Ray Henderson, music · Mort Dixon, lyrics · Published by Jerome Remick, 1926; Gene Austin's record was a number one hit that year
Bye Bye Blackbird
A 32-bar song by Ray Henderson and Mort Dixon, a number one hit for Gene Austin in 1926. The chords stay close to the home key, which leaves players room to add their own movement. Miles Davis's 1956 record made it a modern jazz staple, and singers, trios and horn players still play it.
▶ Plays the whole path in order, one recording after another.
- 1 Learn the song Miles Davis Quintet✓
- 2 Hear the 1926 hit Gene Austin✓
- 3 Hear it stretched out John Coltrane Quartet✓
- 4 Follow a singer Etta Jones✓
- 5 See where the chart comes from Ben Webster and the Oscar Peterson Trio✓
- 6 Hear Miles's pianist lead a trio The Red Garland Trio✓
- 7 Hear a tribute to Miles Keith Jarrett Trio✓
- 8 Hear a modern trio reshape the song Jacky Terrasson✓
How the tune works
A chorus is 32 bars in four 8-bar sections, A A B A, and the song stays in F. In the chart on this page the first A sits on Fmaj7 for five bars. A diminished chord (G♯°) in bar 6 leads up to Gm7 and C7, a ii–V that turns back toward home. The second A is three Gm7–C7 pairs in a row, then two bars of Fmaj7. The bridge opens with two bars of F7, then Am7♭5 to D7 resolves to Gm7, which lasts two bars. B♭m7 to E♭7 and Gm7 to C7 lead back to the last A. The last A repeats the Am7♭5–D7 and Gm7–C7 pairs and closes on Fmaj7. Published charts differ in the connecting chords, and players add or swap chords between the main points.
The changes under Ben Webster's solo, recorded with the Oscar Peterson Trio in 1959 and transcribed in the Weimar Jazz Database. Webster plays in G; the chart is moved down to F, the key the song is usually played in. Fake books differ in places.
Use the key buttons to move the chart to the key you play in.
Source: Weimar Jazz Database: Ben Webster, Bye Bye Blackbird
Listen in this order
Play all 8 on YouTube ↗The path starts with the Miles Davis record that made the song a jazz standard, then goes back to Gene Austin's 1926 hit, and moves on to a long Coltrane concert, a jazz singer, Ben Webster, and three piano trios from Red Garland in 1959 to Jacky Terrasson in 1994. Each step gives you one thing to hear and one thing to play.
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Step 1 · Learn the song Now playing
Miles Davis Quintet 1956
'Round About Midnight
Couldn't play this one here. Try the links below.
- Listen for
- Three soloists are credited on this track: Miles Davis on trumpet, John Coltrane on tenor saxophone and Red Garland on piano. Pick out where each one takes over from the last.
- Try this
- Play the melody along with the record, then go round once more and play only the chords.
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Step 2 · Hear the 1926 hit Now playing
Gene Austin 1926
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- Listen for
- Austin was a popular crooner of the 1920s. Listen to the song as record buyers heard it then, with a piano and a violin behind the voice.
- Try this
- Sing or hum the melody along with the record, then play it on your instrument at the same tempo.
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Step 3 · Hear it stretched out Now playing
John Coltrane Quartet 1962
Bye Bye Blackbird
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- Listen for
- The track runs about 18 minutes. A reviewer describes the quartet building gradually to great intensity, so listen for how the playing changes between the start and the end.
- Try this
- Play the chords round and round for five minutes without stopping, and change your rhythm or voicing each time through. Improvising a solo over the chords is the larger version of this exercise.
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Step 4 · Follow a singer Now playing
Etta Jones 1960
Don't Go to Strangers
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- Listen for
- Frank Wess plays flute alongside a rhythm section of piano, guitar, bass and drums. Listen to how this small band sits behind the singer.
- Try this
- Play the melody once and mark where Etta Jones takes her breaths. Shape your own phrases to end in the same places.
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Step 5 · See where the chart comes from Now playing
Ben Webster and the Oscar Peterson Trio 1959
Ben Webster Meets Oscar Peterson
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- Listen for
- Webster plays in G, a whole step above the usual F. The Weimar database puts his solo at 2:49 to 5:29 on its copy of the track, so listen for the solo and follow it against the chart on this page.
- Try this
- Follow the chart on this page while the track plays, and mark the bar where Webster's solo begins. To play along, press the + key button twice to move the chart up to G.
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Step 6 · Hear Miles's pianist lead a trio Now playing
The Red Garland Trio 1959
Red Garland at the Prelude
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- Listen for
- The trio of piano, bass and drums plays live in a club. Compare Garland leading with his playing on the Miles Davis track, made three years earlier.
- Try this
- Count the eight-bar sections out loud as the track plays: A, A, B, A. Do this for one full chorus.
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Step 7 · Hear a tribute to Miles Now playing
Keith Jarrett Trio 1991
Bye Bye Blackbird
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- Listen for
- Jarrett plays with Gary Peacock on bass and Jack DeJohnette on drums. The track runs just over eleven minutes, longer than the 1956 Miles Davis record that the album honors.
- Try this
- Play the melody twice, the second time an octave higher or lower, with the chords unchanged. Treat the two passes as the start of a longer performance.
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Step 8 · Hear a modern trio reshape the song Now playing
Jacky Terrasson 1994
Jacky Terrasson
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- Listen for
- The trio is Terrasson on piano, Ugonna Okegwo on bass and Leon Parker on drums. Compare how they handle the song with the older piano trios on this path.
- Try this
- Play the melody twice, and the second time start each phrase a beat later while the chords stay where they are.
More great versions
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Jimmy Smith Trio 1958
On the Sunny Side
An organ trio of Jimmy Smith, Kenny Burrell and Donald Bailey recorded the song at Van Gelder Studio on July 15, 1958.
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Miles Davis Sextet 1958
“Bye Bye Blackbird (Live at the Newport Jazz Festival, July 1958)”, At Newport 1958
Miles Davis's group at the 1958 Newport festival, with John Coltrane and Bill Evans.
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Miles Davis Quintet 1961
“Bye Bye Blackbird (Live at the Black Hawk, San Francisco, April 21, 1961)”, In Person Friday Night at the Blackhawk, San Francisco, Volume I
Miles Davis's 1961 quintet with Hank Mobley, Wynton Kelly, Paul Chambers and Jimmy Cobb, recorded in the second set at the Blackhawk on April 21, 1961.
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Albert Ayler Quartet 1963
My Name Is Albert Ayler
Albert Ayler recorded the song in Copenhagen on January 14, 1963, with a rhythm section of Niels Brønsted, Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen and Ronnie Gardiner.
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Miles Davis Quintet 1963
“Bye Bye Blackbird (Live at Festival Mondial du Jazz Antibes/Juan-les-Pins, July 27, 1963)”, Seven Steps: The Complete Columbia Recordings of Miles Davis 1963-1964
Miles Davis's 1960s quintet with George Coleman, Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter and Tony Williams, recorded live at Antibes on July 27, 1963.
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Kenny Garrett 1992
Black Hope
Kenny Garrett led a quintet with Joe Henderson on tenor saxophone for this track on his 1992 album Black Hope.