ii-V Progressions
The ii-V is one of the fundamental building blocks of traditional jazz progressions. Tunes are commonly written with ii-V progressions and jazz musicians commonly substitute ii-V progressions in tunes in order to increase the harmonic flavor of the song. The ii-V comes in two common forms - as a straight ii-V
(eg. Em7-A7 ), and as an altered ii-V (e.g. Em7b5-A7b9 ). Generally speaking, the ii-V resolves to a major chord
(e.g. Em7-A7-Dmaj7) while the altered form resolves to a minor chord (e.g. Em7b5-A7b9-Dm7). No rules are written in stone, and very often the resolution is only IMPLIED. Also, other alterations might be used instead of the A7b9, such as A7b13, A7#9, or A7b9b13. But the most common dominant alteration is the A7b9, which is the one tabbed out.1______________________________________________________
2______________________________________________________
3______________________7_____7__________7______7_______
4____4R____4____________________________7______7_______
5______________________7_____7(5________7______7(5_____
6____4(6___4(6__________________________7(6____7(6_____
7______________________________________________________
8______________________7________________7______________
9__________4___________________________________________
10___4_______________________7(5_______________7(5_____
Em7 A7 Em7 A7 Em7b5 A7b9
(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6)
The examples above show where to find these progressions on the standard C6 tuning. Chords (1),(2),(3), and (4)have the root, 3rd, and b7 (dominant 7) note, which are enough in those cases to define the chord. However, at every position, all notes can be played. They either provide identical notes an octave apart from notes that are picked, or provide extensions such as a 9th,11th, or 13th, which don't change the quality of the ii-V, rather just embellishing it. Chords (5)and (6) have the additional requirement of either a b5, or b9. The additional note is needed to establish the quality (b5) or dominant alteration (b9) so they must be played. In order to play the chords with 3 picks, the tab includes an extra note so that a "sweep" using the finger picks can be done to get all notes. The extra note that is included is a valid note in each chord, although the extra note is in each case is not needed except to
facilitate the playing of the chord.
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