Jazz Reharmonization – Ode To Joy

A question I often get asked by my students is how to reharmonize a tune. This is a brief video outlining some methods I use. It is assumed that you are already familiar with jazz chord voicings, extensions/alterations & substitutions. Here is the leadsheet containing the reharmonization to Ode To Joy.

Reharmonization is a vast and beautiful area in which I continually encounter new insights and surprises. There are many books available on this subject, and transcribing reharmonized tunes by jazz greats will not only improve your ear, but give you a first hand look at how they approach improvisation on the new chord changes as well.
P.S. A minor slip of the tongue at 3:42 – the chord is a Gm9sus (not G9sus) and at 4:55 C#dim (not Cdim).

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  1. Thanks for posting this, especially for making the chord chart available. Really helps to be able to see, with time, what you’re doing.

    I agree with you that the Csus=>G/B=>C/Bb sounds cool. The C7sus=>Dbmaj7 #11 was very interesting; don’t think I’ve done that; nice idea.

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