Bruce Forman's list of 10 tunes for beginners

[dingusmingus]

On the "Guitar Wank" podcast, Bruce Forman and Scott Henderson discuss Bruce's list of 10 songs that a beginning jazz guitarist should learn. He says these teach you a lot about how the classic standards are put together, and everyone plays these, so they'll get you started for jam session, etc.

GuitarWank - episode 12 - April 4, 2016 ? GuitarWank

Here are the tunes, and the reasons he gives. No real surprises, but it's a cool list, and I enjoyed his explanations for what each tune teaches.

* Autumn Leaves--learn about the cycle
* Take the A Train--[didn't catch a reason, perhaps because it moves to II?]
* All The Things You Are--hard, but best example of how the cycle works, and a great form
* It Could Happen To You (or Ain't Misbehaving)--Chromatic ascending bass line
* There Will Never Be Another You--Backcycling to IV
* Honeysuckle Rose--ii-V-Is, and the classic bridge, highly quoted melody
* Satin Doll--everyone plays it, and a great study in ii-V-Is
* Green Dolphin--cool form, "triadic shift--C to Eb to D to Db)" also cool backcyling through relative minor
* Just Friends--starts on the IV, great melody, check out Parker with strings
* Stella by Starlight--hard, but everyone wants to play it, so you've got to know it.

[mr. beaumont]

Pretty hard to argue with those. If those are the first 10 tunes a player learns...man, they'll get a lot out of it.

[Jabberwocky]

Guitar Wank! You'll get hairy palms!

Good list. Thanks for link.

My proudest possession as a teenager was a O.S. model Wankel engine. My non-aeromodelling mates used to have a chortle whenever I mentioned, "I have a Wankel in my satchel."

[destinytot]

Guitar Wank! You'll get hairy palms!

Good list. Thanks for link.

And go blind!

[Jabberwocky]

And go blind!

That, I found out, was a lie...

[MarkRhodes]

I read somewhere else that Bruce Forman calls this list (which varies from time to time) "mother tunes." If you can handle these, there's not much in the way of standards that'll throw you.

[NoReply]

I read somewhere else that Bruce Forman calls this list (which varies from time to time) "mother tunes." If you can handle these, there's not much in the way of standards that'll throw you.

He also asked students to play the tunes in Ab to see if they really know the tunes.

[rabbit]

dingusmingus,

Very enlightening & entertaining link; thank you!

Now, I've got to feel my way over to the guitar stand...

[MarkRhodes]

I don't know all the tunes on this list (yet), but I know more of them than Scott Henderson, which surprises me. (Also, he's from West Palm Beach, which is my neck of the woods.)

By year's end, I want to know all these tunes. Melody, changes, and a few ways through them. ("Stella" is the one I don't know at all----I haven't even heard it much.)

[christianm77]

He's the guy with the grills, right?

[MarkRhodes]

He's the guy with the grills, right?

Ha! That's George. This is Bruce

[NoReply]

Don't forget his fun band he has with his wife Pinto Pammy called CowBop!

[Stuart Elliott]

A good list, but no blues on it. There ought to be a couple on the list, even if "Blues in Bb" and "Blues in F."

I have several of Forman's albums, including Cowbop's "California Swing," which is an excellent CD, much jazz and less western swing than I had anticipated.

[boatheelmusic]

Right, add Tenor Madness to the list

[christianm77]

A good list, but no blues on it. There ought to be a couple on the list, even if "Blues in Bb" and "Blues in F."

I have several of Forman's albums, including Cowbop's "California Swing," which is an excellent CD, much jazz and less western swing than I had anticipated.

It's all about the hats.

[dingusmingus]

A good list, but no blues on it. There ought to be a couple on the list, even if "Blues in Bb" and "Blues in F."

I have several of Forman's albums, including Cowbop's "California Swing," which is an excellent CD, much jazz and less western swing than I had anticipated.

Good point, but that's actually my fault in summarizing his list. In the podcast, he starts by saying players should start with the blues, especially since lots of guitar players are already familiar with the basic form.

[MarkRhodes]

A good list, but no blues on it. There ought to be a couple on the list, even if "Blues in Bb" and "Blues in F."

I have several of Forman's albums, including Cowbop's "California Swing," which is an excellent CD, much jazz and less western swing than I had anticipated.

In the podcast, Bruce suggests beginners start with a blues. Any blues.

[JazzinNY]

4 of those songs are in Robert Conti's first DVD.

[MarkRhodes]

4 of those songs are in Robert Conti's first DVD.

And two more (TWNBAY and ATTYA) are on volume 2 in the "Ticket to Improv" series.

[Stuart Elliott]

In the podcast, Bruce suggests beginners start with a blues. Any blues.

My bad, Mark. I should have listened to the podcast, it seems, instead of just reading the list. Thanks for the clarification.

[plasticpigeon]

Great stuff, thanks for the link, I'll listen when I gety home. I am just becoming competent enough to think about learning a list of tunes well, but what about rhythm changes and all of its derivatives?

[Groyniad]

bf always strikes me as the guy missing from the list of greats

his style is wonderfully straight ahead - and driving - and dare i say it (not really) - virile

no-one plays quite like him - but lots of people should

great player

[dingusmingus]

Great stuff, thanks for the link, I'll listen when I gety home. I am just becoming competent enough to think about learning a list of tunes well, but what about rhythm changes and all of its derivatives?

You know, that's interesting. I didn't notice until you pointed it out, but no rhythm changes on the list! I'm no expert, but I think time you invest in Rhythm Changes will be well spent.

[Stringswinger]

I have played with Bruce many times. We even recorded a few tunes together. If anyone is interested in hearing that PM me. I have a 5 tunes CD of us playing together. It is not available anywhere else.

Bruce knows thousands of tunes. Along with Howard Alden, he knows more tunes than anyone I have ever met. Bruce is also capable of learning a tune at lightspeed. If he hears a tune, even a fairly complex tune once, he is able to play it.

I gave Larry Coryell a copy of the CD I did with Bruce and it led to me playing with Larry. Larry told me that he is a big fan of Bruce's playing (as am I).

The ten tunes in the above list are all important tunes. IMO, if you cannot play those ten tunes without a chart, you should not be out playing in public. When we play out, we represent the music. Let's do it proudly.

[MarkRhodes]

Here's a track Bruce recorded some years ago, "Chasin' the Blues."