10 Must Know Jazz Standards Every

Guitarist Should Know

A couple of weeks ago on my Facebook page I asked my readers what they would like
to see an article about which is the result of this 10 must know jazz standards article.

Reader David M said he would like to see an article on “the best standards to practice”.
Although, I already published an article that explains how to learn jazz standards, I
realized that I didn’t have anything on what standards to focus on, so I decided to try
and sum up 10 must know jazz standards in this article.

Learning to play jazz guitar means knowing a lot of standards, but with there been so
many standards to learn, which ones are played and called most frequently? Which
should be we be expected to know at a jam session? Ever gig and jam session is
different, so you need to really know as much tunes as possible to be really prepared,
but this article will focus on some the most played tunes.

If you are just starting to learn jazz guitar there are some tunes on this list that are
recommend to start with such as Summertime, but others such as the Rhythm Changes
shouldn’t be the first tune you dive into. If you have been playing jazz guitar for a year
or two, and feel as though you’re an intermediate player, this list should help you realize
if you’ve missed any important tunes.

If there’s enough interest I will write a follow up article with 10 beginner jazz guitar
tunes, and then maybe 10 advanced jazz guitar tunes. Leave a comment below if you
would like to see one of these lists, or if you would like to see a tune study article on a
particular standard.

Major and Minor Blues

The first tune on the list that every jazz guitarist should know is a 12 bar blues. I don’t
know if you would class a blues as a standard, but the list felt incomplete without
mentioning one.

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.  Click here to read a lesson I
wrote on how you add passing chords to a 12 bar jazz blues progression.

The most common keys for the major jazz blues progression are Bb, Eb, C and F. Minor
blues tunes are often played in C-, D-, F-, and Eb-, but both sequences should be
practiced in all 12 keys. A great major blues theme to learn is Sonny Rollin’s ‘Tenor
Madness’, and a common minor blues to learn is ‘Mr PC’. Click the video below to hear
a great version of Clifford Brown’s blues tune ‘Blues Walk’ featuring Clint Strong on
guitar.

Rhythm Changes

Next to a blues, the rhythm changes is one of the most used progressions in the jazz
repertoire. As mentioned in the introduction, this is not really one of the first standards
that should be tackled by beginners, but is great to learn if you have a fair amount of
standards under your belt and want to push yourself to the next level.

To learn how to solo over this progression, check out this series of articles that I
published: Rhythm Changes Soloing Guide. If you would like to expand your comping
chops over this progression, check out this article: How to Comp Rhythm Changes.
Some great rhythm changes themes to check out are Oleo, Rhythm-a-ning, The
Flintstones Theme, and Lester Leaps In. The video below showcases a great unknown
swing and jazz player Dave Biller blowing over the rhythm changes on a black guard
Tele.

Stella By Starlight

Although not quite as harmonically dense as the rhythm changes, Stella by Starlight is
rich in harmony with a chord in almost every bar of the progression making it a popular
workout for experienced and intermediate jazz guitar players. Again, this shouldn’t
really be the first tune you tackle, but it’s great if you have 5-10 standards under your
belt.

The bridge harmony uses juicey extentions such as altered dominant and #11 chords
which provide many blowing options for jazz musicians. The tune features major and
minor II-V-I’s as well as back door II-V’s so it’s a good idea to go through the tune and
see what’s happening harmonically before blowing over it.  Due the tunes popularity
with musicians, the title is often just shortend to ‘Stella’. Check out this version of
George Benson burning over Stella.

 
 Summertime

This is the first standard that I teach to all my private beginner jazz guitar students, and
for good reason. The melody is based on a minor pentatonic scale which is familiar
territory to most jazz guitarists, and the chord sequence can be as dense or empty as it
needs to be.

Summertime also has multiple arrangement possibilities. The melody sounds great as a
ballad, bossa, or swing. Check out John Coltrane’s burning  version through the link
before.

All The Things You Are

Like Stella by Starlight, A.T.T.Y.A (as it’s often abbreviated to) is a well known tune
that is learnt by a lot of beginner and intermediate players that often remains part of the
more experienced jazz musician’s repertoire.

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.

The melody is almost entirley based off thirds, so it’s a great tune if you’re wanting to
work on your guide tone and voice leading techniques. To learn more about outlining
thirds, check out this podcast. You can also try and find the third within each chord
voicing.

Hank Garland recorded a blistering version of this tune with Gary Burton on Vibes. If
you haven’t heard this tune before, it’s worth noting that Hank is playing a counter
melody to the original theme.

Autumn Leaves

Along with Summertime, Autumn Leaves is a great first tune to learn when you’re new
to jazz guitar. The tune provides a good workout to practice II-V-I progressions because
you have one bar of each chord, so there’s plenty of time to explore bebop scales, licks,
and chord soloing. It should be noted that Autumn Leaves is commonly played in two
different keys, G minor, and E minor.
Both keys have their pros and cons and guitar. I personally prefer playing the tune in E
minor as a solo guitar piece because of the open string possibilities that the key permits.

To learn more about using open strings with jazz guitar chords, check out this article.
My favorite version of this tune is the Jim Hall/Ron Carter recording, check it out:

Blue Bossa

This tune is often the first bossa nova tune that manly jazz guitarists learn. I rarely hear
this one played on gigs by experienced players, but it’s still a great tune to learn that has
a lot of blowing, comping, and solo guitar possibilities.

Besides being a good insight in the bossa nova style, Blue Bossa is also a good piece to
work on when it comes to playing in minor keys. There’s lots of time to explore
different minor scales over the first 4 bars, and almost all the II-V-I’s have one chord
per bar giving you plenty of tune to explore different blowing concepts.

To find out more about how to comp in the bossa nova style, check out this article I
published.

There Will Never Be Another You

Like the other standards in this article, They’ll Never Be Another You features
frequently used modulations, and has a great strong melody. This tune is most
commonly played in Eb, but it’s worth taking through a few different keys because
singers usually like to sing this tune.

The trickiest part to this tune is the last 4 bars of the progression because there is 2
chords for each bar. Harmonically these chords are just functioning as a turnaround to
the I chord though.

My personal favorite version of this tune is by Russell Malone. Check out this version
of him playing in with Billy Taylor on piano.

Body and Soul

This is without a doubt, the most played jazz ballad I hear on gigs. The harmony of
Body and Soul is rich providing many options for superimpositions and substitutions.
One interesting feature of the tune that I personally like is the semi-tone modulation to
the bridge. Even though, the semi tone is a small interval, modulating from a key with 5
flats (Db) to 2 sharps (D) makes a refreshing difference to the sound.

Jim Hall owns this tune. I can listen to two or three different recordings of him playing
it and never get bored because he interprets it differently each time.

Days of Wine and Roses

The Days of Wine and Roses is a great tune for intermediate jazz guitarists to check out.
I am not sure if Henri Mancini wrote the lyrics as well as the melody, but they should be
learnt to memorize the melody and gain more of an insight to the tune.

Joe Pass recorded The Days of Wine and Roses, Pat Martino and Wes recorded the tune
as a bossa show casing it’s different arrangement possibilities, but it’s most often called
as a medium swing tune.

I hope that this article has brought some insight on which jazz standards are important
to learn and help you reach your goals as a jazz guitarist. Do you have a favorite jazz
standard? Share your thoughts in the comment section below.