EASY GUIDE

Our resident music theory expert Dave Clews shows you how to inject jazz flavours into your progressions, no matter your genre

Get the music theory at work behind jazz harmony

At its simplest level, harmony is all about matching chords to a melody, so the term ‘jazz harmony’ essentially relates to what type of chords we can use to accompany improvised solos and melodies in jazz. Typically, these will be the kind of extended and altered chords that give jazz its unique sound. Of course, just knowing these chords won’t necessarily turn you into the next Thelonious Monk or Chick Corea, but by injecting a subtle jazz flavour into your progressions, you’ll be amazed how much more sophisticated it can make them sound, whether you’re producing drum ’n’ bass, R&B, EDM or any other genre.

Although it’s closely linked to traditional tonal harmony, jazz harmony looks, feels and sounds quite different. Historically, the emergence of Jazz in early 20th century America marked a pulling away from the normal musical styles of the time, with a strong focus on improvisation of melodic solos over chord changes with frequent changes of tonal centre. How these chord changes work to support those melodies is the basis of jazz harmony – it still has its roots in traditional music theory, but the main way that jazz harmony differs is in its specific voicings of extended chords. This month, I’ll be taking a brief look at some of the most common kinds of chords used in jazz, and how to build them, and how to revoice them to work best in your tracks.