BookatlasPiano Rabbit Hole: Improvisation Theory & Practice
7735 / 18210 · Workshop 60 — “Butterfly”-Type Floating Harmony: Deep Pocket, Pedal Centers, Upper Structures, Parallel Voicings, Common-Tone Motion, and Making Harmony Feel Suspended Rather Than Functional← prev⊞ allnext →

60.82Apply it to “Happy Birthday”

This is one of the strangest but most educational versions yet.

Keep much of the melody recognizable.

Bass:

long C pedal.

Reharmonize melody notes using:

B♭/C

Dm/C

E♭/C

quartal structures.

Only at phrase 4:

G7alt→Cm or C major.

Suddenly a child's tune becomes floating modal jazz.