Workshop 9 mini-test

1. Why is D7 unusual in C major?

2. What is D7 functionally?

3. What note distinguishes D7 from Dm7?

4. What is the ♯11 of D7?

5. What is the 13th of D7?

6. Why is natural 11 often awkward on a dominant chord with a major 3rd?

7. What scale color is commonly associated with D7♯11?

8. What is the best way to create interest when one chord lasts several bars?

9. What line appears in D7→Dm7→G7→C?

10. What is the deepest lesson of this workshop?

Answers

1. It contains F♯, which is outside the C-major scale.
2. V7/V, the dominant of G.
3. F♯ instead of F natural.
4. G♯
5. B
6. Natural 11 is G, which clashes strongly with the chord's major 3rd F♯; raising it to G♯ creates the characteristic ♯11 color.
7. Lydian dominant: 1-2-3-♯4-5-6-♭7.
8. Develop motifs, rhythm, contour, register, and extensions instead of relying on chord changes.
9. F♯→F→F→E
10. When harmony stays still, musical development has to come from the line, rhythm, register, and color rather than from constant chord changes.

The central lesson of Workshop 9 is:

Fast-changing harmony teaches you how to navigate. Static harmony teaches you how to actually say something.