Evolution of the Jazz Blues Form - Page 2

by Kerry Galloway After a while, the temptation to decorate grew strong. We'll leave a strict chronology here and start discussing a number of embellishments. The so-called "quick 4", going to the IV chord in the second bar, became common. Sometimes the V-IV-I progression was turned into a II-V-I progression (i.e. "Flip, Flop and Fly").

"Extensions" began to be used more and more. They are tones from the scale that the chord is derived from that AREN'T chord tones. The 9th and 13th degrees of the scale were common.

"Pivot" or "turnaround" chords became common at the end of the form in bar 12. They signal a return to the top of the form. <