3 Must Know Jazz Chords from Charlie Brown

[@robbes7rh]

Xmas is a magical time of the year when you're a kid. And not just for the cool things Santa puts under the Xmas tree, but also the gatherings of family and friends of the family, the wood burning in the fireplace, the aroma of buttered Turkey and pies made with exotic spices. But most of all for me, the Xmas programs on TV. And nothing tickled my dopamine receptors quite like the Peanuts Xmas Special. All the wonderful characters created by Charles Schultz and the engaging storylines moved to the music laid down by Vince Guaraldi and his trio. And they spoke in the language of jazz. And for the Xmas special it meant hearing the traditional songs and carrols from Germany and Victorian England transformed into a modern, fast moving parade of dissonance and altered dominant harmonies riding on a steady steamboat of rhythm played by a plucked double bass and brushed drums. It was just too cool for school and it charmed everybody.

[@robertmaccreight4910]

Jazz harmony is challenging and fascinating. It got me back into playing music again.

[@martinmills135]

What an inspiring story to bring jazz harmony alive. Thanks, Josh! O Tannenbaum, btw, now widely known as an Xmas tune, is originally a song about unrequited love: The Christmas tree lauded for its evergreen boughs is compared favourably to an unfaithful lover, whose affections seem to change with the seasons.

[@halloola3636]

Oh, thanks for this info. Although I´m German I´ve never heard that before.

[@martinmills135]

@ Na, gerne! Das Lied ist von 1819. Google einfach mal “o Mägdelein, wie falsch ist dein Gemüte” 😜

[@liebeslied_4048]

In the Frank mantooth jazz voicings book the whole 3rd or fourth chapter talks about the idea of using polychords like that Eb7 and F frame as a way of noting altered chords. I Always seen it in writing and processed the chord the same way but its really cool to see somone talk about it that way. Jazz harmony is so Cool.

[@JoshWalshMusic]

Yes indeed! Mantooth s book is so valuable.

[@marianlevy9232]

This is exactly what I need now.. help with upper structures , poly chords , flat seconds and tritone subs .. I just ordered the Mantooth book on jazz voicings on the advice in the comments I think Vince Guarldi started a love of jazz harmony in many of us🎹❤️

[@JoshWalshMusic]

@@liebeslied_4048 would you guys be interested in a video on Mantooth voicings? They are one of my go-to voicings, but don’t get enough love.

[@liebeslied_4048]

@@JoshWalshMusic absolutely!

[@McMahonGary]

​​@@liebeslied_4048 I think 2:18 of adding an F major triad to an Eb7 or Ebmaj7 as just adding thirds until you reach the 13th. I don't view that as an alteration. Alterations are generally flat or sharp 5ths or 9ths. Even the 'A' note (+11) is not an altered note. In a major chord (including dominants) it is a very stable chord tone.

[@hoffnstuff8996]

Excellent!! Great deconstruction and analysis of my favorite Christmas song, and love the combo of your enthusiasm, knowledge, and talent. Thanks for sharing with us.

[@djtomt]

Guaraldi's is the only Christmas music I care for anymore. I am so tired of all the other stuff! Great video!

[@JoshWalshMusic]

@@djtomt Beegie Adair is great too! But, my all time favorite is Dave McKenna’s Christmas album with the martini on the cover. Incredible!

[@djtomt]

@@JoshWalshMusic thanks for the suggestions - will def check those out!

[@peterkossits4794]

What a fun video and how amazing that the lightbulb came on for you all on your own and sparked your exploration. I still remember having my mind blown when I told my teacher that I didn't get tritone subs and he asked to figure out the 3rd and 7th of each chord.

[@marca7434]

Josh Walsh ... You are giving a great lesson and we are enjoying your enthusiasm for this piece that Vince crafted. It's actually a challenge to listen to the original version after we've been affected by Vince's touch.

[@grouchomarxist666]

Terrific video Josh.

[@SuperMBARutgers2013]

Thank you. God bless, it's so touching

[@jamesbondaygee]

I agree it's absolutely beautiful ❤️. This was a great lesson idea I'm going to have to subscribe

[@JoshWalshMusic]

It’s an honor to have the great James Bond in our little community. Welcome!

[@jakekeys88music]

That arrangement of O Tannenbaum was like Schenkerian theory compared to the Guaraldi arrangement. I think that desire for more harmonic movement is only a sign of a mature musician understanding their palette.

[@daveh4722]

Love the video. You had me at Vince Guaraldi. He loves the 13#11. Ditto on the earlier comment on Mantooth’s expressing Altered Dominant Chords as polychord fractions.

[@brianelza9807]

A Dominant 7 chord that resolves to any chord other than the tonic chord, would be considered a “secondary dominant” chord.

[@JoshWalshMusic]

Yup!

[@hilbertshotel]

Hmm. How would you analyze a doubly-augmented German sixth?

[@damonshanabarger2604]

When learning diatonic chords on the guitar, one of the first things I discovered was creating a CMaj7 in the open position. Of course, throwing the low E string was immediately frowned upon. Although a harmonious third, it just doesn't work. The high E was fair game, and when adding color tones and such, I quickly thought to myself: this sounds like that tune from Charlie Brown. It was not too long before my ears wrestled my fingers into a guitar version. Although a fully utilized open CMaj7 chord is kind of difficult, it is fairly simple to come up with a guitar version of this masterpiece.

[@mbmillermo]

I think you do great work and you deserve a lot more attention from the music-learning community on KZbin. Thanks for this lesson! I'm subscribing now.

[@JoshWalshMusic]

Glad to have you! Thanks for the kind words.

[@dansonchungteng1555]

Thanks God bless you!

[@martynramsden]

Really enjoyed this Josh. The analysis of Guaraldi's harmony and use of polychord. Yes that chord! Certainly not boring for thise 5-1's 😁🎹😎🤘

[@DuhAverageJoe]

This is exactly how I felt when I discovered secondary dominant chords

[@MotifMusicStudios]

Wonderful lesson and loved how you shared these creative ideas so well!

[@MotifMusicStudios]

Your storytelling talent combined with the musical creativity is a GOLD combination - truly loved this!

[@MotifMusicStudios]

oooh! Loved the E7 in the key of C - what a cool idea. 100% trying this!

[@JoshWalshMusic]

Thanks for all your comments on the last few videos. I'm glad you are enjoying it. Cheers my friend.

[@eric_james_music]

Ahhh yes 13b9. I usually play it rootless like xx7544 on guitar as a B7 to Emaj7. I heard it all the time on "Chet Baker Sings." I used to call it a Dim (maj7) chord. You could also think of it like a 7#9 with the 5th in the bass on the bVI. It's also only one note away from a maj7b5 on the IV.

[@aleksik4028]

Vince was great

[@rgraham9792]

Really just sticking in a 2-5 before coming back to the 1, then sticking another 2-5 before that for a 3-6-2-5-1 (that E-7b5 really being an inversion of a C7)

[@Hermanviele]

josh, excellent video.any chance for Vince's lead sheet? josh, excellent video.any chance for Vince's lead sheet

[@JoshWalshMusic]

I don’t actually have a “lead sheet” for Vince’s version, just the version right out of the songbook which is copyright. So I didn’t feel comfortable sharing that. I’ll have a transcription of the solo section in the upcoming video. So keep an eye out for that.

[@hshlom]

Not only do these chords sound great together, they also Swing!

[@Boneless_Chuck]

Great insights! What about those dom7ths in "Christmas Time is Here?" The first chord is Fmaj7 and the second one is one of those dom7#11 chords on Eb. That is a whole 'nother use of those! More of a planing or colorism than functional. Or is it???

[@JoshWalshMusic]

It’s a backdoor! The Eb7 is the flat-7 dominant. A back door 2-5-1 would be Bbm - Eb7 - F. The #11 is perfect to play on that backdoor 5. One common way to voice a #11 chord is with an upper structure. A major triad a whole step above the root. So in this case an F major triad over Eb7. That makes it really seamless with that F major 1 chord. The colorful notes of the Eb7#11 chord (F A C) are the primary notes of the F chord.

[@TheRealSandleford]

its a five one life for us

[@JoshWalshMusic]

🤣 so true. (or V / ii)

[@TheBluSkyAboveYou]

Let me guess. Your best friend is named Dominic, & your partner is named Dominica, right? Thanks for wonderful, alternative (we'll call it altered, for the sake of this video) Xmas story.

[@petejandrell4512]

Josh go carnivore for a month, beef, butter and eggs. See if it helps

[@JoshWalshMusic]

What are you implying? Let’s keep the conversation focused on jazz. I’m down 60lbs in the last 7 months, btw. So I appreciate your care, but I’m already working on it.

[@prod.j4ck313]

@@JoshWalshMusic he's just being silly. You look great man. Fantastic video.

[@markom1976]

Such a long video with no educational benefits at all. Now I need to search for harmonization of this song because this video shows no intention to teach anybody harmonisation.