—CHAPTER ELEVEN Rhythm” Changes he second most common set of chord changes played in jazz (the blues is first) are those from “I've Got Rhythm,” an AABA. tune composed by George Gershwin for a ¥ Broadway show.’ Gershwin had no idea that his all-time most popular tune—at least in terms of the sheer number of times the changes have been played—would not be “Summertime” or “A Foggy Day,” but “I've Got Rhythm.” “ve Got Rhythm” was an immediate hit with the jazz musicians of the 1930s. The changes were fun to play over; they could be altered, substituted for, bent this way and that, and otherwise reshaped creatively.? ‘As bebop evolved in the early 1940s, “Rhythm” changes became the basis for countless heads. A “"head” is often an original tune based on another tunes changes. Here are just a few of the many heads based on Rhythm changes: + Sonny Rollins’ “Oleo"4 + Miles Davis’ "The Theme"5 and “The Serpent's Tooth”’ + Benny Harris’ “Crazeology"? + Thelonious Monk's "Rhythm-A-Ning"® Sonny Stitt’s "The Eternal Triangle”? + Charlie Parker's “Anthropology,” “Moose The Mooch,""1 and "Steeplechase""2 Rhythm changes can be scary for beginners; there are so many chords, and they go by so fast. One way jazz musicians judge each other's competence is by how well they play Rhythm changes. Pay heed. Practice! 1 Gi Crazy, 1930. 2 Coleman Hawkins And Lester Young, Classic Tenors, Signatur, 1943 3 Heads will be covered thoroughyin Chapter 20. 4 Niles Davis, Relaxin’, Prestige, 1956. 5 Miles Davis, Workin’, Prestige, 1956. 6 Miles Davis, Collector’ items, Fantasy, 1953. 7 Hank Mobley, Messages, Blue Note, 1956. ® Thelonious Monk, Cris Cross, Columbia, 1962. 9 Dizzy Gilespie, Sonny Stitt, and Sonny Rolin, Sonny Side Up, Verve, 1957, "© Chari Parke, Bird At The Roost, Savoy, 1949. 1 Garry Haris, At The Jaze Workshop, Riverside, 1960. "2 Charlie Parker Memoria, Vol. 1, Savoy Jaz 237eR ELEVEN eae a mmmmmmmamannamnemnmnnaesenaanamneceannnaeeemmmeaenmeceneeeneeeereeeeed Figure 11-1 shows the more-or-less original changes to Gershwin's "I've Got Rhythm.” Figure 11-2 shows a variation that emerged during the 1930s. Notice the following changes: + Diminished 7th chords have been added. +The G-7 chords have been changed to G7. «Some of the V chords have a5 alteration. Figure 11-1 Bb G-7 C-7 F7 Bb G-7 «C-7 FT eb phy gb Eb G7 C7 F7 Bb G-7 C-7 F7 Bb G-7) C-7_-«F7 Bb oBb7 eb cb Bh. Bb 238“RuyTHw" CHANGES Sn gure 11-2 Bb B°7) C-7 Che? -D-7 G7 c-7 F7 Bb Bb eb OE 7 ee G785 c-7 £7 t7 F785 Bhs D7 G7 c7 F7 F7ts Bb B°7)C-7 Cho7 D-7 G7 c-7 F7 Bb abo ch co7e7? F785 Bh 239Carrer Bevan een eneaenenmaeeemmmmemmemeereeeemceneenenenemenemeesenecneneeanenseeence eee Figure 11-3 679 79 79 79 ab7'9 Bh G7alt C-7 Fralt D-7 Gralt C-7 Fralt F-7 Be7alt Ebs abytlt p g7!9 F779 |] 2 F7”9 p79 D-7 G7alt C-7 F7alt C-7 Fralt = B> A-7 D7alt 7’9 78 F7'9 7'9 F7°9 D-7 G7alt G-7 C7alt = C-7 F7alt Bb G7alt C-7 F7alt 679 F7°9 pb7>9 £79 D-7 G7alt C-7 Fait F-7 Bb7alt bs ab7#l! c-7 F7alt Bb“Ruy THM’ CHANGES Figure 11-3 shows a more complex version ‘of Rhythm changes that evolved during the bebop era. Notice how this set of changes differs from the first two shown: +The V chords have more possibilities. They can be played unaltered, or can be altered tob9 or alt chords (the 69 or alt options shown with most of the V chords indicate that you can do this). The Ab7 chord has a #11 alteration, for reasons that will be explained in Chapter 13. «The V chords on the bridge have become II-V progressions. Now play all three versions—the music in figures 11-1, 11-2, and 11-3—one after the other. You will hear a great deal of jazz history as you do so. When a musician calls a Rhythm tune like “Oleo,” there's no discussion of which version of the changes to play. As with the blues, jazz musicians freely mix many versions of Rhythm changes on the spot, as they improvise. Playing Rhythm changes is a litle like knowing several tunes and playing them all at once; that’s why “Rhythm” tunes are harder to play at first than a tune with only a single set of changes. The changes shown in figure 11-3 are more or less today's standard version, with slight variations according to each individual player's taste. There is a cornucopia of possibilities for altering the changes, however. After you read Chapters 13 through 15—on reharmonization—you may want to return to this, chapter and try out some reharmonization techniques. 241Carter Eieven see Here's a story about Rhythm changes: | was playing with saxophonist Sonny Stitt in a club in Boston, and had to cope with the changes he suddenly started playing over the first four bars of “Rhythm,” as shown in figure 11-4. After a couple of choruses, glares from Sonny, and a growing sense of feeling smaller and smaller, | finally “strolled,” or stopped playing. After the set, | asked him what were the changes he was playing, and he growled “just listen, man." The progression that Sonny played starts on F#7 and goes around the cycle of fifths, leading to the Bb7 chord in the fifth bar.'3 Figure 11-4 Fe? BT E7 AT D7 G7 C7 F7 Bb? Another popular variation on the first four bars of Rhythm changes comes from Jimmy Heath's "CTA,""4 shown in figure 11-5. Here descending V chords over the first two bars are repeated in bars 3 and 4. Figure 11-5 Bb7 ADT G7 F7 Bb7 ADT Gh FT +3 Saxophonist Don Byas is quoted by Arthur Taylor, in his great book Notes And Tones, Da Capo Press, as saying that Art Tatum invented this progression "4 arthur Taylor, Taylor's Wailers, Fantasy, 1957. 242“RuYTHM CHANGES TE ‘As shown in figures 11-1 and 11-2, the original changes on the bridge of “I've Got Rhythm” are four \V chords lasting two bars each, starting on D7 and going around the cycle of fifths (D7, G7, C7, F7). ‘A.common variation is to start on the D7 chord and descend chromatically, ending on B7—the V chord a tritone away from F7—as shown in figure 11-6. Kenny Dorham varied this idea on his tune “Straight ‘Ahead,"15 as shown in figure 11-7. He started with a V chord a whole step higher, and then speeded up the harmonic rhythm by playing each V chord for one bar only starting on the third bar. “Straight Ahead” is usually played in Ab, but this example is shown in Bb so you can easily compare it with the other examples in this chapter, all of which are in Bb. In fact, most Rhythm tunes are in Bb. Figure 11-6 07 Db7 C7 B7 Figure "7 : E7 a7 D7 Db7 C7 87 5 Kenny Dorham, Una Mas, Blue Note, 1964. 243Carrer ELeven So far, you've learned about basic harmony; the major modes and the I-V-I progression; melodic minor, diminished and whole-tone chords and scales; sequences; slash chords, the bebop and pentatonic scales; the blues; and Rhythm changes. This is a good time to take a breather from theory and discuss some general principals baving to do with practicing. 244