VI. Jazz
ii–V–I
Megan Lavengood
Key Takeaways
- ii7–V7–Ima7 in major, or ii∅7–V7–i7 in minor, is a fundamentally important progression in traditional jazz.
- The ii–V–I progression can be identified through a combination of root motion by fifths plus its distinctive sequence of chord qualities (mi7–7–ma7 in major, or ∅7–7–mi7 in minor).
- Because this progression is so important to jazz, the concept of applied chords can expand to include applied subdominant chords—i.e., the ii chord.
- Incomplete ii–V–Is, i.e., ii–Vs, can also be identified because the combination of root motion and quality is so distinctive.
Spotify playlist for this chapter.)
shows final cadences from four jazz tunes. Look at the harmonies—a pattern should be apparent. (You can listen to the tunes through the the
All the examples end in perfect authentic cadences (PACs). But the similarities don’t end there: each PAC is preceded by the ii chord. So we have three chords, each related to the next by fifth.
This ii–V–I progression is one of the most important progressions in jazz music. You can find it reliably at cadences, but also as a building block that occurs throughout a tune. When the progression occurs in a major key, as in the snippets in
, the chord qualities of these chords are mi7–7–ma7. When the tune is in minor, the shift in mode changes the quality of the harmonies to ∅7–7–mi7 (the V chord is major whether you are in a major or minor key). Both of these progressions and a typical voice-leading pattern are summarized in .
ii–V–I as Schema
Schema is a useful concept in music theory, used in many ways within this book (pop harmony, for one). Put simply, schemas are common patterns our brains can recognize, even when variations are altering a specific presentation of that schema.
The ii–V–I progression is an example of a schema. It happens so frequently that informed listeners can recognize the schema in many formats. Some examples of alterations are given in Misty,” the ma7 chord is replaced with a 6 chord (this occurred in “My Funny Valentine” in Example 2 also). In “Prelude to a Kiss,” the typically dominant-quality V chord is replaced with an augmented chord (the minor seventh is preserved). The V chord is altered in “A Night in Tunisia,” but this time, the fifth is lowered instead of raised.
. In “
Applied ii–Vs
An important marker of dominant-function chords is the chord’s quality. This is most obvious in the case of the dominant seventh quality, since it has “dominant” in the name. Fully diminished chords also have dominant function.
The compositional technique of applied chords capitalizes on the relationship between quality and function by taking dominant chords out of their key and dropping them into a new key. The applied dominant chords retain their function as dominant chords even when applied to a chord other than I (this concept is fully explained in the Tonicization chapter).
The omnipresence of ii–V–I as a schema in jazz means that in this style, we ca