Stomp progression

In music and jazz harmony, the Stomp progression is an eight-bar chord progression named for its use in the "stomp" section of the composition "King Porter Stomp" (1923) by Jelly Roll Morton, later arranged by Fletcher Henderson. It was one of the most popular tunes of the swing era, and the Stomp progression was often used.

The progression is based on the last section of the piece, bars 57-64 in the original sheet music for piano[1] or the Fake Book lead sheet,[2] where the chords for the last 10 bars of the piece are:

Gb    /    Gdim /     | Db7/Ab / Db7 / | Gb   /   Gdim /     | Db7/Ab /   Db7  /  | Gb7 / Gdim / |
Db/Ab Adim Bbm  Db/Ab | Gdim   / Gb  / | Db/F Bbm Adim Db/Ab | Gdim   Gb6 Db/F Ab | Db9 / /    / ǁ

In pieces where the progression is repeated, this becomes something like:

||: Gb7 Gdim7 | Db7/Ab Db7 | Gb7 Gdim7 | Db7/Ab Db7  |
    Gb7 Gdim7 | Db7/Ab Bb7 | Eb7       | Ab7    Db7 

which is, ignoring the temporary tonicization of G, and treating the key as that of the trio and stomp sections, D:[3]

||: IV7 #ivdim7 | I7/5 I7  | IV7 #ivdim7 | I7/5 I7  | 
    IV7 #ivdim7 | I7/5 VI7 | II7         | V7   I7 

The last two measures contain the ragtime progression.

Many bands and composers have used the Stomp chord progression to write new compositions, writing new head tunes or melodies, but using the chord changes to, as Morton phrased it, "make great tunes of themselves".[4] Examples include Benny Carter's "Everybody Shuffle" (1934).[4] See contrafact.

Other examples include:

Sources

  1. Morton, Ferd "Jelly Roll" (1924). "King Porter Stomp". Edwin H. Morris & Company (MPL Communications, Inc.). Cited in Magee (2001), 28.
  2. Morton, Ferdinand "Jelly Roll"; Sid Rodin and Sonny Burke (1924, 1956, 1987). Jazz Fake Book (unofficial compilation) (Edwin H. Morris & Company, a division of MPL Communications): 208. Check date values in: |date= (help); Missing or empty |title= (help)
  3. Magee (2001), p.27.
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 Magee, Jeffrey. "'King Porter Stomp' and the Jazz Tradition", p.46, Current Musicology, 71-73 (Spring 2001-Spring 2002), p. 22-53.
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Schuller, Gunther and Martin Williams (1983). "Liner notes to Big Band Jazz: From the Beginnings to the Fifties", p.14. Smithsonian RD 030. Cited in Magee (2002).