What Is a Line Cliché? Jazz Harmony Explained with My Funny ValentineA line cliché is a stepwise melodic line—ascending or descending—that creates movement over an otherwise static harmony.

The line can appear in any voice, but one of the most common uses is in the bass or inside a repeated minor chord.

Instead of holding the same chord for several measures, one note moves chromatically or stepwise while the basic harmony remains in place.

A classic example is the opening of My Funny Valentine.

The Classic Minor Line Cliché

The opening harmony of My Funny Valentine can be understood as several measures of the same basic tonic-minor harmony.

But one note moves downward:

C → B → B♭ → A

That produces:

Cm → Cm(maj7) → Cm7 → Cm6

The root stays C.

The basic minor-chord identity remains.

But the descending line gives the harmony motion and direction.

This is the essence of a line cliché:

a moving melodic line inside an otherwise static harmonic environment.

Why Line Clichés Work

If we simply repeat:

Cm7 → Cm7 → Cm7

the harmony can feel static.

But if we introduce a descending line:

C → B → B♭ → A

the listener hears continuous motion even though the underlying harmony has barely changed.

That makes line clichés useful for:

creating movement over long static chords

connecting phrases smoothly

adding chromatic color

reharmonizing simple progressions

creating stronger voice leading

And the line does not have to be placed in the top voice.

It can appear:

inside the chord

in an inner voice

or in the bass

My Funny Valentine: A Line Cliché in the Chord Symbols

In My Funny Valentine, the line is reflected directly in the chord symbols:

CmCm(maj7)Cm7Cm6

If we voice those chords so the changing note is easy to hear, the line becomes:

C → B → B♭ → A

The chords do not need to remain in root position.

You can use inversions and still preserve the same descending voice.

That is an important point:

the line cliché is defined by the voice leading, not by a particular chord shape.

Using a Line Cliché to Reharmonize a Static Chord

Once you recognize the technique, you can apply it to other songs.

The easiest place to look is a progression containing several measures of the same chord.

In I Love Paris, for example, there is a passage that stays on Cm7 for several measures. 

Instead of repeating Cm7, we can create movement:

Cm → Cm(maj7) → Cm7 → Cm6

Now a static C-minor area has an internal melodic direction.

Why Start with Cm Instead of Cm7?

If the original progression gives us Cm7, it may seem strange to remove the seventh first.

But we want to use that seventh—B♭—as one of the notes in our descending line.

So we begin with a plain C-minor triad:

C – E♭ – G

Then introduce the moving note:

B → B♭ → A

giving:

Cm → Cm(maj7) → Cm7 → Cm6

The changing note becomes part of the musical story rather than simply being present from the beginning.

Extending the Line into the Next Chord

The technique becomes even more interesting when the line cliché connects naturally into the following harmony.

After the C-minor passage in I Love Paris, the progression moves to:

Dm7♭5 → G7♭9

The descending line can continue into those chords.

Instead of thinking of the line cliché as an isolated embellishment, we can treat it as voice leading that connects the entire phrase.

This is one reason line clichés are so useful for reharmonization:

they can reveal connections between chords that might otherwise seem separate.

Rhythm Matters Too

Sometimes the number of chords in the line cliché does not fit neatly into the number of measures available.

In the I Love Paris example, there are four stages of the line cliché but only three measures of static C-minor harmony.

So we have to decide how quickly the harmony moves.

One solution is:

use longer note values at first

then move into half-note changes as the phrase approaches the next harmony

This creates not only harmonic motion, but also rhythmic acceleration.

The rhythm begins preparing the listener for the faster harmonic movement that follows.

So when applying a line cliché, ask:

How many harmonic changes do I want, and how much time do I have to fit them into the phrase?

Bass Line Clichés and Slash Chords

The same technique can be moved into the bass.

Instead of changing the chord symbol itself, keep the C-minor harmony above a descending bass:

Cm/C → Cm/B → Cm/B♭ → Cm/A

This produces a similar sense of motion, but now the line is much more explicit because it is in the lowest voice.

The descending bass becomes:

C → B → B♭ → A

You can think of these as slash chords: the harmony remains related to C minor while the bass creates the line.

Extending the Bass Line with Inversions

We can continue the descending line even when the progression leaves C minor.

Suppose the next chord is:

Dm7♭5

That chord contains A♭.

So instead of playing D in the bass, we can use an inversion:

Dm7♭5/A♭

Now the bass continues:

C → B → B♭ → A → A♭ → G

The final G can then support the following G7 chord.

Instead of hearing separate bass jumps, we now get one continuous chromatic line.

This is a good example of combining two harmonic techniques:

line cliché

inversion

The inversion is not being used randomly. It serves the larger voice-leading idea.

How to Find Places for Line Clichés

When analyzing a song, look for:

Long static chords

If one chord lasts several measures, there may be room to introduce a moving inner voice.

Minor chords

Minor harmony is especially common for the classic descending pattern:

1 → maj7 → ♭7 → 6

Stepwise connections to the next chord

See whether the line can continue naturally into a note contained in the following harmony.

Bass notes available through inversions

An inversion may allow you to preserve the stepwise line longer than the original root-position progression would.

Line Clichés Are Really Voice Leading

It is easy to think of a line cliché as a list of chord symbols:

Cm → Cm(maj7) → Cm7 → Cm6

But the deeper idea is voice leading.

One note moves while the surrounding harmony remains relatively stable.

That is why the technique can appear in many different forms.

The moving line could be:

descending

ascending

in the soprano

in an inner voice

in the bass

The chord symbols are simply a way of describing what that moving line does to the harmony.

How to Practice Line Clichés

Start with a minor chord and play:

Cm → Cm(maj7) → Cm7 → Cm6

First, keep the moving note on top so you can hear it clearly:

C → B → B♭ → A

Then try:

changing the inversion

moving the line into an inner voice

placing it in the bass

continuing the line into the next chord

applying it to a standard containing several measures of static harmony

The goal is not just to memorize the C-minor example.

It is to learn to recognize opportunities for the technique inside real songs.

Key Takeaways

A line cliché is a stepwise melodic line that creates movement within otherwise static harmony.

A classic minor example is:

Cm → Cm(maj7) → Cm7 → Cm6

which creates the line:

C → B → B♭ → A

Line clichés can:

create motion over repeated chords

appear in any voice

be written as changing chord symbols or slash chords

extend into later chords through inversions

improve voice leading

provide a practical reharmonization technique

Most importantly, the technique reminds us that harmony is not only about naming vertical chords.

Sometimes the most important musical idea is the horizontal line moving through them.

Explore the Jazz Standards Progressions Books →