Samba-Jazz Woman

The top staff (line) is for a (woman's) singing voice.
Samba-JazzWoman_voice-unison_plus-GrandStaff_F-in-bass.png

The bottom (grand) staff is for a simple piano accompaniment part.
The bass should alternate between 'F' and 'D' after each pair (or set of 4 ?) of measures.

The harmonic structure could be analysed as
alternating between
'F' Lydian mode ,
and
'd' dorian mode .

Stephen Stills actually used a D7 chord
(which consists of a 'D' Major triad -- and that features the
raised 3rd degree: "F#").
Sometimes that should be used,
but I often prefer a
'd' minor (7) basis for these chords -- which instead uses the F_natural pitch.
See "Suite: Lani Brown Eyes" -- which is a post to a recent thread.
 
Samba-JazzWoman_treble-only_omitting-2nd-lowest-note-in-each-chord.png


What if the pattern of (incrementally)
stacking harmonic intervals of thirds (atop each chord)
was extended one step/iteration further -- making
15th chords?
Such a top (new, additional) line would consist of:
| F#, E, C#, D__ , F#, E_, C#, D, E__ |

If voiced by two hands on a piano, that could be thought of in terms of being :
left hand playing
'F' Maj. 7
and
right hand playing
'G' Maj. 7 on top of that.

The 2nd chord (if voiced as 15th chords) would be:
left hand playing 'e' min. 7
and
right hand plays
'f#' min. 7 on top of that.

Note the pattern of a simple alternating duality of
Major, then minor 3rds,
all stacked atop one another.


Also notice the missing 3rds that would comprise the 2nd-lowest member of each chord (starting with m. 5 )
Maybe I did that for more typographic (visual-clarity) reasons. If you want those pitches in there, it should be easy enough to figure out what they should be :

| A, G, E, F__ , A, G_, E, F, G |​

I would end this arrangement on a

'd' minor 13 chord

left hand playing
'd' min. 7

and
right hand plays 'e' min. 7 on top of that.


Just let that sustain, and ring.

Imagine the layered (over-dubbed) voices!
By the early 1970s, A&M (and many other top studios) had two-inch 16-track capability.
 
So -- given the bass lines ('F' moving to 'D', and then back, in a cycle/pattern) --
Each hand can play one individual triad (or 7th chord) at a time --
and this will create compound chords/harmonies ...
RockNRollWoman_riff-as-7th-chords_F-then-D.png


11th chords, distributed between two hands (staves):
Samba-Jazz_Woman_riff-as-7th-chords_two-treble-staves_P5th-higher.png

Perhaps those same notes would be easier to read, if they are instead notated one octave (
8vb) lower:
Samba-Jazz_Woman_riff-as-7th-chords_two-treble-staves_P4th-lower.png

 
Shifting between octave registers on a piano keyboard is trivial.
From a piano-playing stand-point, maybe it's easier for the hands to voice one triad, each -- like so:
Samba-Jazz_Woman_riff_11th-chords_two-treble-staves_triads-for-each-of-2-hands_maximum-courtesy-sharps.png

But achieving legato phrasing for each vocal phrase/line/fragment is difficult if playing with two hands on a keyboard.
Those are 11th chords.

To make 13th chords,
Stack additional notes (harmonic intervals of thirds) above,
Samba-Jazz_Woman_riff-as-7th-chords_two-treble-staves_8vb_13th-chords.png

Here are the same pitches, but notated with more courtesy accidentals
-- Maybe this makes it clearer and easier to read?:
Samba-Jazz_Woman_riff-as-7th-chords_two-treble-staves_8vb_13th-chords_maximum-courtesy-sharps.png


If yet another set of 3rds were stacked atop, making 15th chords
-- would that be going too-far, harmonically?:

Samba-Jazz_Woman_riff-as-7th-chords_two-treble-staves_8vb_15th-chords.png



I think that really captures the (harmonic) essence, the magic of David Crosby's (and Stills's?) initial seed/core of inspiration.
 
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