Bird changes
Type of chord progression
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The Blues for Alice changes, Bird changes, Bird Blues, or New York Blues changes is a chord progression, often named after Charlie Parker ("Bird"), which is a variation of the twelve-bar blues.
The progression uses a series of sequential ii–V or secondary ii–V progressions, and has been used in pieces such as Parker's "Blues for Alice". Toots Thielemans's "Bluesette",[1] "Freight Trane" written by pianist Tommy Flanagan, and Parker's "Confirmation"[2] have similar progressions.
Structure
A simple blues progression, in C, is:
A typical blues progression in jazz, in C, is:[3]
The Bird Blues progression, in C, is:[4]
In roman numeral analysis, this is represented by
IM7 viiø7 III7 vi7 II7 v7 I7 IV7 iv7 ♭VII7 iii7 VI7 ♭iii7 ♭VI7 ii7 V7 IM7 VI7 ii7 V7
This can be viewed as a cycle of ii–V progressions leading to the IV chord (F7 in the key of C major), and the tritone substitution of the dominant chords leading by half-step to the V chord (G7 in C).[4]
C: Am: G(m): F: IM7 iiø7 V7 ii7 V7 ii7 V7 F: E♭: D: D♭(m): I7 subii7 subV7 subii7 subV7 subii7 subV7 C: ii7 V7 IM7 VI7 ii7 V7