Newbe to this forum with a ton of questions.

[RippinRich]

Hi all.
I just found this site. So here's my first post. My question is this. I play some blues and I'm familar with 1-4-5. I also know that if I'm playing Am-Dm-Em progression that I can use an Am Pentatonic Scale for some lead. Now I'm wanting to play some jazz, but I'm wondering if theres a jazz progression formula. And if so, what are some scale modes for playing lead over a paticular jazz progression? And if theres a good book out there you might sujest for this topic I would be very interested.
Thanks
Rich

[goshawk]

The jazz equivalent to the I-IV-V progression is ii-V-I (sometimes I-vi-ii-V). There are a number of different techniques for soloing; my teacher and I have been working through a Wes Montgomery solo that is largely arpeggios. If you go to the lesson section of this site, you'll find some ideas to try out.

[BMaag]

The ii-V-I that goshawk mentioned is a progression that can be found all over the place in jazz. In the key of C Major it is Dmin - G7 - Cmaj. You'll want to learn the arpeggios to each of these chords, as those are good notes to begin and end your lines with.
Dmin = D F A (and C if it's Dmin7)
G7 = G B D F
Cmaj = C E G (and B if it's Cmaj7)

As for scales to play over them, the most basic choices are Dorian for the ii, Mixolydian (major scale with a flatted 7th degree) for the V, and Major (Ionian) for the I.

Dmin = D Dorian
G7 = G Mixolydian
Cmaj = C Ionian

Using these scales to play over the progression will probably sound pretty bland, but if you accent the notes from the arpeggios over their respective chords, it will create a little more interest, but not much more. Anyway, that's a good place to start, and as goshawk said, there's plenty of material to be gleaned from the lessons on this site. Hope I was of some help.

[pierre richard]

yea you found a great site...

just read some of the previous posts and read and learn..''

ask any question you like...

many great players/educators here and you will get as many answers as your questions..

time on the instrument..pierre

[Uli]

Welcome!
Scales are important but can be quite a bore if you don't know how to apply them. At least that's how I felt after having practised scales over and over at the beginning.
As for soloing, you can get a lot of inspiration from the book "101 Jazz Licks". Has helped me a lot.

[pierre richard]

play first..analyize later...

get the sounds flowing from your mind to your fingers..listen...

theory will follow application...

knowing the scales/chords/arpeggios are the tools you need...play straight when learning these..when you add rhythmic variety it gets sounding like jazz...rhythm is the spice jazz players use all the time...listen..

time on the instrument...pierre

[derek]

It really doesn't matter what music you are playing, most Western music is about V to I. The V is furthest away from the I, so it creates the most tension. In rock/blues/pop, our ears are used to hearing that I IV V progression. As the fellas mention above, ii V I is the DNA of jazz.

The reason why it works so well, is if we look at C major, ii V I is Dm7 G7 Cmaj7. D is the V of G, and of course G is the V of C, so you have a a couple of V I moves getting to C. It gets stretched out even more at times with vi ii V I, another common progression. So in C again, Am7 Dm7 G7 Cmaj7. A is V of D, D is V of G, G is V of C.

We also see plenty of iii vi ii V I in jazz. Yep you guessed it. E is V of A, A is V of D, D is V of G, G is V of C. So lots of using a V to I to increase the tension or prolong the resolution to the I. Hope that helps.

[Reg]

Originally Posted by derek

It really doesn't matter what music you are playing, most Western music is about V to I. The V is furthest away from the I, so it creates the most tension. In rock/blues/pop, our ears are used to hearing that I IV V progression. As the fellas mention above, ii V I is the DNA of jazz.

The reason why it works so well, is if we look at C major, ii V I is Dm7 G7 Cmaj7. D is the V of G, and of course G is the V of C, so you have a a couple of V I moves getting to C. It gets stretched out even more at times with vi ii V I, another common progression. So in C again, Am7 Dm7 G7 Cmaj7. A is V of D, D is V of G, G is V of C.

We also see plenty of iii vi ii V I in jazz. Yep you guessed it. E is V of A, A is V of D, D is V of G, G is V of C. So lots of using a V to I to increase the tension or prolong the resolution to the I. Hope that helps.

Hey Rippin Rich...I'm fairly new here, and it's a great clan with lots of good advice here, but I've been around music since the stone age... Its a little more complicated than where Derek is headed, but he's in a good direction. The reason chords want to go somewhere, or stay where their at, is because of the tension created by the intervals, (distance between the notes) in the chord, very physical stuff. The better you train your ears, the simpler it becomes. ( Root motion can imply resolution of intervals of chords, but not always) Rock and Blues as well as pop music make use of the traditional " Authentic Cadence" IV-V-I, Sub-dominant to dominant to Tonic, which is about the resolution of the tri-tone (+4 or b5), in key of C; B to F resolve to C and E.(I-IV-I traditionally called a Plagal cadence or sub-dominant cadence... ) You can have dominate resolution ( resolution of tri-tone), key of C ; C7 to Fmaj7/ and then have dominant cadence ( resolution of tri-tone in key area); G7 to Cmaj7. As mentioned in previous posts in a lot of jazz standard the II chord is a substitution for the IV chord. Both are sub-dominate chord, have common tones.... anyway its a little more than root motion... but that's a great place to start. Some more examples of standard chord patterns;Key of C; C / A-7 / D-7 / G7 or I ,VI-7 ,II-7, V7, usually back to I. C / A7 / D-7 / G7 or I, V7 of II-, II-7 , V7 and again back to I, C / D7 / D-7 / G7 or I, V7 of V, II-7, V7 and I. Adding a longer pattern; Cmaj7 / Fmaj7 / B-7b5 / E7 / A-7 / D7 / D-7 / G7 and back to Cmaj7 and in Roman numerals; Imaj7, IVmaj7 , VII-7b5 or related II- of V7 of VI-7, V7 of VI-7, VI-7, V7 of V7, II-7, V7, and back to Imaj7. (The B-7b5 chord has duel function ) In jazz harmony the II-7 to V7 is heard as a single identifiable pattern, like one chord. As far as books, methods etc... it helps to figure out what time of person you are,( like to figure stuff out on your own, like to be taught etc...) Where do you want to end up with music or playing and finally how much time do you have, usually involves $, I hate when $ becomes involves, it distorts your vision... after you figure those simple questions the choice is easy... Good luck Reg

[randalljazz]

hey reg---make paragraphs, man!

[Reg]

Originally Posted by randalljazz

hey reg---make paragraphs, man!

.......as usual , good point, less might be more... Reg