20 First Jazz Tunes to Learn
4 minute read
When it comes time to learn the common standards found in the Jazz repertoire, many people ask "What tunes should I start with/learn first?"
Depending on who or where you ask, the results vary widely but you may see common suggestions such as "Autumn Leaves", "All of Me", "Fly Me to the Moon", "Blue Bossa" and "All the Things You Are", among others in the standards category.
For the novice who doesn't know any better, they might be thinking, "Okay, sure."
But not long after starting one or two of those tunes they come to quickly find out they're a LOT more difficult than they thought!
They'll find themselves struggling with all the chord changes, how and what to play over them, what to do with their left hand and right hand or both, mass confusion and frustration. It's far too easy to end up biting off way more than you can chew.
So if those tunes are not for beginners, which ones are?! There's a better way!
As mentioned in my other blog articles and published works, you want to start with the 12 bar Blues and Blues-based tunes!
Why?
In short: They're much simpler harmonically, much shorter in length, much easier to solo on and they build crucial fundamental skills that will apply to all of the tunes mentioned above, among others.
For all the other dozens of reasons why starting with the Blues is so critically important and fundamental, read my article on 5 areas to focus on as a Beginner.
Here's the first tunes I recommend you start with in order, as each one builds off the last (click the links to listen to the tune!) and are all Blues or Blues-based tunes:
From there, I recommend 3 specific Modal tunes. Now, many people would be against this and say to learn standards before a Modal tune.
However, the point of learning a Modal tune is to be able to work with 1 - 2 chord changes or so, and be able to develop strong improvisations using a particular scale over a given chord change because you have the time to do so!
Modal tunes give you time to really develop ideas and explore a given harmony using one scale or two, before having to deal with numerous complex chord changes in standards!
They force you to really be creative with your improvisation, as playing modal tunes forces you to make one chord or two sound interesting.
This is a great way to build on the "story telling" aspect of your solos. Various rhythms, motifs, motivic development and leaving space are key for playing effectively on Modal tunes, and improvising in general.
These tunes also reinforce and apply your pentatonic scales and exploring a given chord and it's mode diatonically, using motifs and motivic development, different rhythms, repetition and imitation.
Modal tunes like the Miles Davis classic "So What" is a prime training ground for this, as the tune primarily consists of D minor 7 (75% of the tune) and a bit of E-flat minor 7 (25%).
For us pianists, this is nice and fortunate because the Dorian mode, used frequently on D minor 7 chords, is all the white keys on the piano!
The 3 Modal tunes are:
"So What" and "Little Sunflower" are very similar harmonically and use pretty much the same chords and are in the same key (D minor).
After all of that, THEN I recommend starting with easier standards and going in order, as each builds off the last and steadily introduces the 2-5-1 progression in different keys, an essential skill to master playing over as a Jazz musician.
Here's the list of beginning standards:
Notice that only now some of the tunes listed in the beginning of this article are in the list above.
After going through Blues and a few Modal tunes and the first 4 standards in the list above, you'll have a MUCH better understanding and skills to attack Blue Bossa and Autumn Leaves (and the rest!)
So there you have it my friend, the strongest foundation of starting tunes to know.
Many of those tunes get called regularly at jam sessions and gigs. All will teach and give you valuable insight and skills for playing this music we call Jazz.
Action Step: LISTEN to these 20 tunes a lot, especially the ones you're currently learning.
If you're not sure how to start with the first few tunes in the Blues category, or you're not sure where to start with your jazz piano journey or what to practice, download my FREE 12-page guide for more tips and insights on exactly where to start and what to focus on first!
