As a beginner, jazz music often sounds like a different language, like the musicians have notes that the rest of us don’t. But it’s not as scary as it first seems; like other genres, we can play jazz music using common patterns and progressions.
Of course, learning these progressions won’t make us play like Oscar Peterson or Herbie Hancock, but it’s the start of developing our own sound.
What you need to know
Before you start practicing these progressions, you should understand the Roman numeral system in harmony. If you haven’t worked through our common chord progressions article, I suggest tackling that first.
Until now, we’ve mostly been looking at basic triads (three-note chords). In this article, we’ll use four-note chords, which means we’ll have major, minor, and dominant 7th chords. We’ll also introduce the minor 7 flat 5 chord (sometimes referred to as a half-diminished 7th chord).
To keep things as simple as possible, we’ll stick to root voicings (chords built from the root note), and all examples are in the keys of C major/minor. Once you get used to the structure of each progression, you can start to use more appropriate voicings and voice leading.
12-Bar Blues (I7-IV7-V7)
C major chords: C7-F7-G7
If you’re completely new to jazz, there’s no better place to start than the blues. Blues music is at the heart of many genres, and the 12-bar blues is the epitome of that classic sound.
Some of my favorite musicians rarely strayed from the 12-bar blues pattern, and that speaks volumes about the character and personality in their playing. It’s not a difficult progression, and you’ll quickly realise it’s not just about the notes you play, it’s how you play them.
Listen to Robert Johnson, B.B. King, and Muddy Waters (“I’m Your Hoochie Coochie Man”) for some great examples of 12-bar blues.
The great thing about this progression is that it’s not just useful in pure blues music; it’s a staple of rock and roll and beyond. Classics like Chuck Berry’s “Johnny B. Goode” and Tracy Chapman’s “Give Me One Reason” highlight the surprising versatility of the 12-bar blues progression.
You might notice that the chords are all dominant 7th chords, which means they aren’t all diatonic to the C major scale. But, it’s easy to remember because it’s essentially just chords I-IV-V, but you’re adding a flat/minor/dominant seventh to each (the flat seventh degree is one whole step below the root).
Jazz Blues (I7-IV7-V7-VI7-ii7)
C major chords: C7-F7-G7-A7-Dm7
If you love the blues sound, but you’re ready to get a bit jazzier, the jazz blues is your next stop. I’m going to cover two versions of the jazz blues progression because I want to simplify it initially for an easier transition from the basic 12-bar blues.
The good news is that it’s not a million miles away; it’s still a 12-bar format. You should notice that the VI in the progression is a dominant chord, A7, rather than the diatonic Am7. The reason for this change is that it comes as we are heading toward the ii7 chord of Dm7, and A7 creates a far stronger pull towards the Dm7 than the Am7 chord would. If we imagine we were in the key of D minor for a second, the fifth chord (dominant) would be A7, and that’s why it creates such tension, and desire to resolve to Dm7.
Throughout jazz, you’ll see a lot of what we call secondary dominants, and we’ll explore that further in another article. But, for now, here’s an easy way to think about it: Even though we are in the key of C major we can use secondary dominants to get to a target chord. In this case, it’s Dm, and we can think of A7 as the five chord of Dm. Similarly, if we were targeting Am, we could use E7 as the five of Am, and so on.
ii-V-I Cadence
C major chords: Dm-G7-Cmaj7
The ii-V-I cadence is the cornerstone of hundreds of jazz standards, and a great way to spice up any boring progression. Listen to Duke Ellington, Hoagy Carmichael, and any noteworthy jazz composer from the 1930s onwards, and you’ll hear this cadence over and over.
Although we can think of it as a standalone progression, it’s more of a vehicle to get to your destination. It’s similar to the secondary dominants and chromatic ii-V sequences mentioned above. The ii-V-I doesn’t have to be diatonic to the key, instead it’s diatonic to the key of your target chord.
If Cmaj7 is the target, the cadence would look like this: Dm7-G7-Cmaj7. But, if you want to get to the IV (Fmaj7) chord in C major, remember what we covered above. Fmaj7 temporarily becomes the I chord, and we use the ii-V from the key of F. In which case the sequence becomes Gm7-C7-Fmaj7.
It’s one of the most valuable movements you’ll ever learn!
Minor ii-V-i
C minor chords: Dm7b5-G7-Cm7
The minor ii-V-i is very similar to the major version in almost every way, but there are a few differences. The i chord changes to minor, of course, and the ii chord remains minor with the addition of a flat 5th. The sequence becomes Dm7b5-G7-Cm7.
The Dm7b5 chord is diatonic to the C minor scale, and it’s a beautifully tense chord. The G7 isn’t diatonic to the C minor scale, but we use it instead of a Gm7 because it creates more tension, and stronger pull towards the Tonic. In every progression, we are creating tension and release.
If you want to lean into the minor feel more without losing the tension of the dominant V chord, you can make it an altered chord by adding a b9, #9, #5, or #11.
I-vi-ii-V Turnaround
C major chords: Cmaj7-Am7-Dm7-G7
This four-chord progression is another mainstay of many jazz standards. It can provide most of a songs harmonic content, but it’s more regularly used as a turnaround at the end of a sequence. You’ll find it at the end of many jazz blues progressions, used as a way back to the tonic.
Like the ii-V-I progression, you can apply it in other areas as a path to a target chord, however, use it tastefully (don’t cram it in just for the sake of it). In C major, the sequence is Cmaj7-Am7-Dm7-G7.
You’ll hear the progression in songs like Hoagy Carmichael’s “Heart and Soul.” And, after Gershwin used it in “I Got Rhythm,” it became a favorite of bebop players.
There’s an easy way to alter the progression so it doesn’t become uninteresting, which is to substitute the vi chord for a VI chord. In C major, that means subbing the Am7 for an A7 chord. The sequence then becomes Cmaj7-A7-Dm7-G7.
Minor i-vi-ii-V Turnaround
C minor chords: Cm7-Am7b5-Dm7b5-G7
The minor i-vi-ii-V progression functions in a similar way to the major version, but it provides some additional challenges.
In the sequence of Cm7-Am7b5-Dm7b5-G7, we have two m7b5 (half-diminished) chords in a row. Harmonically, those chords sound great in this context, but placing a melody or solo over two sequential half-diminished chords can be tricky.
For now, if you can get used to using this progression as a turnaround (a minor blues is a great template), that’s a fantastic start.
iii-vi-ii-V Turnaround
C major chords: Em7-Am7-Dm7-G7
In our common chord progressions guide, I talked about chords in the tonic family. In the key of C major, the tonic family includes Cmaj7, Em7, and Am7.
These chords share important chord tones that make them interchangeable in certain scenarios. In this case, we’re subbing the I (Cmaj7) for the iii (Em7). Rather than a I-iv-ii-V progression, we get iii-vi-ii-V.
We can still use it as a route back to the I (Cmaj7), but it provides some variation without straying too far from home.
Chromatic ii-V Movements
C major chords: Context dependent
Chromatic ii-V movements are something that jazz players often add during improvisation, reharmonization, or to add interest to a static progression. Standards like “Bye Bye Blackbird,” or an Charlie Parker blues are great examples of this harmonic figure in use.
Let’s look at it in the context of a typical ii-V-I progression in C major. The target destination is the Cmaj7 chord, that’s the goal. A ii-V-I progression would get us there through this sequence: Dm7-G7-Cmaj7.
If we want to make it more interesting, we can start the sequence a half step above the ii chord (Dm7), which is an Ebm7 chord. We have to think of the Ebm7 as a ii chord, which would make our next V chord Ab7.
Our extended sequence is now Ebm7-Ab7-Dm7-G7-Cmaj7. You can see that we are descending chromatically in ii-V movements till we reach our home (Cmaj7).
You could extend it even further, and have something like this: Em7-A7-Ebm7-Ab7-Dm7-G7-Cmaj7.
The most important thing about using movements like chromatic ii-V’s is that you do it tastefully; use them to add interest, but don’t overuse them.
Bird Blues
C major chords: Cmaj7-Bdim-E7-Am7-D7-Gm7-C7-F7-Fm7-Bb7-Em7-A7-Ebm7-Ab7-Dm7-G7
The Bird blues is a progression named after the inimitable Charlie Parker. Even as pianists, Charlie Parker should be a constant point of reference throughout our musical journey. Bird was more than a virtuoso; he was a prime example melodic soloing and functional harmony.
The Bird blues is an adaptation of the jazz blues progression, and the first difference is that we start on a Cmaj7 rather than a C7. The use of a maj7th chord instead of a dominant 7th chord isn’t typical in blues music now, but if we go back before the bebop era, jazz players often used 6th chords rather than dominant chords. Bird’s maj7th is a throwback to the pre-bebop era.
Another defining element of Bird’s blues is the use of chromatic ii-V cadences. These descending cadences are a great example of parallel harmony, often found in Charlie Parker’s works.
Conclusion
Don’t rush through these progressions. Take your time, and get used to how they sound, and you’ll start to recognize them in music. Pay attention to how they function diatonically and where and why they step out of the diatonic structure. Most importantly, have fun with these progressions, and they’ll take your harmony game to a new level.
