By Peter Spitzer - Jazz Author, Musician, and Instructor
The basic harmonic vocabulary of jazz standards derives from “common practice” classical music, but is adapted to fit the short forms (usually 12, 16, or 32 measures) of popular songs. Over the last century or so, this harmonic vocabulary has evolved into a set of practices that is ideally suited to the needs of contemporary jazz performers.
Development of Chord Symbols
Until approximately the 1960s, songs were marketed in print form primarily as sheet music, including a composed piano accompaniment. Beginning around 1930, chord symbols were often also provided, for guitarists and for pianists who did not read music well enough to play the written-out accompaniments.
Jazz musicians have always tended to reduce song arrangements to a basic harmonic framework, in order to create the space needed for improvisation - and chord symbol notation would have helped them to do this. In the early 1940s, a commercial product called “Tune-Dex Cards” presented songs with just melody and chord symbols, suggesting a general acceptance by musicians of what we now call “lead sheet” format. When jazz musicians of the 1940s (and later) wrote their own tunes, they probably would have used lead-sheet format, notating the harmonic accompaniment with chord symbols, rather than with a piano arrangement. Early, illegal fake books used this format as well.
Since the 1960s, jazz education, once nearly non-existent, has become widespread. This has created a market for lead-sheet versions of standards, intended for improvisers. At the same time, amateur music-making no longer means gathering around the piano to read through sheet music arrangements. In the print music market, sheet music has now been almost entirely supplanted by fake books.
The quality of fake books has improved considerably over the last half-century. In the 1950s and 1960s, fake books were generally encountered as poorly-edited bootleg collections; they are now produced legally, and publishers usually make at least some effort at accuracy. The current approach to indicating harmony is the approach that jazz musicians favor: reduction to a basic functional framework. Chord progressions are often altered, and stated in terms of “harmonic cliches” - standard devices that are easy for improvisers to work with.
For better or worse, fake books using this approach to chords are now the commonly-accepted reference for jazz standards. In deference to this fact, this article will not address harmony as expressed in sheet music, but rather as it is currently presented in fake books - the “common practice” of contemporary jazz performers.
Harmonic Devices
At the risk of oversimplification, we can say that the basic harmonic unit for jazz musicians today is the seventh chord. Performers will then alter and voice chords according to their personal inclination. Ninths, elevenths, and thirteenths are routinely added; notes may also be omitted.
Following are some of the main “harmonic cliches” used in our current harmonic vocabulary:
- Tonic/dominant harmony: As with nearly all forms of European-derived music, the basic harmonic force is V (tension) moving towards I (resolution).
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II V I in major or minor: In common-practice classical music, V is often preceded by various “dominant preparation” chords. Our “streamlined” harmony often prepares V with II, creating the familiar II V I progression. In the key of C major, this would be Dm7 G7 Cmaj7. In the key of C minor, II V I appears as Dm7b5 G7b9 Cm6.
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Secondary dominants: Any chord may be preceded by its V. For example, one common progression is D7 G7 Cmaj7. Here the D7 is a secondary dominant, called “V of V.”
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Local key centers: Composers may use progressions that set up brief, temporary changes of key. This is often accomplished with a II V I sequence. For example, a song in the key of C major might include the sequence Fm7 Bb7 Ebmaj7, causing the listener to perceive a temporary shift to the key of Eb major.
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Circle of dominants: This is another device that is common in classical music. An example would be D7 G7 C7 F7. Each dominant chord resolves into the next; roots move up a perfect fourth with each change, following the “circle of fourths.” This is also called a “chain of dominants.”
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Circle within a key: This is a related device. Roots move up by fourth, but the notes stay entirely within a key. In C major, this would be: Cmaj7 Fmaj7 Bm7b5 Em7 Am7 Dm7 G7 Cmaj7 (In roman numerals: I IV VII III VI II V I). Note that to stay within the key, one of the root movements (IV to VII) has to be by augmented fourth rather than by perfect fourth. In actual practice, you will usually see sections of this circle, rather than the whole sequence.
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IVm and/or bVII7: You may see these chords used in a major key context - for example, Fm6, Fm7, or Bb7, in the key of C. The purpose is to import notes, especially the b6 of the key, from the parallel minor key (in the key of C, b6 would be the note Ab, borrowed from the key of C minor). The effect is to add color, often accentuating an emotional moment in the song. Occasionally, bVII7 may also be used as a substitute for V.
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Turnarounds: A turnaround is a I VI II V sequence, or some variation, often used at the end of a section to set up a repeat to the I chord.
- Blues chords: These are chords that harmonize a blue note (b3, b5, b7) in the melody. Examples are IV7, bVI7, bVII7 (in the key of C these would be F7, Ab7, Bb7). This is a uniquely American device, developed in the 1910s-1940s. In a sense, these chords are borrowed from the parallel minor, since they import minor-related notes.
- Tritone substitution: Where a V7 would go, a dominant seventh chord built on the b2 scale degree may be substituted (Db7 would be used in place of G7). This is another device that was developed in the “Golden Age.” Tritone substitution became a basic jazz technique beginning in the bebop years.
These harmonic devices explain a large proportion of the chord sequences in modern print versions of jazz standards.
Evolving Harmonic Practice
Beginning in the 1910s, we can see a gradually increasing harmonic sophistication in the tunes that were to become “jazz standards.” Popular devices in the early years were secondary dominants and blues chords. By the late 1920s, we find more frequent use of brief modulations to secondary tonal centers. The early 1930s saw an increasingly creative use of harmony by state-of-the-art songwriters like George Gershwin, Cole Porter, Jerome Kern, and Richard Rodgers.
In the 1940s, our list of “jazz standards” shows a growing number of tunes composed by jazz performers. These compositions in many cases never appeared in printed form, but were marketed to the public only as recordings. If they ever were notated, it would probably have been in lead sheet form, for the benefit of the composer and his fellow musicians. The harmonic language was basically that of the previous decade, with the addition of some “modern” devices (e.g., tritone substitution, and increased use of ninth, eleventh, and thirteenth chords.)
In the 1950s, our list of standards shows a drop in Broadway/Tin Pan Alley/movie tunes, and a continuing increase in pieces written by jazz performers. Through the 1950s, compositions by jazz players further explored the “II V I” approach. The late 1950s saw an exploration of new harmonic approaches, reflected in compositions like John Coltrane’s “Giant Steps,” and Miles Davis’ modal pieces. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, some performers like Cannonball Adderley and Horace Silver chose to return to the roots of jazz, with blues-related compositions and improvisation styles (“Work Song,” “The Preacher”). The late 1950s also saw the development of bossa nova, a Brazilian style that fused American harmony with the melodic/rhythmic styles of samba (notably in the compositions of Antonio Carlos Jobim).
In the 1960s, new approaches included a further effort to break out of the “II V I” mold by composers like Wayne Shorter, and the beginnings of rock/jazz fusion (often using what might be called a modal approach in soloing).
It is interesting to note the figures for the number of tunes among the top 1000 jazz standards as defined on this site that were composed in different decades:
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pre-1910
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24
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1910s
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36
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1920s
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164
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1930s
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312
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1940s
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267
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1950s
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131
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1960s
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58
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1970s
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7
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1980s
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1
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There are undoubtedly many reasons why these numbers are distributed this way. But one major factor, at least, has to be the relative interest that these songs’ harmonic structures hold for contemporary performers.
Reharmonization
As discussed in the article Performance Practice vs. Composer’s Intention, jazz performers often reharmonize standards, moving beyond fake book and sheet-music settings. Basic harmonic landmarks are usually preserved.
Form
Both “Golden Age” songs and those written by jazz players tend to use simple forms - usually 12, 16, or 32 measures long, with melodies written in 4-bar phrases. Within these short forms, harmonic events tend to happen in a relatively short space of time.
The classic American song form is the 32-measure AABA. It begins with an 8-measure “A” section, which is then repeated, perhaps with some variation. An 8-bar “B” section (“bridge”) follows, providing some tonal contrast, often moving to a different key. The A section then returns to finish the song. This form had become quite common by the 1930s. Often the song was prepared with a lead-in section, or “verse.” Verses are generally omitted by modern performers.
Alternate terms, not used much anymore, are: “refrain” or “chorus” for the A section, and “channel” or “release” for the bridge (B section).
Other common forms include ABAB1, ABAC, and ABA. Composers may take liberties with these forms, extending or shortening them, generally by 2- or 4-bar units. The 12-bar form is usually identified with blues (see the Blues article in this website).
Lyrics
For songs written in the “Golden Age” of standards - when these songs were popular music - lyrics, melody, and harmony are interrelated parts of the whole. Each helps the expressive message. For a rather obvious example, see the verse (introduction) to Cole Porter’s “Night and Day.” The lyrics compare the beat of a drum, the tick of a clock, and the drip of raindrops to a voice in the singer’s head saying “you, you, you.” The melody consists of repeated notes, pointing up the theme of incessant repetition. The accompanying harmony mostly repeats the dominant chord, with just enough harmonic movement to maintain interest. The main body of the song carries forward the repeated-note motif.
Songwriters in this period were quite aware of the effectiveness of supporting the lyrics with appropriate harmony, melody, and rhythm. However, it is interesting to note that the music was often written before the words - meaning that a good lyricist would fit the lyrics to the emotional gestures contained in the melody. (For our example, “Night and Day,” Cole Porter wrote both the words and the music.)
Today, instrumental interpretations of these songs are probably more common than vocal versions. Nevertheless, jazz instrumentalists often express the opinion that in order to interpret a song properly, one should know the lyrics.
Most jazz standards that were written by jazz instrumentalists were conceived without lyrics. The above comments do not apply in these cases, even though singers may later write words for these tunes.
For a more detailed look at contemporary jazz harmony, see Peter Spitzer’s Jazz Theory Handbook, or any of the other theory books shown in the panel on this page.
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Peter Spitzer
Mel Bay Jazz Theory Handbook
Mel Bay Publications, Inc.
Perfect Paperback
(Jazz Theory Handbook is a great jazz theory resource for beginners and established musicians. Click the graphic to see our review.)
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