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Functional harmony is an approach to understanding and improvising over complex chords and complex chord progressions. The most basic functions of chords revolve around the tendency to resolution. Chords convey the feeling of movement by their varying qualities of tension and release. Some chords do it to a greater degree, traditional the Five chord (Vthe chord that is built upon the fifth degree of the scale) conveys a greater need to resolve. Jazz harmony utilizes chord extensions and alterations to create a greater need to for movement towards resolution.
Presented in following material are these topics: Cadences The Cycle of Fifths Harmonized scale Tonal Gravity Determining tonal centers Playing across the barline Reduction Appendix of functional scales ,chords, and arpeggios
After becoming familiar with these terms and concepts you will be able to analyze complex chord progressions and convey in your improvising a sense of the chord progression using a minimal number of notes.
Cadence
The Amen cadence is a good place to start in this work. The Amen cadence as shown below conveys a feeling of finality. It moves in one direction, playing it in reverse just doesnt give the feeling of being at rest. This is sometimes referred to as tonal gravity.
Cycle of Fifths
The tendency to resolution can be expanded in the cycle of fifths. This cycle has the same properties as an Amen Cadence but continuing the movement. After moving from G to C , assume the C as the tension, make it a C7 and then move to F. The same feeling of resolution should be felt. The feeling of resolution is in a clockwise direction, i.e., the 5th moving to the tonic chord. The diagram shows the relationships of the chords that tend to resolve in a clockwise direction.
These chords appear as the II, V and I chord in the harmonized scale
II
*The II is usually called the submediant or supertonicI am using the term Subdominant to imply the function or quality of the chord.
Key of G
Key of E minor
Turnback to Aminor
This will give you a scale that works, throughout the period that the tonal center is G the G major scale could be used. This works but lacks clarity and definition. More clarity comes from basing your ideas on the arpeggios or roots of the chords and appropriate intervals. Unfortunately this creates clutter so a balance should be sought that defines the chords but is not so busy as to sound like you are practicing arpeggios.
So far this is not doing anything to address the rise and fall of tension as mentioned in the previous section.