“When Sunny Gets Blue” For Beginners

Hi Orlando,

The harmony Bb-7 to Eb7 to Fmaj7 is known as ‘the backdoor 251 progression“.

This can also be referred to as “4 minor”, as Bb is the 4th degree in the key of F, and so Bb-7 is “the iv- chord”.

Here is a lesson where I explain the backdoor 251 in the key of C: pianogroove.com/blues-piano-lessons/backdoor-251-progression/ (this is a blues lesson).

and Tuomo has created a lesson on “4 minor” here: pianogroove.com/jazz-piano-lessons/the-4-minor-chord/

Please watch those 2 lessons to start.

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I understand this major chord as the borrowed third from the F minor scale.

I’ve never heard of this harmony referred to as “borrowed 3rd from the minor scale”. Not to say that’s incorrect, I’ve just never heard or seen it referred to in that way.

The way that I identify the backdoor 251 progression is:

1) 4-minor chord (in this case Bb-7) Bb is the 4th degree of F, so Bb- is the 4 minor chord.
2) b7 dominant chord (in this case Eb7)the 7th degree in the key of F is E natural, and so Eb7 is the ‘b7 dominant chord’
3) The tonic (in this case Fmaj7)

The backdoor 251 progression appears in many jazz standards. Think of bars 4 and 5 of “Misty” where we have Ab-7 to Db7 to Ebmajor7 as one example. It’s the exact same progression that we have in this song, except in the key of Eb major.

Sometimes we might just have the b7 dominant chord, think of the first line of “Days Of Wine & Roses” for example…. Fmajor7 to Eb7 to A-7b5 to D7 etc….

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I’m unsure exactly what is your question here:

Is this a technique to extend the tension of the fifth of a regular II-V-I (C7 in this case) with a II-V-I to the major third?

If I understand correctly, you are asking if the backdoor 251 progression is a technique that we can use to add more tension to a standard 251 in F Major which would be G-7 to C7 to Fmajor7.

If that is your question, the backdoor 251 progression doesn’t add more tension, it’s simply a reharmonisation or “alternate pathway” to get back to the tonic, F Major in this case.

Another important thing to understand here is the diminished relationship.

C7, Eb7, Gb7, and A7 are all related dominant chords via the diminished connection. This is explained in my lesson above on the backdoor 251 progression and also in this seminar: pianogroove.com/live-seminars/diminished-scale-runs-fills-improvisation/

Therefore those dominant chords can be substituted. In this song the harmony substitutes Eb7 for C7 as a means to get back Fmajor 7, and also adding the ii-7 chord of Eb7 which is Bb-7 (also known as the 4minor chord).

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One more thing: I could play the chord F# maj or Edim7 over the note Bb. Right?
But in that case, I don’t understand what harmonic function these chords would have.

If I understand correctly, in bar 2 you would like to play F#maj or Edim7 over a Bb bass note?

The chord is Bb-7 with the 9th (C) in the melody and so we I play an F#maj triad or an Edim7 chord, both will clash with the melody note.

Perhaps I have misunderstood your question here. Please clarify where you would like to add the F#maj triad and the Edim7 chord and I will try to better answer your question.

Cheers,
Hayden

Hi Orlando,

Great. Yes check out the links I suggested on the backdoor 251 and 4-minor concepts. They are quite advanced harmonic concepts which is why I didn’t mention them in this beginner lesson, but I think it will help with your understanding of harmony and analysing lead sheets.

For your 2nd question:

Over the Eb7 we have the note C in the melody, so my immediate choices would be an F triad over Eb7 shell in the left hand, and this would give us Eb13#11 (major triad built from the 9th) or we could play a C triad in its 1st inversion which gives us Eb13b9.

We could also harmonise the note Bb with an F# triad/Gb triad, and to my ears that sounds okay. When we play F# triad over Eb7 it gives us the tones #9 (F#), 5 (A# or Bb), and b7 (Db) and so for me personally, this doubles some of the primary chord tones (think R-3-5-7). This isn’t wrong per say, but just something to be aware of.

My choice would be either the F triad over Eb7 shell, as that gives us 9-#11-13 in the right hand and so none of the right hand tones double the left hand tones. We then have a 6 note chord with no redundancy.

The C triad over Eb7 is also very nice, and we can omit the note “G” from our left hand so that the 3rd is not doubled.

I would just play the note Bb on its own, but that’s just my preference.

I hope that helps – experiment with these sounds and always follow your ears on what sounds best to you.

Here to help further if you have any additional questions.

Cheers,
Hayden