Two Finger Blues/The 4th Way

The main body of the LCC and its practical application, including all 4 published versions of Book 1 with their inserts: the 1959 tan cover; the 1959 light green cover Japanese edition; the 1970‘s white cover, which adds an illustrated River Trip to the 1959 edition, and the currently available Fourth Edition, 2001.

The authorization code is the first word on Page 198 of the Fourth Edition of the LCCTO.

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An open letter from Alice Russell. June 21, 2011, Brookline, Massachusetts. 1. DO NOT make insulting, mean spirited remarks about anyone or their work; there are a plethora of sites where you can rant unfettered. If you attack someone personally, your comments will be removed. You can post it, but I'm not paying for it. Go elsewhere, and let those artists who are actually interested in discussion and learning have the floor. 2. There will be NO posting of or links to copyrighted material without permission of the copyright owner. That's the law. And if you respect the work of people who make meaningful contributions, you should have no problem following this policy. 3. I appreciate many of the postings from so many of you. Please don't feel you have to spend your time "defending" the LCC to those who come here with the express purpose of disproving it. George worked for decades to disprove it himself; if you know his music, there's no question that it has gravity. And a final word: George was famous for his refusal to lower his standards in all areas of his life, no matter the cost. He twice refused concerts of his music at Lincoln Center Jazz because of their early position on what was authentically jazz. So save any speculation about the level of him as an artist and a man. The quotes on our websites were not written by George; they were written by critics/writers/scholars/fans over many years. Sincerely, Alice
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strachs
Posts: 211
Joined: Tue Mar 04, 2008 2:48 pm

Post by strachs »

This example is cool. It is easy to underestimate the thinking behind this approach, since it sounds so simple (due to the lack of movement in the RH).

However, there are only three notes that COULD be played over all three chords and still leave the functional notes (the tritone) in the LH.

At it's most basic, the chord sequence I-IV-V using all 7th chords involves mode II of three Lydian scales (Eb, Bb, and F for F7, C7, and G7 respectively). In order to keep function in the LH, the RH needs to avoid sounding the tritone (tones 1 and 7) in each of the three lydian scales.

There are five non-tritone notes in each lydian scale (2, 3, 4, 5, and 6). By sounding tones 3, 4, and 5 in the main lydian scale (C G and D in Bb Lydian, parent of C7), the same tones can occupy 4 5 and 6 in one lydian scale (Eb Lydian, parent of F7), and 2, 3, and 4 in another lydian scale (F Lydian, parent of G7).

Attempting to use any other combination of three notes results in exceeding the 7-tone boundary of at least one of those lydian scales, and sounding an 11TO or 12TO note.

I have posted a chart that may offer visualization to this....

http://www.4shared.com/file/104934489/6 ... chart.html

Voiceings in fourths are so awesome, not only for their sound, but, as you've demonstrated, for the unifying role they can play between shifting parent scales. Love it.

Can't wait to see what else you've got up your sleeve along these lines. I've got some ideas, too.
strachs
Posts: 211
Joined: Tue Mar 04, 2008 2:48 pm

Post by strachs »

By the way, I caught that tritone sub you added at the end - turning C7 into Gb7. Leaving the 4th chord in place for that makes for an "out" sound - a #4, a #5, and a b9 - all tritone counterparts to their original home in the C7. Vive les tritones.
strachs
Posts: 211
Joined: Tue Mar 04, 2008 2:48 pm

Post by strachs »

It's certainly a nice feeling to have helped someone gain more insight into their OWN idea.

On the flip side, your example provided exactly a concrete example of MY idea - that of tracking the tritones. Your example made them easy to spot, but in other arrangements, they are still there, and spotting them provides one with an immediate bird's-eye of the harmonic activity going on.

The LH part embodies exactly what the ear hears on such blues changes, but makes it more obvious when voiced this way. I've always felt that the #9/b3 in the traditional major-type blues scale was hinting at the same sound as th b7th in a IV chord.

Holding those three notes over all three chords definitely modernizes the blues progression. It will be nice to see how you apply this idea to minor chords (I'm guessing you use m6 chords and avoid it's TT in the RH, but who knows).
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