Copyright (c) 1995 by Jeff Jetton Last Modified: Oct 16, 1995
This lesson originally appeared on StickWire - the Official Chapman Stick Mailing List.
Reproduced here by permission. This article can be reprinted only in its entirety.

Theory On Tap
Lesson 6, Jazz Progressions: Your Friend, the Two-Five

by: Jeff Jetton

INTRODUCTION

The goal of this lesson is to show some common chord changes found in standard jazz, and to explain why they work the way they do. We'll examine some progressions and point out a few key concepts along the way. At first, I thought this was going to be an unbelievably huge subject, but the previous lessons have laid a great foundation for what follows. Thanks guys!

Unlike the previous lessons, I'll be notating the chords slightly differently. A minor chord will be indicated by a minus sign, like this: A-7. This is how you'd find it in many fake books, including the "Real Book", and on most handwritten jazz charts you'll come across. It can take a bit of getting used to.

Also, I'll be periodically butting in with "Side Notes", like this:


[Side Note: The Real Book, a collection of photocopied jazz tunes, is the de facto standard in many jazz circles. It was violating copyrights when Usenet was still in diapers.]


Lastly, the fretboard diagrams are for a 10-string, standard-tuned Stick.


DOWN A FIFTH

Start by examining the following changes (each slash is one beat): 

  Gmaj7     E-7       A-7       D7        Gmaj7
| / / / / | / / / / | / / / / | / / / / | / / / etc...

The first thing you might notice is that we seem to be in the key of C, and all the chords are diatonic to that key. (Diatonic is a fancy way of saying that the chords are made up solely from notes in that key.) We can analyze this tune by writing some roman numerals on top: 

  I         VI        II        V7        I
  Cmaj7     A-7       D-7       G7        Cmaj7
| / / / / | / / / / | / / / / | / / / / | / / / etc...

We learned in lessons 3 and 4 that all the diatonic chords can be numbered, based on their relation to the root of the scale. Or, to put it another way, based on the mode they're derived from. Even if this progression were put in another key, the numbers would be the same: 

  I         VI        II        V7        I
  Gmaj7     E-7       A-7       D7        Gmaj7
| / / / / | / / / / | / / / / | / / / / | / / / etc...


[Side Note: Why did I put a "7" after the V, and not after the I, IV, or II? Simply to emphasize its dominant nature. It's really no big deal. Don't get hung up on it.]


The second thing you might notice (especially if you tried this out on your Stick) is that after we jump to the VI chord, the root travels down a perfect fifth consistently. For many reasons, our ears gravitate toward that "resolution" of a chord down a fifth. And the more dissonant a chord is, the more we tend to want it to resolve.

Check out the interval between the third and the seventh of a dominant seventh chord, like the G7 in our example: 


  seventh  F ------|
  fifth    D       |----- B and F are a tritone apart
  third    B ------|
  root     G

You could call it an augmented fourth, or a diminished fifth. Most folks call it a "tritone", since it's basically three whole steps. It's one of the more dissonant intervals there is, and it only appears once in a major scale--between the fourth and seventh degrees. The strong resolution of the dominant V7 chord to the tonic I chord is known, oddly enough, as "dominant resolution".


[Side Note: In classical music, an instance of dominant resolution is called an "authentic cadence". Either term sounds impressive at cocktail parties.]


TWO-FIVES

The whole "down a fifth" thing, coupled with the strong sound of a dominant resolution, has made the II/V/I progression a very popular one in jazz. When I say "popular" here, I mean it in the same sense as "breathing is very popular among animals with lungs". "Two-fives", as they're often called, are on nearly every page of any book of jazz standards.

A II/V strongly suggests its "parent" key. When you come across a minor 7 chord that moves down a fifth to a dominant chord, it may not always be a II/V in the key of the song, but it does put the song in a "key of the moment". You could also call this key of the moment a "key center", and that's exactly what we did in lesson 4. Look at these changes, which bear a remarkable resemblance to the chords in "Misty" (if Misty where in the key of C): 


 Cmaj7     G-7  C7   Fmaj7
| / / / / | / / / / | / / / etc...

We're in the key of C, so the diatonic chords are easy to pick out--Cmaj7 and Fmaj7 are made up of notes from the C major scale. But what about the chords that go outside the key?: 

   I        ?   ?     IV
 Cmaj7     G-7  C7   Fmaj7
| / / / / | / / / / | / / / etc...

We call that part in the middle a "two-five into the four chord". How's that for jargon? All it really means is that, instead of just going the the IV (in this case, Fmaj7), we toss in a "relative" two-five along the way. The two-five is diatonic to the key of F, not C. It makes you feel like the F is the tonic chord for a short while, or that we've suddenly switched to a C Mixolydian mode. (Remember modes? Sure you do!) Although the song is in C, F is the key of the moment during those last two bars, and the relative two-five is what leads you there.

As luck would have it, you can use this information when playing a melody or soloing over those changes. An F major scale (F Ionian) or C Mixolydian (same thing, note-wise) sounds great over those chords. In fact, the melody for "Misty" hits a B-flat during that part, which makes sense, since that note is in the key of F, not C.


THREE-NOTE VOICINGS

It's time to put this mumbo-jumbo to some specific, real use. So put down your Mupp-o-phones and Bulgarian Zithers, plug in your Stick, and read on...

Brace yourself for Universal Truth #978: "Apart from the root note, the most important notes in a seventh chord are the third and the seventh." This is because the third tells us whether the chord is major or minor, and the seventh tells us whether the chord is dominant or not. What does the fifth do? Not much, besides just sitting there being perfect. For several reasons, which we won't get into here, it's common to omit the fifth entirely. Here, we're going to omit it for purely instructional reasons, since it leaves us with a nice, three-note voicing that allows us to concentrate on the third and seventh:


II-7 (anywhere on the neck) 
      |---|---|---|---|
      |---|---|---|-X-|  <--- Third    (Minor)
  mel |---|---|---|-X-|  <--- Seventh  (Dominant, or Minor)
      |---|---|---|---|
      |---|---|---|---|

      |---|---|---|---| 
      |---|---|-A-|---|  <--- Alternate Root (We'll get to this later)
  bas |---|---|---|---|
      |-X-|---|---|---|  <--- Root
      |---|---|---|---|

Sounds nice, eh? In real life, you'd probably play the alternate root an octave lower, but for now, play the one marked with an "X". Let's continue with the rest of the II/V/I progression:


V7 
      |---|---|---|---|
      |---|---|---|-X-|  <------- Seventh  (Dominant)
  mel |---|---|-X-|---|  <------- Third    (Major)
      |---|---|---|---|
      |---|---|---|---|

      |---|---|---|---| 
      |---|---|---|---|
  bas |-X-|---|---|---|  <------ Root
      |---|---|---|---|
      |---|---|---|---|

Imaj7 
      |---|---|---|---|
      |---|---|-X-|---|  <------- Third     (Major)
  mel |---|---|-X-|---|  <------- Seventh   (Major)
      |---|---|---|---|
      |---|---|---|---|

      |---|---|---|---| 
      |-X-|---|---|---|
  bas |---|---|---|---|  <------ Root
      |---|---|---|---|
      |---|---|---|---|

Notice anything? Every time we change chords:

  1. The root moves down a fifth, or one string. (You probably expected that)
  2. The seventh *always* slides down one fret, to become the third of the new chord.
  3. The third of the old chord stays where it is, but becomes the seventh of the new chord.



[Side Note: In the right hand, each note moves to the nearest note in the next chord. That trick is called "voice leading", and the II/V/I progression "voice leads" extremely well, which is another reason why it sounds so good.]


Now try the progression again, but with the alternate root (one octave lower) for the II chord. When you're finished, slide your right hand down one fret like this: 


    |---|---|---|---|
    |---|-X-|---|---|  <------- ?
mel |---|-X-|---|---|  <------- ?
    |---|---|---|---|
    |---|---|---|---|

    |---|---|---|---| 
    |-X-|---|---|---|
bas |---|---|---|---|  <------ ?
    |---|---|---|---|
    |---|---|---|---|

What chord did you just play? You've turned the major 7 chord into a minor 7 chord. In fact, you could consider the new chord to be the II-7 chord in a new key. That new key is one whole step (two frets) lower than the first key.

As luck would have it, that's part of your exercise for this lesson, start high on the neck and play the II/V/I progression. When you get to the Imaj7, turn it a II-7 and start all over. You'll wind up "two-fiving" your way down the neck, changing keys each time. Try it with both the original and alternate roots for the II-7.

Also try putting the seventh on top of the II-7, like this:


Another II-7 (anywhere on the neck) 
    |---|---|---|-X-|  <------- Seventh
    |---|-X-|---|---|  <------- Third 
mel |---|---|---|---|
    |---|---|---|---|
    |---|---|---|---|

    |---|---|---|---| 
    |-X-|---|---|---|  <------ Root
bas |---|---|---|---|
    |---|---|---|---|
    |---|---|---|---|

You'll find that the same rules apply: the seventh always move down one fret, becoming the third, and you can always move both notes down at the end to make your new II-7.

For real-life examples of what you're doing, check out the jazz standards "Tune-Up", "All The Things You Are", and "Just Friends". I'll be back after a few lessons with "More Jazz Progressions"

Lessons: Intro | 1 | 2 | 3 - Part I| 3 - Part II| 4 - Part I| 4 - Part II| 5| 6 7| 8| 9| 10| 11| 12|
Copyright © 1995 by Jeff Jetton This piece may be freely distributed in its original, unaltered form without charge, but may not be sold, included in a collection that is sold, without permission from the author.
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