Learn Jazz Standards

Chord Progression Study: ii V I VI7

brentvaartstra — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 22:19:02 +0000

Learn Jazz Standards.com focuses on helping jazz musicians expand their repertoire. Jazz musicians are required to know jazz standards for working gigs and playing at jam sessions. However, it’s also very important to practice soloing over chord progressions, such as the ii-V-I-VI7 progression. This progression will show up time and time again in many tunes, and so practicing improvising over these changes will pay HUGE dividends when you approach the standards. Some of our readers are more experienced jazz musicians and will appreciate having this chord progression study as a resource for learning new licks and honing their skills. Other readers visiting this site may be new to jazz and improvised music. This chord progression study will be useful for everyone from the beginning improviser to the professional.

Some budding jazz musicians might look at jazz standards up on our website and think, “Great! But how do I improvise over this stuff!?”. That’s a great question, but the question is not easily answered. If you talk to any seasoned, experienced jazz musician they will tell you that this music requires a life time of study. That means if you are looking for some secret formula or easy way out…there isn’t one! However, here are a few tips that may help you in your quest to improve your solo chops:

Music is a language. To understand it we have to listen to it, read it, talk with others that speak it and be willing to take the risk of speaking it ourselves. Like everything we want to learn in life we have to have a starting point.

In this Chord Progression Study we are studying a progression that is very common in jazz standards and other popular music: the ii V I. But we will add to this the dominant altered VI7 chord which often serves as a “leading” chord or “turn-around” chord into the ii. So now we are dealing with a ii V I VI7 chord progression.

Example: Dm7 G7 Cmaj7 A7alt is a ii V I VI7 in the key of C Major.

To learn a tune that uses the ii V I check out: All the Things You Are

There is no limit to what you can play over the ii V I VI7 progression. However it should be mentioned that Bebop is one of the fundamental languages of modern jazz. Something that most all of today’s best modern jazz musicians have in common is the understanding of the bebop language. It’s imperative to have a grasp on the bebop vocabulary so you can move on from there.

To learn more about the Bebop Era check out: Bebop-Jazz Styles Series

HOW TO PRACTICE THE ii V I VI7:

Listen to lots of records that deal with this harmony. Check out records by Clifford Brown, Charlie Parker, Sonny Rollins, Art Farmer, Lester Young, Wynton Kelly, Bill Evans, Dizzy Gillespie, Jim Hall, Bud Powell and earlier John Coltrane just to name a few. Also, check out modern examples so you know how players currently on the scene approach the music. Always be listening, and always be ready if another jazz musician asks “What have you been listening to?” Never underestimate listening to music, it is a huge part of your practice.

Practice the progression with the play-along’s provided below. This will give your ear the opportunity to hear what the chord progression sounds like. Practice the progression in all 12 keys as provided for you going in order of the Circle of 4ths.

Learn some licks or phrases from some of your favorite players that deal with this progression and take them through all 12 keys. If you find a solo you especially enjoy, consider learning the entire thing.

Practice the progression with only yourself and a metronome. This is very important. Never depend entirely on play-along’s to practice. The tracks provided for you on Learn Jazz Standards.com are not meant to be a crutch for practicing tunes but rather one tool through which to practice. You should be able to feel the time and hear the changes on your own. In addition to playing along with the tracks, try practicing playing the changes on your own, unaccompanied, with the metronome on beats 2 and 4. You should be able to hear the changes in your solo even WITHOUT the harmony present!

Play-Alongs in all 12 keys:

C Major: Dm7 G7 Cmaj7 A7alt

F Major: Gm7 C7 Fmaj7 D7alt

Bb Major: Cm7 F7 Bbmaj7 G7alt

Eb Major: Fm7 Bb7 Ebmaj7 C7alt

Ab Major: Bbm7 Eb7 Abmaj7 F7alt

Db Major: Ebm7 Ab7 Dbmaj7 Bb7alt

Gb Major: Abm7 Db7 Gbmaj7 Eb7alt

B Major: C#m7 F#7 Bmaj7 G#7alt

E Major: F#m7 B7 Emaj7 C#7alt

A Major: Bm7 E7 Amaj7 F#7alt

D Major: Em7 A7 Dmaj7 B7alt

G Major: Am7 D7 Gmaj7 E7alt

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Beautiful Love

brentvaartstra — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 22:42:59 +0000

“Beautiful Love” is a tune written by Victor Young in 1931 with lyrics written by Haven Gillespie. It has been performed and recorded by many jazz musicians. This tune is most commonly played in the key of D minor.

Purchase this tune

Chord Charts
Beautiful Love C Instruments
Beautiful Love Bb Instruments
Beautiful Love Eb Instruments

Play-Along

Videos to learn the melody

But Beautiful “But Beautiful” is a ballad written by Jimmy Van Heusen,...
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Why You Should Throw Your Fakebook Away

Camden Hughes — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 00:32:47 +0000

GET RID OF YOUR FAKEBOOK!

THROW THAT TRASH OUT!

You know that little book on your shelf with the melodies and chord changes? Throw it in the trash. Right now. Do it.

Ok, before you get motivated to throw it out, STOP-DON’T DO IT! I didn’t mean it. Maybe you bought your fakebook in 1971 and it’s got sentimental value…or maybe you JUST spent $40 on it last week. I don’t actually think fakebooks are evil…HOWEVER this article is designed to help you rethink the purpose of a fakebook.

Don’t throw your fakebook away, just use it judiciously.

The Limitations of a Fakebook

Fakebooks are a good REFERENCE. They show you one written interpretation of a melody and one way of playing the chord changes. Here’s the problem: a jazz tune is a dynamic thing. Jazz is really an aural tradition (though we must all be competent at reading music as well!), and playing the melody straight out of a fakebook tends to encourage playing the tune in a lackluster way.

If you listen to ANY tune, it’s going to change in subtle (or not so subtle) ways in EVERY recording you listen to. EVERY recording will have a different interpretation. The melody will be slightly different, if not VERY different! The chord changes may be slightly different from recording to recording-or even from chorus to chorus in the SAME recording! How can you pack all of these nuances into a single page?

You really can’t. All you can do is show ONE interpretation of the melody, and ONE set of chord changes. That is just not how the music is played. The music is much more dynamic.

Rethinking Fakebook

THINGS YOU SHOULD NOT DO WITH A FAKEBOOK

Use it as your only source to learn the melody
Use it as your only source to learn the changes
Bring it to your gig and read out of it on every tune all night
Read out of it at your jazz concert on stage
Use it every time you play the tune instead of learning the tune
Use it to learn the tune instead of learning the tune by listening
Use it as an excuse to never learn any tunes

THINGS YOU SHOULD DO WITH A FAKEBOOK

Use it to reference the melody
Use it to reference the changes
You CAN bring it to a gig as a reference just in case you don’t know a tune *
Compare the fakebook versions to actual recordings of tunes. When in doubt, a good recording is the authority.
Use it as one of several tools to memorize jazz standards. Use listening as your primary tool.

* It’s better to do your homework, learn hundreds (or thousands) of standards, come prepared knowing the music, be able to use your ear on tunes you may not know, and not need to bring a fakebook at all. However, it’s generally accepted among MOST musicians that’s it’s ok to bring a fakebook to a gig, depending on who you are playing with.

Here’s the bottom line, the whole point of this article: if you want to use a fakebook, use it as a REFERENCE when learning tunes. It’s fine to use sheet music on the bandstand for special arrangements or originals (as opposed to standards). However, if you are playing standards, you should work to be able to pull your own weight in a band and NOT have to look at a lead sheet in order to play the tune.

I’ll never forget the first time I was told by another musician to “leave your fakebook at home next time.” I was on the bandstand with a bass player named Aaron Miller, who went on the road for a while with the Glenn Miller Orchestra. I was a young, inexperienced piano player at the time, and I was playing with a bass player who was clearly more experienced than I was. That’s a GREAT place to learn! I realized that Aaron wasn’t using a fakebook. He just knew the tunes. I was using the fakebook as a crutch for not REALLY learning the tunes.

I was nervous, but the next time I played with Aaron I was with a trio with him and Learn Jazz Standards contributor, saxophonist Brent Jensen. I DIDN’T BRING my fakebook, and I played the gig just fine. I had to shake my head a few times when I didn’t know a tune, but we just called another tune I did know, and we were fine.

So step out on a limb-learn jazz standards by ear from classic recordings, using a fakebook as a reference if you need to look at it to clarify anything. (Then put it away). It’s not as hard as you might think!

-Camden Hughes

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What Is This Thing Called Love?

brentvaartstra — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 19:12:44 +0000

“What Is This Thing Called Love?” is a tune written by Cole Porter in 1929 for the musical “Wake Up and Dream.”
The song eventually became a popular jazz standard and one of Porter’s most famous works. Later musicians began composing tunes based from these chord changes such as Tadd Dameron’s “Hot House”, made famous by Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker. This tune is most commonly played in the key of C major.

Chord Charts
What Is This Thing Called Love C Instruments
What Is This Thing Called Love Bb Instruments
What Is This Thing Called Love Eb Instruments

Play-Along

Videos to learn the melody

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Yesterdays

brentvaartstra — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 17:46:19 +0000

“Yesterdays” is a tune written in 1933 by Jerome Kern. It was written for the show “Roberta”(1933).
This song is performed in many different styles and tempos, but it was originally done as a ballad. This tune is most commonly played in the key of D minor.

Chord Charts
Yesterdays C Instruments
Yesterdays Bb Instruments
Yesterdays Eb Instruments

Play-Along

Videos to learn the melody

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In Walked Bud

brentvaartstra — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 19:30:47 +0000

“In Walked Bud” is a tune written in 1947 by the great Thelonius Monk. The tune was written in tribute to pianist Bud Powell. Based of Irvin Berlin’s tune “Blue Skies”, Monk recorded this tune multiple times throughout his career. Later famed jazz vocalist Jon Hendricks wrote lyrics to it. This tune is most commonly played in the key of Ab major.

Chord Charts
In Walked Bud C Instruments
In Walked Bud Bb Instruments
In Walked Bud Eb Instruments

Play-Along

Videos to learn the melody

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But Beautiful

brentvaartstra — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 21:42:42 +0000

“But Beautiful” is a ballad written by Jimmy Van Heusen, lyrics written by Jimmy Burke. It was introduced in the film “Road to Rio” in 1948. Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis was the first jazz musician to record this tune. This tune is most commonly played in the key of G major.

Chord Charts
But Beautiful C Instruments
But Beautiful Bb Instruments
But Beautiful Eb Instruments

Play-Along

Videos to learn the melody

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I Love You

brentvaartstra — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 21:39:04 +0000

“I Love You” is a tune written by Cole Porter. It was written in 1944 for his stage musical “Mexican Hayride”.
This tune is most commonly played in F major. A notable recording to check out of this tune is John Coltrane’s version on his “Lush Life” record.

Chord Changes

I Love You C Instruments
I Love You Bb Instruments
I Love You Eb Instruments

Play-Along

Videos to learn the melody

You’re My Everything You’re My Everything is a tune written in 1931 by...

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You’re My Everything

brentvaartstra — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 23:12:43 +0000

You’re My Everything is a tune written in 1931 by Harry Warren and Joseph Young. The lyrics were written by Mort Dixon. Popular versions of this song include the Miles Davis recording on his Prestige record “Relaxin” and Freddie Hubbard’s version on his hit record “Hub-tones”. This tune is most commonly played in C major.
Note that Freddie Hubbard applied some alternate changes to this tune that you should know. The play-along track uses the common changes however ends the form on an Ab major chord which is commonly done.

Youre My Everything C Instruments
Youre My Everything Bb Instruments
Youre My Everything Eb Instruments

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Hard Bop-Jazz Styles Series

Camden Hughes — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 07:30:58 +0000

Origin Records recording artist and jazz professor Brent Jensen lectures on Hard Bop.

Characteristics of Hard Bop by Brent Jensen

Recordings by Brent Jensen

Bebop-Jazz Styles Series Brent Jensen, saxophone recording artist on Origin Records, did a...

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