Backdoor progression

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For other uses of "Backdoor", see Backdoor (disambiguation).

In jazz music theory, the cadential chord progression from iv⁷ to I, or flat-VII⁷ to I has been nicknamed the backdoor progression. This name derives from an assumption that the normal progression to the tonic (V⁷ to I, or the authentic cadence) is, by inference, the front door. It can be found in popular jazz standards in such places as measures 9 and 11 of "My Romance" or measures 10 and 28 of "There Will Never Be Another You", as well as Beatles songs like In My Life and "If I Fell". It can be considered a minor plagal cadence in traditional theory.

The flat-VII⁷ chord, a pivot chord borrowed from the parallel minor of the current key, is a dominant seventh. Therefore it can resolve to I; it is commonly preceded by IV going to iv, then flat-VII⁷, then I.