Who else really wants to know about Jazz standards?
Can I be totally honest with you?
Trying to learn Jazz by yourself is a nightmare.
Notice I said is a nightmare not can be a nightmare.
The reason is Jazz is an aural tradition it can’t be written down.
You have to learn to speak the language.
And to do that you have to find someone who already speaks that language.
You know the score.
You feel like you’re banging your head against a brick wall trying to get into this Jazz thing.
And the more you try the more confusing and frustrating it gets.
Where do I start?
Should I learn some Modes?
How do I get that Jazz sound?
These questions and more run through your head at a dizzying rate.
Jazz Standards: the repertoire
Well, first things first.
Where to start?
With all the information available today it’s easy to get distracted and sidelined.
Let’s go with common sense.
What do people want to hear?
Scales? Arpeggios?
Of course not!
They want to hear SONGS.
Yes, songs!
Boy, how could we have missed that?
In fact, we’re not the only ones to miss the obvious.
Keep your eye on the newspaper ads and you will see the Universities and Music Colleges running ads for people who can teach Jazz songs.
Why?
Because they no longer have people on staff who know how to teach the Jazz Repertoire.
Sure they can ramble on forever about Modes and such but the people who actually spoke the language are gone.
The teachers can only teach what their teachers taught them.
Back to common sense.
The originators of the craft of Jazz PLAYED SONGS AND THEN PLAYED WITH THEM.
In all honesty, in all the time I have been playing music nobody has ever come up to me and requested a scale.
So let’s get to work on learning the Jazz Standards.
“Playing scales is like a boxer skipping rope or punching a bag. It’s not the thing in itself; it’s preparatory to the activity.”
Barney Kessel
Jazz Standard Song List
O.K, I think by now we agree that the focus should be on learning songs.
Question is which ones?
Well, that’s the first problem there seem to be hundreds and hundreds of songs for the newbie Jazz player to learn.
Right then, how about we learn one song first?
Autumn Leaves is a good choice because it has a beautiful melody that is easy to play and the chord progressions are found in many other Jazz Tunes.
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