Bird changes
Play .The Blues for Alice changes, Bird changes, Bird Blues, or New York Blues changes, is a chord progression, often named after Charlie Parker ("Bird"), which is a variation of the twelve-bar blues.
The progression uses a series of sequential ii–V or secondary ii–V progressions, and has been used in pieces such as Parker's "Blues for Alice". Toots Thielemans's "Bluesette"[1] and Parker's "Confirmation"[2] also have similar progressions.
Structure
A simple blues progression, in C, is as follows:
| C | C | C | C | | F | F | C | C | | G | F | C | C |
A typical blues progression in jazz, in C, is as follows:[3]
| C7 | F7 | C7 | C7 | | F7 | F7 | C7 | Em7 A7 | | Dm7 | G7 | C7 A7 | D7 G7 |
The Bird Blues progression, in C, is as follows:[4]
| CM7 | Bm7♭5 E7 | Am7 D7 | Gm7 | | F7 | Fm7 B♭7 | Em7 A7 | E♭m7 A♭7 | | Dm7 | G7 | CM7 A7 | Dm7 G7 |
| I | viiø III7 | vi II7 | v | | IV7 | iv ♭VII7 | iii VI7 | ♭iii ♭VI7 | | ii | V7 | I VI7 | ii V7 |
This can be viewed as a cycle of ii–V progressions leading to the IV chord (F7 in the key of C major), and the tritone substitution of the dominant chords leading by half-step to the V chord (G7 in C).[4]
C: Am: G(m): F: | I | ii V | ii V | ii | F: E♭: D: D♭(m): | I7 | subii subV | subii subV | subii subV | C: | ii | V | I VI | ii V |
| Chord | Function | Numerical | Roman numeral |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tonic | T | 1 | I |
| Subdominant | S | 4 | IV |
| Dominant | D | 5 | V |
Sources
- ↑ Hatfield, Ken (2005). Jazz and the Classical Guitar Theory and Applications, p.182. ISBN 0-7866-7236-6.
- ↑ Umble, Jay (2011). Mbgu Jazz Curriculum: Payin Your Dues with the Blues, p.62. ISBN 9781610653145.
- ↑ Jacobs, Sid (2011). The Changes, p.12. ISBN 9781610651684.
- 1 2 Baerman, Noah (1998). Complete Jazz Keyboard Method: Intermediate Jazz Keyboard, p.63. ISBN 0-88284-911-5.