TrueFire Foundry courses are independently produced courses presented by a hand-picked selection of top-notch artists and educators from around the world. Filmed in the educator’s own studio, Foundry courses bring fresh educational concepts and very effective teaching methodologies to TrueFire Students.
The 2-5-1 progression (ii-V-I) is found in thousands of jazz standards. In fact, you’d be hard-pressed to find a jazz standard that doesn't have a 2-5-1 progression somewhere within it. Jazz guitar players need to equip themselves with a massive vocabulary of 2-5-1 substitutions that they can call on to spice up their comping, keep their audience engaged, and provide their vocalists and other soloists in the band with other colors and textures.
Building and getting comfortable with your own 2-5-1 comping vocabulary can take years, but Frank Vignola’s 30 Juicy 2-5-1 Substitutions will get you quickly and squarely in the game with 30 tasty and very versatile 2-5-1 chord and substitution options.
Frank not only presents the thirty 2-5-1 substitutions, but he also gives you three ways to play each of those substitutions — that nets out to 90 majorly “juicy” ways to play a 2-5-1. Plus, all of the chord forms are moveable, which means you’ll be able to play these substitutions in all 12 keys, across the entire neck!
”We’ll work through many different chord types that you use as 2-5-1 substitutions; minor 7th, minor 9th, minor 11th, dominant 7th, dominant 9th, dominant flat 9 and sharp 9, dominant 13th, augmented, augment 7th, major, major 7th, major 6th, major 9th, major adding the 2nd, and many more variations. Voice leading 2-5-1s, using chord clusters in a 2-5-1, moving chromatically, and using the common tone approach are also all discussed and demonstrated in detail.”
For each of the 30 sets of substitutions, Frank gives you a brief overview and then performs three distinct variations of substitutions four times. Each set of variations illustrates different voicings and approaches. Frank will then comp over the track, mixing up the substitutions, to demonstrate how you might approach using those substitutions while comping with a rhythm section, in a real-world musical context.
All of the substitutions are tabbed and notated for your practice, reference and study purposes. Plus, Frank includes all of the backing tracks for you to work with on your own.
Grab your guitar and let’s juice up our 2-5-1s with Frank Vignola!
Here are 30 of the juiciest chord substitutions I could come up with for the 2-5-1 progression. For each one, there are also three different ways to play each substitution, totaling 90 ways to play a 2-5-1 progression. Try them out on your favorite tunes one at a time.
Remember, the melody will dictate which substitutions sound best. If the melody note is on the Root (C), you wouldn’t play a substitution with the Major 7th (B) on top of the chord as it would clash with the melody note. So, use your ears to determine which substitutions sound best. These are movable forms, so you can play these substitutions in all 12 keys.
An overview, performance, and breakdown video for each juicy substitution is included. Manuscript, tab, and an MP3 jam track are also included. For each performance video, I play through each of the three positions four times each. Then, I have some fun using some rhythmic motifs as a demonstration of how to use the juicy subs in context with a rhythm section.
So, grab your guitar, tune it up and let's get started.
This course by Frank Vignola is fantastic! It really opens a goldmine of ideas by using substitutions. I have learned and am learning more and more as i go through these lessons. Frank is a great teacher and musician!
O
Osokin
Verified buyer
01/15/22
The Title Says It All
Another useful course from Frank Vignola. Every jazz standard contains lots of 2-5-1 progressions, so there is a real need to develop a large vocabulary of good sounding voicings and moves with which to navigate them - and Frank plays each example three different ways, so the course actually demonstrates 90 ways to play a 2-5-1! Great stuff.
