Letters become numbers ... or not. Just turns out that music style factors right into how chords and their progressions are often identified. Either by letter name of a chord's root pitch or numerically, as in relation to a chosen key center. Three note triads are usually identified by letter. And when we add a 7th, we can sense a change a coming as the dominant spin begins. Thinking relative keys 'C' major / 'A' natural minor, letters to numbers for chord progressions.

Remembering that set chord progressions also shape our song forms, music style plays a big role here. On the folk side, chords and progressions are usually by letter. In the blues, with it's One / Four / Five, its very common to get just the key of the song, and sort it out by number from there.

Key of 'A', 1 4 5 / A D and E chords etc.

I'd imagine in pop, country and rock styles, artists identify chords by letter. Through the blues and on into jazz and beyond, numbers will often rule the day. In this book and method, we look to generate an androgenous, key center by thinking along the lines of a 'numerical perspective of the elements.

So in the following explorations, we get to replace the root letter names with numbers to identify our chords and their progressions, within a key center. And like the various other music and math relationships here in Essentials, we create a central point, a key center, and simply count out from there. Once we're numerically thinking, we've all 12 of the tones from which to project the same 'theory of anything.'

Roman numerals / major and minor. We theorists have another way to identify our chord progressions and the major / minor quality of triad we build on each diatonic scale degree. We can use the Roman numerals from olden days, numbers one through eight, to identify our numerical positions within a key center. That they exist in two varieties is perfection. Upper and lower case, so our major and minor? Yep. Upper case is major, lower case denotes minor. It goes like this.

Our chosen key center is designated as the 'one', and we simply count up one through eight for our diatonic scale degree / pitches. We assign corresponding upper and lower case Roman numerals to designate the quality of the triad we build up on each scale degree. Do consider rote memorizing this next chart.

Cool? So this covers the designation of our diatonic seven pitches, so what about the other five pitches, as found in between these diatonic seven? Easy ... we use the '# and b' symbols to get in between and designate any of the possible scale degrees. And to designate color tones on any chord? We use just their regular numbers.

Chances are it'll get confusing at times, all this numerical / letters / scale degrees / colortone #'s, but it does for all of us at some point, so we're not alone in this struggle. Nice to know that there's just three basic number systems to rote learn and master. And that the numbers only go as high as 15, well #15 for some. And at this lofty elevation, we're off into another universe of music, with its newer theories, newer modal cycles of pitches, extended arpeggios, and weaving of the ancient colors. So, impractical for most of us merely mortal beings? Might be but then again ... :)

This 'tonal center' is our tonic pitch, One, determined by the key center we choose for our song. And just like with measuring the distance between two pitches as an interval, its the same with our chord numbers. They simply reflect and measure the distance between chords, the bigger the number, the further the distance.

And while there's considerations about 'which key', we don't worry about it here too much. For in the real world, the composer, a vocal range and playability of fingerings usually determine a song's key center. When all else fails, we can get the capo out and keep trying to find the right spot for all combined.

In the following discussions, we'll jump around key wise a bit, mostly to tie these chord progression ideas into the guitar and bass methods. For there's just times we love our open strings for their 'full on extra bring it' magics, and sometimes we move it up by half step, or re-tune it up or down, to find our own right earth tones.

Core of it all. Is motion to Four at the core of it all? For some it could very well be. For in this back and forth is the essential DNA of our own Americana gospel. In any music style telling any sort of story, if ya want to testify' a bit, bring some gospel to the discussion under way, go to Four. And stay there for a spell :) This first idea is in 'E' blues. First chords then a suggested riff, which as written, doubles as a bass line too. Example 4.

Cool? Sound familiar? It's everywhere in our musics of course. As time and all permits, find a version of the suggested "Turn On Your Love Light" and jam along, finding the One to Four motion and have some fun. The Grateful Dead version is in 'E', so they get the myriad of different drives with these big open notes.

The big tone. Get a nice big tone with the open notes yes? Cool. We bass players love them too :) We quickly realize here that this bass line, created with the pitches of the major triad, is also a major style 'influencer.' And adding in a tempo and style of rhythm, i.e., a groove, we've just illuminated the bass line / chord basis of about half of the standards in our blues, rock, country and pop songbook :)

And flip it on over for the 'B' side. And near just as popular of course, is starting on Four gives us a place to go to. One? Sure why not. Bass line first. Example 4a.

Here's this last idea, Four to One, in 'A' minor. Ex. 4b.

This minor '9' chord voicing in the first measure above is a keeper for certain. The One chord is maybe the most common of the fast moving Two chord shapes available.

Passing chords between One and Four. So if getting to Four is a main focus of our chord progressions, we must have a few other ways to get there yes? Sure, and these ideas, here using triads, is tried and true solid thanks in part to the bass line. Thinking 'C' major. Example 4c.

Sound about right? Diatonic stepwise motion. Solid 1st inversion, 'E up to F' root motion by half step. Jazz it up with the sleeker Two / Five into Four styled motion. Then with some V7 blue colors, and resolving to Four from 1/2 step above.

One / Four / Five. This next chord progression gets more airtime than probably any other, and rightly so, as it'll rock the house both big and small. We're back to our One to Four motion, now with Five to close out the phrase. This next idea reminiscent of a song that has gone to #1 in most garage bands across America since 1966. Learn it here if need be. Example 6.

Know this progression? Do learn it here if need be. Just way fun. And surely add in your own style grooves and tones, find a hook and write a song or two ... for these chords are purest gold in rock and roll :) Folk, blues and country styles too of course. So, need to fill the dance floor right now? Count off a 'Good Lovin' styled song ... and behold its magical dance magic :)

Basic yet cool. How do three chords light up stadiums of fans? 'Three chords and the truth' and some blues hue ?

One / Four / Five in minor. Here's the same motion in minor. Thinking 'E' minor. Example 6a.

Chord progressions in the minor keys have just as wide a variability as with the major keys. And maybe even more so. For in minor, we get to add in additional pitches to our diatonic core of seven pitches with the harmonic and melodic minor groups, and the variable chords these groups of pitches can bring to our progressions.

Six to Five to Four ... and back. Sometimes known around generally as the 'Watchtower changers', this is the essential cadential motion in minor drives a lot of the Americana magics. The Five up to Six in the middle, then the is direct from the closing phrase of the now near ancient "Scarborough Fair." Here parodied some in "C#" minor, as lifted off a recording. Ex. 7.

Lots of our Americana heros covered this song. Everybody in the room usually knows it too, so it's a fun jam tune. As Americana as it might ever. Heavy jamm tune, learn these changes here if need be.

Variation. This next idea comes right off the last one. Moving to 'E' minor, it's basically a Four / One / Five in major, but kicked off with with their relative minor tonic chord / vi. Often built into a nice jamm loop of four bar phrases, it has a sort of 'epic' quality that loops. Ex. 7a.

Variation. Always nice to have something 'epic', never know when the Queen's going to show up :) Very user friendly changes to solo over, did you catch the closing '4-3' suspension in the turnaround? 'Epic + upgrade' :)

Four / Five / One becomes Two / Five / One. Continuing our evolutions here, we being a mix and match of major and minor to create a cadential motion for the major key. In 'C' major. Examine the letter name pitches as we spell out the chords. Example 8.

And right under our nose ! Catching the 'F' major triad in the upper part of the 'D -7' chord ... ? A slight shifting along the arpeggio stream of pitches creates a new way to set these critters in motion. And the new bass line? Probably the same story, but with a new twist :) Ex. 8a.

Song starts on a Two chord. Every once in a while a song comes along that wants to start 'on its way' to some resting place (usually One) in the future. And the Two chord is a perfect way to start. Most notable standards include the jazzy ballad "As Time Goes By" from the famous movie and early 60's rockin "All My Loving."

Tritone sub, mostly a jazz motion. This next idea evolves the Two / Five progression just above, and is a potential 'super super' game changer. For in one theory move, and with a couple of chord shapes, we create new pathways of accelerated sleekness and an ability to bring the swing. Thinking 'C' major, 'G7' becomes 'Db7', thus our name of tritone sub.' Examine the letter name pitches and then their realization. Example 9.

Cool and easy huh? Two / Five is the sleeker jazzier 'go to' motion. And in 'jazzy standard songs', most anywhere a composer goes we can find a Two / Five cadential motion to get us there. This 'cell' of chords gives us something to extra to work with. Is the tritone sub the organics for the half step lead in? Could very well be. Is the tritone sub chord part of the V7b9, multiple resolutions process? Yep. That's a diatonic, organic source for the theory of this substitution magic.

One / Six / Four / Five into Three / Six / Two / Five. In this next evolution, the One triad now becomes Six, and the Four chord evolves into Two. Like 1 6 2 5, the sleeker 3 6 2 5 motion is a fun looping jammer, it's a cycle of fourths bass line story, a solid motion for intro', outro's and vamps.

With the sleeker Two / Five motion, it's easy to begin to double it up into '3 6 2 5', creating a looping cycle that is ready to continue to cycle along, or resolve its motion and direction, if and whenever :) A slight shifting up in the arpeggios, examine the transition in letter name pitches. Thinking 'G' major. Example 10.

For guitarists, notice the bass motion as it moves across the strings by perfect fourth? This is a jazz players delight, as these sorts of motions, with movable chord shape or structures, can open up the harmony and possibilities rather quickly.

With the right players and setting, this 'loop' can and often will, go on for a while. Makes for a good intro, and even a better outro, to build up a 'bring the house down' final hold.

Evolving Six ( vi ) into a dominant chord / V7 of ii. Another 'stgc'er?' Yep, that's like 4 in a row :) Feeling a sense of a stylistic change in these chord progressions as these 'game changers' stack up? Cool, just jazzing it up.

By adding one new pitch to our diatonic scale mix, the # One, we now have the pitches to build the Six triad as major, and then easy to diatonically evolve it to a dominant V7 chord type. This creates an almost perfect diatonic 'double Two / Five' motion, a whole step apart. It's also another step into making all of the chords in our progression a V7 chord type. Here thinking in 'G' major, examine the letter name pitches and resulting musics. Example 11.

OK with the 9th colortone in VI and V ? Still blues and jazz, using this color helps to keep a common tone pitch between each pair, helping to glue together and sure up the motion.

So just a sort of 'Two / Five' cycle? Yep. Or, a cycling of Two / Fives. And once we start these sorts of motions off, cycles and sequences and their combinations often become a mainstay of our art.

So ... we borrowed a pitch to build up the VI 9 / 'E' 9 chord, so not purely diatonic anymore. Oh well, that's bound to happen eventually. To want to explore a bit beyond the boundaries. Is that grass greener on the other side of me vale?

Sleeken the sleek. This next idea 'sleekens' our 3 6 2 5 motion even a bit more as we apply the tritone subs to our two dominant V7 chords.

So, iii-7 / bIII7 / ii-7 / bII7 cycling. In root letter names our bass line becomes ...

B E A D becomes B Bb A Ab ...

Note the new motion in the bass line? Right, pure chromatic ... so as sleek as it gets ! We've reached supreme sleekness ... so in jazz style? Probably. Compare the two motions. Example 11a.

Sense how the chromatic bass motion and near vertical fingerings for the chords help accelerate the potentials here? Cool. That's the idea. On the one end of our spectrum, most folk songs like to roll right along, like riding in a wagon on a country road. On the other end of our music spectrum, there's jazz music that just want wants to go as fast as possible :) Like be able to jump high? Run fast? Think smart for a better way? All these joys have challenges built right in ... what are yours?

Jazzy 'standard' changes. This next idea combines a lot of the above evolutions into an eight bar phrase. Motion to Four and then a 'standard' sort of way to work back to our tonic, One. In 'C' major. Example 12.

"Misty" changes? Yea pretty much. Ever consider soloing 'through' such a chord progression? Arpeggiating each chord? Yikes !

In this next idea, we illuminate the Two / Five cells in this chord progression. Example 12a.

This last chord progression is really just a solid way to get to Four, and then cycle on back to One, via cycle of 4th's root motions of Two / Five cells. Cool ?

Find a leadsheet chart for the ballad "Misty", written by master pianist and maestro Erroll Garner, and study a tried and true chord progression that is reflected in dozens of classic Americana songs.

The 'granddaddy' of them all. 'The divvy up of the diatonic bebop Americana pie.' From the "Misty" changes just above, with composer Charlie Parker's help, we go further on up the road of finding new chords to arpeggiate / bluesify, slipped in between the basic chord progressions and cadential motions common to the jazz language. First, here's the bass line, and thinking in 'F' major, our fourth scale degree is 'Bb' yes? That's our goal in moving away from One, and from whence we shall return. Example 13.

In this next idea we harmonize this mostly diatonic bass line with root position chords while adding in various color tones and 2 / 5 cells. Example 13a.

Surely a jazzy approach and a lot tucked into four bars. Feel the start point tonic 'F', then motion to Four 'Bb', and then continuing on to settle back and resolve to our original starting point? Cool. This sort of motion is core bebop changes, getting us from One to Four and back.

Again the idea, that in jazzing up motion to Four, we give ourselves new opportunities to solo through the harmony of this essential, One to Four story line. Advancing the challenge? Yes indeed. And played in the brighter bop tempos, our task to improvise melody lines, through these changes, ramps ( vertically ?) right up.

Not that we don't already have enough to work with ... but we can chromaticize this line with a few tritone subs? Sure why not :) Here's the bass line. Example 13b.

Here's a realization. Example 13c.

Cool? Again, surely a jazzy approach and a lot tucked into four bars. While we don't hear this sort of chord motion often in today's musics, in the bebop 50's jazz scene, it was a lot of their bread and butter. Yet even today, up and coming jazz players look to conquer these changes, and their endless challenge of creating of creating cool, blues infused, stepwise and arpeggiated lines that swing, as fast as they can.

Author's note. Parker's composition "Confirmation", holds the musical elements to become the ancestral, granddaddy song of them all here in this UYM / EMG primer. For it sets the pinnacle standard for what an improvising artist can do, while still thinking and sounding diatonic. So like Bach, diatonically explore and exhaust through all 12 keys. With Parker? Similar 12 tone explorations within a diatonic realm, adding the pure Americana blues hue and accenting 2 and 4 of the big 4, the basis for getting music to swing in any tempo.

For at university level music school back in the 80's, understanding this "Confirmation" level of Americana music sophistication was a goal. That mastering, or even attempting to 'theory understand' and master these "Confirmation changes", and thinking in a 'through the changes' approach to improvising single note bop lines, is a top step, if not the top step, towards one's own artistic and performance level and musical skills Parnassus.

Historically, Confirmation's chord progression, and its tritone sub version, provided harmonic ideas and shaped a lot of what composers did after, on through the 50's. 'Hard bop' as it is often termed. Players arpeggiating the chords, or parts thereof, to make clear sense of where the music was going harmonically, through this then new '12 tone / root cycle by fourths / diatonic realm.' That yet retains the Americana gospel and a ton of blues. Yet the 'Trane' is still to fully arrive.

And back to our theory discussions. Over the top ... too many chords? A dozen chords in like four bars of music? :) Still danceable? Still swings? No surprise that within a decade, so by the 1960's, there's an art 'reactionary' approach to such harmonic complexity. Two new paths evolve. One is a more modal, melody centered approach. These chord progressions are more diatonic, though now modernized by stacking their pitches into fourths, known as quartile harmony. The voicings often move chromatically to, and between one another. In this way all 12 tones are available.

The second path of this 60's era is created by the elimination of the chords and harmony entirely. Often termed 'free jazz', with great freedoms come great responsibilities. And with musical art freedom, still making sense while moving through real time is a wonderful challenge. The combined melody and bass line story tasked to tell the tale. The artist 'fills in' their version of the story with single line melodic phrases. As lines line up, they can hint at possible chords and progressions. The harkens us back to the polyphony style of writing, popular a couple of centuries ago.

Moving beyond the perfect forth. First the theory, then the art. All of the above ideas all revolve around the interval of a perfect 4th. Motion to Four, Five / One cadences, 3 6 2 5 1 cycles, are based on root motion by fourth. So there's a super wide spectrum of songs and styles composed in this manner that includes near everything from the last four hundred years or so.

This next evolutionary idea puts a new spin on motion by fourth. We can jazz up our diatonic '3 6 2 5' cycle with a bit of 'theory hocus pocus.' So, combine nuts and bolts perfect closure theory and 'slight of hand?' Yep.

In doing so we can bring forth a new root pitch motion for our chord progressions. It's a same old Two / Five cell once the dust settles, but its placement in the progression is new and genius. So genius in fact, that in successive evolutions, we'll find and pass through the 'sheets of sound' approach and on into the realm of the 'post bop' harmony.

So this next bit of theory of chord progressions becomes the 'giant step' that eventually opens up into the realm beyond the conventional root movement by cycle of 4th's, and off to discover new cycles, convergences and substitutions based on different interval cycles. Lest we forget that in our theory, 'all roads lead to Rome.'

Based on the properties of V7b9, and the symmetrical minor 3rd, fully diminished 7th chord in its structure, we can move our Three / Six component of our progression down a minor 3rd interval, to create a new version of the double Two / Five. With this motion down a minor 3rd, our Two / Five cells are now a half step apart. Focusing in on the evolution of Six, examine the letter names as we spell out the various chords we commonly build on Six. Thinking in 'G' major. Example 14.

Hear the evolution of Six? Diatonic minor, then morphed into V7, then adding 'b9.' Extracting the symmetrical diminished 7th chord, then its motions by minor 3rds.

So with the diminished 7th within the V7b9 chords, they move in minor 3rd's like butter. For guitar players, there's two handy diminished chord shapes in the last example. The first one, built on the upper four strings, is probably most common, and perfectly inverts its pitches moving up and down the neck with practice. Same with the second shape, though a bit trickier

Evolving 3 6 2 5 with 'b9' diminished symmetry. In this next idea we move the '3 / 6' cell down a minor 3rd. This snugs it right up next to the diatonic Two / Five, by half step. Thinking 'G' major. Example 14a.

Easy enough huh ? Move 'B' and 'E' down a minor 3rd and they become 'Ab' and 'Db.' And from 'Ab' to 'Db' is a fourth. So ... minor 3rd / perfect 4th ? Yep.

Yea, those in the know know, giant leap in the theory, all sorts of caveats to make this last bit a reality, at least in theory. And we softened the diminished color, V7b9 colors back to V9 ? We did. The theory got us the evolution, but ii-7 / V9 is plenty of color yes? We just use the diminished symmetry theory to get us there, then adjust our colors for the new creative space we arrive at. Examine their letter name pitches. Example 14b.

Not too many pitches in common with 'G' major ... so ?

Where in the music? Very rare in written musics, though common enough in advanced jazz improv as a possible 'double 2 / 5.' Coltrane's 1957 song "Moment's Notice" features this 'double Two / Five.' And in this composition and this motion in particular, we can find Coltrane's initial step beyond the cycle of Parker's "Confirmation."

This harmonic evolutionary process creates the super magical 'double Two / Five' cell, whose two components are separated by a half step interval. How is this innovation an evolution in theory, complexity and artistry ... an all in one? Well, we the improvising musician (us), now are tasked to come up with an idea, and half way through the sounding of this idea, we now get to modulate it up by half step up. Sounds like this. Thinking in 'Eb' major. Example 14c.

Ramp up the challenge. Hear the line modulate halfway through? Cool. Ever shape such lines in your own musics? If we add in the challenge of taking one motif per chorus, through the changes of a song, now with the 'double Two / Five' upgrade and wow, we've just really challenged ourselves. Boredom be gone !!!

And thanks to Coltrane, ramp up the excitement. Listen to the recording and marvel at the energy. Coltrane discovered this evolution over 50 years ago now and surely a lot has happened since. Yet, for the advancing improviser, this one 'evolution' can be a total kaboom. For now wherever a Two / Five motion comes up in our songs, we've an easy way to 'double the fun', in creating melodic ideas towards a resolution point.

This 'double up' might be the easiest way in the book to 'go outside' a bit, then 'back inside', with a solid theory anchor in historical ground. Of course nowadays, we can do it wherever it seems appropriate, in whatever music. For the lick is surely in our jazz lexicon today. That it surely ramps up the intellectual and artistic challenge in one fell swoop is magic. That in all styles, grooves and tempos, while improvising,

'... we find some space in time, Muse suggests an idea, we go for it and find the pitches, and during its sounding, move its pitches up by half step ...'

Talk about adding some new sparkle to our lines, wow! Luckily, most of what we need to create at this level is already under our fingers. We just need to adjust our thought process, allow for time and space in the music to allow it to happen, and do the shedding to create the new neural pathways.

Evolutions of jazz harmony ~ V7 before every chord and the 'chromatic blur.' Since in any cadential motion the Five to One gets it done, gradually players started putting a V7 chord before any chord of a song's chord progression. This gives us a 'mini turnaround' to focus energy to any chord at any point in the tune. And further on down this path, each chord becomes V7. Click over to explore 'evolution of harmony in jazz.'

Each musical style has its own fave loops of chords. Can we find the progressions of one style and morph them into another? Yep, we do it all the time. The 12 bar blues progression and form is a tried and true format that gets written in songs from every style and genre.

Our progression starts on a ____ chord. Decades ago now, while sitting in with a jazzy combo, the singer called a very famous song in major key that I thought ... 'I can handle this.' Starting on a diatonic Two chord, then moving to minor Five chord, before resolving to One, as the tonic major chord, I just couldn't understand this puzzle. So I mostly laid out and just listened to the beauty of the song's crafting as interpreted by these local monsters.

At the close of the song the bass player leans over and quips ... 'hey man, the song starts on Two.' Beet red from embarrassment, I thanked them for the opportunity to play and went home and learned the tune :)

So ... moral of the story ... ? Not all songs start on One. Oh, and the bridge was even trickier! And the song ... ? Well, 'play it again Sam ...', "As Time Goes By."

That said, in a bit of relief and closure, near all the songs I've come across, rote learned, can read through or know of by ear, all will end on the tonic chord of the written key, to bring a resolution, to bring the story on home.

Review and coda. Chord progressions are part of the formula that build up and structure a song. And there's just no end to their variety of pitches, root motions, voicings, colortones, substitutions, starting points, end points and ever evolving cycles. In most songs, there's a destination to go to, and off to Four, and the triads / chords built on Four, among the most common destination. That said, all the chords in our AmerAfroEuroLatin progressions like to move by this same interval of a 4th, and jazz it up from there.

V7 before any chord. At formal music school in Alaska, our professor one day stumped the band so to speak. For he asked, "how can we most easily 'set up' a move to any next chord, introduce any new key center, go anywhere we want to in our music, using a most common of musical component we have ? How can we with one stroke, change our tonal direction in our music ?

I answered like five things. All note quite what the good Dr. was looking for. Even Kerry Maule's ideas didn't quite get to the heart of what Doc was trying to get us to understand. The answer ? Is to simply play a V7 chord. Try it out and boldly go where U might not have ever gone before :)

References. References for this page's information comes from school, books and the bandstand and made way easier by the folks along the way.

Find a mentor / e-book / academia Alaska. Always good to have a mentor when learning about things new to us. And with music and its magics, nice to have a friend or two ask questions and collaborate with. Seek and ye shall find. Local high schools, libraries, friends and family, musicians in your home town ... just ask around, someone will know someone who knows someone about music and can help you with your studies in the musical arts.

Always keep in mind that all along life's journey there will be folks to help us and also folks we can help ... for we are not in this endeavor alone :) The now ancient natural truth is that we each are responsible for our own education. Positive answer this always 'to live by' question; 'who is responsible for your education ... ?

Intensive tutoring. Luckily for musical artists like us, the learning dip of the 'covid years' can vanish quickly with intensive tutoring. For all disciplines; including all the sciences and the 'hands on' trade schools, that with tutoring, learning blossoms to 'catch us up.' In music ? The 'theory' of making musical art is built with just the 12 unique pitches, so easy to master with mentorship. And in 'practice ?' Luckily old school, the foundation that 'all responsibility for self betterment is ours alone.' Which in music, and same for all the arts, means to do what we really love to do ... to make music :)

"These books, and your capacity to understand them, are just the same in all places. Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed, is more important than any other one thing."

Academia references of Alaska. And when you need university level answers to your questions and musings, and especially if you are considering a career in music and looking to continue your formal studies, begin to e-reach out to the Alaska University Music Campus communities and begin a dialogue with some of Alaska's finest resident maestros !