Posted by Memphis Rounder on December 7, 2006, 8:35 pm, in reply to "Mctell Turnaround" Not as great a mystery as it may at first seem. It all has to do with the relationships among diminished chords. Usually, the blues turnaround is harmonized as a series of dim or dim 7 chords. In E, the chords would be G# dim 7, G dim 7, F# dim 7, resolving to E or E7. The notes would be: G# dim 7...G#, B, D, F In classical harmony, dim 7 chords are interpreted as 7 flat 9 chords. Another way to say this, is that if you lower any of the four notes in a dim 7 chord, the lowered note becomes the root of a dom 7 chord. There are only three unique dim 7 chords. They repeat every three frets as you move them up and down the fingerboard (if we continued the above sequence to F dim 7 instead of E7, the notes would be F, G#, B, D, which are the same notes in the G# dim 7 chord), and between them, they cover all 12 keys. Look at G# dim 7-if you lower the F you get E7; on the other hand, if you lower the D, you get C#7 (the F = E#); if you lower the B, you get B flat 7 (G# = A flat); and if you lower the G#, you get G7. So the turnaround described above as G# dim 7, G dim 7, F# dim 7, E could be described as E7 flat 9, A7 flat 9, B7 Flat 9, E7. E7, A7, B7, and back to E are exactly what you'd expect in E, but if you played it that way, you'd lose the chromatic motion in three of the four voices: E7...G#, B, D, E Notice the only column that retains the chromatic line is the first. In the McTell Turnaround you have the following: C#7...G#, B, C#, F Notice, that the only difference between this and the sequence of dim 7 chords is in the third column of notes. Instead of descending from D to B chromatically, you descend from C# to B chromatically and repeat B in the tonic chord. Still a chromatic line, but beginning on the sixth rather than the seventh. This is also the theory behind the tritone substitution that jazz players talk about; i.e., substituting a D flat 7 for a G7 resolving to a C chord. Hope this isn't too confusing, but if you get the concept, you can substitute chords you might not immediately think of, especially in a blues turnaround, where that chromatic melodic line seems to be the dominant element and the particular harmony more a matter of coloring than function. Also, a good way to learn new voicings for 7th chords is to start with a dim 7 fingering and lower notes. All the best, Al
69.250.149.119
Brian:
G dim 7...G, A#, C#, E
F# dim 7...F#, A, C, D#
E7... E, G#, B, D
A7...G, A , C#, E
B7...F#, A, B, D#
E7...E, G#, B, D
C7...G, A#, C, E
B7...F#, A, B, D#
E7...E, G#, B, D
--Previous Message--
: I'm trying to figure out a turnaround heard on
: some Blind Willie Mctell tunes, such as
: "Drive Away Blues". I'm pretty
: sure it's used on tunes played out of the E
: position. I saw Paul Geremia play this
: turnaround and it looked like he played a B7
: shape moved up to the 4th fret and then
: moved down to the 3rd fret, then the 2nd
: fret, before ending on an E chord. Any
: ideas? Thanks so much for any information.
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