Form of Groovin' High and other jazz standards

FattMusiek · #1 02-05-2010, 01:40 PM

Many times I find it very hard to follow the chords to these tunes, even when the music is right in front of me. I'm a rhythm guitar player in NOVA (Northern VA Comm. College) Annandale's jazz ensemble, so I'm sitting here looking at a lead sheet of Groovin' High by Dizzy Gillespie.

I found a link on youtube that is similar to what we play in class:
YouTube - Dizzy Gillespie (Groovin' High)

A - first ending - A - second ending

Is this right? If so, would you say that is A B A B2 form?

Thanks to you!

FattMusiek · #2 02-05-2010, 01:42 PM

It occurred to me while making this thread that I was playing the chords twice as long as they were supposed to be. It's a very uptempo tune, so the A-7 to D7 happened faster than I initially thought.

Please chyme in, share your experience.

abracadabra · #3 02-06-2010, 08:16 AM

I'm really no expert on song structure but this website below calls it A B A C.

Jazz Standards Songs and Instrumentals (Groovin' High)

There's loads of info on just about any standard you can think of.

bako · #4 02-06-2010, 08:31 AM

A B A C works too.
I tend to think of songs with a 2 part form with short differences at the end as A1/A2.
All Of Me,Days Of Wine And Roses and How High THe Moon are a few others with a similar form.
I guess I'm looking for longer, more developed ideas before I assign a new letter.
Either name is clear enough for me though.
Perhaps someone could say what approach would get the good grade in the classroom.