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-7 to V7 to Δ Progressions

In Mark Levine's Jazz Piano Book, one of the first exercises is to learn a ii-V-I pattern, with the ii a minor seventh (-7), the V a dominant seventh (7), and the I a major seventh (Δ). In this exercise, you play the root in the bass and the third and the seventh in the treble. (The fifth isn't necessary because it's the third and seventh that determine the quality of the chord.) He says to practice these, going around the circle of fifths, and in both inversions (fifth on top, third on top), until it's all second nature.

So when I was about 28, shortly after I bought the book, I started working on these. They weren't easy. I wasn't very good at music theory (or even reading music) at the time, so it was a real strain on my mind. This was about the time I signed up for jazz piano lessons with a musician in Baton Rouge. At the first lesson, I showed him the little progress I'd made on the progressions, and he suggested that, instead of going around the circle of fifths, I should work make the I of one progression to the ii of the next progression. This way I wasn't having to jump a fourth every time.

So I learned that ... and I wish I hadn't. Because going up a fourth is part of the "second nature" of the exercise. Anyway.

The next chapter talked about suspensions and Phrygian chords and I absolutely did not understand any of it, so I set the book aside, purportedly for a while, and then life circumstances changed and I didn't go back to it for a long time. I still practiced the ii-V-I progressions on occasion, and I even wrote some nice little melodies based on them, but I never got past that Phrygian chapter.

A few days ago, I went back to the Levine book ... and that Phrygian chapter still does not make sense to me. So I moved on to the next chapter, which is much easier to digest. It introduces some color tones into the ii-V-I, and, as with the previous exercise, it says to practice and practice and practice these progressions around the circle of fifths until they become second nature.

Because color tones are added, there are three inversions to learn instead of just two. Here is one of them:


Here is a brief video of me going through these in several different keys, going up a fourth each time.

So ... 12 keys x 3 inversions = 36 progressions that need to become "second nature." I've been working on these for a few days, and, while it hasn't exactly been easy, it's been fun. It's making my brain happy to think on this level.

Once I learn these, there will be inversions with flatted fifths and such ... but it will be a while before I get there.  In the meantime, I'm glad to be back in the Levine book again.

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