Tag Archives: functional harmony

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 […]

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 […]

Why chords can be called different things

In my opinion, understanding music theory is critical if you plan to learn to improvise. If you are already improvising by ear, you can be successful for a long time without ever knowing anything about theory. However, in the long run, you will help yourself by learning the theory behind your music. Over the next […]