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What are some common progressions for Jazz improvisation?

I have been playing with ii-V-I and variations -- what are some others? Is the answer here just to really dig through standards until I've 'internalised' this stuff a little better?

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This question shouldn't have been closed. Voted to reopen. Perhaps could do with an edit to remove the "Is the answer.." bit, but the op is clearly asking for common jazz chord progressions which are not variations of a ii-v-i. – DRL Jun 18 '11 at 22:51
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@Ben - "improvising" - The question has some substance, the rationale would be that the op knows ii-v-i progressions and variations thereof, and would like to progress from that and add something more to his playable repertoire. The goal obviously isn't that apparent and could be worded much better, but its there nonetheless. This question doesn't qualify as a "blatantly off-topic question", therefore it shouldn't have been closed, at least not without some flags or general community disagreement. – DRL Jun 19 '11 at 7:40
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I think this is an acceptable question; if we can have questions about a composer's or era's style, why can't we have questions about specific chord progressions that are common in a genre. An answer could talk about 12-bar blues, rhythm changes (and variants), other contrafacts, alternative turnarounds, etc. Seems like a decent question to me (at least as it currently stands in its edited form). – James Tauber Jun 19 '11 at 16:38
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@Ben one of the reasons for closing is a word you misread? Nice job. – Jürgen A. Erhard Jun 20 '11 at 13:01
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@Ben - example of a similar and inherently answerable question. music.stackexchange.com/q/1024/149 – DRL Jun 20 '11 at 18:39
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2 Answers

up vote 14 down vote accepted

There are, of course, an enormous variety of chord progressions used in jazz. That said, here are three you should know:

12-bar Blues

The basic 12-bar blues as played in jazz (not as played in blues) usually goes something like:

I-IV-I-I-IV-IV-I-vi-ii-v-i-turnaround

In blues, all these chords would be dominant sevenths. Jazz players, however, frequently play their diatonic versions.

Common variations include replacing the chords in a given bar with a ii-V cadence that resolves to the chord in the next bar. For example, you could replace the I in bar 4 with a ii-V that resolves to the IV in bar 5.

Rhythm Changes

Rhythm Changes is a progression based around the chords of the popular Gershwin tune "I Got Rhythm". It's in the usual 32-bar AABA format, and the traditional key is Bb:

A section: BbM7 Gm7 | Cm7 F7 | BbM7 Gm7 | Cm7 F7 | Fm7 Bb7 | EbM7 Edim | Cm7 F7 | Bb7 turnaround |
B section: D7 D7 | D7 D7 | G7 G7 | G7 G7 | C7 C7 | C7 C7 | F7 F7 | F7 F7 |

These changes are so popular among jazz musicians in large part because they offer myriad opportunities for variation. You can substitute to your heart's content here and find different ways to navigate the same basic structure. Here are some common substitution ideas.

Coltrane Changes

Like a challenge? Try this on for size. I recommend reading this Wikipedia article, which does a better job of explaining the ideas behind the so-called "Coltrane Changes" (as most famously used in "Giant Steps") than I could do.

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If it is not yet part of your "II-V-I" variations, you want to learn about the tritonic substitution concept, which consists in changing a V7 chord in a progression with a bII7 chord. The interval between V and bII is 3 tones == 1 tritone == diminished 5th == augmented 4th. The progressing IIm7 -> bII7 -> IM7 adds some nice chromaticity opportunities.

Try practising the minor II-V-I (II-7b5, V7 with b9, #9 #11, #13, Im (with nice extensions such as m69, mM7).

Bebop sound with IVm7 bVII7 IM7.

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