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).
Thanks for the very hip post of the Ode To Joy reharmonization!\Very pleasant and grooving chords.
fantastic stuff
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.