Composed by Joseph Kosma Tune’s History Many people know the song, “Autumn Leaves”. In fact, this is often one of the first jazz standards students learn in school. It was composed by Joseph Kosma in 1946 for the movie,. The original title was Les Feuilles Mortes (in French, please!) and the lyrics and title were later added by Johnny Mercer in 1949. The Nuts and Bolts Typically, jazzers will want to play this tune in G minor. Autumn Leaves is a popular song written in 1945 and the original lyrics are in French! Johnny Mercer wrote the English lyric in 1947 and it's since been a pop. We often default to the popular “fake book key” of E minor, so guitarists, beware! If you want to avoid a little surprise or a bad experience at a jam session, make sure you learn it in both keys like the grown-ups do! It’s also advisable to learn the classic introduction to Autumn Leaves. It’s simply a bass riff that goes 1-b3-5-6 (and back down), defining a Gm6 chord. You can hear it on the. When I play gigs as a leader, I often simply start this riff and the other musicians come in whenever they are ready. The whole song stays pretty much in the same key throughout. There’s not really any “funny business” going on anywhere, except for that little “III-VI-II-V” turnaround going to Eb in the few last bars. That’s something you might have to shed a little. I find that this piece allows for a lot of freedom in improvisation. It also lends itself to many styles. I personally play the tune all over the place, from a ballad tempo all the way to some up-swing in 5/4 time! Unfortunately, this song is often perceived as a beginner tune by intermediate players. Some students taking lessons with me often dismiss it and are even ashamed of playing the tune! I don’t subscribe to this way of thinking; most professional jazz musicians love to play Autumn Leaves! Autumn Leaves: Introduction As mentioned previously, we have got Cannonball’s famous introduction for this tune as well as a few variations you can use for it on guitar. In the two additional versions, we had some subtle harmonic content just to give you a bit of something extra to listen to! It’s also more “guitaristic” this way. Autumn Leaves: Comping Ideas For comping behind the melody in Autumn Leaves, it’s a good idea to make use of the space it provides for you.
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November 2018
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