Glossary

Jazz and guitar terms used in the course.

Altered dominant (7alt): A dominant 7th chord whose 5th and 9th are both altered: b9, #9, #11 (b5) and b13 (#5) are available; the natural 5 and 9 are not. Played with the altered scale (7th mode of melodic minor).
Anticipation: Playing a chord or note an eighth note before the beat it belongs to (the "and of 4"). The core of swing comping rhythm.
Approach note: A note a half step or scale step away from a target chord tone, played just before it. Chromatic approach from below, diatonic approach from above, and enclosures (both) are bebop staples.
Arpeggio: The notes of a chord played one at a time.
Available tension: An extension (9, 11, 13 and their alterations) that can be added to a chord without clashing with its function: 9 and 13 on a dominant; 9, #11 and 13 on a major 7th; 9, 11, 13 on a minor 7th; 9 and 11 on a half-diminished.
Backcycling: Approaching a chord through a chain of dominants or ii–Vs a 5th apart (e.g. E7 A7 D7 G7 C).
Bebop scale: An eight-note scale with one chromatic passing tone added so that chord tones fall on downbeats when played in eighth notes: Mixolydian + natural 7 (bebop dominant), major + #5 (bebop major), Dorian + natural 3 (bebop Dorian).
Blue note: The b3, b5 and b7 played against a major or dominant chord.
Changes: The chord progression of a tune. "Rhythm changes" are the chords of Gershwin's I Got Rhythm.
Chord melody: A solo-guitar arrangement in which the melody is harmonised with chords beneath it.
Chord-scale: A scale chosen to match a chord so that every chord tone is in the scale and the remaining notes are available tensions.
Chord tone: A note that belongs to the chord: root, 3rd, 5th, 7th (and, loosely, 6th).
Comping: Accompanying: playing chords behind a soloist or singer with rhythmic interest.
Contrafact: A new melody written over the changes of an existing tune (e.g. Oleo over rhythm changes, Donna Lee over Indiana).
Diatonic: Belonging to the key's scale. Diatonic chords are built on each scale degree from scale notes only.
Diminished passing chord: A dim7 chord inserted between two diatonic chords a whole step apart (e.g. C – C#dim7 – Dm7), connecting the bass chromatically.
Drop-2 / drop-3 voicing: A four-note voicing made from a close-position chord by dropping the 2nd (or 3rd) voice from the top down an octave. The most-used jazz guitar chord shapes.
Enclosure: Surrounding a target note with notes above and below it before landing on it.
Extension: Notes beyond the 7th: 9, 11, 13 (the 2, 4, 6 an octave up).
Form: The structure of a tune in bars and sections: 12-bar blues, 32-bar AABA, ABAC, 16-bar, through-composed.
Guide tones: The 3rd and 7th of a chord: the two notes that define its quality and lead most smoothly to the next chord.
Head: The melody of a tune, played at the start and end of a performance; solos happen between.
ii–V–I: The fundamental jazz cadence: supertonic minor 7th, dominant 7th, tonic. In minor: iiø7 – V7(b9) – i.
Inversion: A chord with a note other than the root in the bass: 1st inversion (3rd in bass), 2nd (5th), 3rd (7th).
Modal interchange (borrowed chord): Using a chord from the parallel minor (or another parallel mode) in a major key: iv, bVI, bVII, iiø7.
Mode: A scale built from the notes of a parent scale starting on a different degree: Dorian is the major scale from its 2nd degree.
Pedal point: A sustained or repeated bass note (usually the tonic or dominant) under changing chords.
Quartal harmony: Chords built in 4ths rather than 3rds. The sound of McCoy Tyner and of So What.
Rootless voicing: A chord voicing that omits the root (left to the bass player), typically 3-5-7-9 or 3-13-7-9 forms.
Secondary dominant: A dominant 7th chord that resolves to a diatonic chord other than I: V7/ii, V7/V, etc.
Shell voicing: A three-note voicing: root, 3rd and 7th (often root, 7th, 3rd low to high). Freddie Green's rhythm style uses these on the low strings.
Side-slipping: Playing a phrase a half step away from the key for tension, then returning.
Swing eighths: Eighth notes played with the first longer than the second, roughly in a 2:1 (triplet) ratio at medium tempo, becoming more even as the tempo rises.
Tritone substitution: Replacing a dominant 7th with the dominant 7th a tritone away (G7 → Db7); the two chords share the same 3rd and 7th.
Turnaround: A short progression (usually the last two bars of a section) leading back to the top: I – vi – ii – V, or iii – VI7 – ii – V, or I – bIII7 – bVI7 – bII7.
Upper-structure triad: A major or minor triad played over a dominant 7th's 3rd and 7th to produce specific tensions: e.g. an A triad over G7 (9, #11, 13), an Ab triad over G7 (b9, 3, b13).
Voice leading: Moving each note of a chord to the nearest note of the next chord; the measure of a well-connected chord progression.
Walking bass: A bass line in quarter notes that outlines the harmony with chord tones and approach notes; on guitar, the foundation of solo-guitar comping.