The First 10 Jazz Standards You Need To Know
Вставка
- Опубліковано 15 чер 2024
- I say it all the time: Learn Jazz - Make Music, and to do that you need to know some songs, so in this video, I am going to go over 10 jazz standards that you want in your repertoire and are great places to start learning jazz. This is In terms of playing changes and knowing all the chords and scale but also about the form that you want to know which is going to make it easier to learn more complicated standards.
When talking about the songs I will try to reference great versions of them, and also talk about whether this song may be a good place to start for you if you are looking for songs to learn.
If you already know a lot of songs and have some other suggestions for this list then let me know about that in the comments to this video. Sharing information like that is really useful for everybody checking it out! I'll talk about the first standards I learned later in the video, none of those are on the list.
Get started learning some of these standards: • Autumn Leaves - Soloin...
If you want to check out some of the important progressions that make up Jazz Standards then check out this video: • Jazz Chord Progression...
Want to learn how to analyze standards? Then see how I do that in this playlist of videos on Jazz Standards and music theory: • Analyzing a Standard A...
Content:
0:00 Intro - Learn Jazz Make - Music!
0:24 10 Typical Standards and Forms
0:36 The Form Of Songs is Important!
0:56 Where are you coming from?
1:12 Something missing?
1:37 #1 Take The A train
2:04 AABA forms
2:52 #2 Cantaloupe Island - Modal Jazz
4:03 #3 Blues
5:28 #4 Satin Doll
6:12 The Ellington Bridge
6:23 #5 Blue Bossa
6:54 #6 Autumn Leaves
7:25 #7 Perdido - Rhythm Changes Bridge
8:02 No Rhythm Changes?
8:15 The First 3 Standards I learned
8:57 #8 Summertime - Four On Six
9:27 How To Use the list
10:00 Did I leave out a Song?
10:05 #9 Solar - Not by Miles Davis
11:23 #10 All Of Me - ABAC Form
Great versions of the songs:
Take The A train - Joe Henderson - • Joe Henderson Trio - T...
Cantaloupe Island - Pat Metheny: • pat metheny trio - mon...
Blues - George Benson - • Video
Satin Doll - Joe Pass - • Joe Pass - 04 - Satin ...
Blue bossa - Kenny Burrell - • Kenny Burrell - Blue B...
Autumn Leaves - Bill Evans - • Bill Evans Trio - Autu...
Perdido - Oscar Peterson - • Video
Summertime - Joe Henderson/John Scofield - • Joe Henderson & John S...
Solar - Metheny/Hancock/Dejohnette/Holland • “Solar” (Live, 1990)
All of me - Tal Farlow - • Tal Farlow & Red Norvo...
🔴 Subscribe for more free Jazz Guitar Lessons and Videos: bit.ly/JensLessons
🎸Check out my Online Course, The Jazz Guitar Roadmap: bit.ly/JazzGtRm
☑️ Support me on Patreon: / jenslarsen
✅DOWNLOAD A FREE E-BOOK with 15 II Valt I licks!
Sign up for my newsletter:
jenslarsen.nl/sign-up-for-my-n...
▶️ Check out my latest video: goo.gl/G16gVx
🎸Join us in the Facebook Jazz Guitar Group Community: bit.ly/InsidersFBGroup
My name is Jens Larsen, Danish Jazz Guitarist, and Educator. The videos on this channel will help you explore and enjoy Jazz. Some of it is how to play jazz guitar, but other videos are more on Music Theory like Jazz Chords or advice on how to practice and learn Jazz, on guitar or any other instrument.
The videos are mostly jazz guitar lessons, but also music theory, analysis of songs and videos on jazz guitars.
Edited by Luciano Poli - Business Inquiries: polivideoedit@gmail.com
Facebook: / jenslarsenytlessons
Twitter: / jensljazz
Instagram: / jenslarsenjazz
My Book: Modern Jazz Guitar Concepts: geni.us/Y69J4
My Gear:
www.amazon.com/shop/jenslarsen
Music Notation: www.guitar-pro.com/#ae113
Clip-on Tuner: geni.us/FbPGZg4
Great Safe Gigbag: geni.us/1aH94
SonoCore Strings: 13-53 geni.us/nU3NA3V
Powered Monitor: geni.us/YB8z3X
Headphones: geni.us/fGDhHl
Audio Interface: geni.us/qFIfT
Camera: geni.us/s14DY9v
Lense 1: geni.us/GmM8
Lense 2: geni.us/GJ01Hv
Video Lights: geni.us/wQ8jhSy
Video Lights: geni.us/MWtU
7 Easy Jazz Standards In Minor You Need To Know : ua-cam.com/video/3bGWISsJLuc/v-deo.html
Minor songs are a great place to learn several things that you need in Major as well, so it is a great idea to really dig into studying some minor songs.
Blues was my gateway drug on the road to jazz addiction.
There are worse ways to end here :)
I'm on that way, advancing slowly... but man! what a trip ::))
Progressive metal was mine
I got into jazz through prog and death metal.
I got into jazz through prog and death metal.
It's crazy how my interest in metal drove me to more nuanced genres like blues, classical, and of course, jazz!
Maybe your interest is actually just music? :)
Same lol
Same thing here, i wanted to learn something completly different. I bought a telecaster (i rly dig the neck tone) and finally found my way to this chanel 🤘
Me too!
I am now no longer that nuts about metal. More garage rock, psychedelic rock, experimental stiff like Viagra Boys, and Jaaaaazzzz
"My favorite Things" is another must for everyone's list .. thanks for the great suggestions.
You know it's going to be a good day whenever Jens uploads a new video.
Thank you Willy!
I think "Autumn leaves ", "All the things you are", "fly me to the moon" should definitely be in the first 10 tunes anybody should learn as the are very easy and famous
the first 3 songs I learned !
@@enzolescure5833 me too
lol yes autumn leaves you can play over and over lol ! 20 years !
All the things you are is actually pretty advanced due to the key changes. But of course sooner or later you should learn it.
I just started learning Jazz a little over a year ago. For me, instrumentals were Very difficult to even know what the Melody WAS. Every version I heard was different and full of improvisation. It helped me ALOT to start with Standards that the melody was Well known, because singers made them famous. Like: "I can't give you anything but LOVE", " Misty", "Sunny side of the street", " Fly me to the moon", "Mr. Sandman" and "L.O.V.E.". Because until I could hear how the melody fit over the chords, it was pretty much just a chord progression that ANY melody could be played over, and I was just noodling and improvising without knowing what it was supposed to sound like. I've heard several on your list by different people and you'd never know it's the same song. There are still many pieces that I know the chords to, but have no idea what the actual melody to them is. What do you suggest?
In addition to Satin Doll and Autumn leaves, my guitar instructor also taught me these tunes first: So What, Freddie Freeloader, Blue Monk, Out of Nowhere, and All The Things You Are.
Jens you are such a Great Teacher and jazz musicologist. As a new jazz player, I find your pointers so valuable! Thank you so much for doing these videos!
Thank you very much Paul! I am really glad you like the videos!!
I'm starting out as a jazz musician, but I'm able to recomend "there's no greater love", it's a good to start inprovasing in a flat key, like Bb major, and it makes me feel like in a music Club in New York, learning standards gives me a lot of vocabulary even thouhg I'm still beginer. Greetings from Peru 🇵🇪🇵🇪🇵🇪🇵🇪🍫🍫🍫
Great! Go for it 🙂
Fly me to the moon is a nice and easy one
True! I just went with Autumn Leaves instead and they are very similar!
@@JensLarsen I've already learned FMTM and AL but changed the chords.
It's the song I use to try and get people into jazz. It's so popular, everyone knows it.
@@JensLarsen Believe it or not, hearing Autumn Leaves was what finally converted me to straight ahead Jazz!
Jens, thank you for all you do to demystify Jazz for all of us guitarists looking to grow musically!
I am a rock fusion player but follow you because you are the best Jazz teacher. 51 years and still learning Jazz.
Thank you! :)
So What - Miles Davis
Super easy and great Dorian practice. Has a small key change to spice things up at one point, but very easy overall.
Best advice I ever received was from Tommy Emmanuel.
"Learn songs"
Well, now you've heard from more people :D
You are a good man Jens Larsen. Much grateful for the sound advice. Thank you for sharing the wisdom.
These are just two I happen to love. After a 41-year hiatus, during which I sang and played guitar for a living, I'm back to my violin, largely improvising, on which I was classically-trained. I've loved jazz since college, and now I get to play it. The tunes: "Bye, Bye Blackbird" and the theme from "Black Orpheus." Lively/contemplative, good contrasts. Also, I love playing these other two tunes straight, as a medley, but they could be lovely in a slow four as a ballad. This may surprise you: "Simple Gifts" into "the Minstrel Boy." Yes, two great fiddle tunes. But think trumpet and you have Aaron Copeland in a groove, and that could be way cool. Cheers.
Great video! I think it’s good to learn All The Things You Are early on because of the changing key centers and the really strong harmony.
Thanks! I would consider that a difficult tune though :)
Yeah. Or learn 3 of the easier songs mentioned and get to play on 3 songs at the next jam instead of 1.
@@JensLarsen difficult but you analyze it great in one of your videos...
I was thrown to the wolves with All The Things You Are 🤣😂
All the things You Are, AKA "All The Chords You Know" is a circle of 5ths solo nightmare. It seems like an exercise. Pat Metheny blows it away, of course.
I teach jazz to kids in Canada. A lot of them know the Spiderman theme (Minor Blues) and the Flintstones (Rhythm Changes approximation) from cartoons. Those can be good first jazz melodies to learn - after they have a little technique. Mostly because they have been listening to them a long time already and will learn them easily.
That's a very good point! I might just suggest Spiderman to the combo teacher at the school for young talent where I work :) Thanks Danny!
Kids these days know the Flintstones?
Thomas Hjelm it isn’t nearly as watched but pretty much every kid age 10 and up will recognize it
A thousand thanks to Jens for continually inspiring me and feeding me ways to improve.
Wonderful!
Great list! Much like my own abbreviated list to which I must add, 'Body And Soul' and 'Misty' - Learn those two and they are like a Rosetta Stone for learning literally 100's of other standards! When I started playing Jazz guitar in a Jazz group in the early 80's, I already had years of playing Jazz guitar improvisation under my belt but not in the context of playing in a Jazz group per se that played Jazz standards with arrangements. The pianist in the group named 'Juhl' took a liking to me and took it upon himself to mentor me in terms of real knowledge of songs ie Jazz standards a player needs to know. Juhl had been a Jazz drummer in a 'former life' before WWII so to speak back before he started playing Jazz professionally which he switched to the piano which he had learned early on as a young lad studying music and learning to read. He had dropped the piano and switched to drums because of his keen ear he could slip into almost any band situation and acquire ready employment. During the war Juhl wanted to become more of a Jazz musician and realized he not only needed to improve his reading ability, he also needed to broaden his musical appreciation and learn a few important Jazz standards - many of which were contemporary to the times during the Swing and Big Band eras just prior to the US involvement in WWII which began immediately after the attack on Pearl Harbor in December of 1941. Juhl began his studies of Jazz standards and writing out his own fake book during those days after joining a group where the leader had told him he needed to not only improve his reading, but he also needed to learn a bunch of standards of various types in order to become more valuable as a Jazz musician.
Now, this is a lot of history, I know, BUT this is essentially as my friend the pianist taught me, as a striving Jazz guitarist of a mere 28 years old during the early 80's who had played for nearly 20 years. I was a child prodigy as a guitarist, cutting my musical teeth on literally everything musical during my formative years BUT I had no history of Jazz standards in my tool kit - I didn't have any songs but I had the gift of playing almost anything by ear almost instantly and my ability to play improvised solos was incredible. Much of my playing was based on intuitive skills I had been blessed with. But that will only take you so far. You need tunes, you need songs, and as a fledgling Jazz guitarist I needed some working knowledge of Jazz standards under my belt. I was not a reading musician, which is important to learn.
Juhl took me aside at his pad we sat at the piano me with my guitar and he began showing me what I needed. He first showed me how important it is to know the melody of a song and how knowledge of the proper chords to the song are important when it comes time to play a meaningful improvisational solo passage. He demonstrated this very well with a tune I thought I knew well, when in fact I did not. I knew the chords and had learned them from a chord chart which I was able to decipher with little effort - but my lack of familiarity with the actual proper melody hampered and hindered my ability to play at the top of my game. He chose 'Satin Doll' a tune he said I needed to include in a dozen or so Jazz standards everyone needs to know. He put his hand written lead sheet from his fake book up on the piano and he helped me thru the song with an all points refresher that helped me acquire a tune-up in my musical experience which helped me play the song in a way I had never before approached it. We ran thru the melody note by note as I learned the proper notation and then we ran thru the proper chords. It was an eye opener! Then he said, "Let's play it together. You follow along using what you've just learned and when I say 'take it' you play your solo. OK? Let's try it!" He took off on the introductory notes and nodded to me, as I took off playing correct comp chords and by the second verse I was well into playing substitutions giving me those harmonic intervals in my chords that brighten a tune. He nodded and said, "Take it" and when I did I played a solo unlike any I had ever dreamed possible with all the notes right under my fingers. I had never heard myself play this well on this song!
I was a mere half an hour into our tutoring session and the results were astounding. Juhl had served me coffee and a Danish, given me a little of his history, then ran the risk I might be offended at his suggestion that I lacked some much needed experience and a little training. Fortunately, I saw his offering as something he was donating to the cause simply because he saw me as a worthy vessel, one whom he spoke highly of in the 1st person present, acknowledging that I had been given a gift of a keen ear as well as a keen intuitive sense in my ability to play by ear and to even play over songs I didn't even know or even know what key I was in. He had demonstrated that to me at the gig the night before sitting off to his side, guitar in hand, just playing whatever came up. But there was more I could offer had I more knowledge and some minimal training. He provided that to me and more. We ran thru a few more tunes and he tossed his well worn fake book at me, "Here, take this, go copy off some of your favorite tunes and the one's I have bookmarked and bring it back to me at the gig tonight - Please don't lose it or anything out of it. It's my life's work, you see, Now go, and I'll see you tonight and bring your copies with you."
Juhl had marked several tunes - many of which were my favorites as well as several mentioned in the video: 'A-Train', 'It Don't Mean A Thing (If It Aint Got That Swing)', 'After You've Gone', 'Summertime', 'It Had To Be You', 'All Of Me', 'Out Of Nowhere', 'Satin Doll', 'Perdido', 'I Found A New Baby', 'Poor Butterfly', 'Rose Room', 'Misty', 'Body And Soul', 'I Can't Give You Anything But Love', 'Aint Misbehaving', 'Autumn Leaves', 'Blue Skies', 'Don't Get Around Much Anymore', 'Georgia On My Mind', 'Honeysuckle Rose', 'Oh, Lady Be Good'. 'Night And Day', 'On The Sunny Side Of The Street', 'Sophisticated Lady', 'Tenderly', 'There'll Never Be Another You', 'How High The Moon', 'Basin Street Blues', 'Avalon', 'I Got Rhythm', 'C-Jam Blues', 'September Song', 'Sweet Georgia Brown', 'Black Coffee', 'I Surrender Dear', 'In A Mellow Tone', 'Caravan', 'St Louis Blues', 'Tenderly', 'Indiana (Back Home Again In)', 'Memories Of You', 'Exactly Like You', 'Moonglow', 'Limehouse Blues', 'Rosetta', 'I'm Confessin' That I Love You', 'September In The Rain', 'Deep Purple', 'Bye, Bye Blackbird', 'Coquette', 'I Don't Know Why', ' etc... about 60-70 tunes just to start which are the backbone of Jazz standards - with the exception of Latin tunes like 'One Note Samba', 'Wave' and 'Girl From Ipanema' and a few others.
I pored over these songs in the days to come with Juhl's suggestion that I at least learn one or two per day. I burned thru them all in a couple of weeks and my playing in Juhl's Jazz group really took off. In the years to come I found learning more of the old standards became so easy and natural and my repertoire really expanded. Just being an improvisational soloist in a Jazz group will only take one so far. You need to learn tunes from every key, in every sub-genre, every tempo and so on. The list above is just a mere sampling, but it was a great start. Many of them I already knew somewhat. Learning them in their proper keys (they were originally written in), played with the proper and correct chords and exact correct melody (not stylized like Willie Nelson's version of 'Georgia' which is grossly incorrect!) brings a enhanced perspective on playing these songs. One other thing I might add which was taught to me by another seasoned Jazz musician is to locate the definitive version for all of these songs not just one's favorite cover by Joe Pass or Bill Evans or whomever. Learn Ellington's original versions of the songs he and his band member's wrote which are the definitive versions. After you have done that, then explore the cover versions by Tal Farlow, Johnny Smith, Barney Kessel and all the rest. Happy learning and performing!
Just what I was looking for, thank you!!!
You're very welcome! :)
Thank you for the great advice and hand picked easy tunes for a beginner. I found this advice so encouraging as I had previously picked difficult songs, struggled and gave up through being hard on myself. I picked on blue bossa first as I didn't know the piece at all and also billies bounce. Listened through once, found the key and the changes then started to play. I have learnt both songs today in around a hour (10min for billies bounce) I am hugely grateful for your wisdom as it has got me playing jazz which is something I have been working up to for a long time. I play bass guitar and I know no theory at all but it hasn't stopped me picking up these songs easily by ear. I just needed the correct advice and encouragement. Thanks again Jens. Wishing you happiness and good health from England
Just what I'm looking for!; Thank you!
Excellent list of introductory standards, Jens! Guitar players new to the Jazz idiom can also get a lot out of studying Maiden Voyage. The modal form shifts very predictably at a nice slow tempo. But even more important (for guitarists) is that the notes and harmonies of Maiden Voyage seem particularly at home on the guitar fretboard.
The chords and scales for these particular modes (Am7/D, Cm7/F...) can be learned instantly as neat quartal stacks that are easy to grab right in the middle of the neck (strings 2,3,4,5 between 5th and 8th position). This is for me the heart of the instrument and the easiest place for a beginner to sound good and threreby gain confidence in jazz guitar.
Thanks for this video, Jens. Your channel is truly a great resource for all Jazz guitarists!
Thanks! Yes, I was thinking about that one too, but I actually find that a bit tricky because it has so many sus4 chords and is a bit vague with that. I prefer Cantaloupe Island because the chords are more common and almost something you will find in a standard.
After 30 yrs as a symphony orchestra bassist, I was lucky and went straight into professional jazz gigs. I was sweating it out in the beginning and getting frustrated trying to learn this song then the next- a very slow process. I found it more useful in my situation to learn the forms. Once you know the forms, you know the songs (also known as faking it, and assuming you have a good ear). Many songs I've played for the first time was in a live performance. When I would check what I played with the original chords I would get it right. Here is what I concentrated on: 1. Blues 2. Rhythm Changes (the chord changes of 'I Got Rhythm") 3. Songs based on the circle of 5ths- 'Autumn Leaves', 'Fly Me to the Moon'. 4. Song forms: aaba, abac. It then became easy to learn songs at a quicker pace because I would recognize the form and think "Oh, it's 1,2, or 3. The only problem with this method is the "bridge" in songs written after ca. 1930 as they tend not to follow the Rhythm Changes progression but would more or less change key at the bridge (as evidenced by all the accidentals). Otherwise, this method seems to hold true for songs from the 1890s-1960s. The only songs I really had to learn one by one was Bossa. This is what worked for me. But a lot depends on where you are coming from in your pursuit of jazz.
Really useful list, Jens. It can be difficult for beginners to know which standards to work on to get results. Some teachers seem to like choosing quite difficult tunes, e.g. All The Things You Are because they challenge the student to learn a lot of jazz concepts. However, I think it's important for beginners to build up a solid repertoire of tunes that they can improvise on and play with other people.
Thank you, John. I completely agree with those priorities 🙂
My father in law was a jazz player and taught me many of these old standards. But one that always fascinated me before I really understood anything was Bluesette. What a fabulous 2-5-1 theory song that goes into multiple keys. So its more difficult in the sense that it is in multiple keys with lots of chords but great for teaching secondary dominance, making majors minors as a path to the next 2-5-1 transition in to another key.
Thanks for a very complete description of the video! Subscribed
You're very welcome! I am glad you like it! 🙂
Super solid advice man. I Learned Autumn Leaves in 1972 , it’s a real audience pleaser, worth learning no matter what genre you generally play.
Thanks! That is indeed true :)
autumn leaves was my first and i really recommend it
I agree 100% with that list, but I’d put Softly as in a Morning Sunrise and Moanin' somewhere there.
Would be a little weird with a top 10 with 12 songs 😂😁
Thanks Jens! Your video is informative & helpful
Glad you like it, Jume 🙂
VERY solid advice with great substance, subscribed ! Thanks
Awesome, thank you! I hope you find more stuff you can use :)
Thank you very much for this video!
Glad you find it useful 🙂
The Girl From Ipanema. Not only a great tune, but a lot going on harmonically and an unusual bridge
Which is also why it maybe should not be one of the very first to learn? 🙂
@@JensLarsen True. Would be lovely to watch/hear your approach to it though 🎸
@@Onoins425 we'll see. Maskine videos on whole songs rarely works for UA-cam 🙂
Hi there, thanks for the video.
The first song I played when I start my journey through Jazz was Tune up. Very simple and there're a lot of things we can do it.
Another one that is in the same level as Autumn leaves is "Beautiful Love" from Victor Young.
"I could write a book" is also pretty simple.
For a more advanced songs, I'd suggest : Autumn in New York, Body and Soul, Could it be you (Cole Parker) and Desafinado from our master Tom Jobim.
Cheers
Good choices :)
Great list Jens. I'm a sax player but i find your advice to be the most accessible and useful. Keep up the good work.I'd add Girl from Ipanema - gets called a lot, not too hard and a killer melody.
Thanks Mark! I think Girl is a little tricky for a beginner, but certainly a very important song to know (and a great one, it is usually still fun to play after having played it a few thousand times :D )
As a vocalist, my intro song to jazz was “my funny valentine” the idea that such a simple melody could have such interesting and, to me, exciting harmony was suuuch an eye opener
That's indeed often the case: vocalists will learn a "simple" melody with some horrifyingly difficult harmony under it :) I used to comp a lot of singing lessons when I was studying and that always happened
That can't be an easy song to sing at any level...fairly opaque harmony as I remember it.
Excellent topic.... and so right about keeping it simple, it was years before i tried Stella by starlight for example... your 10 I have always been able to jam with many new folks!!! Also I’m sure you’ve found every song teaches a lesson.... usually a good one, and just when I think I know them.... someone inset comes along and and expresses it in way that is totally refreshing... love what you love brother
Great video Jens, we don't always need pure technical content and analysis and this is a good pointer, as you say learning songs is very important and they should be ones you are interested in and like to keep motivated. I've recently been working on Solar and found the same video of Pat Metheny which is very good showing his playing at the start
Thank you John! Pat is so great in that concert!
Not even 15 seconds in and already subscribed!
Thank you very much! I hope you find more videos you can use :)
Continue doing what you're doing man. You're the best. I love ROAD SONG by WES. Quite simple.
Thank you! Road song is indeed quite an easy tune :)
Jens, thank you, I'm reawakening and to get the flow, I have to start smooth and slow. You emphasized points that I didn't consider long ago and undoing old habits with your step approach is very much what I need!
Thanks Again and Have a great New Year,
Jay
Glad you find it useful, Jay! Go for it 🙂
Nice to see 3 tunes on the list that I have been playing. I suggest Black Orpheus "Manhã de Carnaval". More complex than, say, Blue Bossa but, for me, it resonates well with my more rock background. Thank you Jens for all you do!
Great suggestion! I'm going to work this one for a Jazz Ensemble audition.
I would add My favorite things, all the things you are and my favorite Blue in Green, for Summertime version Jim Hall&Metheny version is my no1 , thanks for your shares
Wow, great video - thanks for sharing!
Nice, another Learn Jazz Standards channel? Glad you like the video :)
All The Things You Are is a good one for practicing key changes.
Jens -- Thanks for this list! This sort of advice is great for beginners, because it's easy to get blown away by working on a tune that's too advanced. I wish I had something like this when I was starting out, and it would have made a big difference. Of course, now that you've created this precedent, we are waiting for your follow-up videos on the next 10 tunes to learn after these, and your 10 advanced tunes!
Here are some other beginner suggestions:
* Doxy: An easy tune, "bluesy" but not the blues, with some nice gospel feel. You can play simple ideas that outline the chords, and that will sound good, but you can also play just basic blues ideas.
* St. Thomas: Again, a simple tune, although I find that while it's easy to play through the changes, it's hard to sound good. Of course, Sonny does!
* So What: super easy for a first-time improviser to play over, and it's not hard to sound good!
* Song For My Father: Kinda modal, again an easy tune for beginners to blow over and sound convincing.
* Four: A little more advanced, but at a reasonable tempo very manageable by beginners. The chord progression moves around some keys, but it's not crazy, and it's a good place to start to get away from just playing inside one scale.
* Ladybird: Probably the most advanced of this list, but still reasonable. Lots of cycle of fifths motion, and it moves into different keys, so it's not entirely different from Solar.
I first discovered 'jazz' in Paris in 1987 some kids my age early 20s we're busking electric guitar and sax they were playing Misty Autum leaves and foggy day all of me take the A train in fact most of your top 10! I was blown away They taught me about 251 turn around and 7th chords
Nice to get inspired from real music! :)
Great list 🙂
Watermelon Man was the first song I learned
Such an important topic to talk about. Great to hear your take on it, Jens! :)
Also, did this video get cut off? Is there a part 2? Thanks again. Great video!
Thanks Nick! I actually just decided not to have an ending on this video as an experiment :)
Great advice. Thank you. I’m the guy you mention who finds it hard to break out of pentatonics. But I’m getting there.
Just keep at it :) (and practice Cantaloupe Island?)
totally agree with the rhythm changes thing. in fact i learned “complicated” tunes like all the things you are before i did rhythm changes. with all the things you are you have a bit of difficulty with the key changes but a lot of fun over not a lot of chords, where as with rhythm changes it’s hard to not run out of ideas as a beginner.
Is there a great song that should have been on the list? (and maybe why?)
Check out: The Most Important Scale Exercise In Jazz
ua-cam.com/video/2Ze22BNftAA/v-deo.html
Content:
0:00 Intro - Learn Jazz Make - Music!
0:24 10 Typical Standards and Forms
0:36 The Form Of Songs is Important!
0:56 Where are you coming from?
1:12 Something missing?
1:37 #1 Take The A train
2:04 AABA forms
2:52 #2 Cantaloupe Island - Modal Jazz
4:03 #3 Blues
5:28 #4 Satin Doll
6:12 The Ellington Bridge
6:23 #5 Blue Bossa
6:54 #6 Autumn Leaves
7:25 #7 Perdido - Rhythm Changes Bridge
8:02 No Rhythm Changes?
8:15 The First 3 Standards I learned
8:57 #8 Summertime - Four On Six
9:27 How To Use the list
10:00 Did I leave out a Song?
10:05 #9 Solar - Not by Miles Davis
11:23 #10 All Of Me - ABAC Form
Giant Steps
Great list. I would put two songs more: Night and day (first song i've learned :D, atypical progression with modal-tonal qualities?, but that's what jazz should be?)... and Night in Tunisia. with soooo exotic, dissonant, but beautiful, haunting theme, more (stereo)typical B part - with minor 2/5/1 in two keys, and spectacular, huuuge bridge (C part) which explains what is jazz. Probably i am subjective, but NIT is still my favorite standard.
Hi Jens! Great tips. What do you think about Chick Corea's Matrix? Cheers!
I think Just friends (or almost like being in love) is also a really typycall form, (starting in the 4th degree...)
Great video Jens. I've got you under my skin is a great 251 that is easy and fun to play. I really love come fly with me. Fairly easy and a lot of room improvising.
Brilliant. Awesome. I Love It. More Please!!!!!!
Thanks ! :)
"Lucy and Linus" is another great time I've been having fun with (as a drummer).
All the things you are and Just Friends come to mind. Great advice to learn and practice tunes. Hardly ever get asked on the gig to play the Bb super Lorri an scale...😆
Your list is awesome. One song I learned when I started out was "I Don't Stand a Ghost of a Chance With You". The chords are not difficult and it lends itself easily to a walking bass.
Holy Schnitzel there is certainly alot of new terminology to learn in the Jazz World🤤 Every player i love has a Jazz foundation and they say to learn standards so here i am.
Thank you, Jens, good list. I'd add just one tune for the challenge it means playing on an odd time signature, while not being too complex harmonically. It's "Take Five"
Thank you Jens!
You are very welcome 🙂
A good list. One thing I think is important from the point of view of learning not just individual standards but also recognizing intervals from the tonic by ear as well as developing fluency on the fretboard is to play a particular standard in different keys. An example might be All The Things You Are by J. Kern. Typically played in the key of Fm / Ab, I like to run the song through various keys such as Dm / F. This is toward the goal of playing chord melody style. As you point out, it is so important to be hear the melody in your mind and support it subconsciously with the correct harmony up and down the fretboard and across string sets.
8:36 Studio 4 ❤️
Your videos are great, thank you Jens! Greetings from KC!
Thank you! Glad you guys are holding down the fort 🙂
Many thanks Jens!!
You are very welcome 🙂
I know it might sound crazy but I actually think Christmas songs are a good introduction to playing jazz because a lot of them have great melodies but more complex chords in them than just basic I-IV-V stuff and they can at least help you learn to play more complex chords without all kinds of shifting melodies and time signatures and key changes and things of that nature.
That's not so strange, a lot of Christmas songs are written by the same people who wrote the Jazz standards 🙂
@@JensLarsen True. Which actually reminds me I would add Blue Skies by Irving Berlin to the list of great introductory jazz songs and he wrote White Christmas. So I guess that does make sense. LOL!
Your list is solid. For others who might be starting out, Freddie the Freeloader and Watermelon Man are other great blues tunes and Maiden Voyage is another great modal piece similar to Cantaloupe Island. Yay Music!
Indeed also solid choices :)
Great list. Here's some follow up tunes that are considered by some as 'must know standards list' which were suggested to me by various teachers as well as other great musicians (many of the following tunes I never even touched yet!) some of them are very difficult (PS all the song in your list were also! in 'my list', so that's why I omitted left them out - You already mention them!): All The Things You Are, Oleo, There Will Never Be Another You, How High the Moon, Just Friends, The Days of Wine and Roses,It Could Happen to you (study in Ascending Modulations), Honeysuckle Rose (study in ii/Vs,) On Green Dolphin Street, Stella By Starlight (Both of which you mention, but did not include), Cherokee, Black Nile, Recorda Me, Stolen Moments and Mr. P.C. (examples of minor Blues), Have You Met Miss Jones? (bridge with Maj 3rd related modulations), All Blues, So What? (two Modal classics), Blue In Green, I Mean You, Firm Roots, Bolivia (two great, very challenging tunes written by Cedar Walton), Moment's Notice, Countdown and Giant Steps. (for quite chromatic & Coltrane Changes examples). Some people might also include E.S.P and 'Sorcerer (for 'Post Bop' examples).
All good ideas :) Maybe for a longer list video later :)
2 tunes I would add to this list:
- There Will Never Be Another You
- It Could Happen to You
In terms of common chord progressions, these tunes collectively have almost every common device one encounters when learning Tin Pan Alley tunes.
Certainly essential songs to know, but too difficult for a beginners list :)
thanks for the advice
You're very welcome!
One piece I've been playing with my partner is Blue Monk by Thelonious Monk, mainly because of the 12 bar blues form.
Blue Monk is a great song :)
Well You Needn’t is another Monk. Interesting changes - but nothing more exotic than dominant seven chords. The chromatic changes are a good way to introduce a student to a jazz feel with no intimidating accidentals on the chords.
Excellent compilation, I would add "Blue in Green" by Bill Evans andMiles Davis.
Another Ellington tune that has a great swing feel is In a Mellow Tone.
After decades of playing rock guitar, last year I joined a larger jazz band and got serious about learning JAZZ. The 10 songs that launched my jazz journey: First off, three that Jens happened to mention, namely Take The A-Train, Autumn Leaves, and Summertime... Then: Blue Monk, Black Orpheus, Girl from Ipanema, La Vie en Rose, Fly Me To The Moon, This Maquerade, and So What. Learning songs is really good advice, you can add more and more jazz as you get sort of get fluent in the language (style). Also, it is hard to pick just one Miles Davis song; So What was my first, but Four and All Blues, among others, are really good to approach early on.
"I've Never Been in Love Before" - more challenging, and has an unexpected bridge starting on the Major 4th degree that is lovely to solo over. What would you compare this song to that is already on your list, Jens?
It's an AABA similar to A train, Satin Doll or Perdido. The changes are just a little less typical and a little more difficult. I don't think it should be on a first 10 standards list? That does not mean it is a bad song of course :)
yeah. You’re right. Not a good one to start with, thanks!
Muchas Gracias !
You're very welcome 🙂
Nice vid Jens, thanks once more
You're very welcome! I am glad you like it! 🙂
Misty is a great one for practising chord melodies using upper extensions.
Great lesson.
Thank you! :)
Maybe “All Blues” (get those altered scales warmed up)? “Girl from Ipanema” or another bossa/samba? A ballad like “Someone to Watch over Me” or, of course, “Misty.”
Great video, as always.
For my college audition I had to play
Now's the time
Autumn Leaves and
So What
Later on we did other standards
Hi Mr. Jens Larsen! I can see four (4) songs from the list that are actually on my repertoire! So good! Hahahahaha🎸🎶🎼
That's great! No go learn the other 6 😄
Pp8ji
My music teacher suggested to learn A Song For My Father which is a good jazz standard. It’s helped me improvise
That's a good one too for sure!
Great video! A great starter one for me was "How High the Moon" (not the Les Paul version, but the smoother Nate King Cole version).
That is a great song! I would consider it a little difficult for a beginner though. But we don't all learn easy songs to begin with, I started with Green Dolphin Street, Stella By Starlight and There's No Greater Love. In hindsight I could have chosen beter tunes :)
@@JensLarsen That's a really interesting observation. I actually found How High the Moon really straight forward and easier than Autumn Leaves to learn. But Autumn Leaves is great as well!
And yes, you could have chosen some easier ones! lol.
Thanks again for your videos, I am learning so much and, most importantly, they are helping me understand what makes jazz "work". You're a terrific teacher!
After 40 years my out-look has changed quite a bit.
1st I would ask myself "who is my audience going to be?"
Or, "Do I want to try making a Living out of this?"
Now days I wish I had started a Jazz based Dance Band.
I would study like Hell "The Charleston," and other Dance Tunes; try to write a new Head, and probably even hire a Pro to create a new Step that would absolutely make people get up and Dance! And Yeah, I'd even have the Pros come in as "Ringers" to get the Ball rolling.
Next I would learn a Ballad like "Embraceable You." . . .
I've overlooked tunes like "Tea for Two," and my playing has suffered for it! I always felt it was a corny tune till I heard Blossom Dearie sing the intro, and discovered the tune has a unique sex appeal, and some interesting changes. All the greats played it, (Oscar Peterson, and too many more to mention) and they played it many, many times over the years.
I started with the Charlie Parker Omnibook. Aebersold only had about 8 Play-alongs back then, but I now wish I had put it on the shelf for later. I only ever got one request to play Bird and it was more of a challenge than a request, so I ran "Donna Lee" at him out of my guitar like a machine gun and about knocked him out of his chair. But being able to impress one guy doesn't create an audience that will support you.
I could have made a pretty decent living in Nashville playing country, but I've seen what that has done to other gifted musicians' playing and avoided it like the plague.
What ever tunes you do decide to learn, make them your own and write your own head. Change the rhythm if you need to, or try inverting the melody the way Rachmaninoff did with the Paganini Caprice and you might unearth a world class melody that know one has ever heard.
Learning songs is always good, and it is never too late to begin 🙂
Cherry pink and apple blossom white.... Great jam.. Basic chords and melody mostly diatonic.. Easy to remember. It's in Eb so good on horns as well. Love what your doing? Mr Natural (Natch to my friends)
Mr Natural - I always liked that melody, which I first heard by Herb Alpert, I think.
thank you and thank you
You're very welcome! I am glad you like it! 🙂
Jens, thanks for ALL the great lessons, I'm hoping you have some advice on the following:
If you are trying to play a melody (say, to a standard) on the spot that you haven’t played before (or it’s been a while) are you thinking about the underlying chords (if you know them) to help you hit the right notes, or are you just trying to hear intervals between the notes and not thinking about the harmony at all? I’m trying to improve in this area, but not sure what the correct approach should be.
That's Difficult, for better or worse I actually find I can only play the melody by heart. I don't try to figure it out, that never works for me :)
Cantaloupe Island is the coolest piece of music I've ever heard. Hence term "Cool Jazz" 😀
1) A lot of sax players listen to Joe Henderson's improv of "A Train" on the Echoes of an Era album, with Chaka Khan, Lenny White, Joe, Chick Corea, Freddy Hubbard and Stanley Clarke
2) Basically every Miles "hit" is required.
3) Learn both II-V as well as IV-V blues.
Hey Jens. Appreciate all your lessons. Sometimes I get a bit overwhelmed because I can’t keep up with it all. Info overload! 😄 And I know I need to not focus on too much at once. Even though I do pick up something from everything you post.
Anyway I’ve heard and recognize many of the standards. I grew up with my father listening to jazz my whole life. But never actually learned and studied them. Was more into rock but have always loved Jazz. Never felt I had the ability to play it. But now I’m determined to try.
So I’ve wondered if there is any particular website, store etc that you recommend to get the chart I see you show on this lesson? I heard you state that real books weren’t the best thing to use. Thanks
Great lesson! Very informative! Could you please inform as to the name of the tuner on your headstock? Thanks, and please keep up the great work!
Sway would be a nice addition to this list. A simple introduction to a Latin feel.
I think there are much more famous options? :)
Summertime and 12 Bar Blues were my intro songs for jazz and blues ukulele. I'm currently working on Cry Me a River and My Funny Valentine. Autumn Leaves is on my to learn list next, but not until I master the ones I'm currently learning.
Im a rock and bluesman but man do I love to play Jazz. Its just so much fun
Great lesson and great advice. If I might pile up anything for beginners, I would just add "Tune Up", "Freddie the Freeloader" and "All Blues". Also, a standard that I found extremely beneficial for learning how to count the bars is "So what": just two chords, so that one can focus on the rhythm. :-)
That’s brilliant Jens, especially following your PM to me. The “Don’t watch my videos” comment took me by surprise but I get why you mentioned it. ;-)
Well, practice is more important than UA-cam :) There's no denying that!
What a wonderful time for young musicians to learn jazz. When we see what people like Phineas Newborn Jr. or Art Tatum could do, I am thrilled and impatient to see what the future generations will achieve, knowing that they have access to unlimited informations thanks to the internet. What a time to be alive.
I think the first few jazz tunes I learned were Autumn Leaves, Satin Doll, There Will Never Be Another You and Moonlight In Vermont. My teacher at the time was not into modal playing so I didn´t go there till much later. My first couple of modal tunes were So What and Little Sunflower. I think my first blues was Blues By Five, and Oleo was my first rhythm head.
Solid! 🙂
I just subscribe to your channel. I don’t even play guitar. I’m a keyboard/ piano player and I must say u do have some interesting information. Greetings from France 🇫🇷.
Thank you very much! I am glad you find the videos useful 👍🙂
Great advice.
Thank you! I am glad you found it useful! 👍