What? Nobody mentioned All the Things You Are? It’s the perfect first tune. It’s the perfect standard.
More often it is played in the key of g minor, probably never in G major. Of course, like many songs in a minor key it does visit the relative major, Bb flat, so it presents the opportunity to combine ii-V-I and ii-V-i in the two keys, and find interesting ways of transiting from one to the other.
And, jazzwise, G major or g minor are in no way particularly "mandolin friendly". Even a beginner should get away from the idea of "easy" keys. Jazz mandolin is not "about" open strings.
First tune -- passing through five different keys? I believe its important to start with fairly simple harmonic structures, exploring various ways of spicing them up, playing through and around the chord notes, superimposing non-diatonic scales (e.g., dim and whole-tone), adding upper intervals and color notes (e.g., b5 and b9) etc., and achieving rhythmic freedom, phrasing across barlines and periods; otherwise you run the risk of developing into a one-chord-at-a time improviser.
"Autumn Leaves" was sometimes played in Gm;
jazz players play it in 4/4 and often in the "Real Book" key, Em.
Great point about keys, mandolins, and open strings!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autumn_Leaves_(1945_song)
" It is originally in G minor"
It's a great tune to learn circle progressions and relative major/minor, good for beginners AND still fun to play at any level.
"All the things You Are" was considered by jazz players to be a "difficult" tune when it was new. It's one of the great jazz improv songs though.
It still is a great tune to study for all the reasons you mention, but after one has already learned a bit about how to negotiate ii-V's, key changes, etc.
Last edited by DavidKOS; Feb-08-2021 at 9:07am.
Wonderful advice from one & all. Great tunes & approach’s to pursuing Jazz.
Going back to the initial question, what standard to learn, what standards to you like? What standard can you sit & hum along to? Sing along with? Start there. Find a Jazz version. It doesn’t have to be a “Jazz” tune. If someone asks, I want to play Jazz, who should I listen to? I ask, who do you listen to, that inspires you to play Jazz? If you aren’t listening to Jazz, why play it, maybe you don’t really like Jazz.
Often when people don’t listen to Jazz, it’s confusing, sounds like a bunch of notes scales flying by. I think Billie’s Bounce, Strutting w BBQ, Giant Steps are great tunes. I’ve been listening to Jazz for 50 years. I know them. If someone is not a Jazz listener, they may not know where the head ends & the solo begins. I suggest finding songs you know & hear what a Jazz musician does with them. How they alter them melodically, harmonically, rhythmically. Look up Jazz versions of Beatles tunes. Loads out there. Jazz Christmas albums are a great source to hear Jazz approach’s to familiar tunes on different instruments & different styles, from Billie to Bill Evans. If you like Musicals, pick your favorite songs from musicals & learn them. Oscar Peterson did an album of just West side Story. Armstrong & Miles were known to take the seemingly most mundane Pop tune & turning out a Jazz masterpiece, Hello, Dolly & Surrey w Fringe on Top. Barney Kessel plays People on solo Guitar.
Learn some familiar tunes first. Explore the possibilities, then branch out.
Joe B
A Splendid Time is Guaranteed for All
Yes, David, very concisely put.
We can all recommend for you to listen & learn everything on our favorites lists, from Honeysuckle Rose to Night in Tunisia. Yes, you should. Some of those tunes may be alien to you. So also, listen to Ramsey Lewis play A Hard Day’s Night & Wynton Marsalis play Let it Snow.
Good swinging fun.
Joe B
A Splendid Time is Guaranteed for All
If someone has never played Jazz or improvised before, the first tune I start folks with is a two (I V7) chord version of Mack The Knife. When they are comfortable with that, add the IIm7 chord in.
Next is something like Lady Be Good (basic 4 chord version) or Sweet Sue. Then onto dominant 7 circle progressions like Sweet Georgia Brown or Right or Wrong. After that Rhythm changes.
There is no "correct" order to learn anything. Just have fun!!
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Pete Martin
www.PeteMartin.info
Jazz and Bluegrass instruction books, videos, articles, transcriptions, improvisation, ergonomics, free recordings, private lessons
www.WoodAndStringsBand.com
Jazz trio
www.AppleValleyWranglers.net
Western Swing music
+1 Don Stiernberg's soundslice.com courses are great. For listening, you can also stream great jazz from https://wdcb.org/
The blues.
Bing and Satchmo might be able to get you going ... Soon you'll be able to say, now you has jazz. Just simplify.
But that's just my opinion. I could be wrong. - Dennis Miller
Furthering Mandolin Consciousness
Finders Keepers, my duo with the astoundingly talented and versatile Patti Rothberg. Our EP is finally done, and available! PM me, while they last!
I'm trying to remember where I saw the idea that you didn't know a song till you could play it with two hands on the piano. Not play it on piano - the left hand playing the root note of the chord or a two finger chord and the right hand playing a melody. Also, i'm reiterating 'Getting into Jazz Mandolin' by Ted Eschliman. Also Don Stiernberg's recordings, and Jethro Burns recordings. (And why not, Chris Biesterfieldt's album too, And Jason Anick's...)
JBovier ELS; Epiphone MM-50 VN; Epiphone MM-40L; Gretsch New Yorker G9310; Washburn M1SDLB;
Fender Nashville Deluxe Telecaster; Squier Modified Vintage Cabronita Telecaster; Gretsch 5420T; Fender Tim Armstrong Hellcat: Washburn Banjo B9; Ibanez RB 5string; Ibanez RB 4 string bass
Pedalboard for ELS: Morley Cry baby Miniwah - Tuner - EHX Soul Food Overdrive - EHX Memory Toy analog Delay
Fender Blues Jr Tweed; Fender Greta;
Great thread. Lots of tunes to check out.
I think of playing jazz like punk. It's an attitude, the way you approach the song. Some of the tunes I list aren't jazz but I approach them with a jazz mindset.
Some of the early jazz style tunes I learned with a Django style band/Hot Club. They aren't all jazz tunes but these are the ones that I remember getting down early:
All of Me
Lady Be Good
Take the A Train
Take 5
Minor Swing
Djangology (nice fun descending chords)
Swing 42
Dark Eyes
Beginning to See the Light
Sweet Georgia
Bossa Dorado
Ocean Blvd - Funky Jazz (https://oceanblvd.band)
Cosmic Ramblers - Bluegrass, Americana (facebook.com/cosmicramblers)
HotQua String Band - Gypsy Swing, Latin Bluegrass
Main Mandos: Nashville Flatiron A5 Artist, Belmuse 4 string electric
Don't forget Andy Statman's Jazz Mandolin series from Homespun. It is designed for people coming from Bill Monroe and bluegrass. Andy himself may be teaching online...
David Herman
Did someone say "I'm Beginning To See The Light?"
Sorry about the wind noise.
But that's just my opinion. I could be wrong. - Dennis Miller
Furthering Mandolin Consciousness
Finders Keepers, my duo with the astoundingly talented and versatile Patti Rothberg. Our EP is finally done, and available! PM me, while they last!
Love the video. It must have been fun doing it.
Nic Gellie
Thanks. It was. We were having quite a time working up videos for our promo reel. Especially Luna, self-appointed costume director. I believe we both had to be peeled out of these clothes. This shoot was a bit tricky, with the wind noise. Should have waited for it to calm down, but this was in coastal Maine, so ... The end was priceless, though - she did bump into the camera. A bit of editing fixed that.
But that's just my opinion. I could be wrong. - Dennis Miller
Furthering Mandolin Consciousness
Finders Keepers, my duo with the astoundingly talented and versatile Patti Rothberg. Our EP is finally done, and available! PM me, while they last!
I beg to differ Autumn Leaves is often played in the key of G or you can say Em. The Real Book version is in Em (or G major). One sharp F#.
And I find G/Em to be an extremely friendly key on the mandolin. One of the friendliest in fact. An easy key to read standard notation and why not employ some open strings when you can.
G minor is also a great mandolin key.
All this talk about what key a song "is in" or "should be in" drives me nuts. I used to go around and around with the lead singer in my former band, who insisted on doing songs in the same key as whatever version he'd found on youtube. For example, he insisted we do "Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen" in the same key The Andrews Sisters used - Ebm, a key which gave me fits. I suggested moving it to Em, which was no problem for the female singer, singing lead on this. He wouldn't have it, claiming some sort of authenticity. My contention was then, as it is now:
There are two reasons to choose a key for a song: what's best for the singer, what's best for the instruments.
In this example, it didn't matter what the Andrews Sisters did. They probably did it in that key for either or both of the reasons above. Both of those reasons were reason enough to put it in Em for us. He just wouldn't have it.
I did some research one day. Turns out the song is from an old Eddie Cantor musical, and was written in the key of Am/C.
In the example, placing "Autumn Leaves" in Gm/Bb was possibly done to accomodate horns, which favor flat keys, I hear. G is a great key for mandolin. Do it in G if you want.
PS: My favorite keys are G, A, and D, and their relative minors. C and E aren't far behind.
But that's just my opinion. I could be wrong. - Dennis Miller
Furthering Mandolin Consciousness
Finders Keepers, my duo with the astoundingly talented and versatile Patti Rothberg. Our EP is finally done, and available! PM me, while they last!
That's smart if you're dedicated to free improvization. If you're in the middle of jamming and you find yourself quoting a different tune than what you'd started playing, you can't stop what you're doing and change key to the one you're accustomed to playing it in, or the one it "should be in" - you have to keep going. It's best to be ready in case that happens.
But that's just my opinion. I could be wrong. - Dennis Miller
Furthering Mandolin Consciousness
Finders Keepers, my duo with the astoundingly talented and versatile Patti Rothberg. Our EP is finally done, and available! PM me, while they last!
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