Major II-V-I
Most of us know the Major II-V-I (although we will cover it in more detail in an upcoming lesson).This is one of the most commonly used chord progressions in Jazz. In the key of C Major it is:
| Dm7 – G7 | CMaj7 ||
Minor II-V-I
However, another very commonly used chord progression is the Minor II-V-I. In the key of C Minor, a Minor II-V-I would have the following chords:
| Dm7♭5 – G7alt | CmMaj7 ||
This chord progression can be derived in two different ways:
- All from the C Harmonic Minor Scale
| Chord | C harmonic minor | Chord Tones |
|---|---|---|
| Dø7 | C D E♭ F G A♭ B | D F A♭ C |
| G7♭9 | C D E♭ F G A♭ B | G B D F A♭ |
| CmMaj7 | C D E♭ F G A♭ B | C E♭ G B |
- From three different melodic minor scales
- Dm7♭5 = F melodic minor
- G7alt = A♭ melodic minor
- CmMaj7 = C melodic minor
| Chord | Key | Scale Tones | Chord Tones |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dø7 | F mel min | F G A♭ B♭ C D E | D F A♭ C |
| G7alt | A♭ mel min | A♭ B♭ C♭ D♭ E♭ F G | G C♭ F (no 5th) |
| CmMaj7 | C mel min | C D E♭ F G A B | C E♭ G B |
This means we can use one harmonic minor scale or three melodic minor scales to improvise over a Minor II-V-I.
Incomplete Minor II-V-I
While we can call the above a ‘pure’ Minor II-V-I, often you will find the minor II-V followed by a I with a different chord quality. While not ‘pure’ Minor II-V-I’s, these are found in many Jazz Standards. Some common ones are shown below as well as the appropriate scale to use when improvising over the I chord.
| II | V | I | Scale for I Chord |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dø7 | G7alt | CmMaj7 | C melodic minor |
| Dø7 | G7alt | Cm | C harmonic or melodic minor |
| Dø7 | G7alt | Cm6 | C melodic minor |
| Dø7 | G7alt | Cm7 | C Dorian or Aeolian |
| Dø7 | G7alt | CMaj7 | C Ionian or Lydian |
Melodic vs Harmonic
As we discussed above, we can use one harmonic minor scale or three melodic minor scales to improvise over a Minor II-V-I. While the former may sound simpler, in practice most Jazz musicians would use the latter. This is due to two reasons:
- Because traditionally and as the names imply
- the harmonic minor scale was used only for harmony (i.e. to derive chord from); while
- the melodic minor scale was used for melody
- And because by using the relevant melodic minor scales you remove all the avoid notes found in the harmonic minor scale.
| Chord | Notes | Avoid Notes | C Har min | Mel mins | Mel min notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dø7 | D F A♭ C | E♭ & B | C D E♭ F G A♭ B | F mel min | F G A♭ B♭ C D E |
| G7alt | G B D F | C | A♭ mel min | A♭ B♭ C♭ D♭ E♭ F G | |
| CmMaj7 | C E♭ G B | A♭ | C mel min | C D E♭ F G A B |
Have a Listen to
- Pure (Complete) Minor II-V-I (ending in mMaj7)
- Nica’s Dream
- Dance Cadaverous
- Incomplete (ending in m Triad)
- Autumn Leaves
- Sweet George Brown
- Alone Together
- Incomplete (ending in m6)
- Blue Bossa
- Incomplete (ending in m7)
- Georgia on my mind
- Fly me to the Moon
- Incomplete (ending in Maj7)
- Stella by Starlight
- How High The Moon
- I Love You
- What is this Thing Called Love?