Mr Battaglia. How do you remember all the chords..?? How do you do it..?? i mean, there are loads.
-Robert
Hey Robert, you want to start simple. Learning the blues progression is a good step. Once you know the blues progression, you know the chords for a large number of songs already. There might be variations, but the basic progression is going to be the same.
Then there is the ii V7 I progression, that one comes up all the time in jazz. All those chords are in the same key. So you could just think, there’s a ii V7 I in the key of G or whatever coming up.
The song ‘Blue Bossa’ has the following chords (concert pitch)
| Cm7 | Cm7 | Fm7 | Fm7 |
| Dm7b5 | G7 | Cm7 | Cm7 |
| Ebm7 | Ab7 | Db | Db |
| Dm7b5 | G7 | Cm7 | Dm7b5 G7|
One pattern is a very slight variation of the simplest ii V I progression- in the minor key instead of major.
| Dm7b5 | G7 | Cm7 | is all in the key of C minor. That pattern happens twice in the song.
| Ebm7 | Ab7 | Db | is all in the key of Db major.
So you could remember this entire harmony as
i iv,
minor ii V I in C minor
major ii V I in Db major
minor ii V I in C minor
Four different things:
i
iv
minor ii V i pattern
major ii V I pattern
Good advice.
Two additional suggestions:
1. Play through the chords a lot. Start just with the roots, eventually working up t arpeggiations. The key to memorizing/internalizing them, though, is to play through the chord progressions in multiple keys
2. Play the chords on piano using simple 3-note voicings (root in bass register/left hand; 3d & 7th of chord in right hand in middle of keyboard).
~ Rick
Thanks Rick,
Learning chords takes a bit of time and practice, knowing them in all keys is essential if you’re working on harmony! Playing the simple voicings on piano is another good idea.
-Neal
wouldnt the Fmin be the IV rather than the V?
Yes, thanks.