PRACTICE GUIDE · LEARN & TRAIN
Rhythm Changes on Guitar
Rhythm changes is the second most common progression in jazz after the blues. It is a 32-bar AABA form, usually in B♭, built from fast turnarounds in the A sections and a chain of dominant chords in the bridge.
By Vincent Iannone · Updated
The A section
Each A section is eight bars of I–vi–ii–V turnarounds, two beats per chord: B♭6 Gm7 | Cm7 F7 in B♭. Players often swap Gm7 for G7, whose B natural leads up to C, or for B°7, which makes a chromatic bass B♭–B–C.
| Version | Chords | Bass under the first bar |
|---|---|---|
| Plain | B♭6 Gm7 | Cm7 F7 | B♭ then G |
| Passing diminished | B♭6 B°7 | Cm7 F7 | B♭ then B, rising to C |
The bridge
The bridge is four dominant seventh chords, two bars each, moving round the cycle of fourths: D7 G7 C7 F7. F7 at the end leads back to the final A section. Through the bridge both guide tones fall by half steps: C B B♭ A in one voice and F♯ F E E♭ in the other.
At the tempos rhythm changes is usually played, two chords per bar go by quickly. Small shells or drop-2 voicings that move by a fret or two are easier to keep in time than big shapes that jump around the neck. Learn the A section in one position before trying another.
Learn it in stages
- Count the 32-bar form aloud: A at bar 1, A at bar 9, bridge at bar 17, A at bar 25.
- Loop the A-section turnaround with shells, two beats per chord.
- Play the bridge with dominant shells and hear each chord resolve to the next.
- Follow the two chromatic guide-tone lines through the bridge.
- Write an original melody over the changes; the progression is a shared tool, the tune is yours.
Related lessons and practice
- ii–V–I Jazz Guitar ProgressionsThe ii-V-I is a relationship between chords, not a fixed set of fret numbers. In a major key, ii is minor seventh, V is dominant seventh, and I is major seventh.
- Jazz Guitar Guide Tones: Thirds & SeventhsA common tone plus a half-step move can describe an entire chord change. The third and seventh are guide tones.
- Jazz Guitar Voice Leading with Shell ChordsFollow the notes on the same strings to hear a smooth line inside the chords. Voice leading follows individual notes through chord changes.
- ii–V–I Jazz Guitar PracticePractice major ii–V–I progressions with playable Dm7–G7–Cmaj7 shells, guide-tone movement, original phrase ideas and a four-bar guitar play-along.
- Jazz Blues Guitar: The 12-Bar Form, Chords and TurnaroundsLearn the jazz blues on guitar: the 12-bar form in F, dominant seventh shells, the ii–V in bars 9 and 10, the turnaround and guide-tone targets for soloing.