On Friday, February 7, 2003 at 4:45:56 AM UTC-7, Jos Groot wrote:

"Hearin the changes'" is a book by Jerry Coker, Bob Knapp and Larry Vincent. I made a summary that is attached below. From an advertisement (for the book, that is):

"This is the definitive study of chord progressions of hundreds of carefully chosen tunes from the jazz musician's repertoire, comparing them, linking them
together by commonalities, and codifying harmonic traits that will clarify the
reader's understanding of how progressions work!"

Despite the title the book is more about "changes" than "hearing". It
is not a course in solfege. The examples in the book are accompanied by
lots of song title, I included only some (between (...) ).

The layout is still pretty bad compared to the orginal (with italics etc.) despite some manual editing. Nevertheless it may be helpful to people that own the book or are thinking about purchasing it.

Jos Groot

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Chapter 1 - The II-V-I progression and its variations

The next three II-V-I progressions account for 63-95 % of
the time:

# | IIm7 | V7 | Imaj7 | (I fall in love too easily m.1)
# | IIm7b5 | V7alt | Immaj7 | (What is this thing called love m.1).
Minor tunes form 25 % of the jazz repertoire.
# | IIm7b5 | V7alt | Imaj7 | (What is this thing called love m.5)

Two variations of above | IIm7 | V7 | Imaj7 | (note these
are similar because of the b3 distance):

# | IIm7 | #IIdim | IIIm7 (or Imaj7/V) | (Don't get around much anymore m.1)
# | IV(maj7)(7) | #IVdim | Imaj7/V | (major blues m.5)

| IIm7 | V7 | Imaj7 | to | IIm7 | bII7 | Imaj7 | =
tritone substitution (The girl from Ipanema m.5)

| IIm7 | V7 | Imaj7 | to | IIm7 | bVIm7 bII7 | Imaj7 | =
tritone substitution with subdominant

Back door progression: | (IVm7) bVII7 | Imaj7 | Three
most frequent uses:

# substitute for II-V-I
# after modulation to IV: | IVmaj7 | (IVm7) bVII7 |
Imaj7 | (Misty m. 4)
# freestanding, e.g., | Imaj7 | bVII7 | Imaj7 |

Coltrane matrix: | Cmaj7 | Eb7 Abmaj7 | B7 Emaj7 | G7 Cmaj7 |
(Have you met miss Jones bridge)

In order of decreasing occurrence: (Imaj7, IIm7, V7), VI7, IIIm7, VIm7.

Two often used cycles:

# | C | F | Bb | Eb | Ab | ... = cycle of fourths or fifths
# | I | (#)IV | VII | III | VI | II | V | I | = diatonic cycle
(Autumn leaves m.1-7 IV to I)

Often occurring II-V-I extensions:

# | VIm7 IIm7 | V7 Imaj7 | (All the things you
are m.1) Part of diatonic cycle.
# | IIIm7 VI7 | IIm7 V7 | I | (All of me, end) Often in ending; first
two chords are a II-V for IIm7; part of
diatonic cycle.
# | IIIm7 bIIIdim | IIm7 V7 | I | (Someday my prince will come m.9, without tonic;
All the things you are, near the end) Variation
of above; bIIIdim is dominant for V7.
# | VIm7 II7 | IIm7 V7 | Imaj7 | (Body and soul, All of me, both at
end of A section) Often in ending;
first two chords are a II-V for V7.

| I | VIIm7b5 | III7 | VIm7 | II7 | Vm7 | I7 | IV(7) | =
Confirmation sequence. It is also a diatonic cycle I +
VII to IV (Bluesette m.1)

| Imaj7 (IIIm7) | bIII(maj7)(7) | bVI(maj7)(7) |
bII(maj7)(7) | = bebop turnaround (Lady bird m.15)

Chapter 2 - II-V-I in transient modulation

Most often occurring transient (i.e., short) and
symmetrical (i.e., repeated) modulation is down(b)2. An
example of a down2 modulation twice in a row:

| Bbmaj7 | Bbm7 Eb7 | Abmaj7 | Abm7 Db7 | Gbmaj7 |
(Recorda me, Solar, Joy spring). Note the X7 chords
directly followed by Xm7 chords which is characteristic
for this modulation.

An example of a downb2 modulation twice:

| Bmaj7 Cm7b5 F7alt | Bbmaj7 | Bm7 E7 | Amaj7 | (Peace
m.3). Characteristic is the upb2 step from the tonic to
the minor chords.

down3: Giant steps, Have you met miss Jones bridge

Chapter 3 - General modulations

These are longer modulations occurring only once. The
most frequent modulation is to IV (Misty m.4). The second
most frequent one is to the relative minor (Autumn
leaves, Bb to Gm). Other common modulations:

upb2 Blue Bossa (Cm to Db)
down2 Wave (bridge F to Eb)
upb3 Wave (D to bridge F)
downb3 All the things you are (in bridge G to E)
up3 All the things you are (m.6 Ab to C and m.14 Eb to G)
down3 Ladybird (m.7 C to Ab)

Chapter 4 - Beginnings

A high percentage of songs starts with the I or IIm7.
Less frequent occurring openings are:

| (bIIIm7) bVI7 | Fee-Fi-Fo-Fum
Idim Stella by starlight (original version)
II7 ?
IV Just friends
| I IV7 | Willow weep for me
VIIm7b5 Peace

Chapter 5 - Classic bridges

| III7 | VI7 | II7 | V7 | (Rhythm changes)

|| F: IIm7 | V7 | Imaj7 | Imaj7 | C: II7 | II7 | IIm7 |
V7 || Imaj7 | (~Satin doll) Characteristics of
bridge: modulation to IV, followed by II7, then IIm7.

|| VIm7b5 | I7b9 | IVm7 | IVm7 | IVm7b5 | bVII7b9 | IIm7
| IIm7b5 V7b9 || Im | (Alone together, Night in
Tunisia) Characterised by short modulation to IVm7 and
IIm7 of original key.

Chapter 6 - Chords in symmetry

# Chords in parallel motion seem to be a new trend.
# Chromatic descending dominants usually alternate
between altered and unaltered.
# Dominants descending around cycle of fifths (There
is no greater love, Rhythm changes bridge, Yesterdays)
# Dominant descending chromatically (Body and soul end
of bridge, Well you needn't)
# Turnarounds | I VI7 | bVI7 V7 || I | and | I VII7 |
bVII7 VI7 | || IIm7 |
# Chords ascending or descending in b3's (Inner urge)

Chapter 7 - Other progression cells

CESH= Contrapunctal Elaboration of Static Harmony. Four
variations: root or 5th in motion, minor or major chord.
Used over static I(m) and major II-V.

# minor 1-7-b7-6 (My funny Valentine, In a sentimental mood m.1)
# minor 5-#5-6-#5 (Israel)
# major 1-7-b7-6 (If)
# major 5-#5-6-#5 ?

| Cm Cm/Bb | Am7b5 | (I fall in love too easily m.6,
On green dolphin street end)

| I(m) | (bIIIm7) bVI7 | (Out of nowhere m.3, Cantaloupe island,
Just friends m.6). Possibly popular because I blues
fits bVI7 quite well.

Chapter 8 - More recent traits

Polychord X/Y= (usually) triad X on top of chord Y.
Advantages: every combination of extensions and
alterations is possible, they sound well (even previously
unthinkable ones like B/Cmaj7), and are easy to read.
Examples:

# Bb/C C9sus
# B/Cmaj7 Popular as ending; used for half of the
endings on Birth of the cool.
# A/C7 C13b9. Called diminished scale dominant,
popular from the 40's.
# D/C7 C13#11

Slash chord X/Y= chord X on top of bass note Y. Examples:

# Am7/D (D9sus, Maiden voyage)
# E/C (Cmaj7#5)
# Ebm6/Bb (A child is born m.2). Often appears as |
Bbmaj7 | Ebm6/Bb | Bbmaj7 | (pedal point)
# Dm7b5/G(G13susb9; Naima; minor key counterpart of Dm7/G in C.

Cmaj7#11 chords are currently often given long duration
or used in parallel motion (Black narcissus, Ralph's
piano waltz).

| Fmaj7 E7alt | (Recorda me end)

Repetition of two chords a « or whole step away:

| I(m)(7)(maj7) | bII(7)(maj7) | ?
| bII(maj7)(7) | I(m)(maj7) | (A night in Tunisia, Little sunflower) | Imaj7 | bVIImaj7 | (Dindi intro)
| I7 | bVII7 | (Killer Joe, West coast blues)
| Gm7/C (C7sus9) | Gmmaj7/C (C7#11) | ?

The popularity of chords changes with time:

# ~1900 diminshed chords, augmented triads,
whole tone scale
# 1950-1970 diminshed scales
# 1960-1970 augmented scale and major 7#5 chord (e.g.,
A melodic minor + Cmaj7#5= Cmaj7 with #4 and #5).
# ~1970 sus4 chord
# recent polychords, slash chords.

Tendencies:

# less or no tonic-dominant relationships
# contrasting chords ("if it works, use it!")
# more repetition (two-chord vamps)

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