Jazz / Soul Progression Studies
Foundational harmonic moves — cycle-of-4ths, neo-soul vamps, dorian i–IV, ii–V–I — drilled with the chord shapes, comping rhythms, and upper-structure embellishments that make them sound like the Rhodes records you grew up loving. Intentional flat-key choices to pull in Cm, Gm, and other minor chords guitar-land usually ducks.
Cycle of 4ths back-cycle (key of C)
The most-played 9-bar sequence in jazz. Roots descend by 5ths — Em → A → D → G → C → F → B → E → A — threading ii-V pairs all the way to the I, then continuing past it to land on the relative minor (A…
Neo-soul I–ii vamp in Bb (Bbmaj9 ↔ Cm9)
The dreamy I-ii oscillation that defines neo-soul. Bbmaj9 (the home, the "sigh of relief") shifts up a whole step to Cm9 (the "yearning") and back. The Imaj9 → iim9 motion is everywhere in this genre …
Dorian m9–13 vamp in Cm (Cm9 ↔ F13)
The dorian i–IV vamp — two chords that have powered "Use Me" (Bill Withers), "What's Going On" (Marvin Gaye, in Em dorian), "On & On" (Erykah Badu, in Bm dorian), and countless Rhodes-piano hooks. Her…
ii–V–I in F (Gm9 → C13 → Fmaj9)
The ii-V-I is to jazz what 12-bar is to blues — the foundational cadence. In F: Gm9 (ii) → C13 (V) → Fmaj9 (I). Two bars of each (or in faster tempos, one bar each). Key of F brings in Gm — a chord gu…