Harmonic Minor on the V

The jazz standards we play today were, for the most part, written by classically trained composers in the tradition of the Romantic period. Therefore many of the harmonic devices found in jazz are not dissimilar to those used by Chopin, Schubert and Berlioz, so listening to classical music alongside jazz can teach us a lot about both styles. Historically, jazz is the combination of the aforementioned Romantic classical harmony with an added twist, achieved by mixing it with the blues. Of course both jazz and blues are African-American artforms that originated in the Southern states during the early part of the 20th century.

All the examples in this lesson will be in the key of F Major where the Dominant V chord would normally be a straight C7. However, we are going to ‘borrow’ the Dominant