From tfosselm@hotmail.com Fri Aug 21 15:14:42 2009
Subject:Re: A fine jazz and blues / teacher

Soloing in the tri-tone key is not weird at all ... in the correct context. In the context of jazz and much classical music, it is a great way to add tension, variety and color to a piece. I can't even imagine playing anything by Monk without using the technique.

- In CloneWheel@yahoogroups.com, "deansurkin" wrote:
>
> Dear Rich, Tom and Lloyd:
>
> First, thank you Rich for the kind words. Soloing in the tri-tone key is not as weird as it sounds. My main music interests in those years were 20th century classical music and jazz fusion. I was thinking of Stravinsky's "Petrushka chord": C major triad and F# major triad simultaneously.
>
> I was also thinking another way, via bebop chord substitutions. Consider a G7 chord, add the flatted 9th and drop the root. You've got a diminished chord. Enharmonically, the same diminished chord can be substituted for Bb7, Db7 and E7. That's how I worked my way to the key of E. In fact, I first experimented with this at a jam session in 1969, when I was a senior in high school. I was jamming with a bassist and a guitarist, both fine jazz players. At my suggestion, we did a 12-bar blues in which the guitarist played in A, the bassist in Eb, and I comped with one hand in C and the other in Gb. That was a little extreme. Nevertheless, I continued these music experiments in college, tending toward the worst excesses of avant-gard jazz (my own worst excesses--I mean no disrespect to great musicians practicing the art).
>
> In conclusion, when you solo using diminished runs or whole-tone scale riffs, bi-tonality is both easier to play and easier to listen to.
>
> I wasn't trying to bash disco, by the way. I thoroughly enjoyed the music of Donna Summer, Teddy Pendergrast and others. As with all styles, there was good disco and bad disco.
>
> --Dean L. Surkin
>
> --- In CloneWheel@yahoogroups.com, "Rich Horton" wrote:
> >
> > Dean,
> >
> > I must agree with Tom. However, I give you great respect if you can actually
> > play this way. [snip]
>