Publisher: Advance Music
Part I: The "Drop Two" Harmonic Technique
Part II: Voice Leading, Scales and Chord Progressions

Part 1: The “Drop-Two” Harmonic Technique begins with the simple process of dropping the second note from a close position chord down an octave to create an open position voicing. Making an analogy between language and music, natural languages contain a lexicon of words that allow people to communicate their thoughts and feelings to others, music (jazz) harmony contains a lexicon of chords that allow jazz musicians to communicate. Part 1 defines these rules and clearly explains how with a distinctive approach to voice leading, dissonances treatment, and counterpoint, which are logical extensions of the syntax of jazz harmony.

The chapters are: “Four-Part Chords,” “Inverted Chords,” “Five-Part Chords,” “Rootless Chords,” and finishing with “Six-Part Chords” and “Incomplete Chords.”

The concluding Exercise Section contains carefully-designed harmonic drills that utilize and complement the content of each chapter in unique and interesting ways.