal harmony, and you have the cornerstone of contemporary jazz harmony. Put that under your fingers and share it with someone who belongs in a beat kitchen class. If you want to understand this vocabulary, better come to our workshop, spend the whole Saturday with me talking about it, and then spend the rest of the month coming to music, theory, gym, and office hours. It’s all included for about a hundred bucks, but it’s basically it. Until then, put this under your fingers and share it with someone who belongs in a beat kitchen class.
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