Although working on ii–V–I melodies through the keys is fairly common today, I think it’s a relatively recent trend—and I hold John Coltrane somewhat responsible for it. This melody I “wrote” combines an improvised line from a Sonny Rollins solo over How High the Moon with a Lee Konitz line I learned from his Motion album.
I think the melody sounds nice, and it’s interesting to hear how both Rollins and Konitz use chromatic approach notes in their line playing. The exercise starts in A minor concert (B–7, E7?9, A–7) and continues through the keys, moving down by half steps.
I’ve enjoyed experimenting with displacements—starting on different triplets or eighth-notes at various points in the bar. Learning to sing this melody in tune is also excellent ear training and fairly challenging.
~Enjoy!
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Download the PDF here
Lesson 6 ii V minor melody PDF
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