Progressioni Di Accordi

Chord Progression #1 Major Harmony in Jazz The chord progression is the backbone of western civilization music. The harmony created by chords provide added expression to the melody. Jazz harmony consists of a set of typical progressions directly derived from the European classical music tradition. The goal of the jazz accompanist is to compliment the soloist’s ideas while outlining the given chord progression clearly. As we know, most jazz improvisations use and outline the harmony as a foundation for melodic ideas This chord progressions series demonstrates the most common progressions found in jazz. They will help you hear and understand the recurrent harmonic traits found in traditional jazz repertoire. Jump to a page: Chord Progression #1: Major Harmony [you are here] Chord Progression #2: Basic Modulation Chord Progression #3: Minor Harmony The Major Scale (Chords) Every story begins somewhere… and this one begins with (you guessed it!) The almighty major scale ! The major scale is made of seven notes from which we can harmonize seven corresponding chords. We qualify them as diatonic because they belong to the same tonality (or key). The diatonic chords in the key of C:

(triangle = major 7th ; dashed circle = minor7(b5) AKA half-diminished) We will refer to the chords with roman numerals. C is I and Dm is II and so forth until VII. It’s always relative to the key center. The Diatonic Cycle (starting on IV) Playing those chords in a cycle of ascending diatonic fourths (or descending fifths) we get the diatonic cycle as follows:

in roman numerals: IV – VII – III – VI – II – V – I – (I) This is the source for many other segments of jazz harmony. I added the C dominant 7th in parenthesis because it’s not part of the C major scale. It simply resolves naturally to F major. C7 is the dominant of F major scale. See this series of articles on dominants. The diatonic cycle can be developed in many other basic jazz progressions. One example is the enclosed Dm7-G7 which is the infamous II-V found everywherein jazz. Study the diatonic cycle carefully. Make sure you check out this page of diatonic chord cycles also! I – VI – II – V and friends Another example of a progression that is enclosed in the diatonic cycle (above) is the I-VI-II-V:

This is one of the most basic cadence in jazz. It starts “home” (I), goes further (VI-II) and further away (V) with tension and… comes right back! For variety, play the VI as a dominant, it creates a desirable tension :

The A7 (VI) creates more tension and badly wants to resolve to Dm7 (II). While we’re here… why not make the II dominant also? Let’s see…

You now have three effective ways to play on and around the tonic chord in any major key. Wait! Other keys?! Of course! How to play in 12 keys? See this article on chord cycles. Another friend of I – VI – II – V To conclude (and to mess with my readers a little bit more!) let’s try something else. This is like… the siblings of the previous topic! Have you ever heard of the II-V ? or the II-V-I ? All right. Now, what would happen if the three variations above started on the D chord (instead of the C)? TADA!! You get the II-V-I-VI progression It is merely “shifting the starting point” of the previous examples. Try it:

We can qualify this as “the II-V-I chord progression with an extra chord at the end that wants to resolve back to the II” … or simply II-V-I-VI ! Now it seems we are “stuck in C”, doesn’t it? How about progressions that go through more than just one major key? Follow me into part 2 … Chord Progression #2 Basic Modulation in Jazz The chord progression is the backbone of western civilization music. The harmony created by chords provide added expression to the melody. Jazz harmony consists of a set of typical progressions directly derived from the European classical music tradition.

The goal of the jazz accompanist is to compliment the soloist’s ideas while outlining the given chord progression clearly. As we know, most jazz improvisations use and outline the harmony as a foundation for melodic ideas This chord progressions series demonstrates the most common progressions found in jazz. They will help you hear and understand the recurrent harmonic traits found in traditional jazz repertoire. Jump to a page: Chord Progression #1: Major Harmony Chord Progression #2: Basic Modulation [you are here] Chord Progression #3: Minor Harmony Modulation to IV Modulation is the concept in which we change the “home key”. This new tonality becomes the point of reference momentarily or permanently. In tonal music, any key center can be modulated to. How about a fermented fifth modulation in K sharp fridgemyan? (-; The IV chord being the closest related tonality (in relation to the I key) it is the most common “destination key” in classical and jazz music. Loooots of jazz standards incorporate a modulation to the IV. Let’s use a little imagery to describe this : We’re staying home tonight: I (home); II (away); V (further away…); I (home). As in C, Dm7, G7, C. Tonight, let’s hang out with the neighbours: I (home); II (…); V (…); I (home???); IV (at the neighbours). As in C, Dm7, G7, C7… F! It seems like human ears like this friendly neighbour that is the IV! When the modulation is established, we feel “like home” almost immediately. Let’s look at a musical example to clarify all this. Play the following progression on the guitar:

This type of progression can be found in the standard tune “Cherokee” by Ray Noble and in many, many, many others songs! As you can see and hear, the I chord becomes dominant right before going to IV. This is the heart of the modulation. You can also notice the IV minor right before going back “home” to the I. I will not go into theorical details here; if you are interested more in harmony look up this “No Nonsense Guide to Jazz Harmony”. Bluesy Modulation the IV Believe it or not, the very common blues progression contains a modulation to the IV key. The I chord is obviously dominant right before going the IV (It’s a blues!). Here it is:

Try embellishing the fourth bar of the blues with some alterations (such as b9, #9, b5 and #5). It creates a tension that is released when establishing the IV (as in C7(b9) to F7). Here’s that jazzier blues:

It is even possible to use a II-V-I in the key of the IV to create an even clearer modulation in bars 3, 4 and 5. To go to F, we use Gm7-C7:

Study the blues progression. It is worth more than you might think at first. See all the blues lessons on this website here. To further convince you that blues is important, listen to Oliver Nelson’s recording “Blues and the Abstract Truth” (1959, Impulse).

The Bird Blues

Ih… and I almost forgot to mention: check out the “bird blues” progression. It’s a common thing that Charlie Parker played a lot on during the bebop era. Listen and play tunes such “Blues for Alice”, “Chi Chi” and “Freight Trane”. Key of C : Cmaj / / / / | Bm / E7 / | Am / D7 / | Gm / C7 / | F7 / / / | Fm7 / Bb7 | Em7 / A7 / | Ebm7 / Ab7 / Dm7 / / / | G7 / / / | Cmaj / A7 / | Dm7 / G7 / || The “bird blues” progression still modulates to the IV of the key, but it has that major-to-minor melancholy type of sound. Check it out! You think it would be possible to modulate to the IV minor? (and to any other minor keys also?) Really?! Chord Progression #3 Minor Harmony in Jazz The chord progression is the backbone of western civilization music. The harmony created by chords provide added expression to the melody. Jazz harmony consists of a set of typical progressions directly derived from the European classical music tradition. The goal of the jazz accompanist is to compliment the soloist’s ideas while outlining the given chord progression clearly. As we know, most jazz improvisations use and outline the harmony as a foundation for melodic ideas This chord progressions series demonstrates the most common progressions found in jazz. They will help you hear and understand the recurrent harmonic traits found in traditional jazz repertoire. Jump to a page: Chord Progression #1: Major Harmony Chord Progression #2: Basic Modulation Chord Progression #3: Minor Harmony [You are here] The Diatonic Cycle in Minor Every major key has a relative minor. For instance C major contains the same notes as A minor. We can play the same progressions in minor keys simply by changing the chords’ qualities. Make sure you check out this page of diatonic chord cycles also! Let’s play the diatonic cycle in C minor (same notes as Eb major):

This progression can be found in the tune “Autumn Leaves” by Johnny Mercer and in many other songs. As you can see, the roman numerals are the same as in major. It is only slightly altered to fit the minor quality: IV – bVII – bIII – bVI – II – V – I

This progression can also be seen as a II-V-I in the key of Eb followed by a minor II-V-I in C. In fact it could even be seen as a II-V-I in Eb major followed by a modulation to the key of VI minor (which is C minor) Whatever way you look at it is fine as long as you play and hear all this! I – VI – II – V and friends Like the major I-VI-II-V there are plenty of variations in minor. Here’s the basicone from which you can derive more progressions:

And don’t forget my suggestion from the major harmony page (first article in series) … start on the II! We then get II-V-I-VI as follows:

Minor Blues The basic blues progression is also played in minor tonalities. And guess what? … yes: it contains a modulation to the IV … minor! Their exist two main kinds of minor blues progressions: The first one uses a “tonic minor” sound (melodic and harmonic minor scales) with the I and IV as minor 6th (or minor maj7th) chord quality:

The second one, often called “modal” blues, uses the minor 7th chord quality (Dorian sound) for the I and the IV:

This is the progression found in John Coltrane’s “Mister P.C.” Wrap-up All done? You can play every possible jazz progression in world on the guitar? in all keys? In all styles? At all tempos? (etc etc.) Great! (-; (just kidding) Seriously, if you feel comfortable with most of the progressions above, consider using some chord substitutions ideas. Chord changes are fascinating and I believe every jazz guitarist should continually study jazz and classical harmony. Don’t forget: we comp… lots! Have you every noticed your “comping to soloing ratio” on a gig? In the context of a band, we obviously accompany more than anything. Make sure you check out this page of diatonic chord cycles also, and the “No Nonsense Guide to Jazz Harmony” here. Happy Chording!