On 18 Apr 2005, at 8:48 AM, Christopher Smith wrote:
For jazz things get hairy, as tritone substitute dominant chords should be correctly spelled as if they were augmented sixth chords, e.g., in the key of C a Db7 chord would be spelled Db, F, Ab, B (not Cb). Many jazz musicians freely use enharmonic spellings, which means that those big chords haven't a chance in heck of ever being tuned properly.
Wow, do you really follow that rule consistently? I mean, in the key of Db, would you spell the bII7 chord D-F#-A-B#? Because if I had to read a chart that used that spelling, I'd probably want to murder you. What about half-step-above approach chords built on other scale degrees, i.e., bIII7 to II, bVI7 to V, etc etc etc???
Readability aside, tritone substitution in jazz is *not* the same thing as augmented sixth chords in classical music -- they resolve differently -- and so I see no reason why they should be spelled the same way. Genuine augmented sixth chords in jazz are relatively rare. When they *do* happen -- there are some Ellington-Strayhorn charts that use them -- I can see the argument for spelling them according to the "classical" rules. But certainly not for tritone subs -- let alone all the other half-step approach chords.
- Darcy ----- [EMAIL PROTECTED] Brooklyn, NY
_______________________________________________ Finale mailing list Finale@shsu.edu http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
