The Mesmerizing Harmony of Wayne Shorter

Summary by Krater

This video breaks down the jazz composition "Infant Eyes" by Wayne Shorter, analyzing its impressionistic harmony, tonal ambiguity, and cantus firmus-based melody.

From the video

Answers: How does Wayne Shorter compose jazz harmony in Infant Eyes?

• Wayne Shorter composition style
• Jazz harmony analysis
• Cantus firmus melody technique
• Infant Eyes song analysis

What it concludes

• Wayne Shorter's compositional style features impressionistic harmony that creates tonal ambiguity.
• Infant Eyes utilizes a nine-bar phrase structure arranged in an A-B-A form.
• The melody of Infant Eyes functions similarly to a classical cantus firmus over ambiguous jazz chord progressions.
• Shorter's use of upper-structure triads helps maintain tension and release without traditional functional chord resolutions.