Reharmonization and Modulation Strategies 5

John Stowell and Mike Gaudette use the standard You and the Night and the Music as a vehicle for reharmonization and modulation, demonstrating a clever arrangement that splits the tune between two keys — the first two A sections up a whole step in D minor, the bridge descending chromatically back into the original C minor. Along the way they discuss how modulation helps you internalize, memorize, and transpose chord progressions.

What's covered

• A full walk-through of the stock changes, then the two-key arrangement with the modulation built into the bridge
• Inserting extra harmonic information — descending minor chords in whole steps, a sound heard in Bill Evans reharms
• Chromatic slash-chord moves (Ab/Gb to G/F) for the bridge's flat-six-to-five motion
• Melodic and harmonic chord voicings for accessing tensions over major and dominant chords
• Playing over the bar line to develop asymmetrical phrasing
• Improvising with a pulse and no fixed meter
• Chord shapes as templates for single-line improvising

An informal conversation-style class for players who want the motivation and skills to build modulations into their own arrangements and strengthen their memorization and transposing abilities.