iiø–V–i

The minor jazz cadence — darker and more urgent than the major version.

Degrees: iiø–V–i
Mode: minor
Bars: 3
In A minor: Bm7b5 – E7 – Am7

The progression in A minor

In all twelve keys

The same degrees, shifted twelve times. To move a song into another key, read off the row.

Key	iiø	V7	i7
A minor	Bm7b5	E7	Am7
E minor	F#m7b5	B7	Em7
B minor	C#m7b5	F#7	Bm7
F# minor	G#m7b5	C#7	F#m7
C# minor	D#m7b5	G#7	C#m7
G# minor	A#m7b5	D#7	G#m7
D minor	Em7b5	A7	Dm7
G minor	Am7b5	D7	Gm7
C minor	Dm7b5	G7	Cm7
F minor	Gm7b5	C7	Fm7
Bb minor	Cm7b5	F7	Bbm7
Eb minor	Fm7b5	Bb7	Ebm7

Why it sounds that way

The same falling-fifths motion, but over the minor scale: the second degree becomes half-diminished, and the fifth gets its leading note only from the raised seventh degree. That is why a dominant seventh stands there, a chord the natural minor scale does not contain.

Where you hear it

Autumn Leaves (B-Teil)
Blue Bossa
Summertime

Related progressions

ii–V–IThe jazz cadence i–iv–vThe three primary chords in minor

Anotona does this for you

Photograph a page of sheet music or play the melody — Anotona finds the key, engraves the notes and transposes them into any other. Free.

See Anotona

Every note on this page is computed, not typed in — following the rule that also makes F# major spell its seventh degree E#, not F.