![]() I’d been getting bored with the stereotyped changes that were being used all the time. One of the devices musicians during the 1940’s (Parker, Diz, Bud Powell, Art Tatum, Monk, etc.) used to create new harmonies, was to reharmonize the popular standards of the day with the concepts that they were developing.Ĭharlie Parker is famously quoted about his revelation over the tune Cherokee in Nat Hentoff and Nat Shapiro’s book, Hear Me Talkin’ to Ya: The final aspect of looking at harmonic progressions, is to know which standards are reharmonizations and to know the original tune that these reharms came from. Some other tunes that begin on unusual chords as well are: All the Things You Are (begins on the minor vi chord), Caravan (begins on the V7b9 chord), Just Friends (begins on the IV chord), Night and Day (begins on b VI the chord), What is this Thing Called Love (begins on the half-dim.V chord), etc. Knowing and hearing that Stella begins this way, as well as other tunes that don’t begin on the root, will be a great advantage. This tune begins on the #iv chord, E-7b5, while the tune is in the key of Bb. Many standards begin on the I chord or a ii-V7 in the tonic, but some do not and it’s worth knowing what those are.Ī few tunes in the standard jazz repertoire begin on chords that are unrelated to the I chord or even begin in a completely unrelated key. If you’re able to immediately recognize this progression, whether it’s in the tonic key or another key, you’ll be able to figure out the progressions to countless standards and retain them much faster.Īnother aspect of harmonic progressions that will help you to quickly build a repertoire, is to look at the first chord of the tune. In every standard that you’ll encounter, with rare exceptions, there will always be a ii-V7 or turnaround at some point in the chord progression. ![]() Some other 32 bar tunes in ABAC are: Airegin, But Not for Me, Ceora, Days of Wine and Roses, Four, If I Were a Bell, Just Friends, Like Someone in Love Looking at harmonic progressions A good example of this form is the tune There Will Never Be Another You: The other common form you’ll encounter as you build your repertoire is the 32 bar ABAC form, 8 bar sections once again, but here the second B is slightly altered making it a C. Some other common 32 bar tunes in AABA are: Confirmation, Body and Soul, Easy Living, Have you Met Miss Jones, I Mean You, Lazy Bird, A Night in Tunisia, Softly as in a Morning Sunrise, Take the A Train, etc. An immediately recognizable example of this form is the chord progression rhythm changes: One of the most common forms for jazz standards is the 32 bar AABA format, 8 bar A sections and an 8 bar bridge. If you understand the construction of these forms and can hear the different sections, your work at learning all these tunes will be significantly easier. Many jazz standards are written within the same common forms: 12 bar blues, 32 bar AABA, and 32 bar ABAC. Many of the songs that are standards are related in some way, whether it’s a similar harmonic progression, form, or melodic construction.įor this article, I’ll expand on the ideas of form and harmonic construction and their use in the standard jazz repertoire. As I mentioned in the previous post, you don’t have to start over every time you learn a new tune. However, the real work begins when you get into the practice room and start learning these tunes one by one. ![]() Concepts like how to learn, listen to, and how to approach the Great American songbook as you prepare to build your own repertoire. In a recent post: A Blueprint for Building Your Repertoire, I outlined some ideas to ponder while creating a repertoire of tunes.
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