Chick Corea, "Rhythm-a-ning": A chorus-by-chorus breakdown

Chick Corea: Rhythm-a-ning A chorus – by chorus breakdown Submitted by: Gerry Shatford Submitted to: Prof. Ron Westray Course: MUSI 6520 Directed Reading Date: May 3rd, 2010  This report presents an analysis of Chick Corea’s improvised piano solo on the Thelonious Monk composition “Rhythm-a-ning”, itself based upon George Gershwin’s “I’ve Got Rhythm”. The recording appears on the album Trio Music, recorded for the ECM label in 1981. Since the improvisation is quite short with very little repetition, I will proceed through the solo, chorus by chorus, mentioning points of interest as I attempt to clarify the harmonic and rhythmic thinking. CHORUS #1: Corea’s opening melodic statements are, harmonically, quite ambiguous and it is difficult to ascertain a clear scale choice in the first sixteen measures. The three note motif in the second measure (E, G sharp, G natural, with the G natural emphasized), followed by an E major triad creates major/minor ambiguity around E as a tonic note, although the tune is actually in the key of B flat, which also seems to imply a tritone relationship. Taking all of the pitches into account, from the beginning of the solo to m. 11, the best possible solution regarding scale choice is the sixth mode of the G sharp harmonic minor scale, which I call “Lydian Sharp Two”, and have written below: Fig. 1: Lydian Sharp Two Scale, starting on E Re-writing the melodic line with five sharps in the key signature, one can see how few accidentals (outside of the double sharp to account for the raised seventh of the harmonic minor scale) remain. Fig. 2: mm. 1-12, rewritten with five sharps One can see that, rewritten this way, between measures one and ten, before the melodic line evolves into a purely chromatic gesture in mm 11-12, the solo has only two pitches (circled) that do not belong to the scale, and both of these notes can be considered chromatic neighbours to scale tones. Corea’s left hand comping compounds the harmonic ambiguity of these measures, as he plays a left hand voicing usually used for an F seventh chord, which helps to ground the improvisation in the key of B flat major, and perhaps blend well with the bass player. However, the voicing is an unusual choice given the content of his melodic line, as can be seen below. Fig. 3: mm. 2-3 Corea also demonstrates a favourite pianistic device in this first section. Having seen the pianist play, live and on video, I’ve noticed his tendency to cross his hands, allowing both hands to participate in the melodic development of an idea, as opposed to assigning a strict comping role to the left hand. While the following example may be played with the right hand only, my own experience playing this solo is that it is much more idiomatic to execute it by crossing the hands, as indicated below, especially considered the advanced tempo (around three hundred beats per minute). Fig. 4: mm. 4-7 The last four measures of the second A section feature melodic patterns derived from the B flat diminished scale, a favourite scale choice of this particular pianist, and the section ends with the two notes (B flat and E) played simultaneously. This particular gesture neatly sums up the harmonic thinking of the first two A sections as much of the ambiguity at play is derived from the B flat – E duality (i.e. the tritone relationship) as these two notes figure prominently in his scale choices thus far. The bridge of the first chorus is characterized by Corea’s use of the whole tone scale. This evokes Monk strongly as the whole tone scale was one of his favourite choices, especially on the bridge of rhythm changes, and oddly, given the nature of the first two A sections, this is a rare example of the whole tone scale being used to create harmonic clarity rather than ambiguity. There is also a direct reference to the melody of “Rhythm-a-ning” in mm. 23-24. The last A section features some straight forward change running. There is also a nice moment of group musical interaction between the bass and piano in mm. 25-26 as Miroslav Vitous quotes the melody in his accompaniment in m. 25 (perhaps in response to Corea’s reference to the melody in mm. 23-24) and Corea responds with a melodic fragment also based on Monk’s original melody in m. 26. CHORUS #2: The first two A sections of the second chorus are simpler, harmonically and rhythmically, featuring frequent on-the-beat quarter notes and diatonic pitch choices. All of the chromatic pitches are easily explained as passing notes, neighbour tones, or common substitute scale choices. Fig. 5: mm. 33-34 Fig. 6: mm. 37-40 Fig. 7: mm. 43-48 All of the dominant chords on the bridge are altered, but in different ways. The altered D seventh chord has a superlocrian sound, while the G seventh is replaced with a pure tritone substitution, including the II chord (i.e. D minor seventh) as Corea clearly voices a G sharp minor seventh chord in his left hand in m. 52. The C seventh chord is altered by adding a D sharp diminished triad, implying the diminished scale, and the F seventh is again superlocrian, with added complexity created through the addition of chromatic passing tones. The final A section of this chorus features diatonic pitch choices and relatively simple rhythms, although there is a very brief passage of dotted quarter notes which introduces some complexity. It should be noted in this chorus that Corea’s longer note values (i.e. quarter notes and dotted quarter notes) are played staccato, and therefore create a “pecking” effect that not only evokes Monk, but other pianists as well, such as Bill Evans who used the technique during his solo on “Oleo” (Everybody Digs Bill Evans); later Brad Mehldau would employ this device to great effect on “Anthropology”. The chorus ends with a chromatic lower neighbour tone gesture around the note D, an idea which is carried over into the next chorus. This is significant as this device (i.e. introducing melodic material at the end of the last A section, which is then developed in the following chorus) serves to blur the formal distinctions of tune, with one chorus flowing seamlessly into the next. This is another concept found in the previously mentioned Bill Evans and Brad Mehladau solos. The simplicity of Corea’s rhythmic vocabulary in this chorus merits some discussion, as I feel it relates to the time concept at play in the other instruments. The bass is not walking, nor are the drums playing time in any clear or straightforward manner. Practicing this solo along with the recording, I found one of the most difficult aspects to be counting the rests, as I often felt somewhat baffled by what was going on in the rhythm section, something I never experienced with any of the other solos involved in this project (Kenny Barron, Brad Mehldau, Bill Evans). Corea’s rhythmic sense is impeccable and while I am certain that he is constantly sure of his own place “in the time”, it may be that his frequent use of on-the-beat quarter notes, which the bass player seems to be conspicuously avoiding, is a rhythmic gesture designed to solidify the time concept in the group as a whole. CHORUS #3: The first A section of this chorus begins with the aforementioned chromatic neighour tone gesture, which then evolves into a passage using what we have come to call four note “enclosures”, in this case based primarily on the whole tone scale. The following example shows the two different patterns at play. Fig. 8: mm. 65-68 The remainder of this A section unspools with some relatively straightforward change running, with a nice use of the triton substitution in the final bar. Corea leaves two bars of space at the top of the second A section, then executes a melodic gesture whose harmonic origin in completely “outside”, backed up by a left hand voicing which also has nothing to do with the home key of B flat major. Instead of exploring the idea further, he quickly retreats to the home key with a chromatic gesture around the dominant note F. Fig. 9: mm. 75-78 The section ends with a forceful D seventh altered chord on the and of four of the last bar, another gesture designed to clarify the form as the rhythm section is breaking up the time in a highly complex manner. The bridge which follows makes direct reference to Monk, combing motives from two of his most famous compositions; the leaping tritones refer to “Misterioso” (although that composition features leaping sixths), and the harmonic overlap in the last two bars, combined with a strong accent on the first beat of the last bar of the bridge relates to the melody of “Rhythm-a-ning”. This can be seen clearly in the following example. Fig. 10: mm. 85-88 The final A section features more on-the-beat quarter notes with diatonic pitch choices, and concludes with a Monkish gesture, characterized by sixteenth note flourishes and clusters. CHORUS #4: The first four measures of this chorus outline a C seventh chord (the II chord in B flat major), embellished by chromatic passing tones and neighbor notes, before ending on a dyad consisting of B and D#, strongly implying a B seventh chord, the tritone substitution for V. Fig. 11: mm. 97-100 It is my suspicion that the final four measures of the first A section again display Corea’s “hand-crossing” technique. I experimented with many different fingering possibilities for this portion of the solo and came up with what I feel is the most efficient approach, which I have indicated below. Fig. 12: mm. 101-104 – broken between the hands The following melodic line is what appears: Fig. 13: mm. 101-104 The second A section opens with straightforward change running, although with some interesting harmonic displacement that creates some ambiguity. For instance, Corea clearly outlines a C minor seventh chord on the third and fourth beats of measure one, and a B major triad on the third and fourth beats of measure two, gestures which each indicate harmonic displacement by two beats. The eight bar section ends with some interesting major/minor ambiguity as Corea combines a B major and minor arpeggio. Fig. 13: m. 112, major/minor ambiguity During the first four bars of the bridge, Corea implements a device common in Monk’s piano music which many pianists have come to call “chord distillation”. By initially striking a rather dense harmony and then quickly releasing several notes while continuing to hold others down, a pianist can create an interesting effect where notes of a chord seem to “evaporate”. Monk used this device throughout his career and a compelling example is his solo piano rendition of the standard “I Should Care”, a famous recording of which Corea would no doubt be aware. Fig. 14: mm113-115 “chord distillation” The final four measures of the bridge are quite straightforward, and notable only for their use of the whole-tone scale. The last A section of the solo is characterized by the previously noted “pecking” technique, with on-the-beat quarter notes and strings of dotted quarters, all played staccato. The closing gesture is a strongly accented chord, played on the fourth beat of the last bar, referencing the melody of “Rhythm-a-ning” with its strong fourth beat accents. The chord is then subjected to “distillation”, a final nod to Monk. CONCLUSIONS: Chick Corea’s solo on “rhythm changes” is noteworthy for its frequently ambiguous harmonic approach, sometimes due to unusual scale choices, at other times due to the displacement of traditional harmonies associated with the form. The sparseness of the left hand throughout facilitates this approach as it allows him considerable harmonic freedom with the improvised melodic line, without clashing with the bass player’s note choices. His awareness of Monk’s piano style pops up several times over the course of the improvisation, and he has integrated all of the Monkish elements into his own approach, never sounding like an imitator. The rhythmic precision of his playing is also highly impressive, and the piano part frequently “carries” the time when the accompanying instruments are blurring it. Overall, it is a highly entertaining performance by an acknowledged jazz piano master.