Summertime Melody & Solo Study

Summertime is one of those tunes every jazz guitarist ends up playing sooner or later. Written by George Gershwin for the 1935 opera Porgy and Bess, the song quickly became a jazz standard.

Over the years, Summertime has been recorded by everyone from Billie Holiday and Miles Davis to Wes Montgomery and Joe Pass, and it remains a staple at jam sessions.

The song’s appeal lies in its catchy, bluesy melody and a harmony that leaves plenty of space for minor-key ideas, blues phrasing, and modal approaches.

In this lesson, you will learn the melody of Summertime and a solo over the chord changes. I also break down the scales, arpeggios, and ideas behind the solo.

 

 

Recommended listening:

• Charlie Parker – Charlie Parker with Strings (1950) – G minor
• Chet Baker – Chet Baker Quartet (1956) – D minor
• Monk Montgomery, Wes Montgomery & Buddy Montgomery – Montgomeryland/Far Wes (1958) – G minor
• Miles Davis – Porgy and Bess (1959) – Bb minor
• John Coltrane – My Favorite Things (1961) – D minor
• Joe Pass – Catch Me! (1963) – D minor
• The George Benson Quartet – It’s Uptown (1966) – Bb minor
• Ella Fitzgerald & The Tee Carson Trio – Live in Berlin (1968) – G minor
• Tal Farlow – The Return of Tal Farlow/1969 (1969) – G minor
• Paul Desmond – Summertime (1969) – F minor
• Jimmy Smith (with Kenny Burrell) – Fourmost (1991) – A minor
• John Scofield & Pat Metheny – Summertime (1994) – D minor
• Herbie Hancock (with Joni Mitchell) – Gershwin’s World (1998) – A minor
• Jim Hall & Pat Metheny – Jim Hall & Pat Metheny (1999) – E minor
• Jonathan Kreisberg – Nine Stories Wide (2009) – E minor
• DR Big Band feat. Mike Stern – Chromazone (2010) – Bb minor

 

 

Summertime – Harmonic Analysis

Form: Summertime is 16 bars long
Key: A minor (this arrangement)

Summertime has been played in many different keys over the years (see the recommended listening list above). The original 1935 recording (sung by Abbie Mitchell) is in B minor. The version in the Real Book is in A minor.

 

 

Summertime – Melody

 

Here are the tabs and notation for this easy arrangement of the Summertime theme, combining the melody with simple jazz chord voicings.

The entire melody sits in the A minor pentatonic scale, except for the b-note in bar 7.

 

Backing Track

Listen & Play-Along

 

 

Summertime – Scales

There are two guitar scales that can take you through most of the chord changes of Summertime: the A natural minor scale and the A minor blues scale.

 

A Natural Minor Scale

The first option is the A natural minor scale (also called A Aeolian mode). This scale contains the same notes as the C major scale.

 

A Natural Minor Scale	A	B	C	D	E	F	G
	1	2	b3	4	5	b6	b7

 

Here is the most common fingering on guitar, but make sure you eventually learn to play it everywhere on the neck, not just in one position.

 

 

A Minor Blues Scale

The A minor blues scale is the A minor pentatonic scale plus one extra note: The D# (Eb), which is the “blue note”.

 

A Minor Blues Scale	A	C	D	D#	E	G
	1	b3	4	#4	5	b7

 

Here is the most common fingering:

 

 

These two scales cover the tune, but if you only use those two sounds, your soloing will get repetitive. Let’s look at a couple of dominant-chord options that add color and tension.

 

The Harmonic Minor Scale

The D harmonic minor scale can be used in the 4th bar, over the ii-V in D minor (Em7b5 – A7):

 

D Minor Harmonic Scale	D	E	F	G	A	Bb	C#
Played over A7	11	5	b13	b7	1	b9	3

 

The D harmonic scale played over A7 outlines the dominant chord and gives you the b9 (Bb) and b13 (F), two classic altered dominant sounds.

Here is the standard fingering in 5th position:

 

 

Over the ii–V passages in A minor (Bm7b57 – E7 in bars 2, 7, 8, 10, 14, and 16), you can use A harmonic minor. The logic is identical to the D harmonic minor example: you’re getting strong dominant-chord extensions and resolutions to A minor.

Here is the standard fingering for the A harmonic minor scale:

 

 

Summertime Arpeggios

Another way to add interest to your solos is by using arpeggios.

Without going into a full arpeggio study, here’s one practical example you can use over the ii–V in D minor in bar 4.

A common arpeggio to play over a dominant chord is the diminished 7th arpeggio starting on the 3rd of that dominant chord.

For example, over A7 you can play a C#dim7 arpeggio:

 

C#dim7 Arpeggio	C#	E	G	Bb
Played over A7	3	5	b7	b9

 

Here’s one possible fingering for the C#dim7 arpeggio:

 

 

Summertime Solo Study Chorus 1 [0:35 in the video]

 

 

 

Bar 19: here I use an Am(add 9) arpeggio:

 

 

Bar 25: here I use a G triad arpeggio:

 

G arpeggio	G	B	D
Played over Am7	b7	9	11

 

 

Summertime Solo Study Chorus 2 [1:02 in the video]

 

 

 

Bar 37: here I play an Fmaj7 arpeggio over Dm7.

When playing over minor chords, play a maj7 arpeggio starting on the 3rd of that minor chord to get a 9 sound.

 

Fmaj7 arpeggio	F	A	C	E
Played over Dm7	b3	5	b7	9

 

 

Bar 39: here I play the E altered scale, with a chromatic note in between (click here to learn how to use the altered scale).

 

E Altered Scale	E	F	G	G#	Bb	C	D
	1	b9	#9	3	b5	b13	b7

 

 

Bar 44: this is a Chet Baker phrase.

 

Summertime Solo Study Chorus 3 [1:30 in the video]