Do you love jazz and the rich sounds of 7th chords? Then you need to learn the 2-5-1 progression. This progression is a staple in jazz music and will sound familiar to you as soon as you hear it!
The progression is built up of only 3 chords based on the 2nd, 5th, and 1st intervals of the scale. If you are playing in the key of C you will play a Dm7 G7 and Cmaj7. Playing the 2 chord using its 2nd inversion will help you move between the progression very smoothly so try playing these chords as follows
If you are new to 7th chords and jazz sounds I suggest you spend some time playing each of these chords on its own until you are comfortable with it. You can play them in broken and solid form, using inversions up and down to help get really comfortable with the chords. Once you are feeling great with these shapes play them as a progression. There are lots of ways to do this. You can play chords in both hands, You can play the chord left hand only and then use your right hand to play riffs or melody OR you can play the chords in your right hand while you left-hand plays a simple accompaniment based on the root note.
Enjoy!
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Jordan Leibel is passionate about songwriting, improvisation, and helping you become a creative musician! He’s worked as a composer for film, commercial, and theatre projects as well as a session musician and producer for recording work.
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