Don Stiernberg

More Rhythmic (and Harmonic) Fun

Music for this workshop

Here's one that has come up frequently as a request at workshops recently. When discussing chords, progressions and substitutions, I usually ask my fellow pickers to name me a tune they like so that we might mess with it some.

The current leading favorite seems to be the great old standard All of Me, and why not? It's chock full of cool changes that present lots of possibilities for modernization, all devices that can be applied readily to other tunes. So let's look at it here in the context of chordal accompaniment, also known as "rhythm playing" or "comping." A few issues ago we looked at Honeysuckle Rose in this manner, but I think All of Me actually may present a few more interesting options. So here we go.

But first, a digression, and a request for information and help from you. All of Me is a standard, right? But what is a standard? The closest we get to a definition is a tune that gets played by all sorts of artists for decades or generations. Usual examples given are tunes by Great American Songbook-smiths such as Gershwin, Porter or Ellington. The ones from my time might include The Beatles (although I'm not quite that old), Stevie Wonder, James Taylor, Bob Dylan or Paul Simon.

So here's my question: What tunes do YOU consider "standards?" Your answer could be drawn from my time, your time or all-time. I'm interested in which tunes you think have stood or will stand the test of time. Forty years from now, will someone at a mando workshop ask for the changes to What's Goin' On? or Baby I'm Amazed or Crazy by Gnarls Barkley?

Please share your answers with me. You can find me in all the usual places: my website, the Mandolin Magazine website, mandolincafe.com or at the bookstore trying to look up the correct changes for Come Rain or Come Shine...

And now back to our regularly scheduled program. Let's start with basic changes for All of Me by Simons and Marks. Think of this set of chords as a form. It goes straight through, no repeated sections, although one phrase is used twice. Another few ways to conceptualize: These changes are "vanilla" Stiernbergand we'll be adding sauce. Or if you prefer, a "skeleton" which we'll try to flesh out, an empty room to which we'll add some furniture, hopefully aiding the "feng shui."

The things we add will be in two categories: musical and mandolinistic. Musical additions would be chord alterations. Mandolinistic refers to the fact that there are several ways to play things on the fretboard. The chord changes are our starting point.

So, what can be done? Let's think about cadences first. In the second four bars we have A-seven / D-minor (V7-i) then similarly E-seven to A-minor in the next four. Whether we're in major or minor, we know that if we have a five/one cadence, a two/five/one is also okay: same tones!

Remember that in a minor key the position two chord is always a minor-seven, flat-five chord, and the position five chord should be altered. So now our progression in the second four bars can include E-minor-seven, flat-five / A-seven, flat-nine / D-minor, followed by B-minor-seven, flat-five / E-seven, flat-nine on the way to A-minor.

And what of the opening four bars? Well, jazz players might consider eight beats of C as "static." In situations like this it's okay to move through the harmonized scale of that tonality and possibly even use the chords that are in the cracks between the scale tones. In this case, try C / D-minor / E-flat diminished / E-minor.

The E-seven in bar three? Keep in mind here that jazzers have most of their fun with dominant chords, frequently adding tensions (flat-five, sharp-five, flat-nine, sharp-nine) or (as before) converting a five/one progression into a two/five/one. So here you might try B-minor-seven / E-seven or E-seven, sharp-five or maybe even B-minor-seven, flat-five / E-seven, flat-nine. All of that tension is cool because E-seven is the fifth of the next change (A-seven). Things don't really settle down or land until the D-minor.

Another harmonic situation to have fun with happens at the IV-chord, eight bars from the end. The movement called for is F to F-minor. We can try a couple of things. Using our idea of two/five/ones rather than single static chords, think of F-minor as a ii chord. Its corresponding V is B-flat-seven.

Not surprisingly, that sounds really cool there. Quite often we see another move after the IV, to sharp-IV diminished. Does it work with the melody? Yes! So you could play F-sharp diminished there. Just be sure your bandmates are all on the same page: F-sharp diminished sounded simultaneously with F-minor or B-flat-seven is not a happy sound.

Right after that we see C headed to a dominant VI chord, A-seven. It's fine to get there chromatically: C-seven / B-seven / B-flat-seven / A-seven.

Color tones can be applied. A I-chord (C in this case) always can be expressed as C-major-seven, C-six, or even C-six/nine. Note that C-six/nine is NOT C-nine, which is a dominant chord, a different function. C-six/nine is rather a C-triad with the major sixth and major ninth added. Mandolinistically, these are often rootless chords.

Ninths can be added to minor chords as well. D-minor sounds nice as D-minor-nine, A-minor can become A-minor-nine, etc. A major sixth added to a minor chord (say, D-minor-six) is a cool sound too, a fave of the Gypsy Jazz camp.

Here in All of Me it might not be the best idea as it's an ambiguous sound, suggesting a combination of tonalities (D-minor-six equals G-7). Try it just the same, but in this tune I like straight minors or minor ninths, leaving the minor sixth chords to Minor Swing.

Now let's consider the actual rhythms or pickstrokes to be played. Do we want to play nothing but chomp-chomp, one-two-three-four? Not unless there are no drums, piano or rhythm guitar. In the company of other timekeepers, the mandolinist is free to place chords unobtrusively or tastefully where others are NOT playing.

This can happen right around where the chords actually change or in response to the soloist. If you feel better maintaining a steady rhythm, a default swing rhythm I like imitates the sound of the hi-hat cymbal opening and closing. I call it "Morse Code rhythm" — DA-dit-DA-dit-DA-dit, etc.

It may seem similar to bluegrass "chopping" because after striking a chord the fingers release and mute the strings on the shorter notes. The similarity ends there, however: Don't use Bill Monroe voicings on a swing tune; the time is heard differently. You'll want to play on other beats besides two and four.

So here's one combination of possibilities. These devices can be arranged every which way. You'll need to trust your ear and listen to and talk with your bandmates. If it sounds good, the greater likelihood is that it is good. If certain tensions or color notes sound forced in, or "too jazzy" or "nasty" or "mathematiMagazinecal," you can always scale back to the vanilla changes.

Usually, though, it's nice to widen the sound of the band by adding variety while someone in the middle or lower part of the tonal spectrum handles the heavy lifting with the chomp-chomp stuff.

Please let me know what you think, of this and YOUR "standards." Thank you and keep playin' them good notes.

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