Minor 4ths/russell

[MASCARO at humnet.ucla.edu]

Thanks to ENGROSEN for that possible saving of the minor fourth text; Russell 
and that modal stuff immediately came to my mind when this question was 
introduced, but, not having much formal musical training (I picked it up, as 
ENGROSEN notes, secondhand and only later tried to educate myself.  Not too 
successfully though, so I was not confident in my ability to express the idea w/out 
major factual blundering (something I excel at from time to time), and frankly, 
intimidated (and impressed) by the formal knowledge of some of our cohorts. 
The idea seems sound also because it fits right into the chronology of the 
narrative and the flavor of the type of jazz going down. Anyway, just an 
unschooled endorsement of ENGROSEN's speculation, and a chance to say that 
people are often too quick to look for TRP nodding, IMO.

john m
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>Hi Brian:
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>This would giving Pynchon the benefit of the doubt, but there is a way 
>to think about minor fourths in music notation, particularly in jazz, 
>given the reference to "horns."
>
>Someone I studied with at New England Conservatory in the mid-seventies,
>a theorist by the name of George Russell, was a major player in jazz 
>theory, whose detailed examination of chord 
>scale relationships, *The Lydian Chromatic Concept*, became the 
>improvisors' and composers' Bible by the early sixties I believe.
>
>In this transvaluation of chord-scale relationshipes, Russell dumps the 
>traditional distinction of the major (ionian) and minor (aeolian) scales 
>as the basis for jazz harmony, and makes the lydian scale, with a 
>naturally occurring raised fourth degree, as the primary scale (from 
>each note of which gets generated possible harmonies).  The reason for 
>this was to justify theoretically the prevalence of major 7th and dominant 
>7th chords with a #11 (raised fourth beyond the first octave of the 
>chord's root) in jazz.
>
>>From the perspective of Russell's theory, then, the "minor" fourth is 
>simply the alteration of the #11 to a "straight" 11, often used musically 
>in sus-4 chord constructions, where the "minor" fourth degree is 
>substituted for the traditionally harmonically rich major or minor 3rd, 
>to produce open, empty sounding chords: these are one of a whole stable 
>of harmonic resources used to imply polytonal forms, also called chords 
>produced through voicings in "fourths" not thirds.  McCoy Tyner is noted 
>for these voicings on many middle Coltrane sessions.
>
>Though for my money, the typo should be fixed from minor fourth and 
>sixth to minor sixth and ("perfect" in white music) fourth.  I doubt he 
>knew enough about jazz (though clearly a fan) to get this subtlety.
>
>Yet, if he did know about jazz, without a doubt he would know about 
>George Russell's work.  Anyone who is a serious player either uses 
>Russell's theory or learned it second hand without knowing the source.
>
>mer
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