“Rhythm Changes”: The Frst 4 Bars of the Aʼ Section Embellishments:

By Avi Rothbard

Being able to solo over “rhythm changes” is probably one of the most important skills that any improviser strives for in his/her ongoing musical development as an improviser. Personally, I have always tried to use “Rhythm Changes” as a part of my practice routine. It is very effective to utilize “rhythm changes” various progressions and substitute chords while practicing few topics like an un-accompanied solo (“strolling”), playing different background chords(in and out of time) and soloing over odd meters.

Historically speaking, “" is a song composed by with lyrics by Ira Gershwin, first published in 1930. Its 32 bars form is the foundation for many other fast and medium tempo popular swing and era tunes such as “”(), “Cottontail”(Ellington), “Anthropology”(Parker), “”(Rollins), () and so many others. The “rhythm changes” song form became a which was used as a testing tool between jazz musicians during a “battle” of two or more instrumentalists. RC can be a challenging platform due to its quick moving chords and its often fast tempo pace. The B’ section and the other segments of this song form will not be discussed at this time, but I will elaborate on that topic in the future.

Without trying re inventing the wheel again, I would like to focus on the first 4 bars of the A’ sections and its common variations, while showing a possible fingerings for the guitar. These chord progressions will not allow you to lock in onto one single scale so try to focus on each chord as an “entity”of itself by exploring its chord tones and the chord scales while composing your own lines.

The Examples:

Ex. 1) This is a quick survey of a full 8 bard A1 section with its original progression.

Ex. 2)”Lady Bird” by : The Dameron “turnback” can be created from the Standard (I-vi-ii- V) Progression by applying the chord quality and tritone substitutions as shown in that example (I-bIII7-bVI-bII). In Lady Bird, the actual cycle did not employ any dominant chords-they were all major (6, Major 7th) chords.

Ex. 3)”Brownie Speaks” by Clifford Brown: These progressions consists of a first two bars of a Dameron turnback and another two of descending dominants in two whole steps and a half. Example: (I-bIII7-bVI-bII7, I7-bVII7-bVI7-V7).

Ex. 4) “Humph” by : Another embellishment of the rhythm changes that consists of the descending dominants in the cycle of fifths. Bb: (F#7-B7-E7-A7-D7-G7-C7-F7)

Ex. 5)”CTA” by Jimmy Heath: It is basically a close relative of “Brownie Speaks”, but it employs only the second half of it twice. The progression is ( I7-bVII7-bVI7-V7, I7-bVII7-bVI7-V7)

Ex. 6)“Reduction time”:These changes can be found on classics like “Dameronia”(Tadd dameron) and “Well You Needn’t” (Monk). One could also be experimenting with the of the first 4 bars of the RC by reducing the number of chords to only one or two. It would certainly allow the improviser to “breeze” a little. Obviously, this type of approach is much more stationary and modal(relying on one or two scales per progression).

Ex.7) Another reduction example by employing the harmony based on “Killer Joe”(Benny Golson).

.. I hope that you will have fun playing and composing more ideas over these classic harmonic embellishments...cheers! "Rhythm Changes-The First 4 Bars" And it's common variations Avi Rothbard

Ex 1.) A standard "I Got Rhythm Changes"(Gershwin): A full A1 section Bb6 G7 C-7 F7 D-7 G7 C-7 F7 œ œ œ œb b 4 . œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œb œ œ œ œ œ œ# œ œ œ œ œ œ & b 4 . œ œ œ œn Œ

5 6 5 4 3 T 6 6 8 8 7 6 6 7 4 3 6 4 A . 5 7 8 7 8 8 7 5 4 5 B . 8 7 8

F-7 B b7 EbMaj7 E b-7 D-7 G7 C-7 F7 b œ œ œ œ œ œb œ œ œ & b Œ œ œ œb œ œ œ œn œ œb . 5 œ œ# œ œ œ œ

3 3 6 4 6 7 4 3 3 5 3 3 5 4 2 3 6 3 4 5 3 3 . 5 5 6 .

Ex. 2)Double "Turn Around" of a triton substitutions( or the last 2 bars of "Lady Bird" by Dameron)

B D 7 G B7 b b b Bb Db7 Gb B7 œ œ# œn b œ œ œ œb œb œ œ œb œ œ œb œ# œn œb œ# œ# œ# œ & b . œ œb œb œ Œ ‰ œ Œ . 9 œn

6 6 9 7 6 8 10 9 7 6 6 7 6 9 7 9 7 8 6 7 6 . 8 6 8 . 9 9 8 . 7 .

©Rothbard Music 2012 "Rhythm Changes-The First 4 Bars" Cont' p.2

Ex. 3) Based on"Brownie Speaks"(Clifford Brown) Changes:

Bb6 Db7 Gb6 B7 Bb7 Ab7 Gb7 F7 œb b œ œ œ œ œb œb œ œb œ œ œ œ & b . œb œb œn œ Œ Œ œ œ œb œ# œ# œ# Œ . 13 œ œ œ#

. 6 6 6 9 7 6 8 7 6 6 8 7 5 6 8 . 9 6 7 8 8 6 6 8 . 13 . 6 8 9 .

Ex. 4) Based on "Humph"(Monk).

F#7 B7 E7 A7 D7 G7 C7 F7 œ# œn œn b œ# œ# œ# œ œn œ# œ œn œ# œ œ œn œ# œ œ œ œn œ œb & b . Œ ‰ Œ ‰ œ œ œ œ . 17

6 9 7 4 7 5 5 7 9 7 5 8 7 5 5 7 8 5 6 7 7 5 5 8 . 8 7 . 17 . .

Ex. 5) Based on "C.T.A" (CTA) by Jimmy Heath.

Bb7 Ab7 F#7 F7 Bb7 Ab7 F#7 F7 œ b œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œb œ œ# œ# œ œn & b . œ œ œ œ œ# œ œ# œn Œ œ# œn Œ . 21 œ#

6 3 4 2 2 1 6 4 3 4 6 4 3 3 6 4 2 4 5 3 5 5 3 3 6 5 4 . 4 . 21 . .

©Rothbard Music 2012 "Rhythm Changes-The First 4 Bars" Cont' p.3

Ex. 6) Based on "Damerronia" or "well you needn't" changes( Dameron/Monk)

Bb6 B7 Bb6 B7 b œ œ œ œ# œn œn œ œ œ & b . ŒÓ ‰ œn Œ ‰ œ œ œ œ# œ Ó . 25 œ œ# œ

6 6 7 6 3 6 3 7 9 3 5 3 . 9 3 6 4 6 4 . 25 . . Ex. 7) Based on"Killer Joe"(Golson)

Bb6 Ab7 Bb6 Ab7 œ b . œ œ œ œ œ œb œ œ œ œ œ œ œb . & b . œ œ œ œb œb œ Œ Œ œ œ œb ˙ . 29 œ

5 3 4 3 6 4 8 6 3 5 5 3 3 6 7 5 6 . 3 4 6 8 8 . 29 9 8 . 6 .

©Rothbard Music 2012