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I know this is not really a Band in the box questions, but there are enought knowledable people here that perhaps someone won't mind addressing it.
I recently purchased a master class Jazz program that gets into basic Jazz. One of the pieces has a progression as follows:
DM7 G7 CMaj7 F7 Em7 A7
Dm7 G7 Dm7 G7 Em7 A7 Em7 A7
Am7 D7 Abm7 Db7 CMaj7 F7 Em7 A7
The Key appears to be C because there are no sharps or flats. But if it is in C it is confusing because the first chord that's played is DM and although at the very end it appears to end on a C6, if the key is C, I would expect it to end of a C Major. It looks to me to be more like in the Key of D or D minor because of the repeating A7 the D7 pattern (A7 being the 5th of D).
At any rate, I am not really familiar with Jazz idioms. I am used to dealing with Major keys and occasionally minor keys. I know it helps me to have a handle on what any piece is doing. It helps to see, for example a six two five one progression, but I don't understand what this piece of music is doing. What kind of mode or progression might this be. What key does it appear to be in?
Anyone?
Woody - Sacramento
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DM7 G7 CMaj7
Tis is a regular IIm7 V7/I IMA7 cadence in the key of C. Dm7 constitutes the diatonic substitute of the subdominant, G7 is the dominant and Cmaj7 ist the tonic.
F7 Em7 A7
F7 constitutes a tritone substitute of a secondary dominant. It´s the substitute for B7(b9). It´s implied key is E minor.
Em7 A7 is III-7 V7/II in the key of C. It´s implied key is D minor. A7 is a secondary dominant ehich leads toward Dm7.
Am7 D7 Abm7 Db7 CMaj7
Am7 D7 is VIm7 V7/V in the key of C. D7 is a secondary dominant who´s resolution is the dominant of the key (G7), but G7 is not appearing. Instead Db7, the tritone substitution of G7 shows up. Db7 is prepared by its relativ IIm7 (Abm7).
It´s a cool progression to improvise on.
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Looks interesting.... might have to mess around with that one  Mike
Cheers, Mike My Music * Asus ROG Strix G15CF 32 GB DDR4 4TB HDD + 1 TB SSD NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 8GB Win 11 AKAI EIE PRO Sound Interface. BIAB/RB 2024 UltraPak Build - Latest
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Thank you for responding.
Well if I were to make my own best estimation of what's happening it would go like this:
The piece is indeed in the key of C but, in a move that is a bit unusual for me, it starts out with a Dm7 and resolves at the end to a C6 instead of a regular C major (I did not include the end in my original message). This is unusual to me but may be something common to the Jazz idiom. I don't know.
But even with the above stated, it does something predictable for me and that is to follow the circle of fifths back around till it finally resolves, in the end, to the C6th already mentioned.
Pleasant to hear and play. Just a little out of my normal repertoire - which is good. I need to be more eclectic in my music choices and what I play.
Woody - Sacramento
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Quote:
DM7 G7 CMaj7 F7 Em7 A7
Dm7 G7 Dm7 G7 Em7 A7 Em7 A7
Am7 D7 Abm7 Db7 CMaj7 F7 Em7 A7
"Two Five One" drills.
One of the best ways to change keys within a key, or internal modulation, is use of the two five one.
Dm7 G7 Cmaj7 at the beginning is the standard two five one in key of C. (If the C is a C6 it doesn't matter, Cmaj7 and C6 are often good subs for the straight C, the only caveat about that is if the extension used might clash with a Melody line note. For example, if the Melody has a B in it, you may not want to choose a C6 there. (BTW you used a capital M after the D there, but it likely is a small m to indicate minor. Doesn't have to be, though, sometimes there may really be a Major D7 chord in a two five one, but not very often used.)
The F7 is, of course simply the Sub-Dominant chord of C, or the IV chord.
That is followed by a two five in key of D - Em7-A7 but without the one chord following it, moving directly into another two five in C. The series is repeated.
The Abm7-Db7 is a two five in key of Gb, without playing the Gb chord. Gb is the flat five of C, a jazzer's sub for a C7 chord known as a Tritone Substitution.
Back to C for one chord, then another two five in D.
When improvising over two fives, it is important to be able to quickly identify the key of the two five, for that key is the tone center for the entire two five one or two five chord area. For example, those two fives in D above, the Em7 to A7, even though they never play the actual D, you can improvise in key of D over the two chords there and not generate any clams.
Two Five One drills are absolutely imperative things to master if one is wanting to learn the art and science of improvisation.
Check out the old jazz standard, "Cherokee" chords for examples of two five one modulation in use. BTW it uses the same chords as "How High the Moon" - but they are two different songs. The old jazzers knew that thing about not being able to copyright a chord change and used it quite a bit, often hiding changes so well that many miss the fact that it is the same set of changes in one song as in another.
--Mac
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Hi WAS, the first chord of a song does not have to be the tonic at all. You can find examples in any kind of music style. A chord with a sixth ajoutee is in classical music found normally on the IV degree to reenforce the subdominant character. In Jazz the sixth ajoutee is not only used on the subdominant but also on the tonic and even on the minor tonic also. To end with a Maj Seventh or Major Sixth chord is very comun in Jazz. By the way, if you just take the second and thrid row of your changes you can recognize a famous standard called "Satin Doll". ---> Dm7 G7 Dm7 G7 Em7 A7 Em7 A7 Am7 D7 Abm7 Db7 CMaj7 F7 Em7 A7 Listen to it here ---> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TrytKuC3Z_o
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@Mac
A piece with internal modulations!. That may be a good way for me to look at it. Or rather, a piece with number of two five drills inside (in other keys) the master key of C.
@Cudo
Yes, I guess it's true. Just about any piece of music might start with the first chord being a chord (major or minor) built on the 2nd of it's scale.
To know that in Jazz it is common to end with a Maj 7th or a Maj 6th is a good thing for me to remember.
Thank you both
Woody - Sacramento
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There was once a time when any good swing guitarist would read a straight Major chord penned on a chart and automatically turn it into at least a M6 chord. "That" sound of the relative minor for the corresponding Major chord is just plain nice tension.
Along came the Bebop era and the Major chord was automatically played as M6 or Maj7 more times than not.
If the chord had a dom7 written, well turn it into at least a 9th, always listening for places to go even further with that, making it an 11th or more often, a 13 chord. The 13 is way cool as it combines the tension of the dom7 with the tension of the 13, the 13 being nothing but the 6 an octave up. Guitar players often grabbed chords where the 13 really WAS the 6th, being "inside" the octave, but once that 7th is in there somewhere, the tension of the 13 chord rules. "A Tritone and a six" -- LH jazz piano, forget the root, bass player's got that, grab an F below middle C, the B and the E above middle C. The F and B are the Tritone of G, the E is the 13th. The three most important notes played in the grand comping tradition of less is more.
And, when ending the tune, the swing players often automatially played that M6 chord there.
--Mac
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@Mac
I understood most of what you said and the first two paragraphs (and the last) are particularly meaningful to me.
I understood the third paragraph, except for the sentence before last. It reads "The F and B are the Tritone of G." I would have said C# or Db are the Tritone of G. What do you mean?
Woody - Sacramento
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Tritone nomenclature of the classical theory parts company with the blues theory here.
Base it on the Mixolydian scale, which is nothing more than a Major scale with a flatted 7th.
In a G7 chord, the 3 and the 7 are the tritone of G.
That would be the B and the F, respectively.
Don't confuse the tritones within a Major scale as being the tritone of the key as regards Blues.
The tritone of C7 is E and Bb
The tritone of F7 is A and Eb
Try playing a I7-IV7-V7 cadence like that and note the chromatic shift that happens on your keyboard. The I7 to IV7 is motion one half step down, while the V7 is one half step up from the root.
If that don't cross yer eyes, just work with it as there's more to come along those lines. The two five ones and then the Rhythm Changes can all be handles in that "chromatic" fashion once the idea of shells and tritones are added to your mental arsenal. This is where the wonderfulness of the LH comping begins to leave the world of the "regular" western musics and is where jazz, blues, swing, bebop and modern jazz begin to open up and make sense to the player.
--Mac
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As always, great explanations Mac. They struck me as being two,five,ones as well.
I enjoy working at rootless chords but having not played with a bass player in a band, that LH of mine wants to grab the bass notes. Just something new to learn, keeps the grey matter working!
(I love that F, B, E, LH shell pattern.)
yjoh
[i]Music...a joy for life.
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I appreciate your input. I understand now what you're saying. The G7th chord (as all 7th chords) contains a tritone. That tritone is from B to F (the 3rd to the 7th). You can substitute DB7 for G7 because they both contain the same tritone interval.
I am just beginning to think about and use shells.
Thank you again.
Woody - Sacramento
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