How to turn any (pop) song into a jazz song?

Question

Quite often there are pop songs wich get covered in a jazz style. These covers are seen from youtube to tv. Now I tried doing something like this, with for example Bad Day by Daniel Powter. It's basically a D-G-A chord progression (1-4-5), wich is quite simple. I thought, in a simple form, adding 7th chords and some altered timing, would at least give it a bit of jazz feeling. Basically it all just sounded very dissonant. Now I wonder if you got any tips or ideas on how to make a jazz cover of a song, or make it sound more jazzy. Maybe someone knows a jazzy variation on the 1-5-6-4 progression? Many thanks!

Answer 1

So yeah, the basic chords are 1-4-5 but what will make your arrangement more Jazz in style is to add "transition chords" and voice your chords a little more interestingly. Both come with some instruction and practice but for starters try doing some "secondary dominants: - meaning use the 5 chord of one of the chords in the progression.

So for example, the chorus progression of this song if you're playing in D is D | G | Em | A |. Try playing Dmaj7 D7 | Gmaj7 | Em | G/A |.

Those are slightly jazzier voicings (a little lounge but good for sake of demonstration) but that D7 on beat 2 of the first chord is a secondary dominant. It's the 5 chord of the upcoming G chord. Similarly, when the chorus goes to the Bmin you can squeeze an F#7 in right before you play the Bmin. F# is the 5 of B.

A bit tricky, but with instruction and examples you can get it! This is a good first step to reharmonization I think.

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