Autumn Leaves Basics

[tcarr]

Hi everyone. New to the site and very excited to see so much great information. After 26 years on bass I decided to give the guitar a try. I've always wanted to play jazz guitar so here I am. I've just started with theory and am still working on my major scales and basic chords. It seems that Autumn leaves is the starter song and I've heard a few versions. I've listened to the Joe Pass version and I'm very intimidated. Is there a particular version I should listen to when attempting to learn? There are many versions.

I look forward to exploring the site and interacting with everyone. Thank you!

[mr. beaumont]

Jazz is kind of all about creating your own version...so at the begininng, I'd definitely reccomend against trying to pick up a Joe Pass rendition!

Check out Miles playing this with Cannonball Adderly, or really anything you like...look for something where the melody line is played by one instrument, something you can hear clearly--like a horn...try to learn the melody that way...look at a chart too, as a backup...you'll see quickly few people play things exactly the same way...do the same for the chords...try to pick up what you can by ear...check it against a chart...

[tcarr]

That sounds fun. I can read a little bit. Where would I get a chart from? Should I just focus on replaying the melody line at first? This is my first real shot at learning theory and to play music this way, so this is all real new to me. Thank you for the advice! I'm going to go listen to that version.

[mr. beaumont]

If you don't have a Real Book, it's a worthwhile investment.

Treat Real Book charts as suggestions, not as law...just about everything is open to interpretation in jazz., chords can be substituted, melodies can be interpreted...it' all about making it your own.

By the way, Iwouldn't start with theory...if you want to play jazz, I'd start with learning tunes, transcribing melodies, and learning the chords to songs all over the neck...You want to shoot for at least three different places to play each chord on the neck--for starters...a good jazz played might know 20 different ways to grab a chord, if not more...don't let that be intimidating, just keep it in mind as a goal...jazz is a long process...LONG.

[mr. beaumont]

The Nat Cole suggestion is a good one...when a song has words, it's great to learn it from a version with...words...

[Stevebol]

My favorite. Jimmy Ponder. He made me actually like the tune.

[ukejack82]

The Nat Cole suggestion is a good one...when a song has words, it's great to learn it from a version with...words...

Mr Beaumont,

I have personally found that if I know the words, I can recall the melody easier. Out of curosity, why do suggest learning songs with words.

- Jack

[BrandonB]

Tcarr, dude, you're seriously like right where I'm at in terms of your jazz guitar journey. I've been on guitar for several years, but never bothered to learn much about the educational aspect of music. I feel jazz somewhat forces you to do so (which explains why my previous attempts to learn it failed for me).

I've been learning Autumn Leaves myself. Check out my blog in my sig if you are interested in what I've learned on it so far. Definitely Miles/Cannonball's version is a good one to start with. Miles plays the melody about as close to "the book" as I've heard anyone so far. Good luck man!

BTW, I'm always up for bouncing ideas off of other newbies on here so PM me anytime you want. Like Mr. Beaumont says, jazz is a LONG process as I'm starting to see.

[TSP]

Try the Kenny Burrell version.