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Exercise
— switch — The Cycle Shells with Color Rootless Voicings Bud Powell Left Hand The Turnaround Tritone Substitution Reharm the V Diatonic Sevenths Secondary Turnaround Minor ii–V–i Minor ii-V-i with ♭9 Minor Turnaround Diatonic 7ths in Minor Backdoor Progression Twelve-Bar Blues Minor Blues Bird Blues Blues Stride LH Blues Walking Bass Rhythm Changes Boogie Blues Shuffle Rhythm Changes Bridge Blues Rootless (Evans) Coltrane Changes Blues Pedal Point Standard Intro Blues Block Chords Two-Handed Comping Blues Freddie Green Charleston Comping Bebop Blues Comp Freddie Green Comping Blues Guide Tones Walking Bass Charleston Blues Tritone-Sub Walking Bass Bud Powell Blues Drop Two Two-Handed Modern Blues Stride Bass Stride with Melody Quartal Voicings Upper Structure Triads Hybrid Voicings Kenny Barron Voicing Sus Chord Vamp The Mu Chord Maiden Voyage Chord 4-Way Close Pedal Point Lydian Vamp Phrygian Vamp Bossa Nova Guide Tones Bebop Scale Dominant Bebop Dorian Bebop Bebop Minor The Enclosure ii-V-I Lick Pentatonic Patterns Plain Locrian Melodic Minor Dorian ♭2 Lydian Augmented Lydian Dominant Mixolydian ♭6 Locrian ♮2 Altered Scale Harmonic Minor Phrygian Dominant Half-Whole Diminished Whole-Tone Scale Minor Blues Major Blues Aeolian (Natural Minor) Dorian Mode Ionian (Major) Lydian Mode Minor Pentatonic Mixolydian Mode Phrygian Mode Whole-Half Diminished
(MED. SWING ♩=80 )
15
Jazz Piano · The Foundation Form
Twelve-Bar Blues
I⁷–IV⁷–V⁷ over twelve bars, all twelve keys
Play exercise
Three chords, all dominant 7s, twelve bars: I⁷ – IV⁷ – I⁷
– I⁷ – IV⁷ – IV⁷ – I⁷ – I⁷ – V⁷ – IV⁷ – I⁷ – V⁷ . The bar-2
"quick change" to IV is what distinguishes the jazz form from
the straight country/folk blues (which holds I for the first four
bars). The last two bars are the turnaround — V⁷ on the last bar
sets up the next chorus.
Every chord here is a dominant 7. That's the harmonic signature
of blues: the tonic is a dom7 (not a maj7), the IV is a dom7
(not a maj7), and the result is a key that's modally ambiguous,
pulling between major and minor at every turn. The shells use
the same 3 + ♭7 — pick A or B form per chord to keep the voice
leading smooth.
Form I⁷ IV⁷ I⁷ I⁷ | IV⁷ IV⁷ I⁷ I⁷ | V⁷ IV⁷ I⁷ V⁷
Quality All dominant 7. Tonic is not maj7 — that's blues.
Jump to
C F B♭ E♭ A♭ D♭ G♭ B E A D G
G
7
3
2
1
O
O
O
1
3
1
2
1
1
C
7
3
2
4
1
O
O
3
2
4
1
O
O
C
7
G
7
3
2
1
O
O
O
F
7
3
2
4
1
O
O
C
7
C
7
3
2
4
1
O
O
3
2
4
1
O
O
C
7
C
7
3
2
4
1
O
O
1
3
1
2
1
1
F
7
1
3
1
2
1
1
F
7
1
3
1
2
1
1
F
7
C
7
3
2
4
1
O
O
B
7
1
2
1
3
1
X
1
3
1
2
1
1
F
7
1
3
1
2
1
1
C
7
3
2
4
1
O
O
F
7
F
7
1
3
1
2
1
1
F
7
1
3
1
2
1
1
1
3
1
2
1
1
F
7
F
7
1
3
1
2
1
1
1
2
1
3
1
X
B
7
1
2
1
3
1
X
B
7
1
2
1
3
1
X
B
7
F
7
1
3
1
2
1
1
E
7
1
3
2
4
X
X
1
2
1
3
1
X
B
7
1
2
1
3
1
X
F
7
1
3
1
2
1
1
B
7
B
7
1
2
1
3
1
X
B
7
1
2
1
3
1
X
1
2
1
3
1
X
B
7
B
7
1
2
1
3
1
X
1
3
2
4
X
X
E
7
1
3
2
4
X
X
E
7
1
3
2
4
X
X
E
7
B
7
1
2
1
3
1
X
A
7
1
3
1
2
1
1
4fr
1
3
2
4
X
X
E
7
1
3
2
4
X
X
B
7
1
2
1
3
1
X
E
7
E
7
1
3
2
4
X
X
E
7
1
3
2
4
X
X
1
3
2
4
X
X
E
7
E
7
1
3
2
4
X
X
1
3
1
2
1
1
4fr
A
7
1
3
1
2
1
1
4fr
A
7
1
3
1
2
1
1
4fr
A
7
E
7
1
3
2
4
X
X
D
7
2
3
1
4
X
X
1
3
1
2
1
1
4fr
A
7
1
3
1
2
1
1
4fr
E
7
1
3
2
4
X
X
A
7
A
7
1
3
1
2
1
1
4fr
A
7
1
3
1
2
1
1
4fr
1
3
1
2
1
1
4fr
A
7
A
7
1
3
1
2
1
1
4fr
2
3
1
4
X
X
D
7
2
3
1
4
X
X
D
7
2
3
1
4
X
X
D
7
A
7
1
3
1
2
1
1
4fr
G
7
1
3
1
2
1
1
D
7
D
7
2
3
1
4
X
X
A
7
1
3
1
2
1
1
4fr
2
3
1
4
X
X
D
7
2
3
1
4
X
X
2
3
1
4
X
X
D
7
2
3
1
4
X
X
D
7
1
3
1
2
1
1
G
7
G
7
1
3
1
2
1
1
D
7
2
3
1
4
X
X
1
3
1
2
1
1
G
7
D
7
2
3
1
4
X
X
C
7
X
X
5fr
G
7
G
7
1
3
1
2
1
1
D
7
2
3
1
4
X
X
1
3
1
2
1
1
G
7
1
3
1
2
1
1
G
7
1
3
1
2
1
1
G
7
1
3
1
2
1
1
G
7
1
3
1
2
1
1
X
X
5fr
C
7
C
7
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X
5fr
C
7
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5fr
F
7
1
3
1
2
1
1
E
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1
O
O
O
O
2
1
3
4
X
O
B
7
2
1
3
4
X
O
F
7
1
3
1
2
1
1
B
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B
7
2
1
3
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O
B
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3
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O
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O
B
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B
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O
2
1
O
O
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O
E
7
2
1
O
O
O
O
E
7
2
1
O
O
O
O
E
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B
7
2
1
3
4
X
O
A
7
1
3
X
O
O
O
2
1
O
O
O
O
E
7
2
1
O
O
O
O
B
7
2
1
3
4
X
O
E
7
E
7
2
1
O
O
O
O
E
7
2
1
O
O
O
O
2
1
O
O
O
O
E
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E
7
2
1
O
O
O
O
1
3
X
O
O
O
A
7
1
3
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O
O
O
A
7
1
3
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O
O
O
A
7
E
7
2
1
O
O
O
O
D
7
2
1
3
X
X
O
1
3
X
O
O
O
A
7
1
3
X
O
O
O
E
7
2
1
O
O
O
O
A
7
A
7
1
3
X
O
O
O
A
7
1
3
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O
O
O
1
3
X
O
O
O
A
7
A
7
1
3
X
O
O
O
2
1
3
X
X
O
D
7
2
1
3
X
X
O
D
7
2
1
3
X
X
O
D
7
1
3
X
O
O
O
A
7
G
7
3
2
1
O
O
O
2
1
3
X
X
O
D
7
A
7
1
3
X
O
O
O
2
1
3
X
X
O
D
7
D
7
2
1
3
X
X
O
D
7
2
1
3
X
X
O
D
7
2
1
3
X
X
O
D
7
3
2
1
O
O
O
G
7
G
7
3
2
1
O
O
O
2
1
3
X
X
O
3
2
1
O
O
O
G
7
D
7
2
1
3
X
X
O
3
2
4
1
O
O
C
7
3
2
1
O
O
O
3
2
1
O
O
O
G
7
D
7
2
1
3
X
X
O
G
7
3
2
1
O
O
O
G
7
G
7
3
2
1
O
O
O
3
2
1
O
O
O
G
7
3
2
4
1
O
O
C
7
3
2
4
1
O
O
C
7
C
7
G
7
3
2
1
O
O
O
3
2
4
1
O
O
The Daily Drill
Most jazz is blues
5 min Just the form. Play through one key with whole-note shells, calling out the chord changes as you go: "one — four — one — one — four — four — one — one — five — four — one — five." 10 min Cycle three keys at a time. The form is the same in every key; only your hands move. 4 min Drop the LH shell on beats 2 and 4 with the rhythmic comping pattern (Charleston). Now you're inside the form — every bebop blues head is built on this skeleton. 3 min Pick a bebop blues head (Now's The Time , Billie's Bounce , Tenor Madness ) and play through it with shells. Try to hear how the melody fits over the changes you're now playing. Why the I is a dom7 In functional harmony, the tonic is a maj7 chord (or minor 7 in a minor key). Blues breaks this: the tonic is a dominant 7. That ♭7 in the I chord creates a constant pull toward the IV — in C blues, the I7's ♭7 (B♭) sits a half step above the IV7's 3 (A) and voice-leads downward into it, exactly the way G7's ♭7 leads to Cmaj7's 3. So the I7 itself acts like a secondary dominant of IV. That's why the form keeps cycling through IV and back to I without ever "resolving" in the traditional sense. The blues never settles down; that's its whole identity.
Twelve bars. Three chords. A hundred years of music.