What is a Minor-Major ii V I? (Swallows Part II)
Yesterday I wrote to you about the swallows living outside my kitchen door.
To be clear, I like the swallows.
I wouldn't feel the need to remove the nest if it weren't for the insane amount of poop on my steps where my young kids walk around barefoot.
Well, it turns out this doesn't need to be an all or nothing situation.
Instead of either leaving the nest up or taking it down, I can do as one of my subscribers, Charlie S, suggested:
Put up a nest box.
Charlie even offered to build one for me specifically designed to house swallows. (Thank you, Charlie!)
Everyone wins. The swallows don't need to build a new nest when they return next year, and a nest box is much easier to clean than my steps (and takes care of the health hazard to my family).
The moral of the story is to think outside the box (no pun intended). An "all or nothing" mentality rarely leads to the best outcome.
Here's the musical tie-in...
A major ii V I looks like this:
Dm7 G7 CMaj7
And a minor ii V i looks like this:
Dm7b5 G7 Cmin7
(ICYMI the difference between the two progressions is that the ii chord in the minor ii V i is half diminished aka min7b5.)
Anyway, a cool way to think outside the box in this context is to mash up the two progressions like so:
Dm7b5 G7 CMaj7
Now we have the min7b5 chord approaching the Maj7 I chord instead of a min7 i chord.
We could call it a "minor-major ii V I."
It's a cool sound, and I promise you can lean into that b5 on the ii chord even if it's not in the original chord progression.
Also, if you have my Sick Licks collection, you can grab the ii V part of a line from the minor ii V i section and resolve into a major chord.
For example, here's lick #7 from Sick Licks Classic Level 1 minor collection.
Now, let's tweak the end just enough such that it makes sense on a CMaj7 chord instead of Cm7.
Make sense?
Long story short: mix and match your major and minor ii V I licks. You don't need to go all or nothing.
And if you'd like to level up your arsenal of jazz, blues, and modern jazz vocabulary and have an abundance of major and minor licks to combine, be sure to check out my Sick Licks collection. There's something for everyone – beginner and intermediate/advanced players alike.
Click here to learn more about Sick Licks.
Happy shedding,
Jeff