by Steve Rochinski
Learn to use and understand advanced jazz harmony! This book reveals the post-bop jazz innovations established by such iconic jazz artists as John Coltrane, Wayne Shorter, Clare Fischer, Herbie Hancock, and Chick Corea, as taught at Berklee College of Music. You will learn techniques such as multitonic systems, the principles of non-functional pattern development, unusual use of deceptive motion and resolution of dominants, frequent modulation, use of specialized voicing techniques, and tension-driven melody/harmony relationships.
You will learn to: construct advanced jazz sonorities and contexts; build sophisticated, expressive melodies based on advanced chord progressions; understand how chord progressions relate to the psychology of musical expectation; articulate nuanced musical sensibilities for harmonic obscurity, surprise, and ambiguity; use characteristic post-bop conceptual approaches to harmonic progressions, such as multitonic systems and the Axis System; create non-functional chord patterns, with depth and clear contour; and more!
“In his book Modern Jazz Theory and Practice, Mr. Rochinski has given us a new level of comprehension and usefulness of the harmonic practices in jazz as it has developed over the past seventy years. Using his own compositions as well as well-known pieces by many of the greats from contemporary jazz history as musical examples to digest and analyze, Steve brings conceptual understanding from multiple viewpoints so that generations of musicians will be able to personally express themselves and develop their own special palate. It's a delicious feast for my mind and ears that I'll be diving into again and again!”
Howard Alden, Grammy-nominated 7-string guitarist and recording artist.
