I am practicing a series of chord progression cadence drills taken
from a popular jazz harmony book. Unfortunately, the author assumes
that I know what the drills are for and I am at a loss understanding
when I am supposed to use which chord progression formula for a given
tune, and how the drills interact with each other. I would appreciate
some enlightenment on the subject. Here are the chord progression
drills:
1. IIm7 V9 IM7 IIm7
2. IIm9 V13 IM9 IIm9
3. IIm7 V7 I IIm7
4. IIm7 V7 Im7 IIm7
5. I7 IV7 I7
6. IM7 IVM7 IM7
Then the author gives the following instructions:
1. If the roots are a half step or whole step apart, remain in the
same voicing (from starting off 3rd to starting off 7th, or vice
versa?);
2. If the roots are a fourth or fifth apart, switch voicings;
3. If the roots are a third or sixth apart, switching is optional.
Again, to the jazz elite, these are elementary rules to be taken for
granted, but to the rest of us, we need further elucidation.
Specifically, I'm not sure what I'm supposed to be switching from and
what I'm supposed to be switching to. Is the author talking about the
distances between individual roots within each progression, or is he
talking about root distances from the starting root of the 1st chord
of one progression to the starting root of the 1st chord of another
progression? It would be nice if someone could illustrate this
principle using the foregoing progressions and a standard like "Autumn
Leaves". And are all these progressions to be used together
interchangeably in the same song, or are we just supposed to pick one
or two at a time for any given tune?
I've tried looking for answers in books like "Edly's Music Theory", or
Dobbins' "Jazz Harmony", but again, the authors assume you have gone
through kindergarten and don't bother to explain simple concepts like
voice leading in any significant detail. The idea is to play a melody
as the topmost right hand note and use the progressions as open
voicing accompaniment.
Again, my sincerest appreciation for your valued guidance and
instruction.
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