John Stowell & Mike Godette Class #6: Reharmonization Strategies on "Feire Livre"

John Stowell and Mike Godette use pianist/composer Jovino Santos Neto's tune "Feire Livre" to explore non-diatonic harmony, specific dominant tensions and resolutions, and voice leading. They also cover extensions of minor tonalities and implied V chords in soloing, then trade choruses on the tune to demonstrate the concepts in action.

What's covered

• The Brazilian Baião rhythm — its dotted-quarter feel and how it differs from samba and bossa nova
• The tune's compact five-chord form: Dorian minor melody over Gm and Bbm, plus a turnaround of three dominant chords
• Lydian dominant sounds in the melody and turnaround, and the melodic minor modes behind them
• Translating unfamiliar changes into familiar thinking — e.g. seeing Db Lydian dominant as G altered to turn the turnaround into a V–I motion
• Internalizing harmonic information so it comes out naturally in your solos
• Why short, catchy "blowing tunes" like this are ideal for low-rehearsal gigs

An advanced class for guitarists who want to improve their improvisation and voice-leading concepts over modern, non-diatonic changes. Includes a download.