Part 06: Treatment of the Dominant Chord Throughout "Have You Met Miss Jones?"

On the bridge to “Have You Met Miss Jones?” I will often treat measures containing the chords ii-7 V7 the same as on the A sections of the song. Even though each chord of a ii-7 V7 progression on the bridge gets only two beats, I will still extend the V7 chord over the ii-7 chord to allow more tension to build. This time while on the bridge, I chose to use wider intervals to begin my line. I am thinking Eb7 over the entirety of measure one but I immediately side step up a half step from Bb-7 in fourths to the sound of B major (2, 5, 1). I find replacing the root with or adding the 2nd or 9th scale degree to a major or minor arpeggio can create a more ambiguous sound but also pleasing choice to play on the harmony.

Chords changes located on the top and furthest from the staff indicate what chords the guitar player is voicing. Chords closest to the staff are what I am thinking when improvising. When there is only one chord present both saxophone and guitar are playing/thinking the same chord.

Ex. 6 Solo Over Bridge To “Have You Met Miss Jones?”

On the Ab major chord in measure two, I use the Gb on the last sixteenth of beat one and the Eb on the downbeat of two as a double neighbor to get me to F. I then use E natural as a chromatic passing tone to get to Eb. Temporarily I side step up a half step from Ab major to the key of A major. The notes E, Gb, and Ab are enharmonic and the same pitches as E, F#, and G# in the key of A major. Using Ab major pentatonic, beat four is back in the key of Ab. In measure three of the example, I turn A-7 into A minor with a major seven (G#). By using G# on the A minor chord, I outline E7 and A minor or V7 going to i minor. G# is the sharp #11 on the D7 chord and gives the line a little more color. I resolve the tension played in the previous measures by playing an accessible sequence on G major and E7 chords.

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