Lessons

Lesson 16: Standards

The Importance of Learning Standards

It's very important to study the so-called Standards repertoire of jazz. Many of the standards are really great songs and you can learn a lot from them, including:

chord progressions
playing over changes
how to construct and develop a melody
a sense of form
how to write an immortal song, after all, a lot of these songs have been around for decades

The Giant Songwriters

You should study the works of the giant songwriters of the 20th century, including:

George and Ira Gershwin
Antonio Carlos Jobim
Cole Porter

as well as The Beatles, of course... :-)

So, Which Standards Do You Have to Learn?

If I had to choose the ten most important standards, these would be my choice:

All the Things You Are by Oscar Hammerstein and Jerome Kern
Giant Steps by John Coltrane
The Girl from Ipanema by Antonio Carlos Jobim
I Got Rhythm by George Gershwin
Manha de Carnaval by Luiz Bonfa
Night and Day by Cole Porter
On Green Dolphin Street by Bronislau Kaper and Ned Washington
'Round Midnight by Thelonious Monk, Cootie Williams and Bernie Hanighen
So What by Miles Davis
Stella by Starlight by Victor Young and Ned Washington

In addition to these specific tunes you have to study the blues. I would like to let the 11th standard be a generic jazz blues in three different keys: C, F and Bb.