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Whether you’re a classically trained player looking to branch out into jazz, a budding jazz player looking for more explanation on how to solo over changes, or a rhythm section player starting to approach jazz, this article will lay out the basics of what those chord symbols in jazz charts really mean.

When I first started playing jazz in high school, I learned the blues scale from my teacher and that was the extent of my improvisational education for quite some time. I eventually learned what intervals composed certain types of chords, but nobody ever put jazz changes into context for me. It wasn’t until many years later, when I took a class on improvisation in college, that I was provided with that. So, I’m now sharing that knowledge with you, so that you don’t have to wander in blues-scale limbo like I did for years.

All chords belong to a key
The basic chord types (major, minor, dominant, diminished) belong to a given key. Even some of the more interesting chords with alterations belong to a key, but other times they are employing color-tones borrowed from other keys (usually based on the tritone substitution, which I’ll write another article on in the future). More importantly, certain progressions belong to a key, so if you’re a soloist and you understand the chord changes that are in the same key, you can just think about soloing within that key. That makes those changes that are often flying by easier to deal with.

Most chords you encounter in straight-ahead jazz are based on major keys. Here are the four basic chord types found in jazz, and how they relate to a key.

Major Chords (and major 7 chords)

Generally speaking, these are I chords in a major key. These can be notated as a simple major triad, major 6, major 7, or sometimes major 9. The indication that a chord is major is either a triangle or the abbreviation “Maj” and “ma.” The “inside” notes you can play over this chord are the tones of the major scale of the root of the chord. So, for example, over a Gmaj7 chord you would play the G major scale.

Minor Chords

There are a couple minor chords found naturally in a major key, but when you see a minor chord in a jazz chart, usually it’s the II chord of a major key. The notational indication of a minor chord is a lower-case m, a minus sign (-), or the abbreviation “min.” Since it’s the II chord of a major key, the “inside” notes would be the tones of the major scale one whole step below the root of the chord. To put it simpler, an Am7 chord belongs to the key of G major, so those are the tones you would want to hit. But keep in mind, the chord has a life of its own and ideally you would want to outline the chord tones, particularly the third and seventh of the chord, since these are the tones that define the chord. But as far as moving melodically through the chord, any tones from the G major scale would work.

Dominant Chords

Dominant chords are also popularly known as 7 chords. They are always notated as the root with a 7: D7 (for example). These are the V chords of a major key. So, a D7 would belong to the key of G major, and thus the tones of the G major scale would work with that chord. But keep in mind (once again) to outline the specific chord you’re playing over if possible. These can also be extended to 9, 11, or 13 chords, but they still have the dominant quality and still belong to the major a 5th below the root of the chord.

Diminished Chords

These are sometimes notated as a minor 7 with a flat 5, but the result is the same. Diminished chords generally act as the VII of a major key, unless they’re “fully diminished,” in which case they would belong to a minor key. I’ll probably address minor key jazz harmony in another article. So anyway, a Bdim (alternative notations would be Bo7 or B-7b5), would belong to the key of C, and so the “inside tones” would be the tones of the C major scale.

Tonal Progressions

You may have heard that the II-V7-I progression is the most common in jazz. If you have, you’re already way ahead of the game. In fact, in my experience, the II-V7 is incredibly common, but it only occasionally resolves to the I chord. More likely, the progressions will shift to another II-V7 in another key, or take off in some other direction altogether. In the example above, the key changes from C to F. The key of C is outlined by the progression D-7 to G7, and then it changes to F, outlined by G-7 to C7. The I chords are never arrived at, but the keys are still outlined by the chords provided.

In any case, when we talk about the II-V7-I, we’re talking about the minor chord built on the second degree of a given major scale, the dominant chord built on the fifth degree, and the major chord built on the first degree. So, when you see a progression composed of a minor chord followed by a dominant chord, you could safely assume without even thinking about the root relationships that you’re looking at a II-V7. Of course, you do want to look at the roots and make sure they’re a 4th away from each other, but the point is that this progression is incredibly common.

Outlining a tonality (a.k.a. key) through chords is something you can easily detect if you know what chord types are found on the various degrees of the major scale. Another good exercise would be to examine what chord types are found on the degrees of the natural minor scale. Once again, I’ll approach that subject in another article. When you know what chords belong to what keys, you can solo around in that key without worrying about each and every chord as an independent unit, and then try to catch the key changes implied by the chords.

In Conclusion
This is the basic introduction to jazz chords and soloing. It gets a lot more theoretically complex as you start extending chords and looking at non-chord tones and tones outside the key of a given chord (some of which sound great), but this is the beginner’s primer. I hope it was helpful to some of you.

more articles by Brien Henderson

• Anatomy of the Blues Scale
• A Great Site for Old Music
• Every Musician Should Read This
• Saxes: Work Your Pinkies!, part 1
• Spice Things Up With The Tritone Sub
• Writing Your Own Music: How To Get Started
• Subdivide. It Pays Off