LearnJazzPiano.com archives: Eb Edim | Fm7 F#dim
Brotherdavies -- 09/04/2007, 05:44:07 -- #36792
Folks

This little progression : Eb   Edim   |  Fm7  F#dim  occurs in Aint Misbehavin' and Liza and in lots of old tunes. I find that little progression quite difficult to solo over in a smooth way. This chord sequence seems very important in Jazz but I always will use chord tones which is not very exciting given the chords.

Is there a more professional or modern way of playing this type of progression which then opens up more exciting soloing possibilities?

Cheers

Bro'

GS_Jon -- 09/04/2007, 11:51:57 -- #36792
If anyone knows this I'd be happy to hear ideas as well.  At first glance it looks like a cousin to the I VI ii V (Edim substituted for C7) but I can't really see how F#dim might substitute for Bb7.  

Thanks,
Jon

casparus -- 09/04/2007, 11:53:39 -- #36792
Bro'

There are many ways to approach this progression-one would be to think of the Edim chord as the V7 chord to the Fm7. The closest thing to a dim would be a C7-9--and this would include all 7-9 chords at minor third intervals..F#, A, and Eb(although you really don't want to use Eb chord here, because that's where you started! )
some of the more complex chords like +9,+5, 13 --that resolve to the Fm7 can work here too.

Jazz+ -- 09/04/2007, 19:02:54 -- #36792
"This little progression : Eb   Edim   |  Fm7  F#dim  occurs in Aint Misbehavin' and Liza and in lots of old tunes. I find that little progression quite difficult to solo over in a smooth way. This chord sequence seems very important in  Jazz but I always will use chord tones which is not very exciting given the chords."

That's a good approach. You can also use the diminished scale which simply adds a chromatic leading tone into each of the chord tones. Also, Easy Living and Memories Of You follow that path,

jazzpianoonline -- 09/05/2007, 16:50:15 -- #36792
focus on chord tones on strong beats. check out the "improvisation the concept" lesson on my site.

best

jazzpianoonline -- 09/05/2007, 16:51:57 -- #36792
sorry- my site is:

http://www.jazzpianoonline.com

Brotherdavies -- 09/06/2007, 04:46:14 -- #36792
Thanks guys.

I don't know why it has taken me so long to ask that question.

There are many other 'mini progressions' in the standards that make it easy to learn new songs when you discover the common progressions.
I like to use a highlighter pen on common changes to compare similar tunes - Ralph Patts sheets are good for this.

CHEERS

Bro'

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