I have just finished learning the beginner version of Over The Rainbow published on the PianoGroove website (Arranged by Hayden - included in its own lesson video). And… I want to create/play a slightly different ending, like I have heard in other recordings of this song.
Essentially, after the 3rd A section I want to go back to the First part of the B section (Eb to Fm), and then walk slowly up in a jazzy way back to a final Eb to end (“why, oh why can’t I”).
It seems like I would just play Fm, Gm7, Abmaj7, and then create final tension with a Bb7(b9) before finishing on a final Eb chord. However, I thought I would see if anyone has a man alternative suggestion for me to end with some other really nice chord extensions for these chords other than the relatively simple chord version I have listed to make the ending even more special, textured and dramatic. All suggestions are welcome! Thanks!
Hayden, that’s quite a fine ending you’ve offered. I’ve got this thread bookmarked to see how it progresses. Thanks for the audio clip and explanation! Definitely going to work through it.
There are so many possibilities for endings that it’s nice to bounce ideas around. I like @jonathan1’s idea to quote the melody of the bridge whilst walking up the Eb Major scale.
In case anyone wants it, here is the MIDI file of what I played:
I’ve also created a light up keyboard. The audio quality is not great because it’s recording the audio from my laptop speakers, but the keyboard visual should help to convey the voicings. This is at 80% speed:
Wow! First, thank you so much Hayden. You are such an unbelievably talented and creative musician who is very generously shares your creative ideas with this community, and we are incredibly blessed to have the opportunity to learn in such a wonderful environment.
After just a few short weeks (thanks to the wonderful and very-easy-to-assimilate PianoGroove content/videos), I am already playing some absolutely beautiful arrangements of a few jazz standards like this one.
The suggestions you have provided are incredibly creative! I will look for ways to embed these ideas into my playing…
For Over the Rainbow, I was hoping to identifyjust a few chords with extended voicings…following an ending similar to the Judy Garland-version I just posted. I know it’s a much more simple way to approach the ending, but I am trying to pace myself with my learning to not go too far too soon (and get frustrated). Thanks again for taking the time to prepare such a wonderful and creative response! Jonathan
Great to hear on progress Jonathan! Applying the theory in context of jazz standards is a surefire way to see rapid improvement.
It’s brilliant that you are taking inspiration from recordings like this. That’s exactly how we develop our own personal style when playing jazz. Take little nuggets from recordings and over time it will mould your sound and the way you play.
Your ending based on Judy Garland’s version sounds great. You are correct that she is walking up diatonically to end the tune. Her version is in Ab Major so again great that you have transposed/applied this to the key of Eb Major
If we wanted to keep that ascending melody line of Ab-Bb-C-D-Eb intact, here is something that springs to mind to jazz it up a little:
I have kept the ascending diatonic melody intact and built a 13sus chord under each note. I play Ab13sus, Bb13sus, C13sus, D13sus. For each voicing I play the root and b7 in my left hand, and then a minor 7th chord built from the 2 or 9 in my right hand.
When I get to the final note (Eb) I play an Ebdim7 chord which can be used to delay the resolution to the Ebmaj7 chord. When I do resolve, I actually play an Ebmaj9 and finally hit an Eb in the lower register to finish.
and here’s the light up keyboard (with better audio this time )
Related Theory Lessons
Here’s a theory lesson on sus chords: (check out chapter 2 “sus13 chords”)
and here is a 5-min masterclass by Jovino which talks about delaying resolution with diminished chords: (check out chapter 2 “251 examples”)
I hope you like the ending and if you have any questions with the theory just let me know. It should all make sense after watching the 2 lessons above.
This is a reharmonised 251 progression in Eb Major
In a 251 progression in Eb, the regular chords would be F-7 / Bb7 / Ebma7
We can also play F-7 / Bb7sus / Bb7 / Ebmaj7 - check out this lesson on sus chords:
We can also swap out the F-7 for the Bb7sus, I actually played Bb13sus, again check out the lesson above and our full course on Chord Substitutions.
For any 251 progression, we can replace the ii-7 chord with the V7sus4. The F-7 and Bb7sus contain many of the same notes.
Then for the Ebmaj7#11, this is a reharmonisation for E7 which is the tritone substitute of Bb7.
Instead of F-7 / Bb7 / Ebmaj7, we can play the tritone sub F-7 / E7 / Ebmaj7
But we replaced that E7 with an Emaj7. This works nicely because we are resolving to a major chord, it sounds nice to fall into it with a major chord. It’s also not what the listener is expecting so it piques the ears and arouses a sense of curiosity.
To finish, perhaps the most important point is the same melody note is held across all chords which makes is interesting to me:
Over Bb13, the melody note Bb is the root.
Over Emaj7, the melody note Bb is the #11 which again adds to that mysterious and surprising quality. For me that is the most important chord.
And of course over Ebma7, Bb is the 5th.
If this doesn’t make sense now, check out the course on chord substituion which contains all of the relevant theory:
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