Blues Substitution Chart

The "Blues Substition Chart" was created by Jimmy Cheatham, a jazz bass tromone player with Duke Ellington and Chico Hamilton. For years, Jimmy and Jeannie Cheatham have performed blues and jazz at festivals as Concord Records artists.

The blues substitution chart has many standard and unusual chord changes and turnarounds. When writing songs, refer to the chart for ideas. You can substitute the chords from any measure with the chords in the same column. For example, in song #1, the chord in measure 2 is F7. You can substitute the B flat 7th for the F7 that is in the same column (measure) in song #2.

Note the file is in .tiff format. Click open to view in your browser or print it out and practice offline.