Simpedia

Gordon Harvey, Australia

Q. What does the dash in “7-5” or “7-9” chords mean?

A. The dash (I think of it as a minus) means to flat the relevant note, so a C7-5 would have a flatted fifth (Gb instead of G), and a C7-9 would have a flatted 9 (Db instead of D)

Q. When doing JClue 1, do you do anything different with the 5th when the chord says: “7-5” or “b5” (meaning flat 5)?

A. Yes. It occurs in Here to Stay with Bm7-5. You’d play F on top instead of F#. In this particular song, you’ll discover this turns out to be very convenient – see if you can see why.

Q. When doing JClue 2, Do you do anything different with the 7th when the chord says: “7-9″ or 7-5”?

A. Jazz Clue 2 relates only to the 7th component of a chord. The –5 is handled by Jazz Clue 1. The –9 (or normal 9, for that matter) is something of a bonus note, which I would ignore while a student is still processing the basic jazz clues. As far as Jazz Clue 2 is concerned, you can just treat the chord as a regular 7th. The 9 can be added later.

Q. In “Once at the Latin” measure 19 there is a wavy line connecting 2 notes (C to Bb). Does this mean to play all the 1/2 steps in between or only the scale steps or what?

A. This means to play all half-steps. Treat them like grace notes, so you create the effect of tumbling down through the half-steps to the Bb.

Have fun – I love the Jazz program!