Music and architecture have many things in common — foundations, functional forms, and artistic aesthetics among them. In fact, the famous German writer and philosopher Goethe coined the phrase frozen music, referring to architecture. Herbie Hancock’s playing on Joni Mitchell’s “The Jungle Line” is a great illustration of this connection. Herbie’s strong foundations in harmonic structure and form enable him to shape an improvised accompaniment to Leonard Cohen’s brooding recitation of Joni Mitchell’s lyrics. This is an unusual circumstance, in that Herbie is not merely playing the changes of the tune while Leonard sings it. Instead, Herbie seems to be responding to the reading and the lyrics spontaneously, which is no easy feat. In order to accomplish this, Herbie draws on his years of knowledge and experience by manipulating the music to enhance the sound and meaning of the lyrics. Also, unlike a more traditional pairing of vocalist and accompanist, where a pianist will do a combination of leading and following a singer, Herbie and Leonard keep things moving, each at their own pace, while still maintaining a dialogue.
Regardless of whether you desire to follow Herbie’s lead, or find your own path, if you’re going to play music, you need to have a firm foundation in the fundamentals. In fact, much of Herbie’s spare and careful choice of notes on “The Jungle Line” reflect an intimate knowledge and an adept application of these fundamentals. Let’s take a look at some now.
Ex. 1. The first chord in 1a shows the C major triad in root position, from the bottom up: C (root), E (third), G (fifth). Though it’s a simple chord, it’s the triad that’s at the core of so much music, and even Herbie’s sophisticated playing on the track, “The Jungle Line.” The second chord in the measure is one way to open a closed position triad — take the middle note (the third), and place it up one octave, creating a more open sound. Notice the interval of a perfect fifth in the left hand, an interval you’ll see Herbie uses frequently in “The Jungle Line.” 1b shows a Cmaj7 chord in root position; it’s a C major triad with the major seventh (B) on top. The second chord in 1b shows a more open voicing, created by transposing the third and seventh up an octave and playing them with the right hand. Now you have perfect fifths in the left hand and the right hand. In 1c, play the D minor root position triad (D, F, A), and again, play the chord in a more open voicing by including the right hand. Continue with 1d (Dm7), 1e (G), 1f (G7), and 1g (G7sus4). 1h shows G7sus4 in another open voicing, with the right hand notes inverted. Adding the root onto the top of the voicing, as in the second chord, creates a nice rub between the top two notes with an interval of a major second. This is a structure you’ll see in the transcription of “The Jungle Line.” 1i shows Dm6 in root position, created by adding the sixth degree to a D minor triad. Next in that measure is Dm6 in open position. This is another chord quality Herbie uses in “The Jungle Line.” Be sure to transpose all of these chords and voicings to other keys.
These audio and MIDI files correspond to the lessons beginning on page 50 of the June 2008 issue of Keyboard. All files performed by Scott Healy.