Rootless Chords

[quaid2k]

I have been working my way through the video for rootless chords. I have been working through the first few bars of Summertime.

Am / / / : Bb7 / / / : Am / E7 / : Am / A7
Dm / / / : F7 / / /

Would you use this type of progression with a vocalist, instead of using just, Am E7, in 1st bar? Say I was backing a vocalist in a wine bar, would Am7 to B13 be a little far out?

Working through the exercise I been voicing 3rd, next chord 7th, back to 3rd etc.

here is my progression:-

Am (b7, 9, b3, 5)
Bb7 (b7, 9, 3, 13) I've used b7 voicing here as it's not a (II V I) ?
Am (b7, 9, b3, 5)
E7 (3 ,13, b7, 9)
Am (b7, 9, b3, 5)
A7 (b3, 13, b7, 9)
Dm (b7, 9, b3, 5)

Some of these chords are hard to move between, also some of them sound good; some not so great ?

[quaid2k]

I can see where I went wrong with this exercise. I will have to look through each piece and identify the II V I -- II V I VI -- II V I V7 and get that together before I start.

[wmyette]

I like that progression...going to the Bb7. I usually do some different chords in the first 2 measures.

I often would play:

A-7 / C7 / : B-7 / E7

-or-

A-7 / F7 / : B-7 / E7

But, I like just going up to Bb7 like that: A-7 / / / : Bb7 / / /

As far as being too 'out'. It is not for my ears. However, it will depend on the experience level of the singer. The less experienced the singer, you are better off keeping the melody close to the chord tones and not a #9 (as it would fall on the B7)

[quaid2k]

Nice, I like the A-7 to C7 especially. I also like the bass movement in your progressions,
something I didn't think about when looking at the piece.

This would be a nice for an exercise Willie, if you have the time to write little progressions from standards, and show why you chose certain types of chords? Or is this all covered in the Re-harmonisation exercise?