Article
Melodic Transformation in George Garzone’s Triadic Chromatic Approach; or, Jazz, Math, and Basket Weaving
Music Theory Spectrum
(2022)
Abstract
The Triadic Chromatic Approach (TCA) is a melodic improvisation technique, created by the saxophonist George Garzone. With the TCA, successive triads are connected by a semitone and must have different inversions. The resulting lines mysteriously resolve to any underlying harmony. This article develops transformational and Markov-chain models of the TCA, showing how this melodic process approaches a probability distribution where every pitch class is equally likely. Nonetheless, theorizing the TCA is different from performing it, and insights from Garzone’s students—and the anthropology of weaving—suggest that goals are less fundamental here than characteristic gestures.
Keywords
- jazz,
- improvisation,
- triads,
- transformation theory,
- Markov chains
Disciplines
- Music and
- Music Theory
Publication Date
September, 2022
Citation Information
Jonathan De Souza. "Melodic Transformation in George Garzone’s Triadic Chromatic Approach; or, Jazz, Math, and Basket Weaving" Music Theory Spectrum Vol. 44 Iss. 2 (2022) Available at: http://works.bepress.com/jonathan-desouza/15/