Jazz Changes

Learn jazz standards by ear. For each tune: the essential recordings in the order to hear them, what to listen for, and the chord changes.

1Hear the song as written2Hear how players changed it3Play along with the changes

Start here

Short forms and clear harmony: the tunes most players learn first.

▶ 8 recordings in order, starting with Nat King Cole

Autumn Leaves

Kosma/Prévert/Mercer, 1945

G minor32 bars
▶ 8 recordings in order, starting with Charlie Parker's Re-Boppers

Billie's Bounce

Charlie Parker, 1945

F major12 bars
▶ 8 recordings in order, starting with Joe Henderson

Blue Bossa

Kenny Dorham, 1963

C minor16 bars
▶ 8 recordings in order, starting with Thelonious Monk Trio

Blue Monk

Monk, 1954

B♭ major12 bars
▶ 8 recordings in order, starting with Duke Ellington and His Famous Orchestra

C Jam Blues

Ellington/Bigard, 1942

C major12 bars
▶ 8 recordings in order, starting with Herbie Hancock

Cantaloupe Island

Herbie Hancock, 1964

F minor16 bars
▶ 8 recordings in order, starting with John Coltrane

Impressions

John Coltrane, 1961

D minor32 bars
▶ 8 recordings in order, starting with Charlie Parker's Re-Boppers

Now's the Time

Charlie Parker, 1945

F major12 bars
▶ 8 recordings in order, starting with Duke Ellington

Satin Doll

Ellington/Strayhorn, 1953

C major32 bars
▶ 8 recordings in order, starting with Miles Davis

So What

Miles Davis, 1959

D minor32 bars
▶ 8 recordings in order, starting with Horace Silver Quintet

Song for My Father

Horace Silver, 1964

F minor24 bars
▶ 8 recordings in order, starting with Thelonious Monk Quintet

Straight, No Chaser

Thelonious Monk, 1951

F major12 bars
▶ 8 recordings in order, starting with Louis Armstrong & Ella Fitzgerald

Summertime

Gershwin/Heyward, 1935

A minor16 bars
▶ 8 recordings in order, starting with Herbie Hancock

Watermelon Man

Hancock, 1962

F major16 bars

Next steps

Longer forms, more key changes, a waltz and a ballad.

▶ 8 recordings in order, starting with Dizzy Gillespie

A Night in Tunisia

Dizzy Gillespie / Frank Paparelli, 1942

D minor32 bars
▶ 8 recordings in order, starting with Ella Fitzgerald

All the Things You Are

Kern/Hammerstein, 1939

A♭ major36 bars
▶ 8 recordings in order, starting with Chet Baker

Alone Together

Arthur Schwartz / Howard Dietz, 1932

D minor44 bars
▶ 8 recordings in order, starting with Charlie Parker's Reboppers

Anthropology

Charlie Parker / Dizzy Gillespie, 1945

B♭ major32 bars
▶ 8 recordings in order, starting with Miles Davis

Blue in Green

Miles Davis (credited), Bill Evans (claimed), 1959

D minor10 bars
▶ 8 recordings in order, starting with Miles Davis Quintet

Bye Bye Blackbird

Henderson/Dixon, 1926

F major32 bars
▶ 8 recordings in order, starting with Barney Bigard and His Jazzopators

Caravan

Tizol/Ellington, 1936

F minor64 bars
▶ 8 recordings in order, starting with Stan Getz and João Gilberto, with Antônio Carlos Jobim and Astrud Gilberto

Corcovado

Jobim/Lees, 1960

A minor34 bars
▶ 8 recordings in order, starting with Andy Williams

Days of Wine and Roses

Henry Mancini / Johnny Mercer, 1962

F major32 bars
▶ 8 recordings in order, starting with Wayne Shorter

Footprints

Wayne Shorter, 1966

C minor12 bars
▶ 8 recordings in order, starting with Ella Fitzgerald

Have You Met Miss Jones

Richard Rodgers/Lorenz Hart, 1937

F major32 bars
▶ 8 recordings in order, starting with Ella Fitzgerald with Nelson Riddle's Orchestra

I Got Rhythm

George Gershwin / Ira Gershwin, 1930

B♭ major32 bars
▶ 8 recordings in order, starting with Clifford Brown and Max Roach Quintet

I'll Remember April

de Paul/Johnston/Raye, 1941

G major48 bars
▶ 8 recordings in order, starting with Duke Ellington and His Famous Orchestra

In a Sentimental Mood

Ellington/Mills/Kurtz, 1935

D minor32 bars
▶ 8 recordings in order, starting with Charlie Parker with Strings

Just Friends

John Klenner / Sam M. Lewis, 1931

F major32 bars
▶ 8 recordings in order, starting with Herbie Hancock

Maiden Voyage

Herbie Hancock, 1965

D minor32 bars
▶ 8 recordings in order, starting with Erroll Garner Trio

Misty

Garner/Burke, 1954

E♭ major32 bars
▶ 8 recordings in order, starting with Mary Martin and Patricia Neway

My Favorite Things

Rodgers/Hammerstein, 1959

E minor72 bars
▶ 8 recordings in order, starting with Billy Eckstine

My Foolish Heart

Young/Washington, 1949

B♭ major32 bars
▶ 8 recordings in order, starting with Fred Astaire with Leo Reisman

Night and Day

Porter, 1932

C major48 bars
▶ 8 recordings in order, starting with Miles Davis with Sonny Rollins

Oleo

Sonny Rollins, 1954

B♭ major32 bars
▶ 8 recordings in order, starting with Barney Kessel, Ray Brown and Shelly Manne

On Green Dolphin Street

Bronisław Kaper / Ned Washington, 1947

E♭ major32 bars
▶ 8 recordings in order, starting with Charlie Parker Septet

Ornithology

Charlie Parker / Benny Harris, 1946

G major32 bars
▶ 8 recordings in order, starting with June Christy

Softly, as in a Morning Sunrise

Romberg/Hammerstein, 1928

C minor32 bars
▶ 8 recordings in order, starting with Miles Davis Quintet

Solar

Chuck Wayne (as “Sonny”, 1946), Miles Davis (credited), 1954

C minor12 bars
▶ 8 recordings in order, starting with Duke Ellington and His Famous Orchestra

Take the "A" Train

Strayhorn, 1939

C major32 bars
▶ 8 recordings in order, starting with Stan Getz & João Gilberto

The Girl from Ipanema

Antônio Carlos Jobim / Vinícius de Moraes / Norman Gimbel, 1962

F major40 bars
▶ 8 recordings in order, starting with Chet Baker

There Will Never Be Another You

Harry Warren / Mack Gordon, 1942

E♭ major32 bars
▶ 8 recordings in order, starting with Billie Holiday

What Is This Thing Called Love

Cole Porter, 1929

C major32 bars

Challenges

Fast-moving harmony, a far-off bridge and Monk.

▶ 8 recordings in order, starting with Billie Holiday

Body and Soul

Green/Heyman/Sour/Eyton, 1930

D♭ major32 bars
▶ 8 recordings in order, starting with Charlie Barnet

Cherokee

Ray Noble, 1938

B♭ major64 bars
▶ 8 recordings in order, starting with Charlie Parker Quartet

Confirmation

Charlie Parker, 1946

F major32 bars
▶ 8 recordings in order, starting with Charlie Parker All Stars

Donna Lee

Charlie Parker (credited), 1947

A♭ major32 bars
▶ 8 recordings in order, starting with John Coltrane

Giant Steps

John Coltrane, 1959

B major16 bars
▶ 8 recordings in order, starting with Thelonious Monk Quintet

'Round Midnight

Monk/Williams/Hanighen, 1944

E♭ minor32 bars
▶ 8 recordings in order, starting with Frank Sinatra with Axel Stordahl

Stella by Starlight

Young/Washington, 1944

B♭ major32 bars