The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
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  1. #1

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    Does anyone know what the chord analysis for a 12-bar blues?

    If we're in the key of A, A7 can be analyzed as V7 of IV. what is the analysis for D7? E7 is the V7 of I but it doesn't go to I. it goes to IV, then to I.

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  3. #2

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    Man, what the hell are you talking about? I think people try to over analyze that they don`t see the obvious. A7 being the V7 why, why on earth would like to think it like that? Yes it`s true it really is the V7 of IV but what does it matter? you are just complicating your existence. This is how a jazz blues in A looks like: A7 | D7 | A7 | A7 | D7 | D7 | A7 | F#7 | Bm7 | E7 | A7/F#7 | Bm7/E7|. That`s it.

  4. #3

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    doesn't fit common practice analysis, for the most part. V7 type chords are acting as tonic chords most of the time, and only as dominants in, for example, the fourth measure (although that is ambiguous).

    there are some "major blues", which use I6 type chords, rather than V7 type chords...

    blues exists to confound stuffy traditionalists...

  5. #4
    tx giant steps. i've just recently gotten into this type of analysis and it's solving alot of mystery's about chords i've seen mainly in jazz songs. for the progression you gave: A7 is V of IV, D7 is ?, F#7 is V of ii, Bm7 is ii, E7 is V of I, A7 is I. so i successfully analyzed everything except D7 and this is what happens in many jazz songs where i get just about everything but one or two chords. a psychological issue is created for me when this happens and i'm trying to tend to that issue. i'm reading a book called tonal harmony by stefan kosta and getting alot of answers. there's nothing in that book about blues as far as i can see but the D7 mystery may be reveiled in some other way. might take me weeks to get to it but i thought i might get something faster here unless it's like randalljazz sais," doesn't fit common practice analysis". is that I6 chord the tonic in 1st inversion randalljazz?

  6. #5

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    Don't bother trying to analyze the blues, you'll just end up ruining it. Just play I7 IV7 V7 and put in some iim7 subs before them, throw in some I, VI II V turnarounds if you like and don't forget to suffer, that's the most important part. You can use your analysis on all the other Real Book tunes but just leave the blues alone or you'll break it. (You probably think I'm kidding but I'm not...)

  7. #6

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    If you can listen past the distractions (Ted gets a little side tracked......which is always fun) Ted gives quite an in depth break down. There is a lot of information here if you listen and follow closely. Ted goes into substitutions and a whole lot more.
    Just wait a bit and a student asks the question that you just did.
    The master answers........and then some.




    There are 2 more on YouTube
    Last edited by Philco; 08-16-2013 at 03:51 AM.

  8. #7

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    Quote Originally Posted by guitarboy
    tx giant steps. i've just recently gotten into this type of analysis and it's solving alot of mystery's about chords i've seen mainly in jazz songs. for the progression you gave: A7 is V of IV, D7 is ?, F#7 is V of ii, Bm7 is ii, E7 is V of I, A7 is I. so i successfully analyzed everything except D7 and this is what happens in many jazz songs where i get just about everything but one or two chords. a psychological issue is created for me when this happens and i'm trying to tend to that issue. i'm reading a book called tonal harmony by stefan kosta and getting alot of answers. there's nothing in that book about blues as far as i can see but the D7 mystery may be reveiled in some other way. might take me weeks to get to it but i thought i might get something faster here unless it's like randalljazz sais," doesn't fit common practice analysis". is that I6 chord the tonic in 1st inversion randalljazz?
    no, i just mean the tonic major 6th chord (A C# E F#). of course, in traditional harmonic analysis, it would mean a tonic triad in first inversion.

    again, in blues (in A), the A7 is mostly NOT a V7 of IV (except possibly in measure 4). the dominant 7th-type chord ("major minor seventh", in traditional nomenclature) IS the tonic chord. no, it does not fit traditional analysis.
    Last edited by randalljazz; 08-16-2013 at 08:21 AM.

  9. #8

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    I don't really analyse Jazz Blues, but I like to hear the I Vi ii V progressions outlined in a solo not just the same old Blues scale played throughout.

    Jazz Blues (dom chords only)

    | A7 | D7 | A7 | A7 |
    | D7 | D7 | A7 | F#7 |
    | B7 | E7 | A7 F#7 | B7 E7 |

    Bar 1 is I7
    Bar 2 is IV7
    Bar 3 is I7
    Bar 4 is I7
    Bar 5 is IV7
    Bar 6 is IV7
    Bar 7 is I7
    Bar 8 is VI7
    Bar 9 is II7
    Bar 10 is V7
    Bar 11 is I7 and VI7
    Bar 12 is II7 and V7


    bars 7 to 10 are a I Vi ii V
    bars 11 and 12 are a I Vi ii V
    Last edited by GuyBoden; 08-16-2013 at 12:10 PM. Reason: I Vi ii V

  10. #9

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    Blues - as played by jazz musicians - tends to occupy a halfway place between a kind of simple folk modality and conventional western functionality.
    IOW, the simple folk stuff (as in Delta blues and other primitive styles), the chords are mostly an afterthought. It's all about the tonic blues scale and it's fluid pitching: expressive melodic variations between 2 and m3, m3 and M3, 4 and b5, b5 and 5, 6 and b7. It often feels as if the European I-IV-V has been grafted on to some primal African melodic sensibility, like a crazy cultural hybrid (which is not too far from what blues is, of course).
    Of course when blues is played by groups (especially those trained in western theory and using western instruments) it needs a fixed harmonic and rhythmic structure. So 12 bars and 3 chords became the convention.

    Once blues falls into the hands of jazz musicians, then it seems - much as they respect and enjoy blues scale expressionism - they can't resist adding lots of functional chord subs. Out go the plain I-IV-V, in come secondary dominants, dim7s, tritone subs, etc. In comes all kinds of voice-leading between chords that is not present in primal blues.

    So - IMO - it does make sense to analyse blues sequences once you start getting into the realm of something like Blues For Alice. But if you only have I-IV-V, even those classical numerals are not that helpful. Conventional analysis tells you nothing of any use, it neither explains nor reveals anything.

    What I think we can say is that while the V7 chord may be functional (as a true dominant), the I7 and IV7 are non-functioning dominants. The reason they have 7ths added (if and when they do) is not to serve any function of tension, but merely to reflect the scale. So the I7 contains a b7 because the blues scale does. The IV7 contains a b7 because it represents the b3 of the tonic blues scale.
    That much is evident by listening to typical blues melodies and riffs. They tend not to tranpose up a 4th when hitting the IV chord. Often the only thing that changes when the first line is repeated is that the previous M3 drops to m3. So IV is really like a minor tonic (m6 to be precise). Miles Davis expressed that plainly in "All Blues", which uses Gm7 in place of C7 in a G blues format; which is a like a witty comment on the hidden function of a blues IV.

  11. #10

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    Quote Originally Posted by GuyBoden
    I don't really analyse Jazz Blues, but I like to hear the I Vi ii V progressions outlined in a solo not just the same old Blues scale played throughout.
    Just to ilustrate how analysis can be applied help in a jazz blies like the one you posted:
    Quote Originally Posted by GuyBoden
    Jazz Blues (dom chords only)

    | A7 | D7 | A7 | A7 |
    | D7 | D7 | A7 | F#7 |
    | B7 | E7 | A7 F#7 | B7 E7 |

    Bar 1 is I7
    Bar 2 is IV7
    Bar 3 is I7
    Bar 4 is V/IV
    Bar 5 is IV7
    Bar 6 is IV7
    Bar 7 is I7
    Bar 8 is V/ii
    Bar 9 is V/V
    Bar 10 is V7
    Bar 11 is I7 and V/ii
    Bar 12 is V/V and V7
    My emphasis shows what are in fact secondary dominants, functioning as shown. (The one in bar 4 is debatable, but is often heard that way.)

    As I'm sure you know, the B7 at least is usually played as Bm7, the diatonic ii chord of A major.
    The F#7 in bar 11 might also be the diatonic vi chord F#m7, but is likely to be a secondary dominant (V/ii) in bar 8:

    | A7 | D7 | A7 | A7 |
    | D7 | D7 | A7 | F#7 |
    | Bm7 | E7 | A F#m7 | Bm7 E7 |

    It's also common to introduce a secondary supertonic - ii/IV - in bar 4:

    | A7 | D7 | A7 | Em7 A7 |

    - and many other secondary chords and subs are possible. (Which is of course getting right away from the OP's question...)

  12. #11
    from the guy who started this thread some time ago. i've answered my own question. the IV chord in blues is a [Ger+6/3] chord. it's explained in an advanced theory college text book called "Tonal Harmony" on pages 418 and 419. the following is taken from those pages explaining the C7 chord in a song called "somebody loves me" in G major; "the +6 between C and A# expands to an octave on B, the 3rd of the I chord. the same reasoning can be used to understand the "blue note" (the b3) in the I-I-IV7-I progression often found in the first 4 measures of a major mode 12-bar blues." i'm satisfied!

  13. #12

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    Quote Originally Posted by guitarboy
    from the guy who started this thread some time ago. i've answered my own question. the IV chord in blues is a [Ger+6/3] chord. it's explained in an advanced theory college text book called "Tonal Harmony" on pages 418 and 419. the following is taken from those pages explaining the C7 chord in a song called "somebody loves me" in G major; "the +6 between C and A# expands to an octave on B, the 3rd of the I chord.
    Interesting insight!
    It's not like a classical German 6th apart from that, of course; because a C-A# augmented 6th (conventionally) would be in the key of E minor (or E major) resolving to the V chord, B.
    But certainly that blues habit of the b7 on IV resolving upwards a half-step is very like how an augmented 6th behaves, rather than a minor 7th (which ought, classically, to resolve downwards).

    Otherwise, the German 6th is actually a lot closer to the jazz tritone sub than the blues IV chord. We often use C7 to resolve to B or Bm, seeing it as a substitute for F#7. The classical view is that that is a type of augmented 6th chord, specifically a German 6th.
    The augmented 6th triad (Italian 6th) is derived (bizarrely enough) from a 1st inversion minor iv chord that then has its root raised. Ie (in key of E): Am > C-E-A > C-E-A#. C and E resolve by descending a half-step, and the A# by ascending a half step.
    The German 6th then adds a G, making it look (and sound) very much like a complete C7 chord.
    (The French 6th adds an F# instead, C-E-F#-A#, making an F#7b5 in 2nd inversion. You can see the resemblance to C7b5, but more significantly to the tritone sub as a lydian dominant chord, C E G Bb F#. Still resolving to B, of course.)
    Quote Originally Posted by guitarboy
    the same reasoning can be used to understand the "blue note" (the b3) in the I-I-IV7-I progression often found in the first 4 measures of a major mode 12-bar blues." i'm satisfied!
    If you're satisfied, then that's cool! The whole point of theory is to make music more easily understandable, so any concept that has that effect is good.
    (Just don't make the mistake of thinking that's the only correct interpretation, or indeed the best interpretation...)
    Last edited by JonR; 09-11-2013 at 05:06 AM.

  14. #13

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    Why is it automatically assumed that the I chord of a blues is a 7th? Many people play a 6th, or a 9th or a 13th. The last two are more obvious being extension of a 7th, but the 6th is also widely used.

  15. #14

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    Quote Originally Posted by Flyin' Brian
    Why is it automatically assumed that the I chord of a blues is a 7th?
    Good point and I was thinking about that the other day. Obviously it doesn't always include a 7th - and actually sounds pretty odd when it always does.
    IMO the idea is that if it had a 7th, then it would be a b7. IOW, it's a dom7-type chord by implication, even if the 7th is not always played.
    And more to the point, the purpose of the b7 is not to make it a functioning (secondary) dominant - except maybe when it's in bar 4 before the IV - but to reflect the key blues scale.

    (The more arcane argument is that the b7 is not actually a minor 7th interval - as used in 5-limit western tuning - but a 7-limit 7:4 interval, 1/3 of a half-step flat of a m7 - because blues is supposedly based on 7-limit intonation. That would make the chord it's standing for a theoretically pure 4:5:6:7 ratio stack. Not sure I totally buy that theory myself.)

  16. #15

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    Quote Originally Posted by BigDaddyLoveHandles
    Don't forget Bird starts Blue for Alice with a Maj7 chord

    My take is that we all know what the blues is. If you want to analyze it, go ahead, just don't waste my time.
    Yes and Wes passes through many natural 7ths during his blues improvisations, which gives them a more melodic sound and build tension when mixed with b7s. Blues with Bird changes pretty much all start with a IM7.

    I'm with you on analyzing blues as well.

  17. #16
    the Ger+6 can also resolve to the I chord and can resolve to the root, 3rd or 5th of the I chord or the V chord according to pages 415-419 of "Tonal Harmony".

  18. #17

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    Quote Originally Posted by guitarboy
    the Ger+6 can also resolve to the I chord and can resolve to the root, 3rd or 5th of the I chord or the V chord according to pages 415-419 of "Tonal Harmony".
    Thanks, I guess I didn't read beyond page 414...
    But reading it now, it seems to be all about modulation to other keys. Largely it's about V7/IV being enharmonic to a Gr+6 of the key of the major 3rd.
    Ie, (as illustrated in the book) a G7 chord (in key of G) changing its identity to a G+6 resolving to B major - or rather B major in 2nd inversion, which seems critical: because the normal resolution would be to F#, V of B, but B as a 6/4 (B/F#) is rather like a Vsus chord.
    As I understand it, modulations via other secondary dominants would work the same way. IOW, the Ger+6 is always resolving in the conventional way: to the V of the key it relates to, even if there's a I6/4 in between. The novelty is the enharmonic switch. (I don't see anything in pp 415-419 to suggest it actually resolves to I, or in the other ways you're saying - unless I misunderstand you. The resolution of the G7 is not straight to B, but goes via B/F# and F#7, which I guess it could do in any normal situation too. This is because the bottom G has to go down to F#, and B/F# is not a resolved chord.)

    This is interesting (not a type of modulation I've come across before) - but further and further from blues of course!

    In relation to jazz it's still very like a tritone sub: G7 resolving to F#. The difference in classical is that the F# is always (AFAIK) a V - or the bass note of a I6/4 - not a tonic.

  19. #18

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    I feel it is pretty safe to say that the back and forth interaction between Aldwell/Schacter and early blues artists was non-existent. While it can be interesting to apply classical harmonic theory analysis to the blues there are some basic structural problems with doing so.

    Traditional classical theory is built on the notion of stable major or minor tonic chord centricity and a series of events orbiting around it. The blues offered a 3rd alternative, a crunchier I chord with the possibility of b7 and various alterations, perhaps an amalgamation of 1 b3 4 b5 5 b7 and 1 2 b3 3 5 6 as basic source material.

    I suspect that the stylistic details of the blues emerged through a combination of cultural memory and individual innovation, an African esthetic interacting with the American music of the day while living within a very challenging circumstance. Like all standard song forms in jazz, the blues has evolved to encompass many things.

  20. #19

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    Quote Originally Posted by bako
    I feel it is pretty safe to say that the back and forth interaction between Aldwell/Schacter and early blues artists was non-existent.
    Pretty safe....
    Couldn't say whether Blind Lemon Jefferson didn't have a braille copy of Rameau in his library, however...

    Quote Originally Posted by bako
    While it can be interesting to apply classical harmonic theory analysis to the blues there are some basic structural problems with doing so.

    Traditional classical theory is built on the notion of stable major or minor tonic chord centricity and a series of events orbiting around it. The blues offered a 3rd alternative, a crunchier I chord with the possibility of b7 and various alterations, perhaps an amalgamation of 1 b3 4 b5 5 b7 and 1 2 b3 3 5 6 as basic source material.

    I suspect that the stylistic details of the blues emerged through a combination of cultural memory and individual innovation, an African esthetic interacting with the American music of the day while living within a very challenging circumstance.
    Exactly. Chords would have been total strangers to the "African aesthetic", which is melodic and modal (and rhythmic of course). The cross-fertilisation of European harmony with African melodic/rhythmic/timbral sensibility is what fired up the whole of 20thC popular music (beginning way back in the 19thC of course, if not before). In blues, the European elements were necessarily pared back to the minimum, to allow the freewheeling melodic expression to do its thing.
    Naturally jazz (led by musicians more educated in western forms) dug deeper into CPP principles, while hanging on to that African vocal/improvisational aesthetic as much as possible. Blues wasn't really interested (any more than rock really is).

    Parallels between blues chords and certain arcane practices in CPP music are no more than coincidence. Entertaining, to be sure - possibly inspiring - but not explanatory or revealing in any way.
    With only 12 notes to choose from, and limited standard ways of putting chords together, coincidences are bound to happen. Superficial similarities may be heard very differently (due to context and expectation), which I think is the point. The way they are heard and used is what counts.

  21. #20

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    It seems like you're trying to analyze a blues chord progression in terms of a diatonic major key, which doesn't make any sense to do.

  22. #21
    with continuous thought on this first i want make an adjustment. the IV7 chord in blues can be alternatively and perhaps more accurately analyzed as an It+6/3. the Ger+6 is the It+6 with a 5th. i think myself and alot of guitarist remove the 5th when playing blues chords. the discussion of the augmented 6th chord begins on p.413, the beginning of the chapter with more specific mentioning of the +6 resolving to I on pages 415, 416 and the bottom of 418 over onto 419 below example 24-10 specifically mentioning 12-bar blues. hopefully we're reading out of the same book which is "Tonal Harmony" 6th edition by Stefan Kostka and Dorothy Payne. in reading your response JonR, you're opening up another insight which is V7/IV or the I7 being looked at as a +6 chord. i was originally talking about the IV7 in blues being a +6 chord. i'll have to re-read those pages because it actually gets into the+6 resolving to any scale degree on p.415

  23. #22

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    Quote Originally Posted by guitarboy
    with continuous thought on this first i want make an adjustment. the IV7 chord in blues can be alternatively and perhaps more accurately analyzed as an It+6/3. the Ger+6 is the It+6 with a 5th. i think myself and alot of guitarist remove the 5th when playing blues chords.
    Yes, but removing the 5th is nothing to do with CPP conventions. At least, no more in this case than in others.
    But I agree it can be fun to spot parallels... maybe a relevance will emerge...
    Quote Originally Posted by guitarboy
    the discussion of the augmented 6th chord begins on p.413, the beginning of the chapter with more specific mentioning of the +6 resolving to I on pages 415, 416 and the bottom of 418 over onto 419 below example 24-10 specifically mentioning 12-bar blues. hopefully we're reading out of the same book which is "Tonal Harmony" 6th edition by Stefan Kostka and Dorothy Payne.
    Ah, mine is 3rd edition (1995) - way out of date! The augmented 6th chapters (1 and 2) begin on p.386 and 400. I see no mention of 12-bar blues as such, but there is an example on my p.404 of a I6 going to what they notate as "[Ger+6]" (in brackets), enharmonic with a IV7 chord, and back to the I6 - very like the I-IV7-I in a blues (except the 1st inversion part of course).

    But hey, if you have their authority at hand, I dunno what you expect from me...
    Quote Originally Posted by guitarboy
    in reading your response JonR, you're opening up another insight which is V7/IV or the I7 being looked at as a +6 chord. i was originally talking about the IV7 in blues being a +6 chord. i'll have to re-read those pages because it actually gets into the+6 resolving to any scale degree on p.415
    Have fun .

    Here's another one to think about: the use of a bVI7 chord in a minor blues in place of iv. Eg, F7 in key of A minor in place of Dm (and going back to Am). I wouldn't attach any aug6 role to that myself, but you might like to chew it over...

  24. #23
    upon further research, the melodic minor offers a IV7 chord. also, since the minor pentatonic is used in 12 -bar blues the IV7 chord be derived as original being a Im7 altered using the Picardy third. this is mode mixture were the major third of the parallel major is borrowed to get a major I chord in minor or a I7 chord in minor. also, an online series called "Getting to Know Altered Chords" http://audio.tutsplus.com/tutorials/...hords-piano-1/ ,states that any chord of the key can be altered by raising or lowering any tone of the chord by a half step. this is a new concept for me and gives another perspective for analysing jazz chord progressions.

  25. #24
    I’ve been playing guitar for 40 years and teaching guitar for 15 years and recently I have two student inquiries wanting to learn blues guitar. I have some time before they want to start so I wanted to try again to get to the reason why the basic 12 bar blues progression works and sounds good. So this would be a chord progression analysis. In college I had a professor say don’t analyze the blues, it sounds good because it sounds good. I think maybe it can be analyzed or the precise reasoning on why those chord changes work can be revealed and maybe he just didn’t want to get into it at that time. Here’s how far I have it. Key of G: The I chord is actually G major and changes to G7 to tonicize the C (IV chord). Then the C becomes C7 which in theory would want to resolve to F7 but it goes back to G. Why does that work? I have no issue with the D7 because it’s theV7 chord. But why does D7 to C7 work?

  26. #25

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    Because it's basically just a 3-chord trick - tonic, dominant, subdominant.

    The b7s are just ornamentation, as are the other blue notes. Playing, for instance, a Bb over the C doesn't make it a C7 (as in the V of F). It's still a C, the IV chord of G.

    Always think function, not just the name of the chord in isolation.