=KEYAreas—=—. Implied Ambiguous Issocizte Professor of Harmony Wayne Naus offers a few ideas for analyzing nd developing chord progressions that go beyond traditional jazz practices. xe compositions of such contemporary jazz ists a3 Chick Corea, Wayne Shoreer, Pat aheny, elowjckets and ches represet 9 pansion of earlier harmonic concepts in jazz mposition. The use of nondiatonic and non- nctional harmonies makes this music more Hilt to analyze than traditional jazz tunes. A sre to teach and write music inthis style led : to search for new ways to justify and analyze temporary jazz harmonic concepts. An proach that I've explored involves analysis cording to dhe key arcas within a given piece. [found ic convenient to group the key area ayses into three categories: established, plied, and ambiguous key areas. Often, con- nporty juz composers combine cements of three within a single composition. Each type key area hasa speci effec on the listener. A in difleence between each key area type is ot motion between chords, The established key proach utlizes alot of eyele-fve root motion, ating a sense of predictability anda strong for- 1x] momentum. Root motion found in the plied and ambiguous key areas involves smaller ps and is therefore less predictable, creating 3 forward momentum, Smaller root motion tween adjacent chords combined with specific -atment ofthe harmony and melody can pro- ce a progression thats fresh sounding and full surprises, What follows isan intreducton to monic analysis using established, implied, and nbiguous key arexs. stablished Key an established key area, there is no doube as what the key is. The key becomes established rough the use of a number of “grounding” ements, including diatonic melody, diatonic 1d diatonically related chords, harmonic iythm, harmonic and melodic phrases, caden- a patterns, and resolotion to a tonic I chord. an established key area, posibly the strongest -oanding element is root motion down a per- ct fifth (cycle-fve root motion). This type of jovement not only create a feeling of strong ward harmonic motion throughout a pro- ression; it also produces the mast common sntiguous chordal relationship known as the TI- “pattern If we look for typical grounding ele- ens, it should be possible ro determine the sablished key without actually playing or hear- ig the music. Musical examplerL incorporates sany of the grounding elements necessary 10 reate an established key area, Implied Key ‘The second type isthe implied key area, in which the key is established through the use of diatonic and diatonically elated chords, The main differ cence between established and implied key areas is that there is never a cadence to a tonic I chord. It should be possible to feel the key area and even sing the sofege syllable “do” when a tune ends. ‘With this type of progression, though, the key is often difficult to determine because of the absence of chord Fr or citing the progression, itis common to resolve 0/20 inven of ti chord art se the root of the 1 chord with a hybrid or modal interchange struc- ture above that note to disguise the tonic quay Asmentioned previously, in implied key areas root motion does not typically follow the cycle- five pattems found in established key areas. As @ result, an implied key area feels less grounded chan an established Key and therefore has a lighter feel of forward momentum. Tn example 2, note the ascending root motion in the introduction. This san atempe to elimi- nate the predictability of cycle-five root motion Although ascending root motion is commonly associated with nonfinctional harmony, its sil possible to hear these chords functioning within the key of C major. “Ambiquous Key In ain ambiguous key area, chords progress for~ ‘ward without functioning or being grounded in a kee. In fact, there is no key, which makes this type ‘of progression nonfunctional. After hearing this type of progression, it should be impossible to sing the solfege syllable “do,” In an ambiguous key area, the criteria for placing one chord after another can rely on adjacent chordal relationships. Tn other words, what precedes and/or follows a chord determines the chord’ fonction or relative color in the context of the adjacent chords. Since they are not anchored toa key, the sense of for- ward harmonic motion is dependent on harmonic sequence, root motion, and adjacent chordal rela- tionships. Criteria for mining chord scales in established key area are Iy determined by the w: in which chords functio tive to the key. In an a cous key area, considerat chord resolution, adjace chordal relationships, mi color, and melodic fane canhelp you decide which chord scales to u In exainple 3, nonfunctional chords in dl section were loosely based on a 10-note tor Criteria for creating the row involved avoid ‘qycle-five root motion and tonicizing any 0 note in the row: After the row i in place, are placed on top ofeach note which is asi function as either the root, third fifth or se within each chord. Experimenting with br? and polychordstoctuzaatss Seo" HO i see uniguus sound. Oace the chords are in place, the melody is drawn fr chord tones ot available tensions on each c ‘The B section of the tune goes to the key o minor. The implied key area of F major is section C. The chord progression in secto facilitates a transition back to the top of the Conclusion Regardless of what you are doing creative helpful to try new methods. Thope these help to broaden your musical horizons. Wayne Naus '76 isthe autbor of the book Functional Harmony published by Adva Music (aw. advancemnsiccom).