Rhythm Changes Explained - The Jazz Piano Site [PDF]

Zitiervorschau

(http://www.thejazzpianosite.com/)



Rhythm Changes Explained I Got Rhythm The most common chord progression found in Jazz is the 12 Bar Blues. The second most common chord progression is Rhythm Changes.   Rhythm Changes are a chord progression based on the song I Got Rhythm by George Gershwin.   I Got Rhythm technical details: The original song is 34 bars long (32 bars AABA + 2 bar outro) Rhythm Changes ignores the outro and just keeps the  rst 32 bars It has an AABA form (with standard 8 bar sections) It is originally in the key of B♭ Major

Now, it’s important to understand that there is no single Rhythm Changes chord progression. Rather, it is a number of di erent progressions all derived from the original I Got Rhythm progression. This is similar to the 12 Bar Blues – which also has a basic structure and then hundreds of variations.   So let’s break it down and look at each section individually, beginning with Section A.

Free Guitar Chords Includes over 3000 of the most commonly used guitar chords. guitaristsreference.com

Section A Base Progression At it’s absolute most minimalistic and simplest, Section A is just a I-V-I-V progression for 8 bars.  

Bar

1

2

3

4

Base Prog

B♭6

F7

B♭6

F7

Bar

5

6

7

8

Base Prog

B♭6

F7

B♭6

F7



Simpli ed Rhythm Changes Progression To make this ‘base’ chord progression a little more interesting we can insert some chord substitutions. Below are two widely used chord substitutions for the B♭6 and F7 chords.   Chord

Notes

Substitute Chord

Notes

Substitution type

B♭6

B♭ D F G

Gm7

G B♭ D F

Median Note

F7

F A C E♭

Cm7

C E♭ G B♭

II-V

So employing these chord substitutions, we can turn a I-V progression into a I-VI-II-V Progression, repeated for the whole 8 bars.   At it’s heart, Rhythm Changes are just a I-VI-II-V Progression.   Bar

1

2

3

4

Simpli ed Prog

B♭6 - Gm7

Cm7 - F7

B♭6 - Gm7

Cm7 - F7

Base Prog

B♭6

F7

B♭6

F7

Bar

5

6

7

8

Simpli ed Prog

B♭6 - Gm7

Cm7 - F7

B♭6 - Gm7

Cm7 - F7

Base Prog

B♭6

F7

B♭6

F7

Songs that use this simpli ed chord progression are: Don’t be that Way

Blue Moon



Lester Leaps In

Original Rhythm Changes This ‘simpli ed’ chord progression can be further modi ed into the actual chord progression used in I Got Rhythm. We leave all the above bars the same except bars 5 & 6, where we substitute a few new chords as outlined below. These new chords are Borrowed Chords – see the lesson on Modal Interchange (http://www.thejazzpianosite.com/jazz-piano-lessons/jazz-chords/borrowedchords/) for more details.   Bar

1

2

3

4

Original Prog

B♭6 - Gm7

Cm7 - F7

B♭6 - Gm7

Cm7 - F7

Simpli ed Prog

B♭6 - Gm7

Cm7 - F7

B♭6 - Gm7

Cm7 - F7

Base Prog

B♭6

F7

B♭6

F7

Bar

5

6

7

8

Original Prog

B♭6 - B♭7

E♭6 - E♭m7

B♭6 - Gm7

Cm7 - F7

Simpli ed Prog

B♭6 - Gm7

Cm7 - F7

B♭6 - Gm7

Cm7 - F7

Base Prog

B♭6

F7

B♭6

F7

This is now the original I Got Rhythm chord progression. This is used in songs like: I Got Rhythm (obviously) Daphne Cotton Tail Anthropology Oleo

Although, this technically isn’t true. Many (most/all) of the above songs don’t actually use this EXACT chord progression. But rather add even further chord substitutions on top of this ‘original’ chord progression. And so…

Further Chord Substitutions for Rhythm Changes

Because Rhythm Changes are so simple, they are also very versatile and exible. They allow for many



possible substitutions and variations. Below is a selection of possible variations on I Got Rhythm which would all still be classi ed as Rhythm Changes. You can mix and match any combination of bars.  

 

Bar

1

2

3

4

Original

B♭6 - Gm7

Cm7 - F7

B♭6 - Gm7

Cm7 - F7

II-V

B♭6 - G7

Cm7 - F7

Dm7 - G7

Cm7 - F7

m=V7

B♭6 - G7

C7 - F7

B♭6 - G7

C7 - F7

Ascend bass

B♭6 - Bo

C7 - C#o

Dm7 - G7

Cm7 - F7

Co5th

F#7 - B7

E7 - A7

D7 - G7

C7 - F7

Descend

B♭7 - A♭7

G♭7 - F7

B♭7 - A♭7

G♭7 - F7

Bar

5

6

7

8

Original

B♭6 - B♭7

E♭6 - E♭m7

B♭6 - Gm7

Cm7 - F7

II-V

Fm7 - B♭7

E♭7 - A♭7

Dm7 - G7

Cm7 - F7

Other

B♭7

E♭6 - E♭m7

Dm7 - Gm7

Cm7 - F7

Ascend bass

B♭6 - B♭7/D

E♭6 - Eo

B♭6/F - Gm7

Cm7 - F7

Descend bass

B♭6 - B♭7/A♭

E♭6/G - A♭7/G♭

B♭6/F - Gm7/D

Cm7 - F7

Outro #1

-

-

B♭6 - F7

B♭6

Outro #2

-

-

Cm7 - F7

B♭6

All of these are possible versions of Rhythm Changes. Now lets move onto Section B.



Section B Section B of Rhythm Changes is easy. It has one single goal or objective.   Objective: Get to F7 (or B7, the tritone substitution) on the last bar of Section B   This is the V7 of B♭, so will create a V-I cadence when we move on to the nal A Section (which begins on the B♭6).   This is done by going through a Dominant Circle Progression (http://www.thejazzpianosite.com/jazz-piano-lessons/jazz-chord-progressions/circle-of- fths/). The original I Got Rhythm starts on D7 and moves through G7, C7 and then to F7 – for 2 bars each. Below is a selection of possible alternatives.   Bar

17

18

19

20

Original

D7

D7

G7

G7

II-V

Am7

D7

Dm7

G7

Tritone Sub

D7

D7

D♭7

D♭7

Don’t be that way

A7

A7

D7

D7

Straight Ahead

E7

E7

E♭7

E♭7

Bar

21

22

23

24

Original

C7

C7

F7

F7

II-V

Gm7

C7

Cm7

F7

Tritone Sub

C7

C7

B7

B7

Don’t be that way

G7

G7

C7

F7

Straight Ahead

D7

D♭7

C7

B7



And once we get to F7 at the end of Section B, we go back and play the nal Section A one last time. And you’re done.

Other Variations Other variations on Rhythm Changes involve moving bits of the chord progression around to other parts of the song. For example, Section A of Thelonious Monk’s Rhythm-A-Ning is shown below. Notice bars 1 & 2 are the same as bars 5 & 6.   Bar

1

2

3

4

Original Prog

B♭6 - Gm7

Cm7 - F7

B♭6 - Gm7

Cm7 - F7

Rhythm-A-Ning

B♭6 - B♭7

E♭7 - Eo7

B♭6 - Gm7

Cm7 - F7

Bar

5

6

7

8

Original Prog

B♭6 - B♭7

E♭6 - E♭m7

B♭6 - Gm7

Cm7 - F7

Rhythm-A-Ning

B♭6 - B♭7

E♭7 - Eo7

B♭6 - Gm7

Cm7 - F7

Have a Listen to The below songs all use Rhythm Changes. Check them out. Anthropology ~ Charlie Parker Moose the Mooche ~ Parker Steeplechase ~ Parker Dexterity ~ Parker Cotton Tail ~ Duke Ellington Fingers ~ Thad Jones Little Pixie II ~ Thad Jones Daphne ~ Django Reinhardt Double Whiskey ~ Django Reinhardt

Don’t be That Way ~ Benny Goodman Lester Leaps In ~ Lester Young



Oleo ~ Sonny Rollins Rhythm-A-Ning ~ Thelonious Monk The Eternal Triangle ~ Sonny Stitt Straighten Up and Fly Right ~ Nat King Cole Tip Toe ~ Thad Jones The Theme ~ Miles Davis The Serpent’s Tooth ~ Miles Davis Crazeology ~ Benny Harris Five Guys Named Moe ~ Louis Jordan Blue Moon ~ Rodgers & Hart Salt Peanuts ~ Dizzy Gillespie Shaw Nu ~ Dizzy Gillespie Christopher Columbus ~ Chu Berry

Conclusion At it’s simplest, Rhythm Changes are:   Section A = Repeating I-VI-II-V Section B = Dominant Circle Progression ending on the Dominant of ultimate key (F7 in the key of B♭ Major)   With a heap of chord substitutions (http://www.thejazzpianosite.com/jazz-piano-lessons/jazzchords/chord-substitution/).   It’s also worth noting that many songs use just Section A of Rhythm Changes and then a di erent Section B. While many other songs use just Section B of Rhythm Changes and then a di erent Section A. So as you can see, Rhythm Changes are very exible.   And that, in a nutshell, is Rhythm Changes. Make sure you practice comping (http://www.thejazzpianosite.com/jazz-piano-lessons/jazz-chord-voicings/how-to-comp/) and improvising over them (in every key). Because they are as important to Jazz as the 12 Bar Blues.

Every Jam Session should include at least one go round Rhythm Changes.



Jazz Piano Tutorial - Rhythm Changes Explained

  >> NEXT LESSON >> (/jazz-piano-lessons/jazz-chord-progressions/coltrane-changes)

 

Search The Jazz Piano Site Search …

Donate While all my lessons are free, if you nd them useful please consider donating to help keep them coming. (https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?

cmd=_donations&business=DUZ6VARAK7VAE&lc=AU&item_name=Walk%20That%20Bass¤cy_c ode=AUD&bn=PP%2dDonationsBF%3abtn_donate_LG%2egif%3aNonHosted)   Home (http://www.thejazzpianosite.com) Donate (http://www.thejazzpianosite.com/donate/) Resources (http://www.thejazzpianosite.com/resources/) Privacy Policy (http://www.thejazzpianosite.com/privacy-policy/) Sitemap (http://www.thejazzpianosite.com/sitemap/)

Theme by Tesseract (https://tesseracttheme.com)  

(https://tesseracttheme.com)

