The Jazz Blues Progression Tutorial
Now that you have a good understanding of basic blues form, it’s time to enhance it to create the more interesting and sophisticated jazz blues progression.
Whilst the basic 12 bar blues just contains 3 chords, the I, the IV and the V, the jazz blues also incorporates the most common progression in jazz music… the 251 progression.
In this lesson, we will cover what is commonly accepted as the jazz blues form. If you are at a jazz jam night and someone calls the "blues in F", this is the chord sequence or chord progression that will be played for the 12 bars.
The jazz blues progression has been used as a template for some of the greatest tunes in jazz history so by understanding and memorizing this progression, you will also have learnt the blueprint for a good number of very common jazz standards.
In the next lessons we are going to delve straight into blues improvisation and so our left hand needs to have its act together. We will start by exploring the importance of chord tones, and how they are an essential element of your improvised lines.
Lesson Downloads
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Blues & Jazz Blues Form File Type: pdf -
12 Bar Blues Lesson Supplement File Type: pdf
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Jazz Blues Voicings File Type: pdf
Related Lessons
Most often played as a ballad, this is a great tune to incorporate bluesy licks and riffs. It’s written in the key of Eb Major and has an AABA form.
In this tutorial we create a solo arrangement for “Georgia On My Mind” applying the major blues scale with some soulful licks and riffs.
Using the tune “Georgia” – we will also explore the concept of the major blues scale and how to apply this to major 251 progressions.
Practice Tips
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Memorise this progression down so that you can play through the voicings with your eyes closed.
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Spend the necessary time to practice it so that you don’t need to think of the notes your left hand should be playing.
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Pay attention to smooth voice leading between the chords.
- Alternate the alterations and extensions you choose to play to add variety to your left hand.
Where can i find the sheet music for this tutorial?
Hi Ronny 👋
I have uploaded the lesson notation to each lesson page in this course… hope this helps.
If you need anything else let me know 🙂
Cheers,
Hayden
Hi Hayden. Towards the end there is a D7 b9 but I saw you playing F natural and saying “sharp 9”. Wouldn’t the flat 9 be E flat? Thanks.
Hi Josh,
Yes when you see and altered dominant chord, you have the creative freedom to choose different alterations.
The b9 & #9 are both present in the altered mode and so both of them will work.
The b9 has a ‘softer’, more subtle sound, and then #9 has a much more tense and dissonant sound. You can choose between these alterations depending on the sound you want to create.
It’s also a nice technique to play both of them. Try playing the #9 and then fall to the b9. This creates internal movement and interest in your dominant chord voicings.
Try experimenting with this Josh and let me know if you have further questions 🙂
Happy New Year!
Hayden
Hello Hayden! Good video! However it would be a MUST in my opinion that the sheet music comes with the full notation for this lesson (aswell as others). Not just the chords name above the measure but also the notes aswell as fingerings!
Otherwise, we have to re-launch the video multiple time !
Hi Neil,
Thanks for the feedback – I will add an additional downloadable PDF supplement.
You should keep in mind… if you have spent the time to learn your rootless voicings properly, you should be familiar with all chords in this progression.
The course here on rootless voicings will help you: pianogroove.com/jazz-piano-lessons/left-hand-voicings/
This download may also be of use: pianogroove.com/resources/rootless-major-251/
Also you can slow down the video with the speed controls ( press the ‘+’ and ‘-‘ icons), you can pause the video by clicking anywhere inside the video container, you can A/B Loop both the chapters (see the little “AB” on each chapter) and also by using the AB Loop button on the left of the video container.
With these 3 controls, you should be able to slow down, loop and pause the video to catch any of the voicings.
Hope this helps and if I can be of further assistance just let me know 🙂
Cheers,
Hayden
Hi Hayden, thanks for the quick reply and the suggestions regarding other lessons and the video manipulation.
1) For the video, here’s how I think most people would use it (especially the ones where the Piano is not near computer). A) Watch the video and understand the concepts B) move over and work on said concepts either section by section or the complete lesson on one go.
Having the “complete sheetmusic” with proper fingerings/notes then comes really handy to avoid switching back and forth to computer and piano, press pause on each chords, etc.
I’ve thought using my android tablet but the website or videos are not fully optimised so pressing play/pause often doesnt stop the video 🙁
In my case, my piano is at 1m from desktop but facing another direction so even just having to turn around and strech my arm is a pain in the ***. I know i’m lazy 😉
Yet, i’m also a teacher (guitar) and I’ve realised that : People ARE lazy/busy, don’t have much time to practise. Hey let’s face it : learning a new instruments/style is fun but it takes effort and dedication.
Better make their lives as easy as possible.
For example, think of a students who only have 10min to practise his muscle memory at the instrument (chords/voicing/Blues scale, whatever) but needs to think/calculate/figure out stuff (what notes to play) with NO HELP. Although he manages to figure it out, cuz he’s smart and understands, well, maby he’ll have “lost” 5min thinking and only do 20 repetition instead of only “1min of brain” WITH HELP and 50 repetition for the same 10 min.
Anyway, since i’ve applied this concept in my teaching, content and material, I’ve doubled my amount of students and smile on faces. To increase the retention of information, the same message needs to be heard, seen, visualised a lot of different ways !!!
Just thought I’d share this tips from one teacher to another.
P.s. I had watched the rootless video first and i’m pretty good in theory in general and I still wish I would of have the sheet just to save time 🙂
Thanks again and I’ll let you know in the future of any improvement I might think, unless you don’t want me to ! eheh
Dear Josh,
I am a relatively new student of yours from New Delhi.
I have a very basic question. Why should we learn the “rootless” stuff? Is the assumption here is that the root note will be taken care of by the complementing musicians. If its so, then in case its a solo performance, who and how to make up for the root notes?
Sorry to ask a very rudimentary question.
Regards,
Hi Shantanu,
Firstly, it’s not a rudimentary question… in fact it’s one of the trickiest concepts for beginners to understand.
Check out this forum post which should answer all of your questions: pianogroove.com/community/t/understanding-rootless-voicings/945
Here is some additional explanation for you:
1) rootless voicings contain more interesting ‘colours’ of the chord, becuse when you leave out the root, you free up a finger for a more interesting note choice.
2) Rootless voicings voice lead very smoothly, for example, if you download the “jazz blues voicings” PDF above, you will see that there is very little movement between the voicings, making them easy to execute in your hand, and also a smooth sound.
3) As a beginner student, practicing rootless voicings will give you an appreciation and understanding of the upper extensions and alterations. If you stick to root based chords, the chances are that you will be sticking to sequentially stacked 1-3-5-7 chords. Learning and understanding rootless voicings will broaden your horizon on the notes and tones available to you.
4) Sometimes when playing solo, it’s nice to leave the root out of the chord. Variety is key, and learning these voicings will allow you to experiment with many different ‘colours’, and ‘densities’ of voicings.
If you have any further questions, I’m happy to help, either here, or in the forum.
Cheers!
Hayden
How can i make a bluesy walking bass line with thos chord like this guy?
Hey Ivan, we are soon launching a course “Intro To Boogie Woogie Piano”
Here is the announcement in the forum: pianogroove.com/community/t/boogie-woogie-lessons-have-arrived/1555/4
The 7 lesson course will be launched very soon.
Cheers,
Hayden
Here is the course: pianogroove.com/blues-piano-lessons/boogie-woogie-piano-course/ 🙂
Going to start it soon,;)
Hi!
Why are you playing two different voicing for D7(b9) in the 8th and 11th bar?
Hey Shantanu!
Good question.
The D7 is an altered chord, altered means that it can include any of the alterations: b9, #9, #11, or #5/b13.
You have the creative freedom to choose which alterations you add in, and you can also play both sometimes.
You will see me do this a lot…. I start by playing the #9 (which for D7 would be the note F natural) and then i move my thumb down to the b9, (which for D7 would be the note Eb).
This adds some nice inner movement to the chord in your left hand.
Experiment with this, and let me know if i can help you further.
Cheers!
Hayden
Should i learn this on all the 12 Keys?
Hey Ivan,
I’d recommend learning the following keys:
– F Blues (by far the most common)
– Bb
– Eb
– G
Hope this helps 🙂
Hayden
The same goes for boogie woogie? Thks it helps a lot
In Boogie Woogie, the most common keys are C and G.
In those 2 keys it’s much easier to play the slide-offs, licks, and riffs which is why most Boogie Woogie tunes are played in C or G.
Hope this helps 🙂
Hayden
Exellent Just what i was needing thks.I have another question…Here in brazil i know people who work 11 hours a day on a job that has nothing related to music from monday to saturday and are musicians too…they are not professionals but they earn some nice money playing on pubs and events…This guys barely play music with extensions and all the things you teach us here…Sometimes the sound is crappy but they are able to pull a repertorie of 100 songs faking them like a boss..I Love all the professionalism this website has and all the beautifull arrangament of the songs you teach us here ..but at this moment it would be very critical for me to learn how to fake the music..to look at a lead sheet and make it sound like i know how to play it.How can i do that?This guys are getting paid and they are not even trying that hard ( they play popular songs).I feel a bit stuck slowly learning your beautifull professional arrangements..restaurants owners are demanding that i should be able to play for long hours…I m in need to fake their demands.Please reply this massage that is very important for me to know.thks. And as a side note..it would be great to have a special course about “faking” standards..people get really exited when a pianist is able to fake a song he doesent know.. And this ability can save your a@@ a lot of times…I think is an important thing to learn.
Hi Hayden,
A very interesting lesson, thank you!
I have analysed the chords as they are played, and, according to standard notation, they are:
F13 Bb9 F13 [Cm9 F13]
Bb9 B07 F13 [Am9 D7(b9)]
Gm9 C9 [F13 D7(#9))] [Gm9 C7(b9)]
However the notation above the keyboard is somewhat sloppy as F7 Bb7 etc. Why ?
I have noted that the root is only played with the diminished B07 chord. The 5ths are only played with the minor chords. Otherwise, the root and the 5th are omitted, and only the 3rds and 7ths together with the 9th or 13th are played, which gives a cool sound to it.
…
Hi Borg,
Good Question!
As jazz musicians, we often abbreviate chord to just “7” for example “F7” or “Bb7” even if they contain upper extensions and alterations in the chord such as 9s, 11s, and 13s.
Think of this as shorthand.
When reading from lead sheets, it’s very common to just see the “7” next to the chord symbol. However, when playing jazz, we have the creative freedom to choose which extensions and alterations we want to add into the chord.
The most important notes are the 3rd and 7th, and so this is the information that is communicated. It’s then optional whether you want to add in upper extensions 9/11/13, and also tensions b9/#9/#11/#5.
You can also check out this forum post for more information on rootless voicings: pianogroove.com/community/t/understanding-rootless-voicings/945
Cheers!
Hayden
Hi hayden thank you for those wonderful lessons
I ask a pleasure, if you can post also left hand voicing sheet, Like the jazz blues chord pdf for the other two main blues tonality Bb and Eb. Just to be sure the position of left hand voicing is ok, not too hight or too low.
And related tothis, do you advice to finish those lesson in f, or start as soon as possible to study in different tonality? Thank you ciao Alessandro
Hayden:
I’m wondering why in this lesson you mostly use 3-note voicings, but sometimes use 4-note voicings (like for C7 and G-7).
Thanks,
Laura
Hi Laura 👋
Good question!
When playing rootless left hand voicings, they will typically contain 3 or 4 notes.
The most important thing is that our rootless voicings contain the 3rd and 7th (the essential chord tones) and then we can choose to add in other extensions such as 9ths and 13ths and alterations such as b9s/#9s etc…
You will see that every voicing I play contains the 3rd and 7th, and the other notes I play depends on the chord.
I most often play the F7 with the 3 note voicing Eb-A-D which is b7-3-13 but we could also play Eb-G-A-D which would be b7-9-3-13. If you play the latter you will hear that it sounds a little denser and thicker.
When moving to Bb7 we can again play 4 notes with the voicing D-G-Ab-C which creates a Bb13 instead of Bb9.
Ultimately, this boils down to preference, experiment with both and see which ones you prefer.
There is no exact science to it so we have a lot of creative freedom to choose voicings that we like, and also that are comfortable for us to play.
I hope this helps and any further questions just let me know.
Cheers,
Hayden
Thank you.
Laura