Red Clay is more than just a different key — it’s a different lens through which to understand the chord progression we’ve been studying. Working on it will deepen your grasp of the harmony, expand your vocabulary with new source recordings, and give you another great tune to play.
What you’ll get out of this lesson
You’ll understand how the opening four bars of the progression relate to Freddie Hubbard’s Red Clay, how the transposition works, and you’ll have a backing track and a set of real-world recordings to dig into.
The connection between the two tunes
Red Clay, by Freddie Hubbard, uses the opening four bars of the jazz changes for its solo section — but transposed to C minor. The head of the tune has different changes entirely. Here’s how the two compare:
Jazz Changes (A minor): A-7 | Gm7 C7 | Fmaj7 | Bm7b5 E7 |
Red Clay (C minor): C-7 | Bbm7 Eb7 | Abmaj7 | Dm7b5 G7 |
The structure is identical — a minor tonic, a ii–V resolving to a relative major, then a ii–V back to the minor. Seeing the same pattern in a different key helps it stick in your ears and under your fingers.
The original recording
Start with Freddie Hubbard’s original. Listen to the way the soloists navigate that four-bar loop over and over — it’s a masterclass in developing ideas over a repeating cycle:
Guitar-oriented versions
Now check out some recordings where guitar is at the front. These are great for seeing how the changes work in a guitar context and for picking up melodic ideas to transcribe:
A Tribe Called Quest — a completely different take
Red Clay was even sampled by A Tribe Called Quest. This is something completely different but could still be an influence on how you approach the feel of the changes:
Jam over Red Clay
Here’s a backing track that includes the chords written out. It plays through the full form including the head, so you may want to skip to the solo section where the jazz changes appear. Have fun with it:
You now have a deeper appreciation for the whole harmonic world surrounding this song. You’ve covered the original version, the jazz changes, the modern fusion changes, and now a related classic tune that uses the same foundation. Get out there and start improvising — tell your own story with these changes.
Taking it further
Transcribing even a single four-bar phrase from one of the Red Clay recordings above is one of the best things you can do. There’s a wealth of great improvising on those recordings, and harvesting even a small amount of that material will give your own playing a real boost. Learning the head of Red Clay itself is also very worthwhile — it’s a beautiful melody in its own right.
Your homework
Spend time with the backing track above and play through the solo section. Use the scale choices from the previous lessons as your guide. Pick one short idea — even just two or three notes — that you like from one of the recordings above and try to work it into your improvisation over the track this week.