II V's and Their Most Common Substitutions

It's no secret that the chord progression II V is the foundation of jazz. Like John Scofield says in the previous post, "you got to II V." However, I've found that there is less emphasis on the different types of II V's and how they function. These three examples use the same melodic structure built around a minor triad transposed to different II V's. The first is the basic II V, completely diatonic. The line resolves to the tonic, C.

The second progression is a flat fifth away from the diatonic II V, or in other words a flat five substitution and the V chord resolves down a half step to the C maj7. In this case, the line resolves to a G, the fifth of the chord. The flat five II V can be seen in tunes like Satin Doll.

The third progression is a II V a minor third up from the diatonic II V and the V chord resolves up a whole step to the tonic chord. This progression occurs on multiple instances in Stella By Starlight. Here, the line resolves to an E, the third of the chord. The key to understanding these different II V uses is getting a good sense of how they each resolve to the tonic and how they differ in sound. Now here's the bonus. They can all be interchangeable in the right circumstances. Using the flat five substitution is one of the defining traits of bebop. A prime example of this is in All The Things You Are where an Em7 A7 is often subbed for the Bbm7 Eb7. Identifying these different II V functions is crucial to understanding the vocabulary of jazz.