Patterns in the Sky, part 2

Yesterday, in part 1, I gave the background story on “Patterns in the Sky,” the first track on my new Jamendo album, handmade. Today I’ll talk a bit about the composition itself.

The hint of sadness in the song is that it is based on a minor blues progression. Now, here is one of many possible interpretations for a blues in A minor:

Am7	%	%	%
Dm7	%	Am7	%
E7	%	Am7	%

OK, now, to get the “Patterns in the Sky” progression, do the following transformations:

1. Expand the song so that each bar above becomes two bars. Therefore, there would be eight bars of Am7 before the first chord change, not four.
2. Reinterpret E7 as E7b9.
3. Consider E7b9 to be based on the diminished scale. Therefore, E7b9 has the same voicing as G7b9, Bb7b9, and Db7b9.  The chord you hear is determined by the bass note!
4. Substitute for E7b9 the new progression G7b9 – E7b9 – G7b9 – Bb7b9.
5. Since the four preceding chords take up so much musical space, defer the resolution to Am7 to the top of the tune, not the last four bars.
6. Change the Am7 and Dm7 chord voicings to “So What” minor 11th type chord voicings. Therefore, Am11 might be spelled A – D – G – C – E.

When it’s all said and done, you get the following chords:

Am11	%	%	%
%	%	%	%
Dm11	%	%	%
Am11	%	%	%
G7b9	%	E7b9	%
G7b9	%	Bb7b9	%

And there you have it.  There are some other features to the song, notably the slight change in drum rhythm after the 4-bar break in the middle (from 2:06 to 2:12) and the vamp on the 7b9 progression at the end.  But these are the basics.

Now, why am I telling you all this?  Please notice this song is licensed under Creative Commons; I do not mind if you take this song and perform it, change it, modify it, whatever.  I mentioned in an earlier article how aggravating it is as a jazz musician to face the mountains of legislation and copyright restrictions over jazz “standards.”  Therefore, my works are free for you to perform, with attribution.