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The Jazz Gym: Part 5 of the Improvisers Workout Program | Major II-V-I Vocabulary
Welcome back to the Jazz Gym. In out last workout we learned some simple scale sequences over our Autumn Leaves progression in the upper register of the bass. If you finished your extra credit assignments, then you know that these melodic sequences have more than one function and sound great forwards and backwards.
This month we’re going to expand our soloing concepts further and develop some major II-V-I vocabulary. This will give us some solid melodic ideas we can insert into any song that has a major II-V-I in it. When properly applied, this kind of melodic vocabulary can really make our soloing sound mature, edited and confident.
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Jazz_Gym_5_Figures
We’re going to use the major II-V-I from the first four bars of our Autumn Leaves practice progression for all of our examples. The good news is every one of these examples can be played in one hand position. Put your middle finger on a Bb on the 13th fret of the A string. Now play up and down a Bb major scale a few times and you’re good to go.
Figure 1 starts on the 3rd of the Cm7 chord, then goes down the scale and connects to the 3rd of the F7 chord. It then goes up the 3 5 7 9 of the F7 arpeggio and resolves to the 5th of the Bbmaj7 chord, then back down the scale resolving to the 3rd. Those thirds sound good, don’t they?
Figure 2 starts on the 7th of the Cm7 chord. It then goes down the 7 5 3 1 of the arpeggio and back up, resolving to the 3rd of the F7 chord. Then it goes back down the 9 7 5 and up the 7 9 3 of the F7 chord and resolves to the 5th of the Bbmaj7 chord. It’s easier than it sounds. Look closer and you’ll notice that there’s only one note difference between the first two bars and that’s the A and the Bb. Play it a few times and you’ll see what I mean.
Figure 3 starts with the 1 2 3 4 5 3 2 1 of Cm7. Next is a simple chromatic line that eventually resolves to the 5th of the Bbmaj7 chord. My former B.I.T. students will recognize this one.
Figure 4 is a good example of sequencing an idea over several chords. I think you’ll like this one. It’s simple and it sounds great.
In Figure 5 we start on beat 2, surround the F by a half step and end up on the 7th of the Cm7 chord. Over F7, we surround the Eb by a half step, resolve to the 3rd then use a scale tone to resolve to the 5th of the Bbmaj7 chord. Next, we play the 5 6 5 4 3 6 5 of the Bbmaj7 chord, then leave at little space and we’re in business.
In Figure 6 we start on the 3rd of the Cm7 chord then work our way up to the third of the F7 chord using a G# to make everything come out on the right beats. Then it’s back down the scale to the 3rd of the Bbmaj7 chord where we finish with a bluesy sounding C# to D that’s resolves nicely to the root.
Your assignment is to play, memorize and internalize Figures 1 through 6. Once you get these under your hands, be sure to go to www.youtube.com/user/toddjohnsonmusic and practice with the Jazz Gym Play Along. Try playing these figures over the first four bars of our play along, then make up your own or play one of our earlier assignments over the last four bars.
For an extra credit assignment, try learning Figures 1 through 6 in all 12 keys. This will definitely keep you busy and out of trouble, so have fun and play slow. We’ll see you next time.
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Photo: Self-portrait by Melissa Auf Der Maur
Melissa Auf Der Maur is a Canadian bassist who played with Tinker, Hole, and The Smashing Pumpkins. She released her own work and is a photographer with photos published in Nylon, Bust, and National Geographic. She released her ‘90s Rock Memoir “Even The Good Girls Will Cry” on 17 March 2026.
KB: Did you always want to be a singer-musician growing up?
I’ve played music my whole life. In school, I played trumpet and sang in a children’s choir, so music was always within me. My mother was the first female disc jockey on the Montreal airwaves; her record collection played a huge role in my inspiration and love of music.
KB: When did you start playing bass, and why this instrument?
When I was 19, the early 90s music explosion began to percolate in tiny clubs around the world. I was lucky to be a ticket girl at Montreal’s underground music club. In one year, I saw Hole, Sonic Youth, Smashing Pumpkins, White Zombie, and The Breeders – all had female bass players. That’s when the seed was planted. By the age of 22, I was the bass player of Hole.
KB: Which brands of basses have you used in your career, and which one are you using now?
The first bass that I learned on was a vintage Squier Precision. Hole was sponsored by Fender guitars, so I upgraded to Fender Custom Shop Precisions. That is all I play, but I have a cool vintage 8-string Greco that I use on recordings to thicken up guitar parts.
KB: What equipment do you use or have you used with your basses?
Ampeg SVT amps and cabinets, a couple of Sans-Amp pedals, and that is it.
KB: How did you become a member of Hole, and what is your fondest memory of that time?
Billy Corgan of the Smashing Pumpkins was helping scout a replacement for (RIP) Kristen Pfaff, Hole’s bass player. My band, Tinker, opened for them on the Siamese Dream tour, so Billy had seen me play and could vouch for me. Courtney trusted her talented friend, and that was it. I initially said “no thank you” due to my commitment to my photographic studies and the drama and chaos surrounding the band during the “Live Through This” album release. Courtney took it as a good sign that I said no, so convinced me to reconsider, and soon after, I accepted their invitation, in the name of helping put females in the male-dominated landscape of rock music. My fondest memory is every show we played as a mostly female band, symbolizing what a woman could do in a rock band. Every show had a purpose: get more women to play music.
KB: You are a photographer as well. What makes a great picture? Do you shoot in color or b/w?
I started shooting photographs at age 15. Initially only shot black & white and worked in the art school darkroom. In university, I took a color photography course, and shifted mostly and forever to that, because it was easier to process film on the road when I joined a rock band. I experimented with many cameras, point and shoots, manual, polaroids, medium format, and vintage finds. The trick to a good photograph is to shoot many and all the time – the magic is in the edit and selection process.
KB: Are there artists you would love to collaborate with or wish you had?
??I’ve been lucky to collaborate with some of my favorite musicians in my career. I would still love to collaborate with a new generation heavy electronic artist on an analog bass, heavy electronic drums, and synths collaboration project. Take me out of my usual zone, merging the past and future: my love of 80s dark new wave and new artists exploring that genre. It was very futuristic back then, and we are now, after all, living in the future. I am in the mood to play bass to heavy beats I want to dance to.
KB: What are your 7 favorite bass lines in music across all genres? And why these 7?
“Mountain Song” – Jane’s Addiction (love a rambling, rolling bass line – feels like the ocean waves)
“Black Top – Helmet” (was the first bass line I taught myself)
“Gold Dust Woman” – Hole from “The Crow 2” Soundtrack (it was my first bass line contribution to the band)
“Get Ready” – The Temptations (Motown just feels so good, because of the bass)
“Lucretia My Reflection” – Sisters of Mercy (makes me want to hit the dance floor and play bass simultaneously)
“Be My Druidess” – Type O Negative (full chord bass playing at its best by iconic, demonic, Peter Steele, RIP)
“Romantic Rights” – Death from Above (1979 – unique distorted overdriven tone, combined dance rhythm and melodic intelligence, all in one shot – also! Shout out to a bass & drum only band, which is awesome, and we should have more of, but the bass player needs to be a killer to fill that role.
KB: What are you currently up to?
Releasing my ‘90s Rock Memoir “EVEN THE GOOD GIRLS WILL CRY”. Visceral healing process, it was to get it out of me and write it, but I suspect the real magic will begin by putting it into the world and reflecting with others on what the magic of the ‘90s was all about. Powerful music decade that carried us into what is now a brave new world of digital corporate weirdness – may the past shed a light on our future. That’s my hope for this book release and tour.
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