In podcast 14, Paul introduces the turnaround that is used as the basis of the A section of the tune. From podcast 4 we know that in jazz, the turnaround is I vi ii V. However, the turnaround he describes is Bb6, G7, C-7, F7. There are two things I see here that confuse me.

First, the G7 chord is major, not minor as described in the turnaround podcast. Second, since the G7 is major, that has you playing B instead of Bb, which is not in the key of Bb.

OTOH, Bb6 has the same notes as G-7, just first inversion of it. So the only thing that would make it sound like you had changed chords would be the bass part.

What am I missing? Is there a reason that the second chord is not minor?

Changing the second chord (VI: G minor) to a major chord makes it a secondary dominant to the third chord (II: C minor). This somehow enhances the chord progression. Sometimes even the II is changed to a major chord leading to a dominant progression along the circle of fifths. Altering chords to include notes not actually present in the regular key adds interesting possibilities in improvisation.

Wow - wait, what?



I had to read that a few times, s l o w l y before I made sense of it. Thanks!

Sorry, it's hard enough in my native language, let alone having to translate it into English. Hope it made sense after all?

The general idea is that the II can be interpreted as the dominant to the following V. Identically the VI can be interpreted as the dominant to the following II. The result is a more ... let's call it "agressive" ... chord progression with interesting new notes (major 3rd of the II and VI) that would normally not occur in the regular key of the tune.

Thanks, I did finally get that. I guess it's like (or the same as) the alternate chords in podcast 13, where you change chords that lead to an intermediate chord assuming that intermediate to be the tonic for the moment.

Whenever I see an opportunity to turn a chord into a 7th, particularly if it will function as a dominant leading to it's tonic, I'll go for it. So turning that Gmin7 into a G7, knowing that it's leading to a temporary tonic chord (Cmin) has created a new V-1 and the more of them the better! Why? firstly, a 7th chord is the most versatile and flexible chord there is to impro over: it will take all the secondary extensions: flat and sharp 9s, flat and sharp 5s. Try doing that with a minor 7th chord - it's impossible.
Secondly, you can turn the G7 into it's tritone substitute (Db7).
Thirdly, the V-1 gives the improvisor tension and release: the 7th with all its funky notes creates the tension and the 1 chord plateaus out to a release.

Thanks for that explanation, Paul! It now makes even more sense.