10. Jazz Standards
Jazz Standards have been widely misinterpreted by musicians – especially after 1960 or so. Finding the original sheet music is a major challenge. Almost all existing sheet music must be corrected by teachers such as Connor Jones. Some of the basic guidelines are provided below, but require a deep familiarity of the original repertoire.
The first and most important question to ask when analyzing one of the Jazz Standards: What is the key of the tune? the ending chord/note provides a hint (the final resolution) but not always. Knowing the key of the tune requires analysis of the harmonic patterns and the movements created by the composers.
▪ Before approaching a new tune from the Great American Songbook, it is best to analyze the scale outline of the tune. Understanding where tonal centers shift will put the entire tune into perspective.
Tunes have a general scale outline and a logic to their choice of tonal centers. The tonal centers of a tune are typically related to other tonal centers either diatonically or by family relation (coming from the same diminished family).
Diminished chords and dominant chords are typically used for moving from one center to another.
▪ What we can take from Fake Books of Jazz Standards, are the melody notes, which tend to be correct.
To know which tonal center a note or chord belongs to – identify the scale to which that note/chord is diatonic.
▪ For the bassline, we typically use root + shell voicings of choice (detailed in shell voicings chapter). Therefore, lead sheets of Great American Songbook tunes we use usually don’t need a detailed bassline. The treble clef with chords and melody are usually enough. This also leaves room for improvisation and personal interpretation.
▪ Due to shifts between tonal centers throughout tunes, it is better to go with accidentals than key signatures.
In “Fake Books” of Jazz Standards there are many minor 7th chords that should be interpreted as minor 6th chords. Not all, but in many cases. Try both, listen to the difference, and choose. Note that in some cases, a minor 7th chord notated instead of a minor 6th chord, because the bass note of the minor 7th is preferred (E.g: Cm7 instead of E♭6, because the C in the LH is preferred in the specific tune).
In “Fake Books” of Jazz Standards there are dominant chords that don’t fit in very well. Try the minor-6 on the fifth instead.