The reason they do this too is to venture outside of the musical key the song is centered within. They want to play closely related chords that share two or more notes, or that only have one at times. With the ii-V concept in mind, many Jazz chord progressions are looking to do more than just play a Dm chord or a G chord. It would take a much longer article to explain what makes these so unique, but the key thing to keep in mind is that Jazz chords often use 4 or more notes together.Ĭmaj9 – D9b5 – (Dm7 – Ab13 – G7) – G7 – (C6/G – A7#5#9) – (Ab13 – G13) These chords are known as extended or alt chords. Take The A TrainĪnother quality that makes Jazz chord progressions sound so good is the exotic chords like Cmaj9, A7#5#9, and Ab13. He’s playing the same chords on a piano, which might make it harder for you to realize which chord is which, but if you play them on your guitar, then it’s easier to hear each one individually. These chords can be found in Duke Ellington’s “Satin Doll,” let’s take a listen to it: This progression is in the key of C major, which means the ii is Dm7 and G7 is the V. The first thing to notice is the changes from Dm7 to G7 as well as Em7 to A7, which are the very typical chord changes in jazz known as ii-V changes. The thing about Jazz chord progressions is that they’re usually very long, and they can get quite complex.įor example, the progression below is only 8 bars, but has 11 different chords!

Jazz chord progression piano chart