In the Saskatchewan Jazz Curriculum rhythm changes are one of the foci at the 30 level. Rhythm changes are based on the chord changes for the George and Ira Gershwin standard I Got Rhythm. The tune based on rhythm changes most easily recognized by students is probably the Flintstones Theme. The original version of I Got Rhythm has slightly different changes than those generally used today and it had a two bar tag which is rarely played anymore. Early examples of songs using rhythm changes are Shoe Shine Boy by Lester Young and Duke Ellington’s Cottontail. During the Bebop era particularly, rhythm changes became the basis for many songs, such as Anthropology and Dexterity by Charlie Parker, and An Oscar for Treadwell by Dizzy Gillespie. Musicians would write their own melodies over the pre-existing chord changes (a practice known as contrafact), and because chord changes cannot be copyrighted (only melodies can be copyrighted) the composer wouldn’t have to pay royalties to the Gershwins.
The bridge section in rhythm changes is often left open (no set melody) for improvising, see tunes such as Oleo by Sonny Rollins or Wee by Dizzy Gillespie. Musicians would also write songs based partially on rhythm changes. Scrapple from the Apple has the changes from Honeysuckle Rose for the A section, but uses a rhythm changes bridge. The Muppet Show Theme and Sonny Stitt’s the Eternal Triangle use rhythm changes for the A section and then use different changes for the bridge.
This is quite a specific form, an AABA song form, but the chord changes are more consistently the same from tune to tune than are changes for the overall 32 bar AABA song form. There are many, examples of songs that use rhythm changes, some of which have been given here in this text. A much more extensive list is available in the on line resource “Blues, 32 Bar Song Form and Rhythm Changes” on the Ministry of Education website. Like so many concepts in theory, the paper work is important, but the application of the understanding of theory to playing and listening should be paramount.
Rhythm changes is a 32 bar form which in its basic form has the following chord progression. I vi - ii V7 - I vi - ii V7 - I I7 - IV7 #IVdim - I V7 - I 8 bars
I vi - ii V7 - I vi - ii V7 - I I7 - IV7 #IVdim - I V7 - I 8 bars III7 - III7 - VI7 - VI7 - II7 - II7 - V7 - V7 8 bars I vi - ii V7 - I vi - ii V7 - I I7 - IV7 #IVdim - I V7 - I 8 bars or written in the key of Bb as:
Bebop musicians would substitute many different sets of changes for the basic chords. An example would be to replace the dominant chords in the bridge (III7 - III7 - VI7 - VI7 - II7 - II7 - V7 - V7 ) with ii - V’s, giving: vii min7 - III7 - ii min7 - VI7 - vi min7 - II7 - ii min7 - V7. Often the vi min chord in the “A” section is replaced with a dominant VI chord. Another variation on the changes is to alter the dominant chords with flat 9’s, 13’s etc, or replacing major ii – V’s with minor ii – v’s.
When a musician learns a tune based on rhythm changes they are learning the basis for many jazz standards and thousands of tunes. Soloing over the same changes, even though the melodies are different, is much easier than learning all new changes for every song. Writing songs where the audience already knows and is comfortable with the chords makes it more likely that the audience will like the new melody. Though songs based on rhythm changes can be written in any key the most common keys are Bb and Eb.
Melody
“The melodic line itself is the first thing that a listener will generally notice about an improvisation, or any other piece of music.” (Sabatella, 2000) Melody is one of the four basic elements of music along with rhythm, harmony and tone color. This text will present two ways to think about melody, one is as a tool for improvisation. Improvisation clearly involves all four of the elements of music but this portion of the text will address the melodic element. The second discussion of melody is its value in learning form, rhythm, inflection and other concepts, especially in an ensemble where not everyone has the melody in the music, which can really be said to be every ensemble, duo to big band.
Melody is difficult to define, what makes good melody is even more difficult to define. Merriam-Webster defines melody as: 1) “a sweet or agreeable succession or arrangement of sounds”, or 2) “a rhythmic succession of single tones organized as an aesthetic whole”. The harmony, rhythm or timbre of a piece can be altered and listeners can still recognize the melody. When the melody is altered it tends to make the listener think it is a different piece.
One of the key starting points for learning improvisation is the melody, and sometimes it’s forgotten in the rush to learn scales and chords. All the students in a jazz ensemble should learn the melody of the pieces they are working on. In a small group setting this may not be as challenging, everyone in the group may be looking at a lead sheet of the tune. Even then, it is still important that all the players, rhythm section included, know the melody. It may not be the job of certain players to present the melody in a performance, but it is certainly their job to know the melody. The melody should inform their playing, even with younger players.
In a big band setting it is challenging to have everyone in the band learn the melody of the tune. Most often the melody is not presented in all the voices of the band, all the way through the tune. Few players will ever have the entire melody, start to finish, in their individual part. Learning the melody of the big band chart by ear would help with things like balance - understanding when the part was important. It would help with harmony – knowing when the individual part was a harmony part to the melody, or when it was accompaniment. Knowing the melody will also help students understand the bass line, form, inflection, and so on. If the group is not quite up to playing the melody by ear, the director could write out the melody for all the instruments. This would give all the students in the ensemble an opportunity to learn the melody, and make the eventual performance that much stronger.
play the melody well. Make sure that the phrases and form of the melody are addressed at this stage. It is not unimportant to point out that if the notes of the melody work in the context of the song, the improviser could do far worse than use some of the same notes (in the same place) in their improvisation. The simplest improvisation can be an augmented version of the melody. “An improvised melody may be a simple variation on the original theme. In this case, the composed melody itself serves directly as a basis for improvisation.” (Sabatella, 2000). Once the basic tune is learned, try changing elements of the melody (rhythms, note lengths, rests, etc.). Listening to professional recordings of the tune really helps, listen to as many different versions by different artists (even different styles) as possible. A simple yet valuable task for the students might be: starting with a piece of sheet music with the simplified version of the tune on it, indicate the changes that the performer(s) made from the written version.
Also experiment with using melodic fragments from the melody in the improvisation. To help the students with this idea, break the melody into its elements and then take those elements and improvise upon them in a static setting. Have the rhythm section repeat just a few bars of the song while different soloists try improvising. Some examples could be taking a characteristic rhythm from the song and improvise using different notes, take a set of pitches from the song and change the rhythms, play the same melodic shapes, but with different pitches, take a strong note from the melody and practice different ways of getting to it – neighbor tones, 2,3,4,5 etc. note groups approaching the strong note, etc.
“Every improviser has been told that in order to “really” play jazz, they must spend a lot of time listening to it. Have you ever wondered why? Part of the reason is that most improvisers have learned melodic structures through unconscious imitation. During hours of listening, copying, transcribing, and playing, musicians have taught themselves melodic structures. I believe that this time tested way is the best long term way for musicians to learn to improvise, but I also believe that as educators we are failing our students by not offering comprehensive instruction on the creation of improvisational melodic structures.” (Kane, 2005).
STUDENT PRACTICE SUGGESTIONS
Memorize melody, then try improvising using the melody by: • decorating the melody (turns, grace notes, etc.)
• changing the rhythm
• changing the approach to strong notes
• use fragments of the melody as the basis of improvising
• try rhythmic displacement of the melody (add rests, or start early, etc.) • repeat or sequence short phrases from the melody