Jazz harmony

Jazz harmony is the theory and practice of how chords are used in jazz music. While jazz bears certain similarities to other practices in the tradition of Western harmony, such as many chord progressions and the incorporation of the major and minor scales as a basis for chordal construction, other characteristics such as modality, syntax and phrase structure separate it from Western tradition. In jazz, chords are often arranged vertically in major or minor thirds, although stacked fourths are also quite common. Also, jazz music tends to favor certain harmonic progressions and includes the addition of tensions, intervals such as 9ths, 11ths, and 13ths to chords.