Tag Archives: chord substitutions

The I-ii7-iii7 progression

In the past, I have mentioned that rather than discussing single chord changes, I would rather discuss how you can modify chord progressions.  Today, I want to introduce another versatile chord progression.It is natural and beautiful for the chords in a progression to move in steps.  As a matter of fact, when trying to reharmonize a […]

The ii-V7-I progression and V7 to ii7 chord substitution

This lesson covers a very important topic and is quite lengthy.  If you find yourself in deep waters, you might revisit previous lessons about how to identify and name chords (look in the “Theory” section here). In modern music, the most popular chord progression is the ii-V7-I.  Believe it or not, you can build entire […]

Introduction to reharmonization (chord substitutions)

Starting in this lesson, I am going to attempt to tackle the ambitious task of teaching harmony–specifically how to improve the harmony (chord progressions) that you normally see in hymn books.  I am not going to get far today–in fact, all I am going to cover today is an overview and a brief history of […]

Using the 2nd/9th to end a song

I hope that you are practicing what I taught in the last lesson about using the 9th in specific voicings.  Don’t worry if it takes a while to get–those voicings will become instinctive and will greatly help your playing.One thing I want to mention at this point is that there is one particular finger you […]

Adding the 9th

As we continue working through “Take My Life,” I will be showing you potential color notes to add.  Today, I want to give you a few specific voicings for adding the 9th. Remember that the 9th is just a complicated way of saying the2nd. (you call it a 9th rather than a 2nd when a […]

Important things to know about altered chords

If you are following these lessons in order, you are now working on adding 7ths to your chords.  I want you to keep working on that, but need to give you some other information that will help you. Many pianists want to know what chords I use, but they do not understand that the actual […]