Re: minor ii V i question
I am not a jazz chord expert, I was trained in and taught AP Music Theory, the curriculum of which is focused on what most would consider "classical" harmony and the "AP test." I've had people tell me there's no difference, partly true except some chords are named differently. When I took a class in swing/jazz harmonies (sadly after retiring) I was confused with all the "flat 9th sub for the V7" talk but eventually understood it was a matter of function: this chord going to that chord. As rc56 said, Beethoven and Bird used these chords but probably had different names and probably different ways of thinking about them. I wish now I could go back and do more of this in my AP Theory course: once I got past the initial confusion I understood harmony better.
But one very important thing to consider in this discussion is the mandolin itself: you only have so many string and finger options; you often can't play every note in a 4-note chord, so all kinds of substitutions, roots-left-out, and quirky things come up. I wonder if that might explain the Dm/dim7 versus Ab issue, but as I said: not a jazz expert, and many years ago was taught by people who had very rigid ideas.
I learn many new things in this Cafe site, thank you all the people who contribute.
Jim
Dr James S Imhoff
Boston University
Oregon Mandolin Orchestra
1912 Gibson K4 Mandocello; Thomann Mandocello; Stiver F5; American? Bowlback; Martin 00016; Dusepo Cittern/liuto cantabile
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