Reharmonize Rhythm Changes
The chord progression of George Gershwin's 1930 tune I Got Rhythm, aka Rhythm Changes, is a particularly good candidate for reharmonization. It is a common progression (see Improvising Over Rhythm Changes) that is mostly diatonic; the tune is often played at a fast tempo and fresh chords relieve the monotony of hearing the same progression over and over. It is an infamous "cutting" tune- a vehicle for demonstrating your improvisation skills in a contest to outplay your peers- so being able to demonstrate skill in both improvisation and reharmonization gives you a leg up on your competition. This lesson describes how to use substitute dominants, related ii chords and dominant preparation chords to generate new chords to use to freshen and invigorate this war horse of all war horses.

Lesson Stats
When added: 05/11/08; Duration: 15 minutes.

Prerequisites
Intermediate keyboard proficiency. Ability to read notation. These lessons are good prerequisites: Related ii Chords, Substitute Dominants, Improvising over Rhythm Changes Part 1 & Part 2.

Quiz
Quiz 1: Reharmonize Rhythm Changes with substitute dominants, related ii chords and dominant preparation chords.

Practice Sessions & Playalongs
Practice Session 1: Write out and play subVs over Rhythm Changes
Practice Session 2: Improvise subVs over Rhythm Changes
Practice Session 3: Write out and play related ii chords and subVs over Rhythm Changes
Practice Session 4: Improvise related ii chords and subVs over Rhythm Changes
Practice Session 5: Write out and play related ii chords over Rhythm Changes
Practice Session 6: Improvise related ii chords over Rhythm Changes
Practice Session 7: Write out dominant preparation chords over Rhythm Changes
Practice Session 8: Write out and play your own reharmonization of Rhythm Changes

Includes play-alongs for all practice sessions in MIDI, Band-in-a-Box and GarageBand formats.

Resources for further Listening and Reading
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