Lessons

Lesson 41: Learning Songs/ Tunes

The Goal

There is only one way to go - memorize tunes. As long as the music is on a paper, it stays on the paper. When you are able to play a tune from memory, you will start to hear things. Things will eventually start to happen by themselves.

Why Learn Tunes

Master musicians have one thing in common. They know a lot of tunes by heart - typically hundreds of them.

When you learn good tunes you learn melodies that are effective, that sound good. You start to recognize common patterns and ways of harmonizing/ chord progressions.

What to Learn

Learn

the melody
the changes
the lyrics! - if there are lyrics to a tune, "sing it" on your instrument - this will make a world of difference!
the story behind the tune - where does it come from, what is it about?

Melody

Learn to play the melody

in every possible area of the instrument
in two different octaves
on a single string

Harmony

Learn to play the harmonies of a tune

using shell voicings
using three note voicings consisting of higher degrees of the chords

Ways to Internalize Tunes

Some ways to really get inside a tune are:

to write a chord melody arrangement of it
to write a walking bass line to it
to write a new melody or a solo to it
to look at ways to reharmonize the melody
to learn to play it in a different key than the original, even in any key

My Personal Tunes List

I have chosen the following modest list of ( some 50+) tunes for myself to memorize:

All Blues by Miles Davis
All the Things You Are by Oscar Hammerstein and Jerome Kern
Autumn Leaves by Joseph Kosma
Beatrice by Sam Rivers
Beautiful Love by Victor Young, Egbert Van Alstyne and Wayne King
Bemsha Swing by Thelonious Monk
Blue Bossa by Kenny Dorham
Bluezo by Hal Crook
Bye Bye Blackbird by Mort Dixon and Ray Henderson
Cantaloupe Island by Herbie Hancock
The Chicken by Alfred James Ellis
Cry Me a River by Arthur Hamilton
Fly Me to the Moon by Bart Howard
The Girl from Ipanema by Antonio Carlos Jobim
How Insensitive by Antonio Carlos Jobim
I Got Rhythm by George Gershwin
Impressions by John Coltrane
Instant Blues by Stefan "Kilju" Lindblom
It Could Happen to You by Johnny Burke and Jimmy Van Heusen
Lady Bird by Tadd Dameron
Love for Sale by Cole Porter
Lucky Southern by Keith Jarrett
Manha de Carnaval by Luiz Bonfa
Mercy, Mercy, Mercy by Josef Zawinul
Minor Blues by Bob Russell
Misty by Erroll Garner
Mr. C by Max Schultz
My Funny Valentine by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart
My Heart Belongs to Daddy by Cole Porter
Night and Day by Cole Porter
Oleo by Sonny Rollins
On Green Dolphin Street by Bronislau Kaper and Ned Washington
One Note Samba by Antonio Carlos Jobim
Rhythm-a-Ning by Thelonious Monk
'Round Midnight by Thelonious Monk, Cootie Williams and Bernie Hanighen
So Danco Samba by Antonio Carlos Jobim
So What by Miles Davis
Someday My Prince Will Come by Frank Churchill and Larry Morey
St. Thomas by Sonny Rollins
Stella by Starlight by Victor Young and Ned Washington
Summertime by George Gershwin and Dubose Heyward
Swing Spring by Miles Davis
Take the "A" Train by Billy Strayhorn
There Is No Greater Love by Marty Symes and Isham Jones
There Will Never Be Another You by Mack Gordon and Harry Warren
Willow Weep for Me by Ann Ronell