What can I tell you about this song? I mentioned last time that “Puzzle Peace” was like an introduction. That is one option. We can count this off with four beats, then we're in.
Why “mixed bricks”? I thought of bricks, building blocks, and wanted to write a song that would emulate them forming a larger structure. The first beat in the first measure is a quarter note rest, but one player from the rhythm section would start off the tune on beat one. Like stacking bricks, an additional musician or part would enter, building up the sound. However, as I continued composing, other ideas came to mind, and I let myself see where they would go.
There are two main sections. The first chord is a Cmaj7, and no key signature is indicated. The roots of the chords in the “A” section use all 12 notes found in western instruments, such as pianos. The type of chord, however, does not fit any specific pattern. As the lead sheet shows, the second measure is on an F#7, followed by a measure split by a Bbmaj7 to a Bbm7. The Asus that follows can be sustained the whole measure, or can go to an A major chord for the second half. The rest of this section incorporates the remaining root notes. After the measure with the D9, the “A” section is played through once more before proceeding to the “B” section.
In jazz, it is common to find chord changes from different keys within the same song. Dave Brubeck's tune “The Duke” is an example of the twelve tone structure, and was partly influential for my writing this piece. John Coltrane's great “Giant Steps” is worth studying, on which there are many other resources investigating the work, so I won't delve into that here.
However this piece may be interpreted, it is always good to have an underlying groove. The melody – and the rhythm – can be played with straight-eighth notes, like in the driving beat behind Jaco Pastorius' composition “Teen Town”.
The “B” section was originally called “Mode Ring”, before that song came together. I decided to combine this with the “A” section – “mixed” with “Bricks”. You'll notice that the “B” section contrasts with the “A” section in that it uses all chords – from the same key (C major), before transitioning to the key of D major, of which it uses the majority of the diatonic chords.
Why was it called “mode ring”? I thought that a composition could cycle through chord changes such that no one mode would feel central. Again, the composing started with this idea, but grew to incorporate others. When we get to the Em7 in the second line of the “B” section, this is shared between the key of C major and D major. The rhythm here is not exactly as written, or, the eighth notes are swung, giving it a different feel. The groove can stay the same, though. Joe Satriani's “Flying in a Blue Dream” is an excellent example of keeping a mode (and groove) constant while changing keys, similar to what is happening in “Mixed Bricks”.
On the first A7, the last eighth note in the measure has both a B and a G. Either can be played, or both, if the instrument allows. The Ebm7b5 is as written, it is not an Ebdim. The Em7 to A7 is a 2-5, as is the Dm7 to G7 that follows. Note that the melody is the same as in the last measure of the “A” section.
Solos are flexible, and after the last repeat of the form, the “B” section can be carried to the Cmaj9#11, or this can be arrived at from the “A” section, owing to the shared melody.
Solos are flexible, and after the last repeat of the form, the “B” section can be carried to the Cmaj9#11, or this can be arrived at from the “A” section, owing to the shared melody.
There is one more composition in this set of small theories.
Here is a video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ujlMwK9IZM
