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In the previous article, we learnt a very interesting concept of passing chord (chromatic Mediant passing chord) we saw its basic meaning, how to find/form them and as always how to apply them.. so if you haven't seen that and you are interested in also learning that you can simply Click here
This is yet another interesting concept of passing chord, that is pretty simple to understand.. This concept is used generally in music but is very popular in jazz..for some musicians it is often termed the jazz progression because of the jazzy harmony produced by this progression. The intro.demo. video is a typical (i) (vi) (iv) (v) {1 6 4 5} progression with this concept applied.. to it.. So in this post you we'll look into the basic meaning of 'the 2 5 1' concept of passing chord, the types and most importantly where and how to apply them..
What is a '2 5 1'(ii v i) Passing Chord?
A '2 5 1' passing chord is a progression that is used in between two chords as a bridge chord to get to a destination chord.. To really understand this concept of passing chord let us take a look at what a '2 5 1' progression is. A '2 5 1' is a progression made up of the Supertonic(2/'reh'), the dominant(soh/5) and the tonic(1/doh).. in a previous article we learnt those theoretical names of all notes in a diatonic scale so if you're lost with all this theoretical names of tones or you missed that and would like to learn about them simply click here to get re-directed to that article after which you can return back to this article. So back to the 2 5 1... now the (ii v i) is just a progression like any other progression... It it is also closely related to the circle of 4th.. because its each chord succeed the other in fourths.. what do i mean by this? well lets take a look at an example.. in the key of C-major a 2 5 1 progression includes Dmin(2) Gmaj(5) and Cmaj(1).. if we examine the Tonic centers (1/doh) of these chords we can see they are all a fourth a part.. what i mean by that is.. in the key of D (key in this is still the 2 on key C) the 5(which is Gmaj as seen above) is the fourth of key D and also C which is the tonic is also the fourth in the key of G so it simply moves in fourth..So, with that piece of knowledge lets us now look into using 2 5 1 as passing chord.. A 2 5 1 passing chord is simply where the '1' or the tonic is been replaced by the destination chord i.e the 2 5 1 progression is played in the key of the destination chord in order to serve as bridge to reach the destination chord.
Types of "2 5 1" Passing Chord
There are two types of '2 5 1'passing chords namely;-*Major 2 5 1 passing chord
*Minor 2 5 1(7 3 6) Passing chord
Major 2 5 1 passing chord
The 2 5 1 progression is played in the key of a major destination chord in order to serve as bridge to reach that destination in a major key.. For example; a 'i - iv' Progression, in the key of C taking the fourth scale degree(Fmaj) as the destination chord we would now simply play a '2 5 1' progression to as a bridge to get to the 'F' or the 4th.. here what i mean.. key C (using maj7 chords) i- C E G B(Cmaj7) iv - F A C E(Fmaj7) to apply a 2 5 1 to get to the Fmaj7 we simply play '2 5 and 1" in key F... lets see the 2 5 and 1 of F.. in Key F maj( F G A B♭ C D E F) the two is Gmin7(the 2 of a major scale is always a minor chord) the 5 is Cmaj/C7 and the 1 is our destination chord(Fmaj7) so with that we'll have a progression like this ;Before>>> C E G B(Cmaj7) >>F A C E(FM7)
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Now>>> C E G B(CMAJ7) >>(ii){G B♭ D F(Gm7)} - (v){ G B♭ C E(C7)}>>F A C E(FM7)..
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Minor 2 5 1(7 3 6) Passing Chord
This concept is very much used in traditional church/gospel music.. It is very much similar to the major 2 5 1 progression above. This simply involves forming a 2 5 1 in the diatonic scale of a minor key and using it as a bridge chord to a destination chord. It works just as the major 2 5 1 but it has a different tonal quality. So lets see an example of how the minor 2 5 1 can be implemented in an actual progression. In the key of C lets lets we would used a i - vi progression..(1-6) i = CM7, vi =Am7.. using the 6th scale degree(Am) as destination chord.. So to put a minor 251 passing chord in between this chords as a bridge, we simply form a minor 2 5 1 progression from the Am scale so when we do that we'll now have progressions like this..Before ;- Cmaj7>>Amin7
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Now ;- Cmaj7>>{ii)Bdim7-(v)Edom7}<<Amin7
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So from the above illustration we can clear see how those 2 5 1 passing chords has added a bit more color in those progression progressions.. just as applied here this concept can be applied as passing chord to any minor destination chord.. in any key.
MINOR-SEVEN FLAT FIVE(m7♭5) {BONUS😊}
A "min7♭5" is as an altered chord due to its chromatic nature. It is also known as a "half-diminished" chord... There two easy way to know or form the m7♭5 one is by by stacking two minor 3rds, and one major 3rd.. and the other is by adding a '♭7' to a diminished triad for example we can get the Cm7♭5 by adding "♭7" to Cdim.( C-E♭-G♭) so a Cm7♭5 would be C-E♭-G♭-B♭.
What can i use this altered chord? well a m7♭5 can be used to substitute a dim.7 chord or it can be used in alteration of a dim.7 chord..that means it can serve as an altered-diminished 7th chord. So in this context, The m7♭5 because of its ability to replace a diminished 7th, It can be used to replace or substitute the "ii" chord in a minor 2 5 1.. now lets see an example.. using the same progression shown in the previous examples
C E G B(Cmaj7) >>F A C E(FM7) instead of using the normal Bdim7 and Edom7 we saw in the previous example, we can make that passing into a "Bm7♭5(B D F A)>E7" so with this we would have a progression like this..
you can also experiment or try other chord voicings too to make it cooler like this :-
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Now i'll suggest you take all this concepts/ideas and practice them in as many keys as you can..then try to fit them into your progressions..if you're going to a major chord used the major 2 5 1 if you re heading to a minor destination chord..then you also use the minor 2 5 1..All you need to keep in mind is simply do a 'ii v i'..in that destination key..making that destination chord your 1!..explore with more chord voicings and 'let your ears be the judge'.👍
I hope this article has helped your musical advancement..🙂 Please feel free to leave your questions, your thoughts and your suggestions i will do my very best to attend to them all.
Thanks and Good luck.
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