ii–V–I, "two, five, one", is the cadence that jazz is built from. In C major it is Dm – G – C, and in the seventh chords jazz actually plays, Dm7 – G7 – Cmaj7. Learn to hear it and you will hear it everywhere: at the end of a standard's phrase, in the turnaround of a bossa nova, and tucked into pop choruses that want a touch of polish.
Why it works
It is two pulls in a row. ii is a minor chord a fifth above V, so it falls naturally onto V; V is a fifth above I, so it falls home. Each root moves down a fifth (D to G to C), the strongest root motion there is, and in seventh chords the voices barely move: the F in Dm7 becomes the seventh of G7, which then slides a half step to the E of Cmaj7, while the B of G7 rises to C. That half-step motion, the tritone of G7 opening out into the major third of C, is the sound of resolution.
All three chords live on the white keys of C major. Cmaj7 is sounding: C, E, G and B.
Variants
The minor ii–V–i
The same cadence in a minor key, with a half-diminished ii and a dominant V that borrows the raised seventh. It is on every minor-key page, such as A minor chord progressions.
vi–ii–V–I
One chord earlier, a full circle of fifths.
I–vi–ii–V
The turnaround, looped at the end of a chorus to set up the next one.
- With a tritone substitute (Dm7 – D♭7 – Cmaj7): the V replaced by the dominant a tritone away, so the bass walks down by half steps.
- Chained (Em7 – A7 – Dm7 – G7 – Cmaj7): a ii–V aimed at ii, then the real one.
Standards built on it
Songs whose phrases are made of ii–V–I cadences, with the year they were written or first recorded.
- All the Things You Are, Jerome Kern (1939)
- Autumn Leaves, Joseph Kosma (1945)
- Satin Doll, Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn (1953)
- Tune Up, Miles Davis (1953)
- Fly Me to the Moon, Bart Howard (1954), as vi–ii–V–I
- The Girl from Ipanema, Antônio Carlos Jobim (1962)
Related progressions
Piano sounds by the Salamander Grand Piano (Alexander Holm), CC BY 3.0.
