Jazz Chord Progression

Chord progressions are a succession of chords played one after another and during a specified duration. On this page you can find the most popular chord progressions in jazz, a list of songs that use similar chord progressions and the jazz guitarists who recorded these songs.

Because learning to play through different common progressions in various keys is such an important part of the modern jazz guitarist, in this lesson you will learn how to recognize these progressions from a Roman Numeral standpoint, allowing you to quickly transpose them to other keys, as well as two different ways to comp through each progression on the guitar.

It's important that you learn to recognize these classic chord progressions and that you practice improvising over them, so grab your axe, turn up your amp and let’s dig in to these 10 Must Know Jazz Guitar Chord Progressions!

Jazz Guitar Chord Progressions 1 - ii V I Major

1)

| IIm7 | V7 | Imaj7 | %
| Dm7 | G7 | Cmaj7 | %

The 2 5 1 progression is without any doubt the most popular chord progression in jazz.   I'm not going to give you a list with songs that use this progression, since a jazz standard without a II V I is almost unthinkable.  Some jazz standard chord progressions are nothing more then a series of II V's.

2)

| Imaj7          VIm7 | IIm7          V7 | IIIm7          VI7 | IIm7          V7
| Cmaj7         Am7 | Dm7          G7 | Em7            A7 | Dm7          G7

This chord progression is the first A of a 'rhythm changes'.  'Rhythm changes' are a kind of chord progression that use the same chord changes as 'I've Got Rhythm', a song written by Gershwin in 1930.  People started using this progression to jam on and so many different melodies came into being that use the same chord changes.

3)

| Imaj7 | % |(IIm7 | V7) | Imaj7 | % |(IIm7 | V7) | Imaj7
| Cmaj7 | % |Cm7 | F7 | Bbmaj7 | % | Bbm7 | Eb7 | Abmaj7

This is also a very common jazz chord progression. There are 2 modulations in this progression: the chords start in the key of C major, modulate to Bb major in the 3rd bar and again modulate in the 7th bar, this time to Ab major.

4)

| Imaj7#I°7 | IIm7#II°7 | IIIm7VI7
| Cmaj7C#°7 | Dm7D#°7 | Em7A7

5)

| Imaj7 | % | II7 | % | IIm7 | V7 | Imaj7 | %
| Cmaj7 | % | D7 | % | Dm7 | G7 | Cmaj7 | %

6)

| Imaj7 | (IIm7V7) | Vmaj7
| Cmaj7 | Gm7C7 | Fmaj7

7)

| Imaj7 | I7 | IVmaj7 | IVm7 | IIIm7VI7 | IIm7V7 | Imaj7
| Cmaj7 | C7 | Fmaj7 | Fm7 | Em7A7 | Dm7G7 | Cmaj7

Modal Harmonies

Harmonic considerations

(From Berklee Jazz Theory and Harmony)

Most textbook explanations of modal harmony warn you to beware of the diatonic tritone in each mode, lest it pull you into the relative major key. This warning is valuable, but it can be somewhat limiting, especially in jazz composition. Since the characteristic note of each mode is also a note in the diatonic tritone of that mode, it stands to reason that the tritone may actually have a role in helping to establish the sound of that mode.  Play the examples below on the piano and you will see and hear that these voicings, as simple as they are, are potential I chords in D Dorian, E Phrygian, F Lydian, G Mixolydian, A Aeolian, and B Locrian respectively. Note that the respective tritones are given strong support from each modal tonic in the bass clef. This helps anchor thr tritone and ensures modal rather than tonal orientation.

The problem with the tritone in modal harmony is not so much the interval itself but the placement of that interval in a voicing in thirds. Voicings in thirds (triads and seventh chords) are so identified with the major and minor modes that their very use promotes tonal rather than modal identity. Bill Evans and Miles Davis must have understood this instinctively at the Kind of Blue recording sessions, because Bill Evans makes extensive use of voicings in fourths throughout, especially on “So What." Voicings in fourths have a more ambiguous quality than voicings in thirds. A quartal “triad” (three-note voicing in perfect fourths) doesn't sound major, minor, augmented, or diminished. In fact, any of the three notes in such a voicing might be the “root” of the chord! This ambiguity has intrigued jazz musicians for more than forty years and is at the heart of the use of these voicings by players and composer/arrangers who hope to sound “modern.”

Basic Jazz Chords

The most basic chord formation is a triad, consisting of the root, 3rd and 5th.

Jazz rarely uses triads: chords usually have at least four notes so the diatonic 7th is added (ex 1b). Added notes beyond the 7th are called upper extensions We shall be looking at chord types in two ways:

A. As chords functioning diatonically within a key
B. As different types of chords based on one root, which can function in various keys

Here, you will find the overview about basic chord relations and uses within a specified context.