Tembra Musician's Toolbox

Sevenths are the everyday chords

In jazz the basic unit is a seventh chord rather than a triad: a triad plus one more note a seventh above the root. The four common types are major 7, dominant 7, minor 7 and half-diminished (minor 7 flat 5).

• Cmaj7 = C E G B
• C7 = C E G B flat
• Cm7 = C E flat G B flat
• Cm7 flat 5 = C E flat G flat B flat

Chords built from a parent scale

Stack sevenths on each degree of a major scale and you get a fixed pattern of chord types. That pattern is why the same progressions keep appearing in every key, and it is what the harmony explorers lay out for you.

In C major: Cmaj7 Dm7 Em7 Fmaj7 G7 Am7 Bm7♭5

ii - V - I: the home progression

Chords II, V and I in a major key form the strongest arrival in jazz. In minor keys the same shape appears with a half-diminished II and an altered V. Learning it in all twelve keys is the single most useful piece of practice.

C major: Dm7 → G7 → Cmaj7. A minor: Bm7♭5 → E7 → Am7

Dominants round the cycle

Dominant sevenths pull downwards by a fifth. Chaining them takes you round the cycle of fifths through all twelve keys, which is why the cycle trainer runs the same shape at three speeds.

Swing feel

Written as even eighth notes, swung eighths are played long-short, roughly two thirds then one third of the beat. The pulse stays steady; only the division changes. Play against a steady metronome until the long-short feel is automatic.