Chords for Julian Lage Lesson

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
So, 2-5-1s are something all jazz guitar players will think about at one point in their life. _ _
When I first learned about it, I took it very literally that there's two.
_ _ _ [G] _ _ [F] _ _
[C] _ _ _ _ And my line sounded a lot [E] like that, you [Eb] know.
_ _ [C] _ _ [A] _ _
[C] _ _ [G] _ _ _ [Cm] _ _ _
And I didn't want [B] to play that way, and I didn't know how [Eb] to get out of that.
I thought, well, those are the chords, you've got to play everything.
Kind _ of _ _ _ _ confront where they are, what's happening when you play a lick.
Rather than running away from it, there's [Am] nothing wrong with it.
[Eb] _ [G] _
_ It's [Abm] not you, and it's a lick, and it's kind of stale [N] for anyone playing it today, other than Charlie Parker, but whatever. _
_ _ So here's what's [Dm] happening. _ _ _
[Eb] _ _ [G] _ _ [F] You go [D] down, _
[Abm] _ [Eb] up, _ [G] and up.
So let's say that's, [Eb] okay, that's interesting, it's like down, up, up.
_ Now, given [N] whatever we know about 2-5-1s at whatever stage in our playing we're at, _ _ let's do another down, up, up phrase.
_ So for me, that might [F] _ _
be_
[D] _ _ [C] _ _ [G] _ _
_ [Bm] _ Okay, so that's cool, so I learned something from that lick.
[C] Let me find another down, up, [D] up phrase.
_ _ [A] _ _
[G] _ _ _ [A] _ _ _ _
[D] Okay, so I can hear that there's shapes and there's movement. _ _ _
_ _ It's all a C [Eb] major scale.
[Bb] It all relates to that this is the 2 [G] chord, C major.
So [D] starting on D, I could just play a scale.
[A] _ _ _
[C] _ _ _ _ _ I [N] found it very useful, like I did in that example, _ to play a bass note wall I improvised, so I could hear relationship from the root to the lines.
So let me just do [D] that.
_ _ [G]
So [C] here's the bass line.
_ [Dm] _ _ [G] _
_ [Am] _ _ _ _ _ _ [D] _
_ _ [C] _ _ [A] _ _ [D] _ _
_ _ [C] _ _ _ [D] _ _ _
[G] _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
[C] _ _ _ _ _ [G] _ _ _
[Fm] _ _ [C] _ _ _ _ [Em] _ _
[F] _ _ _ [D] _ _ _ _ [Dm] _
_ [G] _ _ [Em] _ _ _ [G] _ [Gb] _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ [E] _
_ _ [F] _ _ [Em] _ _ [G] _ _
_ _ [Dm] _ _ _ _ [D] _ _
[C] _ _ [B] _ _ _ [Cm] _ _ _
_ So that was me just kind of doing whatever. _
_ [Bb] _ _ At the core of it was a lot of triadic movement, a [Dm] lot _ _ _ [C] of_
[E] _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ [Dm] _ _ _ _ [Bm] _ _ _
[C] _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ [D] _ _ _ [G] _ _ _
[C] _ _ _ _ [Eb] _ _smoothness. _
_ _ _ _ _ [D] I don't think there's any key, at least in my experience, to making something smooth that's [C] not.
Because even the most choppy stuff can sound smooth, and that has to be the case.
This has more to do with technique and clarity.
So even if I went_
[G] _ _ _ [C] _
It's [Dm] choppy.
_ _ [C] _ _ _
But if you play it in a way that's smooth, you'll get a smoother result. _
_ _ _ _ _ For me, I don't think much about 2-5-1s.
I think _ _ more [G] about tension and release.
[D] So if I know this is 1 [Em]-2-3-4-2 [Am]-2-3-4-4-2-3-4_ _
_ _ [N] I have two bars of _ other chords and then a C major.
Now the other chords I can substitute.
If I [C] know that C major is here, I might [Eb] choose to play _ [Bbm] C sharp major for the D minor in the G7.
_ [Db] _ _ [F] _ _
[C] _ _ _ _ [D] _ _ Maybe I'll make [Db] up a progression of [Gbm] F sharp [Bb] minor, _ B flat minor, [Eb] _ C [C] sharp major in the C.
And I'll just [Bm] superimpose it over the [Gbm] 2-5-1. _ _
[E] _ _ [Fm] _ _ _ _ [C] _ _
_ [A] And so you kind of bend the rules a little bit.
But I hope that sheds some light on my evolution as far as