I am working on Jingle Bells and want to stretch myself by changing the feel of the song. In two places I reckon I could use the jazz change that I cannot quite remember - the one where you put in two extra chords (maybe II V) to go up a 4th. Let me demonstrate it (badly) and explain in this video. All suggestions appreciated. The song is in C, the melody starts on E and I am only doing the chorus, at least for now.
The chords, bar by bar are:
C C C C7
F C D7 G7
C C C C7
F C G7 C
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Comments
Gm7: 3x333x or 3x3333 if you want the top string
C9: x3233x or x32333 again if you want the top string.
I think they do give a softer kind of sound. There are things you can do with the second line, and the rest, as well - I'll be back with more in a bit!
Gm11: 3x331x
Gb7b5: 2x231x (can also be though of as a C7b5 - same notes!)
which would lead to this Fmaj7 in bar 5:
Fmaj7: 1x221x
...smooth jazz or what!
bar 5: Fmaj7 1x221x Bb9 6x656x
bar 6: Ami7 3x333x (or Ami11 3x331x is quite nice) D9 x5455x
bar 7: Dmi9 x5355x
bar 8: G7/6sus 3x355x or 3x3553
Your Cadd9-C-Cmaj7 opening idea reminds me of "At Seventeen" by Janis Ian btw - lovely song...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VuejJlqnvwk&feature=fvst lovely...
G7/6sus 3x3553 for 2 beats then
G7#5 3x3443 for 2 beats (note on high E string optional for both chords)
I was even tempted to go G13sus 3x3555 then G7#5b9 3x3444, though there is a possible clash with the G melody note. You could even change the root on the 2nd of these chords to give a Db9 x43444 (a flat 5 substitution) which would then drop down nicely to some sort of C major type chord in bar 9, C6/9 x32233 perhaps. Maybe you can get away with it though - another judgement call. Pesky melody getting in the way of nice jazz chords lol!
I only understand I IV and V.
Dave
You big teaser, you're checking that I am learning not just reading, aren't you? Am11 will be 5x553x. Nice chord.
It does, doesn't it. It sounds like she plays Cadd9, C, Cmaj7, C6 (taking the top note down to an A) whereas I take the last step back up to the C. I thought that Jingle Bells had too steady a rhythm up until the dotted note at Jingle all the way. I liked that and so put that rhythm from the start and kept the dotted note rhythm (if that's the correct term) going.
I guess you (and Janice Ian!) are using a Latin bossa type of feel. You're right, she does seem to go down to a C6 x322xx or something like that. I was playing around with these 3 C chords:
Cmaj9 x3243x
C6 x3221x
Cmaj7 x3200x
which work quite well over the C stuff in the first line. However, I think your (and Janice Ian's) version is at least as nice.
Sorry if I went a bit overboard chaps - Lester did say he wanted jazz chords for Jingle Bells, and it doesn't take much for me to start spewing them out lol!
Intro: Cadd9 C , Cmaj7 C , Cadd9 C , Cmaj7 C
Line 1: Cadd9 C , Cmaj7 C , Cadd9 C , Cmaj7 C , Cadd9 C , Gm11 , C9 C#9
Line 2: Dm7 , C maj7 , Dm9 Dm7 Dm9 , G13
Line 3: Cadd9 C , Cmaj7 C , Cadd9 C , Cmaj7 C , Cadd9 C , Cadd9 , Cadd9 (only a 2 beat bar)
Outro: Cadd9 C , Cmaj7 C , repeat and fade
If you want a laugh, this evening I put all the chords into Band-in-a-Box and recorded a very rough guide vocal so that I can play along and see whether it is all starting to fall into place or not.
http://soundcloud.com/lesterpeters/jingle-bells-rough-vocal
Warning: if you do listen be aware that I have been in bands that said I was not even good enough for backing vocals! What's the chance of getting Astrud Gilberto to help me out?
The vocal/lyric aspect I suspect.
<hangs head in shame> I know, I know, I shouldn't have.
Thanks Megi, you have given me a few jazz chords - manageably few is what makes it so practical - that I am enjoying playing around with them. You have opened a door that has proved difficult in the past - because whenever I have expressed an interest in jazz I have ended up with Micky Baker's 26 chords to learn before I could take my first step, so just having a few to play with is so much more fun and should make the jazz part of the course less of a shock when I get there.
I came across a great Bossa Nova rhythm tutorial on YouTube and am learning the simple Bossa rhythm from this chap while fingering my new chords.
George Benson? I'd love to. I reckon I am too far down the track with Jingle Bells but I will in a future exercise. Ode to Joy was the first, Jingle Bells is only the second of over 40 exercise songs in the course so there will be plenty more opportunities.
Regarding messing with the timing, I am not sure whether that's a good thing or not but I wanted the song to feel more like I am relaxed on a beach in the summer with a pina colada in my hand and having the extra bar after the first phrase and its repeat just gave the song a different feel. And once you've started making changes it becomes easier to justify it elsewhere. I am just not sure whether it would be better not to mess.
Overall, I could get through the Learn & Master Guitar exercise by strumming a simple rhythm and playing the melody notes but I know I can do that already and I am so wanting to raise my game from 'I can play guitar' to 'People enjoy listening when I play' so I am pushing myself to be a better player.
http://soundcloud.com/lesterpeters/jingle-bells-rough-vocal
Megi I have one question. Dm9, x5355x. I feel I want to play a bar (of 4 notes) like this: x5355x, x5353x, x5353x, x5355x, with the B string following the melody for that bar. It sounds nicer to me. What do you say? Is it naff or cool to follow the melody?
And yes, Roberta Sá's voice would do wonders for this song.
I have been playing around with these chords as a kind of intro or outro, which would work with Jingle Bells or a lot of other tunes I would think:
Cmaj9 x32430
Am11 5x553x
Dm9 x53553
G7/6sus 3x3553
...for each chord play the highest note after the lower ones, with a bossa kind of rhythm overall - hope that conveys what I'm meaning. Some other interesting alternative chords are:
Cmaj,add9 x32030
Am9 x0541 or 5x541 - bit of a stretch! but nice
Dm,add9/11 (I guess you would call it!) x53050
G9 3x320x or G9sus 3x3210
Again I would play the highest note after the others, except for the Dm chord which sounds nice with everything at once. It's all really just messing around with a standard 1-6-2-5 progression, but sounds nice to me.
Next up will be London Bridge is Falling Down. It will have to push me to try something new again. I am having a whale of a time on this course being creative, improving my playing and recording and mixing as best as I can.
I LOLed.
Sorry.
Nice chords and melody, but the lyrics are totally incongruous. Sleighing over the beach at Ipanema?!
Write new lyrics and you've got yourself a new song.
Dave