3 Common 251 Reharmonisations
In this lesson, Tuomo shows us 3 common reharmonisations of a 251 progression.
To begin, we look at changing the 2 chord, Fm7, to a dominant, F7. This works well because it creates a chain of dominant chords, and we can change the tonic chord Ebmaj to a dominant as well for added effect.
Secondly, we look at replacing the 5 chord, Bb7, with its tritone substitute, E7. This is a simple reharmonisation in itself but it can be made more interesting by adding a 2 chord to the tritone substitute, i.e. Bm7 – E7 – Bbm7 – Eb7.
Lastly, Tuomo demonstrates a chromatic 25, where we play a short 25 a half step above the original 25.
There are countless possibilities just with these three simple reharmonisations and Tuomo challenges us to find connections between them and ways to connect and combine them.
Lesson Downloads
-
3 Common Reharmonisations Lesson Notation File Type: pdf
Related Lessons
The secondary dominant, or 5 of 5, is one of the fundamental extensions of the basic 2-5-1 progression in jazz harmony.
Tritone Substitution is a useful reharmonisation technique that can be used to add harmonic interest and variety to a chord progression.
Most jazz standards that you come across will contain a 251 progression in some form so it is essential that you know how to construct the 251.
Practice Tips
-
Reharmonising 251 progressions can be tricky to start with. Just play the chords through on their own to get used to the sound before improvising.
-
If you find a reharmonisation that you particularly like, get used to playing it in all twelve keys so that it will be available to you in any situation.
- One of the best ways to practice reharmonisations is to choose a standard tune and replace the 251 progressions with your reharmonisation.
