Chords for 50 Jazz Standards - The Songs You Need To Know

_ [F] _ _ [Dm] _ _ _ _ _
_ [Dbm] _ [C] _ _ _ _ _
[Dm] Jazz standards are the songs [Ab] that you need
if you [F] want to learn [Bb] to play jazz.
They are the songs that you play
where you're putting everything that you practice [A] to use,
whether it's chord [Bm] voicings, arpeggios, bebop [Ab] licks,
scales, [Bbm] or music theory.
Those are the songs [Bb] where you really get it
[G] into your playing, where you [C] start making music with it.
And frankly, I think it's also [Db] the most fun [D] part
of learning how to play [Bb] jazz, playing some real [A] music.
This video is a list of [Eb] 50 jazz [D] standards
so you can [G] start developing your [F] own repertoire
and just check them out one by one.
I'm gonna go over them in different categories
because I think it's [Cm] important
that you don't play the same type of song [C] all the time.
You don't wanna have a set where you're playing [Ab] five tunes
in the same medium swing in F major right [G] after each other.
You wanna keep it interesting and not boring
[C] for both the band and the audience.
After the 50 standards, I'm also gonna go over a [Ab] short list
of some of my favorite [C] tunes that are a little bit
less common, [G] so you can also check those out
at the end of the video.
My name is Jens [Eb] Larsen.
Learn jazz, make music.
I know I've covered these [Dm] easy jazz standards
[B] in another video, but I think [C] it's super important
that you start working on learning [Gb] some songs [Bb] right away
when you start learning jazz, [C] and it's also very important
that you don't take a song that's too difficult
and then crash the whole thing
by [F] just getting stuck with that.
You spend three months learning Stella by Starlight
as the first standard that you ever learned to play.
I guess [Ebm] I did spend three [Fm] months learning
how to play Stella by Starlight, [F] but with all my lessons,
I think [B] it's important that [F] you have to remember
[E] you should do as I say, [A]
you shouldn't do as I do.
The reason why I can be [Bb] considered an expert
in [C] some of these things is that I've made
pretty much all the mistakes,
so I [Em] can tell you how not to do that.
[Gm] _ _ _ [Eb] _
[Bb] Good songs to start with [Db] would be [Eb] songs like Autumn Leaves,
Pinned Up [B] House, Blue Bossa, Lady Bird, Take the A [F]-Train,
Perdido, [Bb] Sad and All, _ [G] Cantaloupe Island,
[Abm]
All of Me, [C] and Summertime.
[D] And just because a song is [G] easy or simple
[Ab] doesn't mean that you can't do great [A] things with it.
Just listen to Joe Henderson [Ab] playing Take the A-Train
or [F] Pat Metheny [Cm] _ playing [Abm] Cantaloupe Island
or even Joe Pass [F] playing Sad and All.
_ [Ab] _ _ _ _ _ These songs are a little bit more difficult to play,
they're a little bit more complicated,
but they're also very common,
so you're probably gonna run into them at jam sessions
or if you do gigs where you're just calling standards.
And there are songs like There'll Never Be Another You,
There's No Greater Love, It Could Happen to You,
Have You Met Miss Jones, All The Things You Are,
How High the Moon, Just Friends, and Out of [C] Nowhere.
As you can maybe tell from the list,
I'm also taking a little bit care
to have different keys in there.
I think that's actually more [Gm] important
than we [C] sometimes think about.
We don't wanna play the same key all [Bb] the time.
If you wanna hear that,
then just [Eb] listen to an ACDC live album
[C] where pretty much everything is in the key of A.
_ _ _ [D] _ So [Ab] a true story about that,
when I was studying a million years ago,
I was doing a gig with a singer,
[Db] it was in a noisy cafe,
[Eb] and we were playing for three sets,
so it was [C] pretty long.
In [D] the third set, we started off by [F] playing Embraceable You,
that was a medium swing [G] tune in the key of E flat.
Then [C] we went to I Remember You,
that was a medium [Gm] swing tune
and [Ab] we were playing it in the key of [D] E flat.
So at the end of the solos,
[F] the singer comes [B] in with the last [E] theme
and she managed to modulate back to [Bb] Embraceable You,
so [F] we ended up having to suddenly go to another tune.
[E] And this [Am] has to do with concentration, of course,
because [B] it's difficult to keep [Ab] concentration
if you're in a noisy environment
and you're playing a long gig.
At [F] the same time,
if the band has [B] trouble keeping track
of what [F] song is being played,
then it's not gonna be easier for the audience.
_ _ Of course, there are a lot of difficult jazz songs
that you can check out.
The three I'm gonna mention here
are just because I think they're [Db] important to know.
They're [Ab] difficult for different reasons,
but they're also [Bbm] quite common.
So the first one [Em] is Stella by Starlight
[F] and then Cherokee and finally Giant Steps.
So they're difficult for different reasons,
but you [Bb] do wanna have them in your repertoire [A] eventually.
[Bb] They just shouldn't be among the first 10 [Fm] tunes
that you're checking out.
[Ab] A great [Db] way to change the pace in a set
[Bb] is to also have some ballads in there.
And [Ab] some very common ballads
would be [Bbm] Polka Dots and Moonbeams,
[Am] Body and Soul [C] or In a Sentimental Mood.
You [G] can also use a [Gb] ballad, if you're playing with a band,
to just have a small part of a set [Bb] that's also solo guitar.
Of course, this [Eb] depends a little bit on where you're playing
because if you're playing in a very noisy venue,
like a [Bb] cafe or something like that,
where [Db] people are talking a lot,
then maybe the ballads don't work at all.
But maybe that's just in the Netherlands.
_ [D] _ _ _ _ [G] _
_ _ If you play guitar,
you [Bb] really have to check out some Brazilian [Cm] music.
_ _ [Bm] _
_ _ _ [E] _ _ It's a [A] tradition that's really [Bm] developed on guitar
and it has influenced [Bb] jazz
and became [Ab] a part [F] of the jazz repertoire.
There are some [Bb] great songs in [F] there
and they tend to [A] be a little bit [B] complicated
[Eb] or more [Bb] interesting, modern [Eb] sounding standards.
So I'm [Dm] talking about pieces like The Girl from [G] Ipanema,
[Bb] _ Corcovado, [E] One Note Samba, _ Triste and [Bm] So Danso Samba.
_ _ Besides all the authentic sambas [Gb] and bossa novas,
then there's also a whole range of grooves
that are [Bb] jazz versions of this.
They're not [G] really Latin grooves,
they're just jazz Latin grooves.
And [B] this is something that's very common
in the hard bop era.
[Gm] And some of the songs that you [D] play in these [Bb] grooves
also tend [D] to be very often a little [G] bit modal.
So I'm talking about songs that [E] have one chord
for a longer period of time.
Stuff like I Remember [C] April by Corda Mae,
Green Dolphin Street, Night and Day [D] or Love for Sale.
_ [Fm] _ _ _ _ [Ab] _ _ _
_ [D] _ _ Blues [Db] is a huge part of jazz.
I'm sure you [Dbm] already know this,
but it's [Fm] important to remember
that there are also a lot of very [F] important compositions
[Ab] on the 12-bar blues.
So I'm talking about songs like [Bb] Billy's Bounce,
Au Prévav, _ _ Turnaround, Tenor Madness,
[F] Straighten Out Chaser and Mr.
[G] PC.
And it is also a little bit [F] as if each [C] period of jazz,
so whether you have bebop, hard bop, [Cm] modal jazz
or even [Db] more modern styles,
they all have [F] their own take [Bb] on how to write a 12-bar blues.
[Em] _ _ Jazz isn't only [Cm] in 4-4,
[A] so it's important to also have a part of your repertoire
that are in other meters.
And I [F] think the waltzes are a great place [E] to start.
So just a [Gb] basic 3-4,
but [Fm] later you [G] also wanna play other meters
like 6-8, 5-4 and [Bb] 7-4.
[D] And you [F] also wanna be able to take standards
that are usually in [G] 4-4
and then move them to those meters.
[Em] So some of the common 3-4 [Bb] tunes that you wanna check [D] out
would be stuff like [B] Bluesette,
Someday My Prince Will [D] Come or [F] Footprints.
And you can see here also
that this is overlapping [Em] with the blues
because [E] two of these are in fact [C] based on the 12 [F]-bar blues,
even though [G] they're also [F] very, very different [Db] compositions
[Eb] where one is pretty bebop, it's almost like a parka blues
and the other one is [Bb] more of a modal composition.
_ A thing that's a little bit overlooked
[F] when it comes to creating some [A] variation in a [D] set
is also that we forget that there's a huge difference
between [G] a song that's in a major key
and a song that's in a minor key.
[Bb] So you wanna have some minor key songs as well,
even though there are not as many of them.
Great songs to check out and that are also pretty common
would be Softly As In The Morning, [E] Sunrise,
_ [F] _ Yesterday's, Alone Together or Solar.
And again, we have a take on a 12 [B]-bar blues
because Solar [E] is in fact a take [D] on a 12-bar minor blues.
[G]
And of [D] course, we also need some bebop pieces
and I only have three spots left [Dm] on my list of 50 standards.
So here I'm going with Scrabble From The Apple,
_ _ Anthropology and Oleo.
So I'm really focusing on some [D] bebop pieces
on some common [C] forms like Honeysuckle Rose,
[Ab] which is Scrabble From The Apple
and then [D] two Rhythm Changes.
[Bbm] And that's because those forms are really [E] important to know
and there are a lot of [F] other bebop themes
that are also on that form.
Of course, I also covered some [B] bebop themes
when I was talking about the blues
because [Eb] a lot of [Bb] bebop themes are written on a 12-bar blues.
I'm [F] very curious what you think about this list.
Did I [G] leave out your favorite song?
And [D] which one is that?
Then leave a [Eb] comment.
And of course, if you [C] know a great version
of one of these [Eb] songs,
then [Db] share that in the comments as well
because [Ebm] it's always good [F] to have some really great
recorded versions of these songs.
[B] _ As I said in the beginning of this video,
there are also a few songs that I really love to [Dm] play
that are not common enough to make it to this list.
_ But I just wanna mention those
just because [G] those are songs I really [Bb] like.
And one of them will be I'll Be Seeing You,
which is [Gb] a great old-fashioned standard
that I learned from _ Chris Cheek, actually,
where he's playing it on his debut album
with Kurt Rosemegle on guitar.
Another song that I really love to play is [Gbm] Very Early,
which [E] is a Bill Evans tune.
It's a waltz [Fm] and it's a little bit complicated,
but it's [Em] also well worth checking out
[Bm] and you [Gm] really get to come through a [Fm]
lot of [A] keys
and a lot of different sounds if you check out that song.
The first standard [Abm] that I ever learned by ear
is a standard that nobody knows and almost nobody plays,
so I almost never get to play it,
but that's a song called I Heard You Cry Last [D] Night.
And I learned that off _ [Am] an album
of the late [D] but great Vic Duris. _
Another song that I really enjoy playing,
which is also, [Am] again, kinda complicated to play,
is The Old Milestones.
[Bb] And if you wanna hear a great version of [C] that song,
then you should check out the Joe Henderson album
So Near So Far,
which has pretty much my [C] favorite Scofield solo ever.
And finally, a song that I also really love playing
that almost nobody knows is called Ugly Beauty,
which is a tune by Thelonious Monk.
It's, if not his only,
then at least one of his only [Cm] three-quarter tunes.
[Eb] _ Again, it [A] has a few sort of twists and turns
because it's a Monk tune, so it [Db] has twists and turns,
[E] but it's definitely a very beautiful song to check out.
If [Gb] you're going to start expanding your repertoire,
which I definitely think you should,
[Eb] I'm always trying [Bb] to learn new songs,
then you wanna [G] also have some exercises
and some ways to practice all these tunes.
And I have a few videos where I'm talking about
how [D] you learn standards and [Bb] some good exercises
to check out [A] on tunes to [G] help you learn them
and to become more free [E] when you're improvising them.
And I'm linking to