Duke Ellington Flashcards
what are Ellington’s melodies like
limited range
chord extensions are used in the melody of come sunday
how doe Ellington play with tonality
Mooche:
alternates between Eb+ and Eb- blues with a c minor start, the final move from Eb- to c minor is crazy because there un related but Ellington gets away with it since it works structurally
how is harmonic development shown in the Mooche
ensemble section has an Ab chord which is a minor inflection
what harmonic device in the mooche has a pull to the V
Tritone sub, Db7 and G7 share enough notes to create a V pull
what is used in ko-ko
pedal, Eb in baritone sax to create a dark brooding sound
what mode is used in the piano solo
aeolian mode, a feeling created with the use of Dbs and Cbs in the Eb key
whole tone piano solo in higher registers creating polytonal dissonances when it clashes with the Eb chord and also in the whole tone run starting on Cb when clashing with the A
what structures does Ellington use
Head arrangement for Mooche (in this context an arrangement that is easy to memorise)
come sunday is part of the movement ‘Black’ from the opera Black, Brown and Beige
Ko-Ko was supposed to be in the opera Boola, all of its choruses are in a 12 bb form
Clarinet techniques
vibrato and chalumeau register used in the Mooche
example of Ellington using the extremes of timbre
Valve trombone in Ko Ko
What does Ko-Ko build to
a gradual textural crescendo that falls down to a double bass solo
types of mutes used in Ko-Ko
plunger, pixie mutes and the ya ya style in trombone solo
in the ensemble section (chorus 5) the trumpet uses plunger mutes
what type of harmony is often used in come Sunday
2ndary V in the B section
What does Ellington aviod
the tonic, not heard till bar 7 of the section
what comes after the I is heard
a chord IV which create a plagal feel, linking to the idea of spirituals
what chord is heard in B and what is the following expectation
III7, expected to move to the 6th
