THIS MONTH, LET’S continue to investigate ways in which to incorporate ii - V - I (two - five - one) turnarounds into one’s improvised solos. In the previous column, we went over the substitute ii - V - I chord forms and arpeggios themselves. Now I’ll demonstrate how to use these ideas within a melody.
Let’s begin by looking at how to use iiV - I harmony to get from the I (one) chord to the IV (four) chord in the key of A. The first bar of illustrates the move from the I chord, A, to the IV, D. In bar 2, I play Em7, with slight embellishment added on the B string, to A7 and A7sus4, which deliver us to the IV chord, D7, in bar 3.
