Becoming familiar with new forms (AABA/ABAC), and learning new harmonic progressions will make a world of difference to your playing.
[bctt tweet=”The more jazz standards you learn, the easier it is to pick up new tunes. “] Jazz standards are all written using very similar building blocks (harmonic progressions).Many jazz standards are written within the same common forms: 12 bar blues, 32 bar AABA, and 32 bar ABAC. If you understand the construction of these forms and can hear the different sections, your work at learning all these tunes will be significantly easier. Jazzadvice.com
The more progressions you become familiar with, the easier it is to learn new songs. Each jazz standard can be broken down into smaller progressions that you can find in hundreds of songs.
In every standard that you’ll encounter, with rare exceptions, there will always be a ii-V7 or turnaround at some point in the chord progression.
If you’re able to immediately recognize this progression, whether it’s in the tonic key or another key, you’ll be able to figure out the progressions to countless standards and retain them much faster. Jazzadvice.com
Blues
If you’ve come to jazz from a blues background, you’ll most likely already know the I, IV, V version of this progression. Like the traditional blues, the jazz blues is most commonly a 12 bar form, but with embellished harmony. Jaimeholroydguitar.com
Learning the blues in all 12 keys will cover all of your ii-V’s and minor ii-V’s. It is one of the best platforms to try your hand at soloing due to it’s simple progression.
There are many standard blues tunes, but one of the more popular ones to get started on is Billies Bounce. It has a very common blues “turn around” at the end of the song that you will encounter in hundreds of other songs. This is a good tune to get use to playing over these changes!
Rhythm Changes
Second to a 12 bar blues, the rhythm changes is one of the most used progressions in jazz. Playing comfortably over a I-VI7-ii-V7 progression in all 12 keys takes a lot of work, but is well worth the effort.
Rhythm Changes is the best way to start getting a feel for this progression, and there are many melodies or “heads” that use this progression.
The progression on the bridge of V7 chords moving around the cycle of fourths (in the key of C: E7-A7-D7-G7) is extremely useful to know and invites the possibility of reharmonization, such as the substitutions found in The Eternal Triangle. Jazzadvice.com
Autumn Leaves
This is one of the first tunes most jazz musicians learn! You can find both major ii-V-I’s and minor ii-V-I’s throughout this tune. This is a very easy tune to solo over, and it is very likely to be called out at beginner jam sessions.
This is a “must know” jazz standard, often played in ballad and/or medium swing style. It is also common to find this song represented in G minor. Mypianoriffs.com
All The Things You Are
A.T.T.Y.A (as it’s often abbreviated to) is a great song to learn when you’re first getting into jazz, and will probably keep in your repertoire throughout your years of playing.
One reason for this is because the tune uses cyclic movement extensively and passes through different keys. Modulating in perfect fourths and fifths is often used in jazz standards so by practicing techniques over this tune, you are well prepared for many other tunes. Jaimeholroydguitar.com
Blue Bossa
Not all jazz music swings. A lot of times you’ll hear tunes played with a straight eighth note feel and more latin rhythms being used. Blues Bossa is an example of this. In addition, it also features diatonic chords progressing in 4ths similar to Autumn Leaves. Steve Nixon
So What
A jazz piano classic! This will most likely be your first introduction and application of the dorian mode. So what has a very iconic jazz voicing that you can use in comping on so many other tunes.
So what is a simple modal melody in the bass in flowing 8th rhythms; D Dorian modal chords; classic 32-bar AABA, starting with 16 bars of D Dorian, moving up a half step to 8 bars of Eb Dorian and back to the last 8 bars of D Dorian again. Mypianoriffs.com
Stella By Star Light
This tune is often a beginner jazz musician’s first introduction to the #iv chord. This can take some getting use to, but is a very common sound in jazz. Not starting on the I chord is also an interesting characteristic of this song.
Stella is also a great work out for minor ii-V’s: the opening measure is a minor ii-V and the last 8 bars have a series of minor ii-V’s descending by whole-step. Jazzadvice.com
Satin Doll
This one is an Ellington classic and is requested all the time. The whole tune is II-V’s or II-V-I’s. You will learn a ton about what to play over II-V-I’s on this one.
It’s also usually played at a fairly relaxed tempo. So, it’s a great starter tune. Steve Nixon
Fly Me to the Moon
This is a tune that can be interpreted in many different styles (Swing/Latin). It’s a simple 32 bar ABAC form that is commonly called. This is a singer’s favorite so be sure to learn it in all 12 keys!
Summertime
A classic Gershwin blues melody in simple rhythms; mainly diatonic and related chords of D minor; 16-bar AB form. Another great minor piece and also a “must know,” with a bluesy tinge. There is an opportunity to learn about line clichés and applying them to chords Imi and IVmi.