Stop Thinking About Chords This Way - Jazz Improvisation (Lesson 359)
A focused jazz piano lesson teaching how to use simple triads to improvise over seventh chords with downloadable sheet music.
Lesson Guide
Overview
This lesson develops a new visual and physical relationship with harmony by remapping chords into smaller, familiar structures. Instead of treating the chord root or complete chord as the only starting point for improvisation, the player associates each chord with a specific triad. Minor seventh chords use a minor triad from the fifth, while major seventh chords use a major triad from the fifth. Separate mappings address minor 7 flat 5 and altered dominant chords where the original method produces unwanted notes. Practice begins with the root in the left hand and a mapped triad in the right, then advances to improvisation over an eight-chord progression. Finally, each triad becomes an add9 chord, providing one additional note while preserving the same progression, remapping process, and exercise.
What You'll Learn
- Map a minor seventh chord to a minor triad built on its fifth and a major seventh chord to a major triad built on its fifth.
- Play a chord root in the left hand while playing its mapped triad in the right hand.
- Improvise over the supplied progressions using only the notes of each mapped triad.
- Apply the replacement mappings for minor 7 flat 5 and altered dominant chords.
- Repeat the expanded workout in other keys, eventually reaching all twelve, and then repeat it with add9 chords.
Key Concepts
So here's your first exercise.
Begin by playing the chord root with the left hand and the mapped triad with the right. For minor seventh chords, build a minor triad on the fifth: Gm7 maps to D minor, Cm7 maps to G minor, and Fm7 maps to C minor. For major seventh chords, use a major triad on the fifth: Fmaj7 maps to C major, B-flat maj7 maps to F major, and E-flat maj7 maps to B-flat major. Practice these mappings in every key. The eventual goal is not to calculate the fifth each time, but to see a chord such as Gm7 and recognize D minor immediately.
So now we can build a much better workout.
Use the progression Gm7, C7, Fmaj7, B-flat maj7, Em7b5, A7b9, Dm7, and D7b9, then repeat. The corresponding maps are D minor, G minor, C major, F major, G minor, F major, A minor, and B-flat major. Improvise using only those mapped triads. Em7b5 requires a different rule because it has a flat five rather than a perfect fifth: use a minor triad on the flat third, giving G minor over Em7b5. For A7b9, use a major triad on the flat six, giving F major. Once the workout is comfortable, move the entire progression to other keys and eventually all twelve.
So once you've gone through the entire workout using triads, start again using add9 chords.
Repeat the same progression, remapping, and improvisation exercise, but add the ninth to every mapped triad. Over Gm7, D minor becomes D minor add9: D, F, A, E, supplying the fifth, flat seventh, ninth, and thirteenth against G. Over Fmaj7, C major becomes C add9, supplying the fifth, major seventh, ninth, and thirteenth. Other stated applications include G minor add9 over C7, G minor add9 over Em7b5, and F add9 over A7b9. This stage gives the player one extra note while retaining familiar shapes.
Musical Examples
Gm7 through D minor
Gm7 is spelled G, B-flat, D, F. The mapped D minor triad contains D, F, and A, which function against G as the fifth, flat seventh, and ninth.
Fmaj7 through C major
In this example, the fifth of F is C, so Fmaj7 maps to C major. C, E, and G supply the fifth, major seventh, and ninth relative to F.
Gm7–C7–Fmaj7–B-flat maj7
This progression is described as basically a ii-V-I-IV in F. Its maps are D minor over Gm7, G minor over C7, C major over Fmaj7, and F major over B-flat maj7. Use a rootless voicing in the left hand and improvise in the right hand using only the three notes of each mapped triad.
Minor ii-V example
The example progression is Em7b5, A7b9, and D minor. Em7b5 maps to G minor, whose notes G, B-flat, and D provide the flat third, flat fifth, and flat seventh against E. A7b9 maps to F major; F, A, and C provide the flat thirteen, root, and sharp nine against A.
Why the basic map changes
Building from B-flat over Em7b5 produces F on top, a flat nine against E, which the source rejects for this chord. Using E minor over A7b9 produces E, G, and B; B is the natural nine and sits between the chord's flat nine and possible sharp nine, so that note is avoided in this example.
Also in This Lesson
Continue Learning
Thinking Ahead Vol.1 complements this lesson through its exercise-driven approach to improvisation, chord-tone targeting, and essential tensions. Its interactive PDF, written solos, play-along and call-and-response tracks, and QR-linked video lessons provide structured ways to apply improvisational devices over real progressions.
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