Turnarounds

Tadd Dameron (I-bIII7-bVI7-bII7)

Chromatic descending dominants. Tadd Dameron's signature sound.

Key
C
Level
advanced
Where
Modern jazz, reharmonization

The changes

  1. Cmaj7
  2. Eb7
  3. Ab7
  4. Db7

The hands

Left hand then right, as the source writes them. A pianist's voicing routinely carries a colour the chord symbol does not spell — a flat ninth over a dominant, a ninth on top of a seventh chord — so the notes printed under each keyboard are what is actually played, rather than what the symbol alone would predict.

Cmaj7

chord 1

LH C2 G2RH E4 B4 D5

Eb7

chord 2

LH Eb2 Bb2RH G4 Db5 Eb5

Root and fifth below the guide tones, root doubled on top

Ab7

chord 3

LH Ab2 Eb3RH C4 Gb4 Ab4

Db7

chord 4

LH Db3 Ab3RH F4 Cb5 Db5

Tritone sub preparation

Associated players

  • Tadd Dameron
  • Brad Mehldau

The PDF book

The Ultimate Jazz Piano Voicings and Chord Atlas

From shells to advanced voicings. A practice book first, with all the theory you need explained in plain words.

  • 7 levels of voicings for every ii‑V‑I chord, from shells to quartal and upper-structure color
  • A 30-day plan and a 12-week schedule, 15 minutes a day
  • A PDF you download and keep, no subscription

See inside the book