You are on page 1of 3

TRACK 4/24 Dominant Dissonance

REPLAY (Tim Richards)


A dominant 7th chord is used here as the tonic (I) throughout, the flat 7th giving this piece in D major a blues
tonality. The given right-hand phrases illustrate some of the less obvious melodic choices shown in Figs 1.38 and
1.39, i.e.: the 2nd, 6th, flat 3rd and flat 5th.
© 2021 Schott Music GmbH & Co. KG, Mainz

32
The HEAD (or melody) of this tune is 24 bars long, but towards the end of each 8-bar sec-
tion some bars are left open for improvisation.

On the repeat, avoid playing any of the written material and experiment with your note
choices. On TRACK 4 you’ll hear me have fun in the right hand with some dissonant
clusters: two or three notes a semitone or tone apart.

Fig 1.40: Some clusters for D7

33
© Getty Images / The Estate of David GAhr

Composer of Round Midnight and Straight No Chaser, Thelonious Monk was one of the
most original pianists of the 20th century, with an unmistakably eccentric style. He was an
important figure in the ‘bebop’ movement of the 1940s and 50s alongside Miles Davis,
Dizzy Gillespie, Bud Powell and others.
34

You might also like