Musiikin teoria ja säveltäminen ›

En ole tutustunut Levinen kirjaan, mutta löysin sentään arvostelun netistä. Arvostelun perusteella kirja kannattaa mitä ilmeisimmin "selailla" läpi -eikä sen enempää.
 
"7 In attempting to build a theory of chord/scale relationships from a modal point of view instead of traditional diatonic function, Levine gets into difficulties immediately. He begins with a "Major Scale Harmony" chart, but does not list chords according to diatonic function. Instead, Levine presents a list of the seven modes associated with the diatonic scale and attempts to assign an appropriate chord to each.(3) Placing himself in the untenable position of having to pull all seven notes of each mode into a verticalization, Levin is in trouble on the first chord, since the C chord (the unacknowledged tonic) has an F in it. Levine observes: "There is a note in the scale that is much more dissonant than the other six notes....This is a so-called 'avoid' note....'Avoid note' is not a very good term, because it implies that you shouldn't play the note at all. A better name would be a 'handle with care' note" (p. 37). Levine goes on to explain that improvisers generally treat the note as a passing tone, but nowhere does he mention the note's tendency to resolve to the third. Nor is there any suggestion that the seven notes of the mode (the "available pool of notes" p. 32) should be considered in any hierarchical order. Indeed, the very term "avoid note" suggests an embellishing tone, but there is no mention of what is being embellished. Presumably, the members of the tonic triad have no particular importance beyond that of the other notes in the Ionian mode.(4)
 
8 The Dorian mode, associated with ii7, provides perhaps the most satisfactory chord/scale equivalency among the diatonic chords. Since the chord functions as a predominant, the inclusion of the fourth and seventh of the key, along with the tonic note, does not pose any difficulties when the full complement of notes in the Dorian mode are sounded. Likewise, an egalitarian approach to the seven notes is not problematic, since the chord's predominant function does not call for any strong implications of tension or resolution.
 
9 The Mixolydian mode again poses the obstacle of an "avoid note," the fourth. Here Levine does mention the note's tendency to resolve downward to the third of the chord. What he does not mention is that the fourth is the tonic, and that its absence (and resulting expectation) is fundamental to the tendency toward resolution created by dominant function. Levine's only concern regarding this note is its dissonance, as if dissonance were some generic quality divorced from voice leading: "Don't forget that the context will decide whether or not you play C on a G7 chord. You might specifically want to play something dissonant, or you might want to play the 11th and then resolve it down a half step to the 3rd. . . . Remember not to think of dissonance as 'bad.' Dissonance is not a pejorative term; it's a musical device you can use when appropriate" (p. 41). This may be true, but it does not explain why the note is found in a scale that is purportedly equivalent to the dominant chord. A more reasonable view would hold that the Mixolydian mode does indeed form a loose fit with the dominant chord, with the exception of the fourth note, which is not at all congruent with the upper structures associated with that chord."
 
-" Robert Rawlins
 
Review of Mark Levine, The Jazz Theory Book "
 
EDIT:
 
"19 There is no question that Levine's assertions, when taken as practical advice for the performing musician, are solid and well-supported. What is disturbing is his disregard for theoretical concerns, even when those concerns are patent and demand comment or explanation. In a discussion of minor keys, Levine asserts, "the three chords in a C minor II-V-I are derived from three different melodic minor scales. . . . The notes played over the D half-diminished chord are from the F melodic minor starting on the sixth degree, the notes played over the G7alt chord are from Ab melodic minor starting on the seventh degree, and the notes played over the C-maj chord are from C melodic minor" (pp. 75-76). Basically, this is sound advice to the improviser, if a little complex, but more discussion is warranted. Lamenting the difficulty in navigating these chords, Levine suggests "Wouldn't it be great if there were a scale that worked over D half-diminished, G7alt, C-maj, a minor II-V-I? It would be but there isn't one. The harmonic minor scale is often mentioned in theory books as being 'a scale played over a minor II-V-I.' If that were true, you'd hear the great players playing it a lot, but they don't" (p. 76). Later in the book, Levine takes up the argument again: "One reason the harmonic minor scale is seldom played in its entirety is that it fits no one particular chord. No matter what chord you play it on, at least one note, if held against the chord, sounds like an 'avoid' note" (p. 477). This is bound to occur in a theory that neglects voice leading. Levine has failed to see the obvious--the harmonic minor scale is the scale of the key to which all three chords belong. Because some of the notes in the scale are tendency tones, they can only work within the context of dominant or predominant harmony. Similarly, the notes that suggest resolution, particularly the tonic, are unlikely structural tones for a passage improvised on the dominant chord. Levine's observation that jazz musicians "play fragments of the harmonic minor scale but very rarely the entire scale on the II-V-I progression" (p. 476) is not at all surprising. Why should we expect improvisers to include the tonic on the V chord or the leading tone on the i? "
 
"hymiö"