An annotated theory of tonal jazz harmony

This work concerns itself with the theory of tonal jazz harmony. It consists of two parts. One part presents a theory in which melodic (horizontal), harmonic (vertical), and stylistic aspects of tonal jazz harmony are integrated and grounded in a solid theoretical foundation. The other part introduces the work and its contexts, followed by a commentary on the harmony theory through extensive annotations.
This work’s point of departure is that tonal jazz harmony is a specific variant of Western harmony and does not require a fundamentally new theoretical framework but, rather, crucial modifications of Western harmonic theory to accommodate and explain the musical phenomena adequately. Therefore, it adopts the Harmonielehre-format, a hybrid of speculative theory and pedagogical instruction. The work also touches upon key issues in jazz culture and jazz research, such as the long-standing questions of “ownership” and “entitlement” in jazz, gender, and the recent debates in the US around racism in and through music theory.
Two different corpora form the basis of the work. The first is tonal jazz, the core of which consists of “standards” (compositions derived from the Great American Songbook from roughly 1930 to 1960, as performed by jazz musicians ) and tonal jazz compositions. The second corpus is formed by the existing manuals of jazz harmony, reflecting a body of technical know-how loosely labeled “chord-scale theory,” a vocabulary of harmonic possibilities applied by jazz performers. Chord-scale theory’s essential elements are critically evaluated with respect to the theoretical content, stylistic tenability, and practical applicability.