“Mu Major” (written 2012)

Have been enjoying the new Donald Fagen album, and am realizing that part of the joy for me is the way he developed his own harmonic structure as a signature sound. Fagen’s mu major is legend. It is an “add two” or “add nine” chord and you produce it by adding a second to a major triad. It does not contain a third the way the “sus two” chord does. Voicing of the second and third scale tones occurs as a whole tone dissonance. Why don’t we hear a lot more innovative harmonic structures? Always choosing “standard” pop, rock, jazz, or classical harmonic structures when the mu major is only the beginning of what is possible, to me, is like an artist purposely limiting her colors to beige, egg shell and off white. To the extent I’m wrong and it’s already happening (and I realize it is in jazz and classical circles), then we need much wider dissemination of these findings to the composition/performing arts community, including anyone in the pop music biz. I’m even open to someone using computer programs to generate some new thinking in this regard. But am guessing the next “breakthrough” will come as a result of somebody sitting at a piano and happening upon it. Which is as it should be.