Parker's meaning of the term “higher intervals” may have included the altered Sthis and ths of dominant-seventh chords. (*5ths are equivalent to #11ths, and #5ths are equivalent to /13ths.) There is good reason to believe that it was during this general period of time that Parker discov- ered or systematized ways to use these intervals. Consider the entire quote from the book Inside Jazz, in which Parker describes experimenting with new harmonic concepts: “We used to sit in the back room at Dan Walls chili joint and other spots uptown, and Biddy would run new chords, For instance, we'd find that you could play 2 relative major, using the right invarsinns, against a seventh chord, and we played around with flatted fifths.” Parker seems to have been referring to playing over a dominant seventh chord using the tones of a major arpeggio (other thant the dominant seventts choru’s foundational triad.) The superine position of one chord over another creates extensions and/or altered chord tones (of the original chord). This was of obvious interest to Parker, as evidenced by his comments about “higher intor vals” and “flatted fifths.” He may have experimented with all the pocsiblo major arpoggios againet dominant seventh chords, finding and refining sounds that he liked. In his hook Charlia Parker: His | if and Music, Charlie Parker scholar Carl Woideck paints out a specitic major arpeggio/dominant seventh chord relationship that Parker used while improvising on his earliest known recording (see discography). This amateur recording is from 1940, the year following his chili house “discovery.” During an unaccompanied performance of Body and Sout, Parker played an aliiusl lwu-uclave desveridiny and then ascending D major arpeggio at a point where an Ab7 chord exists in the original chord progression. The tones of a D major arpeggio are equivalent to tho Sth (D), b7th (F4), and b8th (A) of an A%7 chord. This type of superimposition, known as a tritone substitution, is now commonly used by ja77 play- ers. Tritone substitution is generally defined as playing the complete four-note dominant seventh chord that lies a tritone (three whole steps) away from the root of the original dominant seventh chord. (in practice, not all of the four tones are necessarily played and other tones from a corre- sponding scale may be added.) A complete D7 arpeggio played over an A}7 chord would include the notes shown above plus a C note—the 57th of D7, which is equivalent to the Srd of A‘7. Parker frequently used tritone substitution, and it is even found built into one of his favorite licks (sce the notes on Billie's Bounce). fia. t nas om ir? bm Shed ‘Tones of Ab et. # =In his earllest recordings and throughout his career, Parker improvised using all the possible “higher intervals" over dominant seventh chords: 9ths, )9ths, #9ths, 11ths, #11ths (bSths), 13ths, and >13ths (#5ths). Parker's usage of these tones is discussed further here and in the notes that precede individual transcriptions. Parker continued to develop his ideas and technique over the next several years as he played in bands led by Jay MeShann, Earl Hinos, and Billy Eckstino. Parkor'e moet important musical ag00 ciate was Dizzy Gillespie, who also played with Hines and Eckstine. Gillespie and Parker shared ‘a passion for the new musical ideas that were being developed in the late-night jam sessions in Harlem, and in 1945 their collaboration led to the first recordings totally in the naw styla af ja77— this Game to be known as bebop. Before we examine more elements of Parker's music, itis useful to mention an oversiry jn that io sometimes presented as the basis for understanding and creating jazz. Paker's musi (bebop and jazz in general) can not be grasped by trying to roduce it to the use of appropriate scales over chords. The study of the relationship of scales and chords and their harmonic fune: tion is impartant—in fact, it is a prerequisite for understanding much of the material procontod ere. However, it alone can never adequately prepare anyone to understand or play jazz. Parker did, of course, use scalar material in his playing, but other elements such as his rhythmic placement uf rules, use of chromatic passing and leading tones, arpeagiation, voiceleading and resolution, implied substitute chord changes, sequencing, and expressive devices all play an important role in his style. When Parker used tones from the various modes of common scales (major, asconding melodic minor, harmonic minor, and diminished), he certainly knew the harmonic offact that would be pro- duced hy the intervals and pattarns ha playad. However, based on his own statoments, it is like- ly Mat he thought more often in terms ot intervals played over chords rather than in terms of scalar nomenclature. Following are some brief explanialivns and exainples of musical devices that Parker used. AS You will s00, it is possible to view Parker's music from several different, though sometimes overlap- ping, perspectives. One of Parker's favorite melodic and rhythmic devices was an ascending arpeggio played as an eighth-note triplet. Parker exhibited his harmonic knowledge by using some of these arpeggios for multiple chord types. The highest tone of each arpeggio can be considered its target pitch. Notice how more than naif of these target tones are “higher intervals” of the chords aver which they were played. Parker used the first arpeggio as a Gm7, an Elmaj9, a BY, aid a C11 (ur Cini). In tis book Bebop, The Music and its Players, Charlie Parker scholar Thomas Owens identifies this particu- lar arpeggio as one of Parker's most frequently played figures. fia. $ na oma ais creat £ by att £ eatif f Ro vd Sh Oth dd Shhh ORS) hIThe arpeggio was sometimes preceded with an Ft nate, which functioned as a leading tone. Parker sometimes applied citferent rhythms to this arpeggio (this also applies to some of the arpeggios in the following examples). Fig. 5 _— 4 jt Parker used the next arpeggio as a Gmg, a C13, and a Brmaj7. (Once again, the note preced- Ing the triplet was not always played.) Fig. @ Gno - bmg! ge = — —_ : and bad 3 te — A . = + as — = Parker trequentiy used this type of arpeggio to play over vorninant ninth cliords. Fig. 7 ° sn T - Fe — With a slight alteration, Parker made the previous arpeygiy fil dominant seven flat nine chords and minor seven flat five chords. Fig. 8 ptt 10Parker also liked to play a series of chromatic pitches in eighth- (or sixteenth-) note triplets to set Up a target pitch on the next beat. These target pitches were generally chord tones: roots, major or minor thirds, perfect fifths, flat sevenths, or ninths. Notice that the first note of the triplet is also a chord tone or extension, Fig. 9 fori mae osu rue a ca ¢ tems +4 abe 2 6 f if f—. pope tp — + ; es ® Rh ad ban To THe Fete ‘TO THE FIFTH AND BACK TO THE THIRD z “~— ib: a ad ° Su Sul Sit and EE + + + = — = [6 - = = — = ‘To THe Dk ‘TO THE NINTH z c ; es both y bith 7h oth th th —— = = i — SS "Parker enjoyed playing at brisk tempos during which the triplets we have already seen would appear within lines made up predominantly of swung eighth notes. Whon wo hoar or play ewung oighth notes, it ie natural to porcoive the notes playod on the beate ‘as having more harmonic importance or “weight” than those played on the “ands” (unless the “and? is a syncopated quarter note tied over to the next beat, ar is followed by a rest). The nat- ural tendency to “feat” the notes on the beats more strongly is reinforced in swing rhythm hy the fact that they nave a duration that Is approximately twice as long as those played on the “ands: Examining Parker's music from this perspective allows us to see how he balanced his lines. Parker frequently played lines like these over dominant seventh chords: Fig. 108 co s : 12 Proeminent jazz educator and author David Baker found thio type of chromatically enriched line {illustrated above) so often in bebop music that he derived a scale from it. He named it the bebop dominant scale and developed rules for its usage in his book How to Play Bebop, Volume One. This seale (isuially played in dasrending fashion) planes anly the tones of a dominant seventh chord on the beat by using the mixolydian mode with a chromatic passing tone (the major seventh) between the scale tonic and the flat seventh. The G bebop dominant scale shown below also applies to a Gm7 chord—Parker often treated the iim7 (Gm7) and the V7 (C7) Herciangeably. fia. LL € Reon Dominant Seale ¢ bgParker, of couree, aloo rogularly emphasized the “higher intervals” of all chord types along with— or instead of—the basic chord tones by playing them on the beats or as syncopated quarter notes, or by following them with a rest. Fig. 10a Yel 6h R 2nd R Ath Sr Sth cm f +f z be SS oy ae _ on FE : i 5 = = ot 1B Fig. 128 » te pa ——————— e———— Fig. 100 Kal eS vt ma an ~ om «atu I + 4 a : — Fig. 120 ay ™ peer trier bah hw rm F— a7 6 FF + B— Fig. 106 an be __ —_ geri so an fo bom hora ate ity F = + = He = = 13Parker frequenlly approacted target tones played on a beat from a half step below or above. His use of extended chromaticism was usually based on placing scale tones (alternately basic chord tones and “higher intervals’) on the beats with chromatic passing tones in between ‘sometimes thio wae furthor extondod with a chromatic connection to a tono of the noxt chord. Fig. 168 Bb? sie cy _— + = — 3 si smth th Sth th And eka ROT AedaF (38 (it) om om ee AR 667 6 eT B Sel hth aia «3 14cmt pM outercuggg pt tt ie = - ea aed th Py a i s———} — big. 15H on gb, n a re EE * e 76 +. ——ar Fig. 181 yee ip tee _ a = ads mded Sth of Bb Ath 4b, bob Sth of Ab ‘te |_——Parker used anullier inviodic device that goes by several names -oneloeure, encirclement, indi- rect resolution, and upper and lower neighbor approach all refer to the same technique. Itis a way of setting up a target pitch (a chord tone) by preceding it with the note one half-step above and then one half otop bolow. Tho resolution to the target pitch arcuirs on a beat. Fig. S48 Enclosure of he Sth (©) of he F chord sth Fig. $46 nels ofthe 3 (G) of E67 Enclosure ofthe 3rd (D) of BE fig. 140 nolosure of he Root of BET FI Bb7 Fig. 440 Enclosure ofthe Root of A? 16Parker also frequently used a chromatically ombolliched encloeure (sometimes called double indirect resolution or double chromatic resolution) to move from the flatted ninth of a dominant seventh chord to the fifth of the chord a perfect fourth above. The flatted ninth was usually pre- ‘ceded by the dominant savanth chard!s third, as in this example. Notice that this is essentially the same line (in a different key) that was used to show tritone substitution (Figure 2). The tones of the G7 chord can be thought of as tones of a Db7 chord (the tritone subslitule)—the note on the “and” of the fourth beat (F#) should be thought of as @ passing tone. fia. 15 bm? jah ATMS ‘ * en bom 5th Bd th Shor Further examples of Parkor’s musical devices are given in the notes that precede transcriptions. While much of Parker's musical language was revolutionary in the world at ja77, it was at the same time grounded in ja77 tradition. He set much ot his music to pre-existing song forms that were used by his contemporaries and the jazz players who preceded him; the chord changes to the blues and other popular vehicles for jazz Improvisation such as / Gol Rhythm, Cherokee, Honeysuckle Rose, and How High the Moor were all used by Parker. This served the practical purpose of allowing him to play his music with virtually any group of jazz musicians, because they all knew these songs. It also allowed Parker to compose, as he sometimes did, shortly before or even during his recording sessions. This book includes a detailed analysis of a blues (Billie's Bounca), a tune based on the chords to 1 Got Rhythm (Moose the Moache), and a tina hased on the chords to Cherokee (Ko Ko). Several other tunes are preceded with a few reterences to interesting musical features It is my hope that the music and analysis in this book will provide both musical enjoyment and Insight for Its readers, 7