Dexter Gordon's 3 Favourite Harmonic Devices

Dexter Gordon has an incredible mastery of harmony and harmonic manipulations in his solos. All his solos are filled with harmonic devices we can learn, and put into our own jazz improvisations to start replicating his style, and sounding like a real jazz master! In this video, I go over his three most used harmonic devices that you can start using today!
For more detail on Dexter's style, including how he constructs his melodies, and uses rhythm within his solos, check out my brand new ebook, Diggin' Dexter: bit.ly/3omRmRf
1:08 Device 1
4:33 Device 2
7:01 Device 3
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[@mattyharrismusic]

Hey Josh, these videos were the practice inspiration I needed today. Great job!

[@joshwakeham]

Hey Matty, it's great to hear the video motivate you! Thanks for watching!

[@jontonkin6291]

we all love dexters effortless genius...and big dramatic tones...bravo

[@joshwakeham]

He's definitely one of my all-time favourites!

[@arnieus866]

Joe Pass said he ignored the II minor most of the time. I think lots of players just internalized the progression and made melodies, maybe with a few guide tones in mind.

[@joshwakeham]

Yeah internalising the progression is definitely a fundamental part of everything, so you can focus on making melodies, and making them reflect the internalised progression. It's the tendencies we all have when doing that that makes our individual styles unique

[@Arycke]

Barry Harris also. Just play the V all the way through. Interestingly, The ii is more focused on by Pat Martino

[@eblue9620]

The ii is just a V7sus

[@shinyaxolotl]

I'm digging Dexter

[@Julien_grsc_elka]

Same! As a bassist tho

[@bilaerbilaer2135]

Although I am jazz guitarist, I LOVE to dig stuffs from horn players!! Subscribed!

[@francistaylor5097]

Now I actually know what a tritone substitution is. Thanks, Josh.

[@joshwakeham]

No problem Francis, glad you found it helpful!

[@gagagu1]

I like your videos 🙂 Could you create such a eBook and video of Hank Mobleys Style. He is my favourite. 🤤

[@joshwakeham]

Thanks Lino! Hank Mobley is killer! He's not someone I've studied in detail before, but I'll try to dig into him some more over the next few months

[@gatozagarra5438]

I believe the system came from the boppers.Barry Harris teach us how the 2 was "irrelevant" and they just saw tension an release (5 1 ) on mayor or minor keys.The diminish scale/chord is the connection between dominants

[@joshwakeham]

Yeah I've heard that too - it definitely makes going through quick changes a bit less stressful!

[@Wyrdo999]

Django Reinhardt was probably one of the first to negate the 2 chord. I love your videos and I'm guitar player who just happened see you in the rotation.

[@insidejazzguitar8112]

This is great stuff - I bought your book!

[@joshwakeham]

Thank you! I hope you find it helpful!

[@gatozagarra5438]

Great video

[@togotraining6621]

Man I love your vids. This is sooo cool

[@joshwakeham]

Thanks so much!

[@togotraining6621]

Never really checked out Dexter Gordan and I can here some of the things you were talking about, i.g., delayed resolutions, tritone subs

[@Illneverremember1]

Love your observations and enthusiasm, Dexter does indeed give us a lot to yell about lol. Tritone sub vs. altered scale. Two different ways of looking at the same chord-scale. Is there ever a reason to describe it one way vs the other? Is it mostly about voicing?

[@joshwakeham]

I think the main difference is context - often we think of it as a tritone sub if it's part of a ii-V progression, and the altered scale if it's not. That said, there are loads of people who don't always use that distinction, and it also comes down to which one people learnt first (they usually show a bias to that way of thinking) and the lines being played (if they clearly outline the tritone chord, e.g. Db7 instead of G7) more people would think of it as a tritone sub

[@Illneverremember1]

@@joshwakeham I used to think Mixolydian #4 as a way to play the altered scale. It was a familiar scale except for one note. But thinking minor from the b2 is even better. Thanks!

[@leighwakeham4890]

Looking at the other comments, I'm assuming that you'll have the Hank Mobley book sorted by next week. No???

[@joshwakeham]

I think I'll need to buy more coffee if that's going to happen!

[@publicidaho]

Nice work! I was listening and watching the playing more than watching the notation, but still noticed that the playing and notation didn't line up in a few spots. For example, the BbM7 at 1:35, 2:00, 4:52, etc. (played A C D G, notated G C D F) or the Cm6 at 6:35 (notation has Ab instead of A given the key of Cm). Regardless, I enjoyed the video; thanks for sharing!

[@joshwakeham]

Ah yes, I just checked and you're right! Thanks for pointing it out. Unfortunately, I can't change it without deleting and reuploading the video. At least the Dexter examples are all correct, they're the most important part!

[@charleshill9649]

I could argue that at 4:07 mark, front half of measure, Dexter clearly outlines a Cm7...root, b7, 6, root. Of course it works against F dominant also. Is he thinking just F7 for simplicity? Believe Joe Pass commented that he often just thought V7 - 1

[@joshwakeham]

I see that more as outlining F7 than Cm7 - the Bb is just a passing note between the chord tones - especially because he uses the same harmonic reduction device loads across his solos (at least the ones I've studied). But yes it definitely makes things more simple, which could be why he's thinking it. Another idea could be that the ii is kind of a suspension of the V chord, so you can use the same ideas on both

[@bilaltarabey5621]

I knew you love Dexter (so do I)

[@joshwakeham]

He's definitely one of my favourites!

[@asherperkinsmusic2767]

NEAT

[@stephenbrophy836]

Hi Josh Can you send me the link for the Dexter ebook. Thanks

[@joshwakeham]

Hi Stephen, here's the link www.joshwakeham.com/store/p/diggin-dexter-an-analysis-of-dexter-gordons-improvisational-style

[@julietyewuna3451]

Please what app do you use to transcribe

[@joshwakeham]

I use Transcribe, it's available for Windows, iOS, and Linux

[@Osnosis]

Josh, would you recommend one cup, two cups, or the whole pot of coffee?🤣☕️

[@joshwakeham]

One cup to get out of bed, another during practice, and a whole pot before filming a video 😂

[@Osnosis]

@@joshwakeham And you're not even old yet!

[@sheilamacdougal4874]

Just a personal preference: there's really no need to yell, nor to constantly move your hands while talking. Did someone tell you that you need to do that to keep it interesting? One must heed Aristotle's warning about virtue moderating between two vices, the second one in this case being annoyingness. Don't get me wrong: I like the content (although everybody plays 2-5-1s sometimes by ignoring the minor or even ignoring the changes of both the 2 and the 5: it's all the same scale anyway).

[@joshwakeham]

Hi Sheila thanks for watching. I know that in a bunch of my old videos I was a bit shouty - it's something I'm trying to improve moving forward. Hopefully my upcoming videos will be less annoying for you!

[@sheilamacdougal4874]

@@joshwakeham Glad you took it constructively. Look forward to seeing the other videos.

[@leighwakeham4890]

Less is more I guess.

[@JiveDadson]

That applies to hand-waving too.