What does a jazz musician mean by chord progressions or changes?
Harmonies in jazz are represented by a kind of code made up of chord symbols. A chord symbol will generally take the form of a note (D, or Ab, or F# for example) followed by an indicator of the chord type and/or a number. So C-7 would be the symbol for the chord of C minor seventh. With experience, the musician recognises this as a particular combination of notes with a particular harmonic function at that point in the music. Again, with experience, the musician can identify not just single chords but sequences of chords that describe the harmony for that section of the piece. During an improvisation, this information enables her/him to create a new melodic line that “fits” the harmony. The complete set of chords for a particular head is often referred to as its chord progression or changes. It’s often possible to include a lot of harmonic detail in the changes by using complex chord symbols with lots of added numbers and so forth. This can give information that might help the player o
