My Favourite Things Jonathan Kreisberg reharm

bingefeller

I have the transcription for this and I'm wondering where the chords in the intro are coming from:

Bm7(b13) 
Em7(b13)
D13
D13/C
Bm7(b13) 
Em7(b13)
Am9
Ebmaj13#11
Bm7(b13)
Abmaj7
Am11
B7alt

It then goes into the main head of the tune over an Em9 chord.  

west

That is Fab !! thanks for posting .....

Megii

That is a really lovely bit of music, cheers for posting. And they are very interesting chords - if I can offer some incoherent thoughts...

I think the opening ones are maybe kind of variations/substitutions for a 3-6-2-5 progression in G major, which is really the home key for the piece, although the tune starts in an E minor tonality (relative minor of G of course). So, just to take the first 4 chords, you've got a B minor type, then a E minor type, then the "D13" which to my mind is really a Dsus4 type of chord (as it has a G 4th/11th in it) and that could be viewed as a sub for an A minor, and then the D13/C is like a non-sus D dominant chord (i.e. it has a major third in it - F#) and with the 7th, C, in the bass. The middle 4 strings for each of these last two chords can also be looked at as being part of that quartal harmony chord scale thing that is often talked about for modal jazz, which I guess you will be well aware of, so work on that level also. And then the notes on the upper string, while unusual additions, work melodically, and are part of a G major scale, so they make musical sense that way...

...or something! It's great stuff anyhow, despite my half-baked analysis - I will have to nick his chords, as they do sound lovely.   

bingefeller

So the Ebmaj is probably a tritone sub for the A minor then...?

Megii

bingefeller said:

So the Ebmaj is probably a tritone sub for the A minor then...?

Erm... quite possibly! I do feel a bit on shaky ground with this to be honest, and not holding myself up as any great authority. I guess maybe I'd say my idea of relating his chords to a 3-6-2-5 is just a way of viewing things, or a framework for seeing why what he does works.

Really I just thought I'd offer my thoughts for what they are worth. I'll have to have a look through all the intro chords and have a think about things - as ever, I suspect the theory analysis comes after the music, and JK may well have developed these chords/harmony more by noodling about on the guitar and finding sounds he liked, rather than by starting with some theorectical concept in advance.

bingefeller

OK thanks, I was just wondering if I could try to get inside as to what he was "thinking" here.  

Megii

bingefeller said:

OK thanks, I was just wondering if I could try to get inside as to what he was "thinking" here.  

Absolutely, I'd be interested too - in fact (and forgive me) I took the liberty of asking about this on the dreaded jazz guitar forum:

http://www.jazzguitar.be/forum/comping-chords-chord-progressions/56169-whats-jonathan-kreisberg-doing-his-intro-here.html#post711603

No one's replied as of yet, but hopefully it might lead to some useful insight.

bingefeller

Megii said:

bingefeller said:

OK thanks, I was just wondering if I could try to get inside as to what he was "thinking" here.  

Absolutely, I'd be interested too - in fact (and forgive me) I took the liberty of asking about this on the dreaded jazz guitar forum:

http://www.jazzguitar.be/forum/comping-chords-chord-progressions/56169-whats-jonathan-kreisberg-doing-his-intro-here.html#post711603

No one's replied as of yet, but hopefully it might lead to some useful insight.

Ahhh good luck!  Let us know if you find anything out.  

Megii

bingefeller said:

Megii said:

bingefeller said:

OK thanks, I was just wondering if I could try to get inside as to what he was "thinking" here.  

Absolutely, I'd be interested too - in fact (and forgive me) I took the liberty of asking about this on the dreaded jazz guitar forum:

http://www.jazzguitar.be/forum/comping-chords-chord-progressions/56169-whats-jonathan-kreisberg-doing-his-intro-here.html#post711603

No one's replied as of yet, but hopefully it might lead to some useful insight.

Ahhh good luck!  Let us know if you find anything out.  

Will do

sakuarius102

bingefeller said:

I have the transcription for this and I'm wondering where the chords in the intro are coming from:

Bm7(b13) 
Em7(b13)
D13
D13/C
Bm7(b13) 
Em7(b13)
Am9
Ebmaj13#11
Bm7(b13)
Abmaj7
Am11
B7alt

It then goes into the main head of the tune over an Em9 chord.  

Great man, I like this song but the chrds are very dificult for my level. With you post I can lean it now.

Thanks !

bingefeller

Oh yeah I forgot about this thread!  Interesting replies at that forum @Megii     I see they are thinking of the chords a little differently.   

bingefeller

I subscribed to that Francois Leduc guy on Patreon.  He has a lot of good transcriptions there and will work through requests too.  

Megii

bingefeller said:

Oh yeah I forgot about this thread!  Interesting replies at that forum @Megii     I see they are thinking of the chords a little differently.   

Yep - a range of interesting replies, and all good stuff worth thinking about, although to be honest I didn't really find anything that swayed me particularly from my own thoughts on the harmony. But well worth posting about it on there I feel. Still a fantastic bit of music and guitar playing anyhow.

bingefeller

@Megii some of those voicings I now recognize in a lot of Kreisberg's tunes.  He does play a lot of quartal voicings.

Megii

bingefeller said:

@Megii some of those voicings I now recognize in a lot of Kreisberg's tunes.  He does play a lot of quartal voicings.

Yes - of course you're right about the quartal thing, that is one take home point. And I think some of the voicings are partially quartal, but with other added tension notes on top or whatever. It does give a certain kind of sound which I must say I like a lot.