How can I express Dm using only the notes of C major?
I'm a guitarist duo-ing with a 'harp' player whose strings all are notes in the key of C.
In other words, the harp player has the notes C D E F G A B available, and no others.
The minor triads available are thus Am Dm Em
We would like to play in (faux) Dm.
That is to say, we want to start and end on Dm, and have Dm feel like home-base.
Since C# is not an available note, he cannot construct an A7 chord to "tonicize" the Dm in the classical way.
So, with Dm the designated home-base, within the limitations noted, what chords and extensions can be used with good aural results to "go away" from and "come back" to Dm so as to produce a satisfying (though admittedly non-standard) feeling of cadence and resolution?
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The melodic minor would be D,E,F,G,A,B natural, C# and D(Ascending) and D, C,B bémol, A,G,F,E,D (Descending).
Since the 7th note (C) is not augmented, then you have Phrygian mode, by the end of which you have to declare your tonality. That means you have to play C# during the cadence.
Alternatively you can avoid Perfect Authentic Cadence and use Half Cadence in IV instead (I-IV) which not contains the 7th note
He's going to use notes not exactly from D minor, but D Dorian, a minor mode using the diatonic notes from key C. As you say, the leading note, C#, is unavailable, although there's a possibility he could flatten the D in blues fashion.
Even when playing in D minor, there's not always a C# present. Using the natural minor from its relative major of F, there's your C, but that will include Bb rather than Bnat.
As far as chords are concerned - since you'll be in a mode of C major, all the chords diatonic to that are useable: C Dm Em F G Am Bo, and their extensions (7ths etc.).
You can actually get away with him using Cnat against your A/A7/A9 chords,. Think about what happens in blues music - the 3rd is flattened often - so C against C# in an A chord will just sound bluesy.
You're in 'D Dorian' then. As is plenty of folk music. Centre the melody on D, begin and end on D minor. Like this:
You might find the bVII (C major) takes on something of a dominant function.
Don't forget you both have the option of playing contrapuntal (or, indeed, unison) melodies, runs in 3rds (or other intervals) etc. etc. There's more to music than 'melody and triads'
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