Theory & Impro Chords and guideline pitches

[o_c_v_]

My wife, a late starter on flute, bought the ABRSM grade 1 jazz flute book. On the first tune, Minor Swing, the first chord is given as Em69 which we worked out as E,G,B,C#,D,F#. The guide pitches given For that chord and the next, which is Am7, are E,G,Bb, A. The Bb doesn't appear in either chord. Can anyone explain, please?
Am I missing something obvious? The Bb sound "wrong" to her,and me, when played with the backing track . There are other tunes in the book which also have guide pitches which don't seem to correspond with the chords.

 

[TomMapfumo]

Em69 should be E,G,B,C,F# and Am7 is A,C,E,G. The guideline pitches should be something that sounds OK even if they are not part of the original chords. Try B instead of Bb. But certainly the guideline pitches do not necessarily coincide with the chords featured (I have done ABRSM jazz grades on both trumpet and sax).

Hope this helps
Tom 8)

 

[Pete Thomas]

No, I don't get this either. Bb and A are not "guide" pitches for Em6/9

But I disagree slightly with Tom

The 6 of an Em is C#. Yes, it's confusing - E to C is an interval of a minor 6, but normally an Em6 chord has a minor 3rd but major 6.

EDIT: and O.C.V, there is no D in the Em 6/9.

 

[TomMapfumo]

Hi Pete - yes it should be C#.

Is it the case that E blues scale would fit the above dilemma - E, G, A, A#(Bb), B, D, E. The ABRSM seem to do this at times, when hinting at suitable improvisatory scales.

Just a thought.
Tom 8)

 

[Simon]

Yep, thats it exactly Tom - the E minor blues scale (E G A Bb B D E)

The theory is that this combination will sound good over an E minor chord, regardless of the 'extensions' 6, 9, 7, maj7 etc

You don't have to use the 'guide notes' they write in - in fact the note A will sound really good over the Em too (and no 'A' isn't in Em69 but it doesn't matter - its just theory!)

Simon

 

[o_c_v_]

That seems to have sorted it out, then; use the appropriate blues scale. Many thanks for your thoughts on this. I think it would be useful if the ABRSM gave some explanation of how their guide pitches are determined, but having said that, it does seem to be a useful book for anyone starting out on impro even if not intending to go through the exam system.
O.C.V.

 

[Pete Thomas]

You will (or should) notice that when using the blues scale, some notes may "fit" the chord better (or rather, differently) than others.

While the A will fit as Simon mentioned, it will have a different effect to a G, in that there will be a little bit of tension. It is actually a suspension, and has a tendency to want to go down to the chord tone G (the 3rd).

You will also find that on an Em 6, then the D may be uncomfortable against the C# - you need to listen and hear how different notes feel against the chord and instrumentation of the backing.

It's all good fun.

 

[Simon]

Hi OCV

Yeah I've spoken to a couple of people involved in the ABRSM jazz sax grades about those guidetones. The reason they don't make a point of them is because they're just meant to be a few tones that could be used if you've got no idea what to note to play, in a loose order (no rhythm).

Beginner improvisers tend to panic when there's just several blank bars. So to help, someone thought writing in a few guide notes might work. If they made a point of them and wrote out various scales then you'd get players asking "why do i have to use only those few notes, what rhythm, what register, can't I use ... " etc. Actually if you've been working on the Scales associated with each grade, you'd probably notice that these guide notes are in fact bits of those.

Like Pete said - have fun!

Simon

O.C.V. wrote:
That seems to have sorted it out, then; use the appropriate blues scale. Many thanks for your thoughts on this. I think it would be useful if the ABRSM gave some explanation of how their guide pitches are determined, but having said that, it does seem to be a useful book for anyone starting out on impro even if not intending to go through the exam system.
O.C.V.