A PRODUCT OF SUMS:

ONE POST-MILLENNIAL AMERICAN GUITARIST

Thesis
Submitted in partial fulfillment
of the requirements for the
Degree of
Master of Arts
in Performance
Mills College, 2014
by
Khalil Doak-Anthony

Approved by:
Reading Committee
__________________________
David Bernstein
Director of Thesis
_______________________________
Roscoe Mitchell
Reader of Thesis

_________________________
David Bernstein
Head of the Music Department

_________________________
Dr. David Donahue
Provost and Dean of the Faculty

Table Of Contents
I. Introduction

II. Background

III. My Work Philosophy

IV. My Conceptual Framework

1. Exploring Issues and Constructs

2. Appropriation

10

3. Opening of the Sound Field and Extended Techniques

13

4. My Evolving Pitch Theory

18

5. Technology and other Connections

37

V. Conclusion

42

VI. Appendices

43

A) -77maj7 (First six pages of a 40-page score)

44

B) Trio (score)

50

D) Orchestration (score)

56

VII. Bibliography

63

VIII. Discography

66

1) Audio pieces; 4 CD inserts

66

2) Video pieces; DVD insert

67

3) Mock ups (midi renderings of scores); CD insert

67

4) Full scores; data insert

67

I. Introduction
Although popular, or pop music literally means music that is popular, it can
also be defined in terms of its roots. American pop music is a manifestation of our
nations history, and as such it owes much to the music people from Africa brought to
America through the African Diaspora. As a product of this history and our culture,
todays music reflects issues of capitalism and commercialism, race, intellectual property,
and appropriation, as well as serving as an illustration of the influence of ever-evolving
technology. As a guitarist who creates art based on and informed by popular American
music and culture in all of its iterations, I aim to address some of these issues through my
music. I will demonstrate how my work accomplishes this goal and discuss how it
reflects our post-millennial aestheticsan approach that ignores existing definitions and
is empowered by technology and the global collective of musicians made accessible by
technology and unseen forces.

II. Background
In the early 20th century, music earned the label popular by reaching a broad
public audience as never before. Technological advances allowed distribution and
recording, as the invention of the radio gave people access to music they could previously
only hear performed live, or perform themselves. Because music notation was
increasingly no longer necessary for learning, playing, or distributing music, music was
in a sense democratized. Music could be created and distributed by virtually anyone, not
just those who could afford to attend concerts or buy instruments or read music. As a

more diverse audience recorded and appreciated music, its forms and expressions became
more varied, gradually assimilating musical elements from all over the world. Building
on its rhythmic foundation in the West African aesthetic, music became more diverse
with every technological advancement, making pop music reflect the influence of all
musical styles and eras, from traditional folk to classical music through the avant-garde.
As a result, Blues and jazz are no longer characterized by any particular form and find
expression in such varied styles as rock and jazz, hip-hop and soul. My own work uses
technologys power to make new connections possible and to further defy existing
definitions and genres.

III. My Work Philosophy

As technology eliminates barriers to sharing, so does an open mind and sense of
experimentation. Although a single instrument, the guitar, is my main instrument of
expression, I use any and all strategies and tools available to me from new and
developing technologies to explore all the elements of popular music. Considering,
creating, contextualizing, and re-contextualizing these elements provides me with an
endless field of possibilities. How quickly can I let go of the judgment and expectation of
my perceptions? Can I release my definitions of what is traditional and what is
experimental and what aspects of a performance are successful? Satisfying the music fan
inside of me is my only measure of success; I allow the music to direct and redirect birth
and rebirth my intentions over and over.
My working philosophy makes conversations about improvisation versus
composition obsolete. Rather than being distinct entities, improvisation and composition

are mirror images of each other; each contains an element of the other. Improvisation, as
Roscoe Mitchell says, is composition in real time.1 I would add that composition is
frozen improvisation.2 It is worth noting that compositions are not necessarily created
via notation. Rote memory is often used to perform previously composed music. For
instance, many rappers memorize lyrics they have never written down. Aural musical
traditions rely on this rote-memory method of distribution and composition. Pop music,
street music, and folk music also rely heavily on this practice. As in the telephone
game, a composition changes as it passes from musician to musician, generation to
generation, and one village, street corner, and country to another. In this way, the lines
between composition and improvisation become blurred, as lyrics and melodies get
changed as they are passed on. My work represents this process, as it involves both realtime creation and audio editing. As such, it combines a traditional method with
technology to create a method that cannot be defined as purely improvisation or
composition.
The modern computer is an invaluable tool for creating music. While I use
notation and improvisation, much of my work, like that of many musicians, is created
through the recording process using multi-track software programs. I form my pieces
much in the same way a musician creates a piece of pop or hip-hop music.
I used this method of combining improvisation and composition using
technology in a recent collaboration with a phenomenal singer and fellow Mills student,
Parris Lane. During a recent rehearsal, we started with a full score on paper, which
included parts for piano and choir. We used a laptop with an Internet connection that
1
2

Roscoe Mitchell, Mills College composition seminar, fall 2013.

I coined the term frozen improvisation for this thesis.

gave us access to several versions of the song we were rehearsing, previously recorded by
others. The computer also functioned as a recording device to store our rehearsal. As
Parris and I rehearsed the song, at times performing along with various recordings while
at times reading the score, we essentially improvised our way through the piece, changing
its rhythms, harmonies, phrase lengths, and melody. We did this a number of times,
gradually finding our own unique way of playing this song, that was not a literal copy of
any of the versions that influenced our learning of the song. Essentially, the score and our
recorded versions guided our creative expression, serving as road maps to the
development of our arrangement through repeated improvisations.
IV. My Conceptual Framework
1) Exploring Issues and Constructs
Our music suggests a new way of thinking that can be seen in various societal
contexts. Traditionally conceived separations and distinctions are largely illusions.
Consider race, for example: we can acknowledge that racism and issues of race are strong
forces in our reality, but at the same time we are aware that race may not even exist, other
than in our minds. While race is a construct, racism is very real.
My own experience and perception of racism is perhaps the greatest influence on
my work in this area. I am half white and half black and very confused about my
racial identity. The title of my signal flow piece, White Like Me comes from author
Tim White, whose insight on race partly inspired the work. I feel as though Mills College
is lacking in racial diversity and its student body has repeatedly demonstrated racial
ignorance. My signal flow piece aligned with an incidence of racism at Mills. Consider
the following quote from The Campanil, the only student-run, multi-platform news

organization at Mills College: The anonymous post targeted black women on campus,
stating that they are too outspoken and should be hung [sic]. Several versions of this
statement have been quoted, some using the word lynch and others stating that the
comment ended with a mocking glib, Happy Black History Month.3 This piece was an
indirect reference to that, but like the unseen influences behind the work, how many
people in the audience understood the significance of my works title?
I further explored the issue of race in my video piece, Nigger, which I created
as a pseudo-Public Service Announcement.4 This is my only piece that is not centered on
music. I wanted to call attention to the N word, without taking a clear stance. I regularly
hear people use this word and also know people who would never use it. I find it ironic
that those who are condemned the most for using the word are the exact people who are
supposedly protected by the labeling of the word as inappropriate. In other words, in my
experience, I hear black people saying nigger a lot. And it is black people who are
supposedly being protected by a banning of the word. Therefore, black people are
being condemned for using the word nigger, because society has labeled it as
inappropriate. I find this ironic. The word has negative connotations and has shifted with
certain rules about who can and cant use it and as a result, it can be seen as a trigger. I
understand both sides of the argument as to whether or not the word is offensive. I think
they are both accurate. In this piece I ask people to simply listen to the word nigger
without making any judgments about how or why it is used or if it should be used at all.

Tessa Love, Students Speak Out against Culture of Racism at Mills,

<http://www.thecampanil.com/students-speak-out-against-culture-of-racism-at-mills>
(Demeber 7, 2014).
4
Khalil Doak-Anthony, Video pieces; DVD insert, video #4.

Distinctions like race are human inventions. Likewise, sex and gender are largely
artificial categories. Discrimination based on gender and sexual orientation is a very real
phenomenon, but, in a certain sense, this discrimination arises purely in our minds. We
can acknowledge all of the issues while keeping aware that gender classification is
ambiguous and fluid. Like race, sexual preference is not an either-or. This thinking
inspires my work.
In,1 Minute, I explored issues of race and power as well as the elimination of
artificial divisions. 5 I appropriated then-Senator Barack Obamas 2004 Democratic
National Committee speech. Referring to his place as the first African American chosen
by one of the two major political parties as its presidential candidate, Obama stated, My
presence on this stage is highly unlikely. He referred to the commonality of
discrimination when he said, If there is an Arab American family being rounded up
without benefit of an attorney or due process, that threatens my civil liberties. Toward
the end of this piece, I included another excerpt from this speech. For alongside our
famous individualism, there is another ingredient in the American saga [He may have
said song.] The belief that were all connected as one people E pluribus unum. Out
of many, one. Inspired by this belief, I strung together the songs that were at the top of
the charts the week I made this. I used a kick and snare that I appropriated from the
Eminem track Cinderella Man. Finally, I played guitar over all of this using my dotted
eighth-note delay trick, with which I play a continuous line of eighth notes, passing
through a dotted note eighth delay, a continuous stream of sixteenth notes are sounded.
This is a technique I use often.

Khalil Doak-Anthony, Audio pieces; CD 1 insert, track #1.

10

My work, Art Music XX is a manifestation of my interest in cultural constructs

and the way we use genres to categorize music and how elitism might play a role. 6
Although there is no literal reference to any musical form in this piece, contemplation of
the term art music inspired it. Art music is considered to be high art. Its practitioners
frequently consider themselves to be more sophisticated than pop musicians, streets
musicians or folk musicians. Why is this? Can I call my music art music? With this
piece, I did, by titling it as such. I also explored fluid tempo changes in this work, further
expressing the idea that music doesnt require any particular structure to be categorized
as any particular form.
My concepts about artificial constructs in culture inform my concepts of art and
the creation of music. Because I have no thematic limitations or preconceived ideas about
form or format, I create art without genre-based boundaries.

2) Appropriation
Appropriation has always played a role in music. Even in the aural tradition,
musicians borrowed from one another and used existing pieces of art in their own original
works. Technology has made appropriation even more powerful as it now allows artists
to easily and freely appropriate from existing work and incorporate it into their own
either directly or more subtly. This has also created new controversy and impacts,
especially in discussions on race and class, including the appropriateness of white people
using elements of black culture and claiming it as their own, or black people
incorporating elements stereotyped as being from white culture. Nearly all who

Ibid., track #8.

11

appropriate such culturally-charged elements are accused of stealing from a culture not
their own, or trying to be too much like someone from a different culture, race or class.
I explored some of these issues and used appropriation to make my video Its our
Party.7 I used found footage of pop superstar Miley Cyrus performing an a capella
version of her hit We Cant Stop. I edited the footage then created a soundtrack by
programming drums and playing guitar. I also used footage of myself. My intention was
to insert myself in the middle of the controversy surrounding Miley Cyrus, who has been
accused of inappropriately appropriating black culture and using her sexuality to sell her
music. Viewers of my piece reacted as people typically react to Cyruss music and
videos. Some of my classmates were upset. They felt it was sexist and exploitative
because of the sexuality Cyrus exhibits. Others felt the video was racist, because of the
footage of myself, and how I incorporated it. Others felt racism and/or sexism was
implied by the positioning of Cyrus, a white woman, in the center of a Brady Bunch
style box surrounded by black men, also in boxes. Nonetheless, Im very proud of the
video. I believe that use of sexually charged material, racially charged material, and the
use of appropriation are all valid methods for creating art.
In Out of Time, I used found footage of Krumping, a form of hip-hop dance.
Krumping originated in lower-income communities of color in the Los Angeles area. 8
The dance form took shape from its predecessor, the Clowning dance style. In the movie
Rize we see that Clowning and Krumping look almost identical to some traditional

7
8

Idem, Video pieces; DVD insert, video #4

Ibid., video #5.

12

dance forms of West Africa.9 It is interesting that the descendants of a people would
replicate the dance form of their ancestors with no direct exposure to that culture, as if
drawing on genetic memory. In this form of dance we actually see that dance forms have
been passed down and these dance and physical communication forms have continued
throughout the generations even with forced separations of people and communities. To
accompany the visuals, I played an acoustic guitar in rubato time. I then took the attacks
of my improvised guitar parts and printed them to midi. I randomized the pitch, duration
and velocity, and assigned them to virtual instrument. The virtual instruments used are
African drum kit, African vocal effect and a bass. Each of these four midi tracks share the
attacks or rhythm of my guitar playing. Each has its own unique pitch, duration, and
velocity assignment. This is a technique I have been using a lot. Essentially, I record my
audio track and then use the drum replacement/double function of the software program
Logic. This function was clearly developed to replace the sounds of drums or double
them. The technique is often used in pop production. Where a producer might double or
replace a live kick or snare, I used this technique to reinforce my guitar rhythms and
attacks. One real audio track and three midi tracks, all acting alone with unique attributes
and all acting together with similarities, comprise this piece. The guitar was played out of
time and the dance clips were performed in time. There is a somewhat randomized
connection between them, but our brains make the connection more solid, as if this
randomized connection was intentional. Viewers of this piece have often said, You did a
really good job of editing the music and dance together. In reality, I paid no attention to
synchronizing the two.
9

David LaChapelle, Rize, starring Tommy Johnson and Miss Prissy, Rize, Lions Gate
Entertainment, 2005.

13

For my piece, Slayor10 I used appropriation of a popular song by taking the

drumbeat from the song Royals by pop star Lorde.11 My title is that songs title spelled
backwards. I played guitar with an octave plug-in and used drum doubling to trigger a
virtual bass and percussion to match my guitar attacks. This song exemplifies the use of
appropriation known as sampling, favored by hip-hop and other post-modern composers
and has only become more popular in this millennium.

3) Opening The Sound Field

Just as distinctions in race and gender are frequently artificial constructs, so are
dividing lines in music. Categories of music are used to fully compartmentalize music,
from genre and styles to even its more theoretical aspects. The incorporation of
environmental sounds and extended techniques, explored heavily in the 20th century, has
only become more popular in the 21st century, involving exploration of new possibilities
through the elimination of conceived barriers. I continue to explore this territory in music
by using extended tonality and timbre, gesture, environmental sounds, and chance.
I am also inspired by the belief that theoretical concepts are fluid. For example,
meter: we can say a piece is in 4/4 but we can easily conceptualize it in 3/4 or any other
meter. We could hear it as a 3/4 that lasts the same amount of time as the 4/4. Or we can
hear it as a 3/4 that shares the same 1/4 note as the 4/4. Keys, scales, and all theoretical
musical concepts can be considered fluid, as can aspects of harmony, melody, and
rhythm.

10
11

Doak-Anthony, Audio pieces; CD 4 insert, track #8.

Lorde, Royals, from the CD release Pure Heroine, Motown/Universal, 2013.

14

An example of how chance and my non-traditional approach to theoretical

concepts influences my work is my piece, Chance Harmony.12 I let chance dictate
harmonic relationships. Essentially, I played a rhythm track, and then recorded a solo
track without listening to the chords I improvised. The result was harmony created by
chance. I used virtual organ and drum sounds and also played with the speed (software
tempo changes) of the recorded guitar. This piece was inspired by the idea of gestures,
timbres, and rhythms that act like, or sound like, traditional forms of music, but do not
directly imitate them. Key centers are obscured or do not exist at all; rhythms exist in a
meter-less environments. Tempo is in constant flux.
I also open the field of possibilities to all sounds in the environment. Rather than
trying to create a sterile recording environment thats disconnected from the rest of the
world, I accept any and all sounds that enter my recording as music. I have recently been
listening to the harmony of traffic and other sounds emanating from the city. When using
a microphone to record myself playing guitar, I always enjoy picking up the natural
environmental sounds that occur around me, whether they are sounds in the room or from
outside of the room, or outside of the house. I accept all sound as music, and I include
these sounds in my music. These include the sounds of my family talking to me, traffic,
and kids playing at a nearby school. Likewise, during live performances, I accept all
sounds as part of the piece, including audience sounds and mistakes made by myself or
other performers. An example is White Like Me, my signal flow piece, performed
before an audience in the Littlefield concert hall for my MFA in music performance. This
piece also demonstrates diverse influences and what occurs when musicians connect and

12

Doak-Anthony, Audio pieces; CD 2 insert, track #4.

15

influence one anothers work. In improvisation it is similar to the style of Wayne Krantz,
who said, Playing bebop is affirming a tradition thats a little different than improvising.
We all know what good bebop is, so when we play bebop we are affirming a tradition.13
This piece is based on groove and an expanded tonality and uses shifting pulse, meter,
and subdivisions along with my evolving pitch theory, heavily influenced by Wayne
Krantz. It has a phrasing style rooted in post-bebop and draws on funk, but with displaced
beats.
Rehearsing is standard practice when preparing for a gig, although for many gigs,
the music is determined by a shared repertoire. For this performance, I had mixed
feelings about rehearsing and was glad that scheduling conflicts prevented a rehearsal.
The music was intended to be truly of the momentgood or bad, including the anxiety
and confusion involved for the musicians. Concert tradition is funny to me. The audience
sits still and listens to the people on stage. I was happy that Tara Sreekrishnan, a
colleague at Mills getting her BA in music yelled out, Go Khalil! That is all I really
wanted, to connect with my musicians and the audience. I want a performance to be a
group activity, with the audience becoming involved by yelling and dancing, not unlike
Pauline Oliveross goal, group involvement, and interaction, in her deep listening
performances. In a way, Tara really made this complete for me; she did so by breaking
the barrier between performers and audience.
Nothing about this piece, including its harmony and harmonic rhythms, was
discussed or rehearsed, except for sharing rhythmic ideas with one of the other musicians

13

Youtube video featuring Wayne Krantz, Keith Carlock, Tim Lefebvre - Marciac 1999
part 1, 0:40, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WE4TCD4MFF4> (December 7,
2014).

16

for five minutes prior to the performance. I hired musicians based on my experience
playing with them. They had never met each other. The performance received mixed
reviews. Some thought it suffered from lack of rehearsing; some thought it was
meandering and covered too much ground and others felt it was too traditional. For me
and the other musicians, there was a real truth and connection that evolved during the
course of the performance. We shared an experience that we later confirmed afterwards.
The bassist I hired for my signal flow piece, Michael Wilcox, felt a little uncomfortable,
but anxiety can be a beautiful influence in an improvised performance. I had played with
both of these musicians in a variety of settings and styles. I decided that I wanted to use
them for Signal Flow for a specific reason. For this piece I did not want much getting in
the way of the truth of the moment, in that space with that audience. A game plan and
rehearsal may have lead to a more structured or successful piece. But for me that
would have been a failure.
This piece was intended to be 20 minutes and its end was to be triggered by the
room going dark, suddenly, interrupting the music. But the person controlling the lights
failed to turn them off at the 20-minute mark, as instructed, in a gesture of subversion. It
was my intention that the lights be shut off abruptly, but the lighting technician felt as
though he didnt have the authority to end the piece. He waited for us to end the piece
before he cut the lights and slowly faded them at the 25-minute mark. He told me he felt
uncomfortable cutting the lights while we were playing. My intention was to have our
performance end with a bold, subversive gesture, an act that would turn us off. While I
did not get the gesture I asked for, I did get an act of subversion, as the lighting person
defied my instructions. I set the intention to end my performance with an act of

17

subversion and my intention was realized. In improvisation, as in life, you must be

willing to sacrifice how your intention will be realized. You set the intention and the
music, the interaction of the musicians, the moment, and the environmentincluding the
audience and the techniciansplay it out. We let the music guide us by offering no
criticism of self during the course of an improvisation. We listen harmonically,
simultaneously identifying the individual characteristics of each sound and the wholeness
created by each individual sound. We are aware of each sound separately and we are
aware of one sound collectively. We celebrate the coexistence of our individualism and
collectivism.
Acceptance of all sounds as music opens up many possibilities, as does exploring
different techniques to create sound on the guitar such as harmonics (used in many of my
pieces), tremolo picking (exemplified in my piece tremolo picking14) and slap-bass
techniques. Slap bass, made popular by Larry Graham and further developed by many
bass players including Victor Wooten, Les Claypool, Flea, and many other, has become
known as one such technique, but it is less-often used with guitar. I would classify it as
an extended technique. In Slap Guitar I incorporated environmental sounds and
experimented with the use of so-called normal techniques, used in a perhaps abnormal
way.15 It is as much about percussive sound and timbre as it is about pitch. Many times,
pitches are not even audible. I used the guitar attack to trigger virtual instruments. My
son, age 7, can be heard talking to me while Im recording. He was trying to figure out
how the iPad works, thereby adding references to a modern technological tool. This

14
15

Doak-Anthony, Audio pieces; CD 4 insert, track #9.

Ibid., track #7.

18

sound is part of my everyday reality and gives the piece a feeling of familiarity. And
since his voice was recorded, his voice also triggered virtual instruments.

4) My Evolving Pitch Theory

In keeping with a post-millennial aesthetic, I have developed a more inclusive
understanding of tonality and harmony and tonality as being affected by our human
perception. Tonal centers are perceived but may be subject to interpretation based on our
individual perspective. Our notion of harmony expands as we accept an increasingly
larger number of tones into our concept of a chord. We can adjust our perception of
harmony to conceptualize any chord as belonging to any key and any tone as belonging
to any chord. Tonal centers can be redefined as being fluid, as moving between two or
more centers. This is not a new idea. There is the notion of progressive tonality in
composers such as Schumann and Mahler.16 20th century Wagner scholar Robert Bailey
has written about the double tonic complex.17 Through our perception we have the
ability to decide how we hear and identify a tonal center. It is not outside the realm of
possibility to perceive the C major scale as belonging to an Eb tonal center. We can hear
the chords F, G and C cadence in terms of a Gb tonal center.
My basic view of tonality (harmony) is as follows:

16

William Kinderman and Harald Krebs, eds., The Second Practice of NineteenthCentury Tonality (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1996), 9.
17
The term tonal pairing, along with the synonymous term double tonic complex,
originates with Robert Bailey, who applies these terms to situations where two keys
simultaneously occupy the highest position in a tonal hierarchy. Ibid., 17.

19

Keys and scales are not the same thing; we have major, minor, and a variety of
other scales or modes; and we have twelve distinct key centers that can be
established in a number of ways.

The chromatic scale is the mother mode.

Diatonic scales/modes and other scales are secondary.

Any given key can also be analyzed from the perspective of a different key center. This is
true for scales and chords too. (That is, C Ionian can be reinterpreted in D Dorian, or can
even be viewed in some yet-to-be-named Eb tonic, not major or minor. C Ionian renumbered in refrence to Eb is a mode that as the following scale degrees -#1, 2, 3, #4, #5,
6, 7.) C Ionian can be viewed as D Dorian, E Phrygian, etc. but you can also look at C
Ionian from a perspective of how it relates to tones that are not considered as part of that
scale. Consider Eb, for example: C Ionian has a specific relationship with Eb, even
though the tonic (Eb) may or may not be silent. One could drone an Eb and play C
Ionian over top of it. There could also be a strong Eb tonal center that supports a section
of music that doe not actually contain an Eb.

In jazz pedagogy there is a distinction made between chord tones and non-chord
tones, instead of identifying each pitchs relationship to a chord structure as being
part of a chord. There are no non-chord tones, but instead there is a hierachy of
chord tones, satrating from ther fundemental pitch, and all twelve pitches have a
role.

All tempered twelve tones exist as sound in a realm where all sound is music.

20

I explored playing notes that would not typically be considered part of the key or scale
in Ancestral Memory 1819
Pat Metheny is a musician who thinks and plays outside traditionally perceived
structures. A student once asked him: How do you play outside of a chord? His answer:
At this point its very difficult for me to play anything that I hear as being outside of the
chords. Everything that I play, I see it as relating to (the chord). I can pretty much hear
all twelve tones on any chord now. And that was something that took along time to get
together.20
I transcribed the following example illustrating how Metheny hears chromatic
notes in relation to a fundamental note and a fundamental chord.

18

Doak-Anthony, Audio pieces; CD 1 insert, track #7.

I also played with the idea of genetic or ancestral memory, and playing African-style
music. Ive been lucky to play many times with African musicians, and Ancestral
Memory is a celebration of these encounters. Although I know very little about this
music, Ive found it incredibly easy to play. Im never certain where the pulse is,
however. In Ancestral Memory, one could say this piece is in 9/4, but it should be
noted that with each beat there is a triplet subdivision, so it could be considered to be
27/8.
20
Pat Metheny, Pat Metheny Lesson, , youtube, 19:00
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UAc1CytLStw> (December 7th, 2014).
19

21

In the sixth measure he outlines a Bmaj7 on top of a C7. Only he is not super imposing
one structure onto another, but rather demonstrating how he hears the tones of a Bmaj7 as
being members of a C7 chord. Its not a matter of alterations, transformations, or
superimpositions, the approach often taught. It is not an approach that attempts to give all
twelve tones equal treatment (twelve-tone technique, pitch-class theory). It is more about
reconciling early ideas of tonality with the expanded palette of complete chromatic
options.

22

The implication is that chord quality and function is determined by the order of
pitches from the root (or fundamental). Since all twelve tones can be a part of any chord.
Consider the tone Bb over a Cmaj7 chord, Metheny claims that he hears this as a chord
tone, many octaves above the Cmaj7. I asked Richard Niles, Methenys long time
associate and author of The Metheny Interviews, to elaborate.21
To answer it briefly, it's down to biology and science:
The way we hear sound is based on the overtone series. Each
fundamental note produces overtones. For a fundamental of C1,
the first overtones will be octave C, G above that, then C, then E,
then G, then Bb, then C and so on.
Now heres the interesting bit: Notice the overtones that occur
early in the series are the most natural for the human ear to hear.
Overtone 1, 2, 4 and 8 are the Fundamental or The Root.
Overtone 3, 6 and 12 are the 5th! And Overtone 5 and 10 are the
major third! So 1, 3 and 5 of a major scale are universally easy to
hear because they occur early on in the Overtone series audible to
the human ear.
I also think its really interesting that b7 occurs at Overtone 7
whereas a major 7 occurs much later at overtone 15. Youd think
that major 7 was a more natural sound to our ears. But this might
explain why scales with b7 in them are so much part of many
different types of ethnic music, and why everybody loves the
blues. Well, thats the way we human beings hear music and dogs
and cats can make up their own scales!
All the chords and scales developed by humans are based on this.
Everything we hear is either 1 or not 1, 3 or 'not 3, etcetera.
The idea of extensions is that these notes not in the chord can be
seen and heard as extensions of the chord. We always orient
ourselves sonically and then relate whatever we hear to that sonic
orientation. Pat's ears are unbelievably sensitive and accurate.22
This is very different than conventional jazz theory, which states that chords are products
of diatonic scales, or in some cases whole-tone scales or diminished/octatonic scales.

22

Richard Niles, e-mail message to Khalil Doak-Anthony, Spring 2012.

23

Here Metheny illustrates a theory that describes all twelve tones as potentially part of any
chord. Therefore, all chords, modes, and scales include the chromatic notes too. A
chromatic scale is sounded every time we play a major scale, every time with play a IV V
I cadence, due to the overtone series, this can be done by recognizing only the first five
different overtones (1, 3, 5, b7, 9).
Conventional jazz theory and classical theory teaches that chromatic tones are
outside of the chord/scale. In 20th century Jazz theory, Terms like chromatic side
stepping or side slipping are used to explain the existence of these chromatic notes in
a context that they dont belong, Rather than potentially part of the chord/scale.
In his Theory of Harmony Schoenberg speaks about the abandonment of tonal
harmony (an integrated chromatic tonality) in preference for polyphonic chromatic
harmonic structures that were the result of multiple melodic lines.23 He felt that
composers were more interested in exploring a non-functional polyphonic harmony rather
than developing methods of chromatic tonal harmony. Schoenberg believed that
composers were not interested in his chromatic tonal/harmonic theories.24 I believe that a
tonality based on the twelve tone series, and its resultant harmony will be codified in the
21st century. Pat Metheny has illustrated this renewed interest in a fully chromatic tonal
23

I believe that continued evolution of the theory of harmony is not to be expected at

present. Modern music that uses chords of six or more parts seems to be at a stage
corresponding to the first epoch of polyphonic music. . . . For it is apparent, and will
probably become increasingly clear, that we are turning to a new epoch of polyphonic
style, and as in the earlier epochs, harmonies will be a product of the voice leading:
justified solely by the melodic lines! Arnold Schoenberg, Theory of Harmony
(Berkeley: University of California Press, 1983 [1911]), 389.
24
I believe that continued evolution of the theory of harmony is not to be expected at
present. Schoenberg talks about modern music that uses chords of six or more parts
seems to be at a stage corresponding to the first epoch of polyphonic music: We are
turning to a new epoch of polyphonic style. . . . Harmonies will be a product of the voice
leading. Ibid.

24

world. Mainstream 20th century music theory has not successfully described or been
concerned with a fully chromatic tonal harmonic theory. In a footnote to a passage
discussing a twelve-tone chord, Schoenberg said There has been no investigation at all
of the question whether the way these new sounds go together is actually the tonality of a
twelve-tone chromatic series.25 No one has successfully codified such a theory, and
there has been no real interest. Yet it is easily identified when one attempts to write chord
symbols that are trans-diatonic, chords made up of notes that cannot be derived from
the same diatonic scale.
As I stated earlier, Jazz educators have spent a great deal of time developing
methods for playing outside of chords. They often superimpose one chord/scale
structure onto that of another chord/scale. For example, if Cmaj7/Ionian is being
sounded, solo over it with an Ebmaj7/Ionian, etc. While this technique might have
practical use, it does not acknowledge the relationship of the chromatic notes to the
fundamental tone, and the fundamental chord.
One piece in which I explored these concepts is Out African Jazz.26 The title
refers to a term used by jazz musicians to indicate that the notes being played are not in
the scale or chord. I also crossed lines of genre and form in this piece by exploring
playing outside of the primary diatonic scale in a more African-type rhythm.
While I think it would be appropriate to adopt a pitch class-theory approach to
numbering intervallic relationships, most of us are used to the major scale as a reference
point. But I am in full support of abandoning this convention for a more rational approach

25
26

Ibid., 432.
Doak-Anthony, Audio pieces; CD 4 insert, track #3.

25

that appreciates the chromatic scale as the primary structure of all equal tempered music.
Steve Coleman developed a technique; he called cell notation.27 It numbers the
chromatic scales 1-12, or 0-11 and uses chord symbols to reflect these relationships. But I
use major scale numbering as a reference.
I explored ways in which I could exploit all twelve tones in my piece, Ouch,28
which reminds me of guitarists Frank Zappa and Steve Vai. It also reminds me a little of
Steve Colemans M-base music.29 Here I am using concepts put forth by 20th century
composer/theorists Nicolas Slonimsky, Dominico Alaleono, Alois Haba and George
Perle among others. Slonimsky, Alaleone and Haba talk about dividing the octave or
octaves into symmetrical parts i.e., two tritones, three major 3rds, 4 minor 3rds etc.30
Perle refers to this as interval cycling.31
In Ouch The meters constantly change, as does the harmonic rhythm. Ouch is
a twist on symmetrical chord movement, using tonic, subdominant, and dominant
functioning chords from each of the symmetrical targets. Before the drums come in, I
used an extended technique to create harmonics. I pulled off and hammered on the G
string with my left hand while running my right index finger lightly across the G string to
catch all of the available harmonics. I used the multi-tonic symmetrical keys center
movement, in this case, Dmaj, Gbmaj and Bbmaj. My basic model was this progression:

27

Steve Coleman, Cell Notaion, < http://www.m-base.com/cells.html> (accessed

October 2014).
28
Doak-Anthony, Audio pieces; CD 4 insert, track #2.
29
Steve Coleman, What is M-base?, <http://www.m-base.com/mbase_explanation.html>
(accessed October 2014).
30
Nicolas Slonimsky, Thesaurus Of Scales and Melodic Patterns (New York: Charles
Scribners Sons, 1947), i-iii.
31
Goerge, The Listening Composer (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1990), 21.

26

II-9b5, V7#9, and Imaj7. What I heard was to alternate the key center for each chord
change. I started on the II chord of Dmaj, went to E-9b5, then to the V chord of Gbmaj,
Db7#9, then the I chord of Bbmaj, Bbmaj7, and then the I chord for Dmaj7, Dmaj7.32
The key centers move like this:
||:D

| Gb

| Bb

|D

|Gb

| Bb

|D

| Gb

|Bb

|D

|Gb

| Bb

|D

| Gb

| Bb

|D

The chords in relation to the moving key centers are as follows :

||: II-9b5

| V7#9

|I

|I

:||

(II-9b5 of D, V7#9 of Gb, I of Bb, I of D etc.)

The complete chord cycle:

||: E-9b5

| Db7#9

| Bbmaj7 | Dmaj

|Ab-9b5 | F7#5

| Dmaj7

|Gbmaj

|C-9b5

| A7#9

| Gbmaj7

| Bbmaj7 |

|E-9

|Db7#9

| Bbmaj7

| Dmaj7 :||

32

Jazz musicians in the second half of the 20th century started to use chords with
symmetrical root movement. See, for example, John Coltranes Giant Steps, 26-2,
Countdown, Central Park West; Richards Rogers and Lorenz Harts Have You Met
Miss Jones; Pat Methenys Question and Answer; Ben Monders Oceana; and Miles
Daviss Seven Steps to Heaven.

27

My interest in pitch and harmony revolves around a reconcilation of the Polytonal

chromatic scale and functional harmony.33 Im interested in dealing with all twelve
tones in a chromatic tonality. I have drawn great inspiration from Schoenbergs Theory of
Harmony. And it seems to me that a number of 20th centrury composers, the majority of
my collegues included, are less interested in these tonal twelve-tone functional
harmonies.
Nevertheless, it is from this perspective that I create tonal music. These
approaches to harmony and tonality give me a huge space for exploration. I am free to
harmonize any note with any chord and free to conceive of any chord as belonging to any
key. An example of this approach is displayed in my piece Orchestration (see appendix
for full score).34 The following is the last section of Orchestration, which provides
another example of my approach to a chromatic tonality:

33
34

Schoenberg, Theory of Harmony, 389.

Khalil Doak-Anthony, Mock ups (midi renderings of scores); CD insert, track #4.

28

This excerpt (the full score appears in the Appendix C) demonstrates my search for
harmonic structures that are made up of notes that cannot be derived from any one
diatonic scale. Here is the chord progression:
|| D-69#11#15

| G13(18)#25

| C-9#11#15

| Fmaj7#11#12 | C-9/Bb

| Eb7#11maj14

| Ab13sus4(10)#18

| Abmaj#13/Db

| Gb9maj14

| Gmaj7#5

|Ebmaj13(18) ||

Furthermore, the piece also shows that even without these trans-diatonic, super
extensions, no two successive chords can be derived from a single diatonic
scale. Orchestration further illustrates my chromatic-harmonic world, use of expanded
tonality, chords moving in unconventional ways, ambiguous chord movement with
regards to traditional notions of tonality. I am always looking for ways to successfully
challenge diatonic structure in a way that sounds tonal.
It is not conventional to have chord symbols that are trans-diatonic. Often people
will rely on the idea of polytonality to create a symbol that breaks the diatonic barrier.

29

But guitarist Ben Monder has been one of the few to provide us with examples of transdiatonic chord symbols in the score for O. K. Chorale.35

Note the first chord of the third measure, Emaj7(#15). The use of a #15 is a very recent
development in chord theory and in line with a post-millennial aesthetic. The #15 indicate
that a F/E# is to be played two octaves above the root, note that this chord has and E, D#
and F. Another example of Monders unconventional chord symbols can be found in his
piece

35

Ben Monder, Ben Monder Compositions (Pacific, MO: Mel Bay, 2008).

30

Oceana.36

36

Ibid.

31

32

All of these maj7b9 chords are trans-diatonic. They have the root, the major seven and
the flat nine.
Others, like Steve Coleman, have ditched the convention of referencing a major
scale. Colemans cell notation uses a chromatic scale as a reference instead of major
scale intervals numbers to illustrate unconventional chords. 37 Another example of this
exploration is my composition, -77maj7.38 39(partial Score in Appendix A). In this
composition, I used what I consider to be the primary subdominant, dominant, and tonic
functioning chords: II-7 (ii -7/5/3), V7 (V -7/5/3) and Imaj7 (I -7/5/3). I used these chord
qualities and moved them around in chromatic, non- diatonic, or irregular ways, i.e., D-7
moves to Eb7, resolving(using the term resolving loosely, there is not a clear functional
resolution) to Gbmaj7 . Additionally, while there is a regular pulse, the harmonic rhythm
is irregular and unpredictable. The process of composing -77maj7 has led me to
discover some successful ideas I need to explore further. This piece employs a repeating
chord progression but the harmonic rhythm is variable, every iteration of the chord
changes has a different relationship to the meter of the previous and upcoming iterations.
Like most of my work, the basic rhythmic foundation is a funk beat, which is then
displaced. I almost always conceive of rhythms as being a high hat, snare and, kick. In
this piece my harmony is as follow: I is always -7, 7 then maj7. But they never come
from the same diatonic scale. But it is still tonal, in my view, non-diatonic, or chromatic
tonality. This is not to say that the tonic does not move around. Each chord acts as a tonal
gravity and when strung together the total progression is its own tonal gravity, which
37
38
39

Coleman, Cell Notation.

Doak-Anthony, Full scores; data insert, score #1.
Idem, Mock ups (midi renderings of scores), CD insert, track #1.

33

interacts with each chords internal structure. In other words, if played by itself an F-9
can be perceived as a tonic or subdominant functioning chord, if followed by an Ab13
chord our perception of the F-9 changes. Each additional chord affects our perception of
all previous chords as well as our perception of the upcoming chords.

||: F-9
|E7
|D7

|Ab13 |Dmaj13 |Eb-9

|Ebmaj7 |
|
| Amaj7 :||

|
| A-9

| A7
|Emaj7
C13 |C#maj7 |Ab-9

|G-9
|

|
|

As I stated before, though the harmony is repeating, all iterations has a different
relationship with the meter and the measures. Harmonic rhythms shift, as does the meter.
My composition Trio (partial score Appendix B) explores moving through
diatonic scales and complex polyrythmic meters. 40 I used key signatures to move through
diatonic scales. The introduction and outro, the end of the piece, uses pitch cycling or
symmetrical intervals. I start with a tritone C and Gb(F#) in measure 3. C and Gb divide
the octave into two equal parts. The order in which I move through these intervals is
predetermined. I start with the fundamental, then I divide the octave into two equal parts
(a tritone), three equal parts (majors thirds), four equal parts (minor thirds), etcetera, so
that my tone series is as such: (C, Gb, C)( C, Ab, E,C) (C, Eb, A, C) etc. All symmetrical
movement begins and ends with the fundamental.
I should note that each symmetrical movement begins and ends with C. So as I
work my way through the series, I often used repeating Cs from part to part and measure

40

Idem, Full scores; data insert, score #5 and Mock ups (midi renderings of scores), CD
insert, track #5.

34

to measure. In other words, if you look at measure 7, you can see that one of those C
tones is the last in the series of the previous symmetry and the other C is the beginning of
the new symmetrical series. So in the seventh measure, one C comes at the end of of the
major third sequence and the other C starts the whole-tone sequence. The outro was
composed in a similar manner.
The bulk of this piece was composed with a very specific rhythmic sequence. I
used groups of four, five, six, and seven quarter notes. Key signatures change according
to the least common subdividsion shared by the flute and trombone. So if the trombone
plays groups of six (dotted whole notes) quarternotes and the flute plays groups of four
quarternotes (whole notes), the measure could contain three whole notes and two dotted
whole notes and the meter would be 12/4. I could have also called it 3/1 or 4/1.541
I moved through key signatures with that same symmetrical motion. Starting at
rehearsal letter B, I used a C key signature, then a Gb key signature, then back to C. Then
I used major third symmetry key signatures C, E, Ab, and C. This carries through the
whole piece. The score at rehearsal letter A can be considered to be in no key signature or
the chromatic key of C. The key signature movement cycles through all of the symmetry
posssible in one octave of a chromatic scaletritone, major thirds, minor thirds, whole
tone and half steps. Quarter note groupings from three to five are used.

41

A hypothetical time signature or an imaginary meter: 4 beats per measure and

the dotted whole note gets the beat:

35

The following is a harmonic analysis of my short piece titled String Quartet: 42

Although the piece might be deemed cheesy, because of its simple structure, its use of
harmony and harmonic rhythms is pertinent to my music and to my thesis.
Harmony in Succession:
C7/Bb - D13sus - Amin11b5(9) - B/Gmaj7- G#maj7#11- C9/Bb -E/D -Bbmaj7/D -D6 Bb/D-E7/D -E7b5/D- E7/D - C#minmaj7/Dmaj9- Bbmin9 -Amin7 -Abmaj9 -Gmaj13 Gbmaj7#11

42

Idem, Mock ups (midi renderings of scores), CD insert, track #7.

36

None of the adjacent chords can be derived from the same diatonic scale, but this piece is
very tonal. The tonal center may shift but at no point is there a lack of a tonal center. This
is a good example of how one can construct chords in a chromatic tonality.

5) Technology and other Connections

Connections, hidden and seen, are key to the creation of unique art, just as
individualism is created through appreciation of and interaction with a community. In
music, as in life, there are entities that cant be seen, but we know they exist by watching
how they affect other particles, for example. Consider the concept of imaginary
numbers: they don not exist but are said to be the result of operations of very real
numbers. There is a theory that suggests that gravity affects other dimensions other than
the ones known to us. We cant experience these dimensions, but we think they exist
because we know we are losing gravitational force. My Haitian drum teacher said
something like this: "I believe I learned drums from the spirit, and I play for the spirit.
Every time I play drums or sing, I believe my ancestors are here in the room with me. I
play for them."43 Whatever has made it possible to connect with these hidden forces,
technology now makes these connections more accessible and is perhaps aiding whatever
hidden forces might be at play. My own work illustrates how technology can be used to
draw lines across time and space to create art that is part of a larger whole. I used
technology to connect with guitar greats of the past in my song, El Rey 2, I of II44 (CD

43
44

Daniel Brevil, African Haitian Drum Class, Mills College, MUS 229, Fall 2014.
Doak-Anthony, Audio pieces, CD 2 insert, rack #7.

37

1). I played my El Rey 245 and ran the output through a Pod HD500X,46 which simulates
a high gain guitar amp. This is how I produce a rock guitar tone like Hendrixs,
Holdsworths, and others. I used a sample of a shaker, one track of guitar chords, and
virtual bass with randomly assigned pitch, velocity, and duration. I varied the duration
from 0 to other levels for each track. I also mapped some midi from my guitar part and
used several digital effects, including delay and tremolo effect. I use Two Hand
Tapping (an extended technique made popular by Eddie Van Halen).47 The song uses
the dotted eighth-note delay I commonly use, not to be confused with the delay on the
main rock guitar. The harmony and the harmonic rhythms are improvised on the guitar.
Since the bass pitches are randomly assigned, one could say that the harmony here is also
by chance.
Technology can also be used to mimic the effect of working in connection with
others. In 1/16 triplets48 I used technology to create the illusion of collaborating with
others (as I often do). I added instruments that were triggered by my guitar improvisation,
creating a piece that emulates group improvisation. I used a similar technique in
45

The El Rey 2 is a guitar manufactured by Eastman Guitars, its a hollowbody jazz

guitar with no F holes.
46
The Pod HD500X is one of the latest digital multi-effects guitar processors. Its
manufactured by Line 6.
47
Tapping may be performed either one-handed or two-handed. It is an extended
technique, executed by using one hand to 'tap' the strings against the fingerboard, thus
producing legato notes. Tapping usually incorporates pull-offs or hammer-ons as well,
where the fingers of the left hand play a sequence of notes in synchronization with the
tapping hand. For example, a right-handed guitarist might hammer down on fret twelve
with the index finger of the right hand and, in the motion of removing that finger, pluck
the same string already fretted at the eighth fret by the little finger of his/her left hand.
This finger would be removed in the same way, pulling off to the fifth fret. Thus the three
notes (E, C and A) are played in quick succession at relative ease to the player.
Wikipedia, Tapping, <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tapping> (December 1, 2014).
48
Doak-Anthony, Audio pieces, CD 1 insert, track #3.

38

Tremolo Picking, where I used tremolo picking to trigger the virtual instruments.49
This made for a very aggressive piece. Here I used virtual piano and upright bass,
demonstrating how technology makes a wide variety of instrument-sounds easily
accessible. I used this potential to great effect in OK,50 a piece that incorporates diverse
elements. Here I explored various extended-guitar techniques with harmonics and
percussive articulation like slap guitar. Many virtual instruments were triggered with the
one guitar take I recorded. The piece features virtual bass, something labeled as Asian
drums, hip-hop drums, string pizzicato, piano, two-hand tapping, legato guitar playing,
double-stop bending, and tremolo picking. It has a bebop sensibility, rhythmically and
harmonically. My harmonic vocabulary is rooted in jazz voicing. I use a lot of tertiary
harmonies including extensions. I also play quartel (stacked fourths) harmonies and often
include seconds in my voicings. The song, Polyrhythmical 51 also explores multiple
rhythms with many guitars.52 The song exists in a fully chromatic environment. Each
guitar played its own subdivision grouping: 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, or 7. These rhythmic guitars are
looped. I attempted to solo over them with a lead guitar, pulling in and out the looped
polyrhythmic guitars.
Using technology, I connected to aesthetics from the other side of the globe in my
song, Punjab Brown.53 The Punjab brown is a type of chicken indigenous to India.
Chicken picking is a style of playing the guitar made popular by American countrymusic guitarists. I used three guitars. The main guitar was played through the dotted49
50
52
53

Ibid., CD 4 insert, track #9.

Ibid., track #1.
Ibid., track #5.
Ibid., track #6.

39

eighth delay to mimic chicken picking. I also played a rhythm guitar that provided the
bass and chord structure and moved through a blues form. Additionally, I played a guitar
that is meant to mimic the sound of a pedal style, and added a sample of looping tabla
drums, widely used in both traditional and popular Indian music. Hence the term Punjab
Brown, giving reference to chicken picking and Indias tabla music. I likewise
connected with another part of the world, and another part of time, in Playing with Ave
Maria,54 Based on Schuberts Ave Maria,55 this is a multi-track recording of the first
part of Ave Maria. I put it on loop and improvised over the chord changes. The result
gives the impression of a piece of music from African or the West Indies.
March 24th is one of my more successful demonstrations of technology used to
affect tempo changes, as I had mentioned in early pieces.56 The idea of using software to
change the tempo of a recording was suggested to me by George Lewis. Prior to his
suggestion, I wouldnt have tried it. I had always resisted this because I didnt want to
present work that misled the listener into thinking I had more chops than I actually do.
Experimenting with post-recorded tempo changes has led me into a world that is not
concerned about how much chops I have. It is about the sound of the finished product
and not about my ability to play guitar. I used tempo-change edits because the sound is
neat and it is an area ripe for exploration, not because I wanted to cheat.
In looping #5 I used the dotted sixteenth-note delay to give the illusion of
continuous streams 32nd notes. I played sixteenth notes but produced the sound of thirtysecond notes over which another guitar, with a harmonizer, solos followed by a section
54

Ibid., track #4.

Franz Schubert, Ave Maria, "Ellens dritter Gesang" ("Ellens Gesang III", D. 839, Op.
52, No. 6, 1825).
56
Doak-Anthony, Audio pieces; CD 3 insert, track #6.
55

40

with very disconnected rhythmic guitar and chords, followed by a wah-wah guitar and a
standard fusion guitar solo.57 I often play arpeggios and scales with no intention of
relating literally to the overall harmonies, my concept of chromatic tonality accepts all
intervals and possible harmonies as inclusive of tonality, therefore I van freely create
harmonies by randomly playing two different scales, notes or chords at the same time.
The result is unpredictable and unintentional but still harmonic. I also used a dotted
eighth-note delay to sound sixteenth notes while playing eighth notes.
In Autotune Blues II, I incorporated a technology frequently and perhaps overemployed in pop music, the autotune.58 This effect is designed to help singers sing in
tune. I included a blues-style lead guitar. The autotune effect is clearly evident in those
places where I bend notes. I find this to be a very interesting use of this effect. I used an
Eminem-sampled kick and snare59 and a virtual synth bass I created in the program
Logic.
V.

Conclusion
In music and all art, everyones creations can be experienced in terms of their

effects on the moment. Individual creations are known through glimpses of the whole.
The past and all that we can no longer see, can be seen and heard through its effects on
what is being created in this moment. Each one of us brings our unique set of
experiences, skills, and abilities to our work. We cannot hope to gain consensus on the

57

Ibid., CD 3 insert, track #5.

Ibid., track #9.
59
Eminem (Marshall Mathers), Cinderella Man, Recovery CD, 2010.
58

41

success of any particular work. My goal as a musician is to listen to others, accept what I
hear without trying to categorize it, and allow the music to influence me as it will.
My art demonstrates who I am, where Im from and whats unique about me.
Seen as an individual, Im a mixed ethnicity male, born in Berkeley, California in 1973,
who took up guitar at the age of 13. But my art also demonstrates my connection to a
larger whole. Ive developed as a musician in large part by tapping into that whole.
I believe that, on top of everything else, that whole includes multiple versions of
me. Im just one version of the many possible versions of a mixed ethnicity male, born in
Berkeley, California in 1973, who took up guitar at the age of 13. Multiple versions of
this person exist, throughout time and space. Each variation has its own unique role and
all the variations are influenced by each variations unique role. Today, with previous
barriers of time and space eliminated or minimized, artists can share vast amounts of
information nearly instantly. Potential iterations of one piece of work are nearly infinite.
People create variations of other peoples art and those versions inspire other people to
create versions and the artists create variations of all the variations of their work.
Were separate individuals who are a not-so-separate collective. When one
variation changes, all the variations change in response, each in its own way. In the same
way, musicians create their own unique sound and style by interacting with the
community of the world. This has always been the case.
A community of artists that spans space and time gives rise to great work.
Because all artists are connected, all artists matter. While we all know Picasso the
individual painted from his own consciousness and talents, it is the collective of every
artist that has ever lived thats truly responsible for his work, and for all works of art.

42

Each of us exploring, developing, practicing, and creating expresses not only our
individualism, but also our collectivism. That collective is in a state of ceaseless creation,
fluid and ever changing. Nothing that arises from it can be labeled as anything specific
During the course of an improvisation class Roscoe Mitchell said, We are
dealing with a situation where something that is true in one moment might not be true in
another. In other words, the existence of one reality doesnt negate the existence or the
possibility of another reality that would appear to be in direct opposition. Because each
one of us, each artist, derives our own truth from the collective, and the collective
encompasses all of our realities. A reality cannot be the final and exclusive truth for all,
any more than a work of art can be, or a person in her current form can be considered
complete and final. All are subject to the endless variations that occur when an idea or art
is shared with others. All are informed by the same collective consciousness and its
potential to enable infinite variations of reality.

43

APPENDIX A: -77maj7 (First six pages of a 40-page score)

44

45

46

47

48

49

APPENDIX B: Trio

50

51

52

53

54

55

APPENDIX C: Orchestration

56

57

58

59

60

61

62

Bibliography
Vaughan, Sarah. A Night in Tunisia. Comp. Dizzy Gillespie and Frank Paparelli. 1944.
Brubeck, Dave. In Your own Sweet Way. Brubeck Plays Brubeck. Columbia CL 878,
1955.
Brevil, Daniel. African Haitian Drum Class, Mills College, MUS 229, fall 2014.
Chase, Gilbert. America's Music: From Pilgrims to the Present. Champaign-Urbana:
University of Illoinis, 1992.
Coleman, Steve. What is M-base? <http://www.m-base.com/mbase_explanation.html>
(December 12, 2014).
_____________. Cell Notation. <http://www.m-base.com/cells.html> (December 12,
2014.
Coltrane, John. "26-2." The Coltrane Legacy. Atlantic Records, SD 1553. 1970.
___________. "Central Park West." Coltrane's Sound. Atlantic Records, SD 1419, 1964.
___________. "Countdown." Giant Steps. Atlantic Records, SD 1311. 1960.
___________. "Giant Steps." Giant Steps. Atlantic Records, SD 1311. 1960.
Eminem. "Cinderella Man." Recovery. Shady Records. 2010.
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(UFPr Arts Department 2 October 1997.
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Davis, Miles. "Seven Steps to Heaven." Seven steps to heaven. Columbua CL 2051
1963.
Freeman, Kendrick. African Haitian Drum Class, Mills College, MUS 229, fall 2014.

63

Hart, Lorenz, Richard Rodgers. "Have You Met Miss Jones." 1937.
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Perle, George. The Listening Composer. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1990.
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65

VII.

Discography

1) Audio pieces; 4 CD inserts

CD 1 insert
1. 1 Minute
2. 7 Note Diatonic Cycle of Fourths
3. 16th Triplets
4. 16ths
5. 2014 July, El Rey 2
6. Abstarction
7. Ancestral Memory
8. Art Music XX
CD 2 insert
1. Autotune Blues II
2. Ballad
3. Blah Blah
4. Chance Harmony
5. Dot
6. Eighth Notes
7. El Rey 2, I of II
CD 3 insert
1. El Rey Freestyle
2. Free Metal
3. Guitar Trio 1
4. Improv-1
5. Looping #5
6. March 24th
7. Noodle Factory
CD 4 insert
1. Ok
2. Ouch
3. Out African Jazz
4. Playing With Ave Maria
5. Polyrhythmical
6. Punjab Brown
7. Slap Guitar
8. Slayor
9. Tremolo Picking

66

2) Video pieces; DVD insert

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

The 3 Great American Guitarists

What the Fuck is Glitch Hop
Its Our Party
Nigger
Out of Time

3) Mock ups (midi renderings of scores); CD insert

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

-77maj7
Brass 1
Harmony
Orchestration
Trio
Woodwind
String Quartet

4) Full scores (PDF); data insert

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

-77maj7
Brass 1
Harmony
Orchestration
Trio
Woodwind
String Quartet