International Journal of Music Science, Technology and Art
(IJMSTA) 6 (1): 1-8, Music Academy “Studio Musica”, 2024 ISSN: 2612-2146 (Online)
1
International Journal of Music Science,
Technology and Art
01 2024 - 06 2024 | Volume 6 | Issue 1
Accademia Musicale Studio Musica
Via Andrea Gritti, 25 - 31100 Treviso (Italy)
Jazz Arranging: Advanced 4-Way Close in Minor Context
Carmine Cataldo
*
, Giosuè Grassia, Leonardo De Lorenzo, Giuseppe Ilario
State Conservatory “Nicola Sala”, Benevento, Italy
* Corresponding author: c.cataldo@conservatorio.bn.it
ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT
Among the difficulties usually faced by students (and professionals) in carrying out a 4-
Way Close jazz harmonization, the management of chromatic bridges undoubtedly stands
out, especially when the duration of the notes that constitute the melodic line is limited.
The harmonization of chromatic lines, in fact, exposes the arranger to an increased risk of
making unacceptable Part Writing Errors (different from those commonly considered in
Tonal Harmony). This article represents the third part of a vast and meticulous research
work. We herein propose the 4-Part harmonization, this time in Minor context, of all the
short chromatic bridges between chordal tones and available tensions. The harmonization
is considered as being a functional process: consequently, all the voicings are accurately
labelled, so as to allow the reader to immediately understand their role in the harmonic
context.
Copyright © 2024 Author et al., licensed to IJMSTA. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/), which permits unlimited use, distribution and reproduction in any medium so long as the original work is
properly cited.
1 Introduction to the paper
This article represents the third part of a previous work (two papers, already published in the same journal) [1,2]. The work in
its entirety may be regarded as the latest evolution of a 4-Part Harmonization method, previously introduced [3], in which each
Voicing is explicitly assigned a specific Function, highlighted through the usage of an extremely rigorous notation. Very often,
as elsewhere underlined [1,2], a coherent and effective 4-Part jazz harmonization of chromatic lines can turn out to be a very
challenging task even for skilled professionals. In this paper, the harmonization of all the short chromatic bridges between
chordal tones and available tensions in Minor contexts is discussed, by resorting to the concepts of harmonic functions (the
harmonization is considered as being a functional process), tonicization, chromatic parallelism. All the acceptable errors are
highlighted. For the sake of clarity, we underline how the harmonized notes coincide with the upper voices.
In the following parts, we will first describe the preparations of musical stimuli and introduce the testing tasks, after which we
illustrate the designs of objective. measurements and listening tests. Subsequently, features will be extracted from the audio
signal of both AI output and human output to make an objective comparison.
2 Fundamental Rules in 4-Way Close Writing
In carrying out a correct 4-Part Close Harmonization, any arranger should abide by the following simple rules [1,2]:
a. All the notes of the Voicing must be placed in the range of a single octave (Close Position): in other words, the
maximum interval between the External Voices cannot exceed a Major Seventh [3];
b. The Harmonic Functions associated with the Voicings should always produce the underlying Harmonic Flow:
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Received: March 21, 2024
Accepted: April 15, 2024
Published: April 19, 2024
DOI: https://doi.org/10.48293/IJMSTA-15
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Keywords:
Jazz Arranging
4-Way Close
Minor Chords
Harmonic Functions
Tonicization
Chromatic Parallelism
Delayed Resolution