C Jazz ii – V – I Backing Track

Build your own band: 16 moods and 20 styles in any key and tempo, with drums, percussion, bass, two chord instruments, a pad and lead fills, each with its own sound and volume.

This is a C major jazz ii – V – I backing track: medium swing: a walking bass, ride cymbal and four-to-the-bar comping on shell voicings. It plays the ii – V – I progression in C major at 140 BPM in 4/4, round and round, so you can practise soloing, rhythm or both.

The player above is set to this track. Press Play, slow it down or speed it up, mute the guitar to play the chords yourself, or mute the bass to play the bass line. You can also switch key or style without leaving the page.

How the band plays it

Swing on the ride cymbal, a walking bass on every beat and four-to-the-bar chords from the guitar. The ii – V – I is the sentence jazz is written in.

The chords

ii – V – I, the most important progression in jazz: a minor seventh, a dominant seventh, and the major seventh home chord. In C major that is Dm7, G7, Cmaj7.

1Dm7

2G7

3Cmaj7

4Cmaj7

In numbers: ii7 = Dm7 · V7 = G7 · Imaj7 = Cmaj7. The numbers count from the key’s root, so the same progression works in any key.

The shapes the guitar plays

Three- and four-note shapes without open strings, close together so each change is a small move.

Play the rhythm part yourself

Play the shell voicings short on every beat, lightly, accenting 2 and 4, and move each shape as little as possible to the next. Mute the guitar in the player and the band leaves the part to you.

What to solo with

C major pentatonic: C D E G A. Safe on every chord.
C major: C D E F G A B. Every note of the key.
C minor pentatonic: C E♭ F G B♭. Of the relative minor: the same five notes from a different root.

Aim for the third and seventh of each chord on the beat: the seventh of the ii chord falls a half step to the third of the V, and the seventh of the V falls to the third of the I.

Notes to aim for

Scales get you through the track; landing on the chord tones makes a solo follow the changes. The strongest notes over each chord are its 3rd and 7th:

Chord	Root	3rd	5th	7th
Dm7	D	F	A	C
G7	G	B	D	F
Cmaj7	C	E	G	B

How to practise with it

Listen to one time round the progression and count the bars.
Play the root note of each chord on the beat, then the whole chord with the band.
Solo with C major pentatonic, starting and ending phrases on C.
Aim for the 3rd of each chord as it arrives (the table above).
Raise the tempo by 5 BPM when it feels easy, or try the same track in another key.