Whisper Not, written by Benny Golson in 1956, is one of those tunes where the melody immediately feels good under your fingers. It’s logical, sits well on the guitar, and flows naturally, which makes it fun to play.
Benny Golson played tenor saxophone and was a key composer during the hard bop era. He wrote many well-known jazz standards that are still widely played today, such as I Remember Clifford, Stablemates, Along Came Betty, and Killer Joe.
In this guitar lesson, you’ll learn how to play the melody of Whisper Not, a song closely linked to Golson throughout his career.
In Golson’s words:
I wrote it in Boston at George Wein’s Storyville club when I was with Dizzy Gillespie’s big band. I wrote that tune in 20 minutes.
Download the PDF, GP files, and backing track with JGO+ (click here to join)
Recommended listening:
- Benny Golson – Benny Golson’s New York Scene (1958)
- Wynton Kelly (with Kenny Burrell) – Piano (1958)
- Wes Montgomery – The Wes Montgomery Trio (1959)
- Stan Getz and Strings – Cool Velvet (1960)
- Oscar Peterson – The Trio – Live From Chicago (1961)
- Anita O’Day – The Three Sounds (1962)
- Rita Reys with The Pim Jacobs Trio (w Wim Overgaauw) – Congratulations in Jazz (1965)
- Art Blakey and The Jazz Messengers – Backgammon (1976)
- Art Farmer/Jim Hall – Big Blues (1978)
- Benny Golson featuring Curtis Fuller – California Message (1981)
- Benny Golson Quintet – Live in Tokyo (1987)
Form: AABA (32 bars)
Key: D minor
A key part of the harmonic sound of Whisper Not comes from a repeating pattern in the A sections: a descending bass line, followed by a ii–V that resolves to the next minor chord.
- Cm → Cm/Bb → Am7♭5 → D7
- Gm → Gm/F → Em7♭5 → A7 (the same idea transposed)
- Dm → Dm/C → Em7 → A7
You’ll also notice there are plenty of half-diminished chords → if you’re working on minor ii–V lines, this tune is full of them.
The first A section of the melody is played in the lower octave, the second A moves up an octave (bar 9), and in the bridge (bar 17), I’ve added chord hits.
Download the PDF, GP files, and backing track with JGO+ (click here to join)
Awesome! Thanks a lot.
Thanks for another great post. Do you have tabs for more up tempo but still player friendly songs for beginners? Thanks.
Beautiful work,beautiful sound
Thank You,
Tonci
Thank you for your generous work!
Thank you so much for you clear and clever works, it really helps ! (For Whisper not the “special” part would have been great too, anyway it’s a great job, thank you Mister ! )
Now here’s a classic that does not sound classic. Well played, beautiful.
And superb editing as always, thank you.
Thank you very much for sharing this work Dirk. I really enjoy listening to you play the piece.
Sincerely,
Frank