How to Play Blue Monk

Blue Monk is a bebop blues written in 1954 by the great pianist, Thelonious Monk. Below is a video of the first iteration of this tune as released on his Thelonious Monk Trio album.

This website his several resources for you on how to play this tune.

First and foremost, I encourage you to learn the melody from the recording. You can use a real book, but sometimes the chords are wrong, so I advise to use the recording first.

Once you’ve learned the melody and play along, I would advise you to start learning the chords.

After learning the chords, I would advise to learn the two note voicings for piano proficiency and for use as guidetones. I would also recommend practicing a bass line, which you can play while others are soloing if you are in an educational setting.

Once you have internalized the chords and you can play the bass line, practice the two note voicings on the piano with the recording. Listen to the pianists comping for ideas about rhythm.

Backing track:

Blue Monk Chords

Below you will find the chords for the bebop blues tune, Blue Monk, as played by Thelonious Monk. Please note that these chords are different than the real book changes by design in order to match his initial recording from 1954 off his Thelonious Monk Trio album. Note that the real book includes an E diminished chord in measure six, which could be added in and still match the melody (but that’s not how he played it on the recording.) Also note that the Real Book includes an F7 in measures 9 and 10, but he plays an F7 to an Eb7 on his recording. He also tends to play different turnarounds in measure 8 and 12.

How to Play Lester Leaps In

Lester Leaps in is a “rhythm changes” tune written by Lester Young (tenor saxophonist in Count Basie’s band) in 1929. Below is a video of Lester Young playing this tune with Count Basie’s Kansas City 7 in 1939. In the Depression, and subsequent World War II, big bands wound up playing with their core personnel and swing started to move to the Bebop style, as evidenced by Count Basie’s big band becoming the “Kansas City 7”. Benny Moton, Basie’s bass player, also pioneered the concept of a walking bass line and locking in with the rhythm section. At this time, they were still playing major six chords in lieu of major 7th chords, as evidenced by this recording.

The song is in AABA format, with 8 bars each section. There are two ways to look at the bridge – one  that goes to the III7 Chord, followed by a cycle of 4ths. Another way to look at it is cycling through the secondary dominants, starting with the V7/vi chord. Some rhythm changes tunes go to the ii V7 of the VI instead of the V7/vi. There are many songs which hold these changes, the first one we’ll learn is Lester Leaps In.

This website his several resources for you on how to play this tune.

First and foremost, I encourage you to learn the melody from the recording. You can use a real book, but sometimes the chords are wrong, so I advise to use the recording first.

Once you’ve learned the melody and play along, I would advise you to start learning the chords.

After learning the chords, I would advise to learn the two note voicings for piano proficiency and for use as guidetones. I would also recommend practicing a bass line, which you can play while others are soloing if you are in an educational setting.

Once you have internalized the chords and you can play the bass line, practice the two note voicings on the piano with the recording. Listen to the pianists comping for ideas about rhythm.

Backing track:

Hope this is helpful!

How to Play Route 66

Route 66 was written by Bob Troupe and performed the first time on an album by the same name by the Nat King Cole trio released in 1946. Below is a video of the trio playing, originally in the key of G. Most people play or sing this in F, but I went ahead and kept it in G for educational purposes.

This website his several resources for you on how to play this tune.

First and foremost, I encourage you to learn the melody from the recording. You can use a real book, but sometimes the chords are wrong, so I advise to use the recording first.

Once you’ve learned the melody and play along, I would advise you to start learning the chords.

After learning the chords, I would advise to learn the two note voicings for piano proficiency and for use as guidetones. I would also recommend practicing a bass line, which you can play while others are soloing if you are in an educational setting.

Once you have internalized the chords and you can play the bass line, practice the two note voicings on the piano with the recording. Listen to the pianists comping for ideas about rhythm.

Hope this is helpful!

Route 66 Chords

Below you will find the chords for the popular standard, Route 66, a blues in G. Usually this song is sung in F, but I chose to write it out in G to match the first recording of the tune. For this particular version, I took the chords off of Nat King Cole’s 1946 album by the same name. I used “vanilla” chords, which is basically the least amount of substitutions, with the exception of the 10th measure of the break where I did notate an Ab7. The Ab7 is a tritone away from D7 and is also known as a tritone substitution.

Below is the sheet music. You can print directly from this page or scroll down to download the PDF to your computer.

How to Play Tenor Madness

Tenor Madness is a tune written by the great Sonny Rollins premiered on his 1956 album by the same name released by Prestige records and featuring John Coltrane also on tenor sax.

This website his several resources for you on how to play this tune.

First and foremost, I encourage you to learn the melody from the recording. You can use a real book, but sometimes the chords are wrong, so I advise to use the recording first.

Once you’ve learned the melody and play along, I would advise you to start learning the chords.

After learning the chords, I would advise to learn the two note voicings for piano proficiency and for use as guidetones. I would also recommend practicing a bass line, which you can play while others are soloing if you are in an educational setting.

Once you have internalized the chords and you can play the bass line, practice the two note voicings on the piano with the recording. Listen to the pianists comping for ideas about rhythm.

Hope this is helpful!

Tenor Madness Chords

Below you will find a chord chart for Tenor Madness written by Sonny Rollins.

Scroll down until you see your part. You can print the page you need, or use the Download button below to download the PDF to your computer.

Below is the original recording of this blues by Sonny Rollins.

Tenor Madness 2 Note Voicings and Bass Line

Below you will find sheet music for Tenor Madness 2 note voicings for piano and a sample bass line with notes written in for convenience. When constructing a bass line, I incorporated a I – vi – ii – V7 turnaround during the last two measures, but that would be dependent on what others were playing on the bandstand. I also incorporated a ii – V7 turnaround in measure 8 per the recording (although this is not on any of the real books.) A lot of real books will put in a ii – V7 in measure 9 and another in measure 10 – I put those chords in the chart as optional, but kept the bass line vanilla for educational purposes because they did not play it that way on the original recording. This doesn’t mean it’s wrong to incorporate extra ii V7s, and this is where the rhythm section will need to listen to each other very closely to determine what to do on the spot. The recording that matches this bass line is below the PDF.

The 2 note voicings are based off the 3rds and 7ths of each chord, and can be used as the “guidetones.” You want to aim toward the guide tones while improvising to hit those 3rds and 7ths to help outline the chord.

Hope this is helpful!

You may opt to download the PDF by clicking the download button below the chart.

Sonnymoon for Two Chords

Here are the chords outlined for all different instruments for Sonny Rollin’s Sonnymoon for Two. You can download the chords by clicking the download button underneath the PDF.

On the recording, you will hear a very “plain” blues during the first head – the changes below are the soloing changes and include turnarounds in measure 8 and measures 11 and 12. As always, listen to the rhythm/soloist for turnarounds. By plain, they didn’t use any turn arounds on the head. You may hear some people add a diminished chord on the second half of the sixth measure, I have omitted that given that I didn’t hear the diminished chord on the head or in the soloing on the recording I worked off of. I used the recording off his album, “The Freelance Years.” Also, on the recording, the rhythm section did a ramp up in the bass line in measure 4 – that has been omitted from these chord changes for teaching purposes, but you are welcome to follow the recording in that sense. Have fun soloing over these twelve bar blues!

Rhythm Chart

Here is the rhythm chart for Sonnymoon for Two. The head is as written, then the solo changes start at measure 13. Measure 18 of the solo changes has a diminished chord which is on some (but not all) recordings.

How to Play Sonnymoon for Two

The great Sonny Rollins wrote Sonnymoon for Two which was released in 1957. Since then, it has become a jazz standard and was recorded many times. You will hear him play this on his live Village Vanguard album as well as the 2005 release of The Freelance Years, among other albums and collaborations. Below is a recording from the Freelance Years album.

This website his several resources for you on how to play this tune.

First and foremost, I encourage you to learn the melody from the recording. You can use a real book, but sometimes the chords are wrong, so I advise to use the recording first.

Once you’ve learned the melody and play along, I would advise you to start learning the chords.

After learning the chords, I would advise to learn the piano voicings.

Another way to help internalize the chords is to learn the bass line. Below you will find bass line resources for all instruments.

Once you have internalized the chords and you can play the bass line, practice the two note voicings on the piano with the recording. Listen to the pianists comping for ideas about rhythm.

Hope this is helpful!

Sonnymoon for Two Bass Line

Below you will find a sample bass line for Sonnymoon for Two. Scroll down till you find your instrument: a C chart, an Eb chart, a Bb chart, and a bass clef chart are included. You can print directly from the website or download the chart to your device or tablet for easy viewing. Only print the page you need to save paper.

How to Play Centerpiece by Harry “Sweets” Edison

Harry “Sweets” Edison, trumpet player for the Count Basie Big Band, wrote and released Centerpiece on his “Sweetenings” album in 1958. You can’t find this album on streaming, but here it is on YouTube, below. Notice the tempo, nothing flashy about this version of the song!

This website his several resources for you on how to play this tune.

First and foremost, I encourage you to learn the melody from the recording. You can use a real book, but sometimes the chords are wrong, so I advise to use the recording first.

Once you’ve learned the melody and play along, I would advise you to start learning the chords.

After learning the chords, I would advise to learn the piano voicings. I have created piano voicings tutorials to help you.

Another way to help internalize the chords is to learn the bass line. Below you will find bass line resources for all instruments.

Hope this is helpful!

About a year or so after Mr. Edison released his “Sweetenings” album, Jon Hendricks wrote lyrics and released it on Lambert, Hendrick’s and Ross’s “Everybody’s Boppin” album in 1959. Notice their 3 part harmonies!

Centerpiece Chord Chart

Here is a rhythm chart for C instruments, Bb instruments, and Eb instruments for the 12 bar blues, Centerpiece, written by Harry “Sweets” Edison. Notice the ii V7 turnaround in the fourth measure, and the diminished chord at the end of the 6th measure. This is very common in jazz, and creates tension which is resolved up to the chord in measure 7. There is another ii V7 turnaround in the 8th measure which goes toward the 9th measure. Then, the 9th measure becomes a ii V7 back to tonic in measure 11. This is a great tune to learn the blues – it has a simple melody, and it has all the turnarounds you need to know to play the blues in a jam session.

Here is the original release from Mr. Edison’s album, Sweetening. This video has the entire album but the first song is Centerpiece.

Below are the chords for Centerpiece, as played by Harry “Sweets” Edison on his album, Sweetenings. This is the first iteration of this piece, so that’s why we use this recording to determine it’s chords.

Scroll down to find your instrument, and you can print only the pages you need. You can download this as a PDF to your computer using the download button below the chart.

Below is the chord chart with slash marks, you can scroll to find your instrument. Print only the page you need. You can also download the chord chart to your device using the Download button below the sheet music. Notice the first page is for Eb instruments – scroll down for a C instrument chart. Try to memorize this as these are very common chord changes in jazz!

About a year or so after Mr. Edison released his “Sweetenings” album, Jon Hendricks wrote lyrics and released it on Lambert, Hendrick’s and Ross’s “Everybody’s Boppin” album in 1959. Notice their 3 part harmonies!

Centerpiece Piano Voicings and Organ Sheet

Below you will find 2 note piano voicings for Centerpiece by Harry “Sweets” Edison. You can use this as a guide and it has not been designed for you to play it exactly as written. Two note voicings are constructed from the 3rd and 7th of the chord. Listen to the recording to hear how Jimmy Jones, the piano player, comped behind the horns. You can use this as a guide for guide tones as well.

Centerpiece 2 Note Voicings for Piano

Below you will find the sheet music for 2 note voicings for piano.

You can print directly from this page, or download it using the download button below the sheet music. Then you can put it on your computer or tablet in a PDF app of your choice.

Centerpiece Organ Part

Below you will find a piano part with voicings in the right hand and a walking bass line in the left hand. You don’t have to play it this way verbatim, but it’s a good exercise to work on independence of hands.

You can print directly from this page, or download it using the download button below the sheet music. Then you can put it on your computer or tablet in a PDF app of your choice.

Below you will see the video for the vocal version of this song, as released by Lambert, Hendricks, and Ross a year or so later than the original release. Jon Hendricks wrote the lyrics.

Centerpiece Bass Line

Here you will find sheet music on how to play a bass line for the Ab blues, namely, through the song Centerpiece by Harry “Sweets” Edison. Notice the diminished chord – this is common in jazz blues that came after the bebop era.

Below is a video of the recording as it was originally released on the album Sweetenings in 1958.

Below you will find an example bass line playable on any instrument.

Scroll down till you find the page that matches your instrument (Bb, C instrument, Eb instrument, or Guitar). You can print directly from this page, or download it using the download button below the sheet music. Then you can put it on your computer or tablet in a PDF app of your choice.

I am also providing the bass line with notes written in just in case that helps (but try to memorize the chords and notes without this resource, if you can.)

Scroll to find your instrument and use only that page. You can print directly from this web page, or download it using the download button below the sheet music. Then you can put it on your computer or tablet in a PDF app of your choice.

Below you will see the video for the vocal version of this song, as released by Lambert, Hendricks, and Ross a year or so later than the original release. Jon Hendricks wrote the lyrics.

How to Play Work Song by Nat Adderley and Oscar Peterson Jr.

Nat Adderley, the trumpet playing brother of Cannonball Adderley, wrote “Work Song” for an album by the same name released by Riverside in 1960. Be sure to pay close attention to the hits for the rhythm section on the head. This lesson is based off the recording below.

This website his several resources for you on how to play this tune.

First and foremost, I encourage you to learn the melody from the recording. You may need to practice it several times to memorize it. You can use a real book or iRealB, but sometimes the chords are wrong, so I advise to use the recording first.

Once you’ve learned the melody and play along, I would advise you to start learning the chords.

After learning the chords, including the hits for the head, I would advise to learn the piano voicings. I have created several piano voicings tutorials to help you.

Another way to help internalize the chords is to learn the bass line. Below you will find bass line resources for all instruments.

Hope this is helpful! Below is the original recording.

Work Song Chord Charts

Nat Adderly, the trumpet playing brother of Cannonball Adderly, wrote “Work Song” for an album by the same name released by Riverside in 1960. Pay close attention to the hits for the rhythm section. This is a 16 bar blues.

Below are the chord charts with chords spelled out for each instrument. Scroll down to see your instrument. Download by clicking the button below the PDF.

Below is a Rhythm Chart for Work Song. This chart gives you the hits in the rhythm section on the first head (usually repeated) and then you can comp as you wish on the solo sections.

Work Song Piano Voicings and Resources

When I teach improvisation, I strongly encourage everyone to learn the chords on piano (doesn’t have to be complex, can be 2 note voicings) as well as the bass line. I have resources for both 2 note and 3 note voicings. For pianists, consider stretching yourself into being able to play a left hand bass while comping right hand, like an organist. Click the links below for resources on how to play the piano parts. I have included a version with notes written in to help those of you who may be slow reading the opposite clef.

You can print directly from my website, or download it to your iPad or computer to place into your tablet. There is a download button below each chart.

Below is the recording I’m using for this lesson. This isn’t the first iteration of this song, but is a good example of how one might play it on the bandstand in a jam session.

Work Song 2 Note Voicings for piano

Work Song 3 Note Voicings for Piano

Work Song Organ Music

Work Song 2 Note Voicing With NOTES

Work Song 3 Note Voicings with Notes

Work Song Bass Line

Below you will find a sample bass line for Work Song by Nat Adderly and Oscar Brown Jr. The music includes a part for concert pitch, Bb instruments (tenor, tpt) and Eb instruments (alto). Scroll down to find your part. You can also download this to your computer or tablet by clicking on the Download button below the sheet music.

Sonnymoon for Two Chord Chart

Below you will find a chord chart for the great Sonny Rollins’ Sonnymoon for Two, which was originally released in 1957. You will hear him play this on his live Village Vanguard album as well as the 2005 release of The Freelance Years. Below is a recording from the Freelance Years album.

Below is the chord chart. In this case, I have provided the rhythm parts for the head and then the changes used on the solos, which is different. There is a walk up in the fourth measure used on solos I didn’t write out, see if you can figure that out. This is a very common chord progression in jazz, and notice the 3 – 6 – 2 – 5 turnaround on most choruses at the end of each head. Be sure to be listening to your rhythm section so you are in sync on the turnarounds.

Scroll until you find your part – either Eb, Bb, or C. You can download using the download button below the chart. You can print directly from this website if you’d like as well.