Knowing Tunes

Cataloupe Island, Watermelon Man, Song For My Father, Stella (by Starlight), Four, Oleo, Rhythm Changes, Girl From Ipanema, Don't Get Around Much, In A Mellow Tone, Misty, Satin Doll, All The Things You Are, Autumn Leaves.....

What do these have in common.....you should know all of these and more if you are trying to become a jazz drummer.......

As drummer in a small combo setting you do not usually get a "chart" for the tunes and there is an expectation of you to "know tunes." Horn players at the beginning and even intermediate levels usually carry a "Real Book" on the gig or at the jam session (also known as just a "session") in case tunes get called that they have not committed to memory.

At the music schools that are known as the best places to study jazz, a graded requirement for horn players is to know a large body of jazz tunes from memory and in many, if not all keys, in addition to knowing what the "standard" keys are for those tunes. In comparison, our task to know the tunes, what style is standard, what the form of the tune (number of bars, phrase points etc.) and typical ensemble hits or intros or endings is relatively minimal.

Below is a sample list of tunes that must be mastered in the first and second year for jazz majors at the Manhattan School Of Music in New York City. Start using resources like YouTube to find recordings of these tunes and see examples of various players and how they approach these "standards." These are activities that your teacher can't do for you.... you have to make the time if you want to move forward...JL

YEAR 1
1. Blue Bossa
2. Stella by Starlight
3. Satin Doll
4. Take the A Train
5. There Will Never Be Another You
6. Don’t Get Around Much Anymore
7. Green Dolphin Street
8. Indiana
9. I Got Rhythm
10. Honeysuckle Rose
11. Autumn Leaves
12. The Girl From Ipanema
13. Wave
14. Misty
15. My Funny Valentine
16. Someday My Prince Will Come
17. All of Me
18. Bye Bye Blackbird
19. Tenor Madness
20. So What
21. Cool Blues
22. Perdido
23. Sweet Georgia Brown
24. What Is This Thing Called Love?
25. Stompin’ at the Savoy
26. Night and Day
27. Mr. PC
28. All Blues
29. Maiden Voyage
30. A Night in Tunisia


YEAR 2
1. Once I Had a Secret Love
2. Confirmation
3. Like Someone In Love
4. I Hear a Rhapsody
5. I Love You
6. Our Love Is Here to Stay
7. Prelude To a Kiss
8. Stardust
9. Here’s That Rainy Day
10. The Days of Wine and Roses
11. A Day in the Life of a Fool
12. Embraceable You
13. Body and Soul
14. Cherokee
15. What’s New
16. Afternoon in Paris
17. Alone Together
18. Yesterdays
19. Au Privave
20. All the Things You Are
21. Milestones (old)
22. Bluesette
23. Quiet Nights
24. Don’t Blame Me
25. Footprints
26. Four
27. Roseta
28. Lady Bird
29. Joyspring
30. Minority

Practicing

What is the old saying...life is like a piano,.., what you get out of it depends upon how you play it...?

Being successful at drumming relies largely upon what you get accomplished during your practice sessions. Practice doesn't make perfect...perfect practice makes perfect. Practice just makes consistency. If you are sloppy in your practice habits you can expect to get sloppy results in your playing. Remember, everyone has an equal chance to be mediocre..;-)

Think about it, if you do anything repetitively you will, by default, get somewhat better at it. The key is to work "smart" as well as hard. Hand a drumstick to a monkey and he will figure out some purpose for it - although it may not be the intended purpose,

Setting up a "plan" for practicing is essential. Your private teacher (if you have one) can help by giving you specific assignments from week to week. Your practicing should cover four basic areas:

• Technique
• Reading
• Musicality
• Repertoire
  

Find something in the way of material that exercises all three every practice session. Try to balance your time between the four, although you will likely shift percentages from session to session depending upon which is giving you the most challenge at the time.

In subsequent posts in this section, I will post sample practice charts and recommended books/exercises for you to consider on your journey. Now go grab some sticks and make some noise!

Welcome to my Blog!

Ok, so this is my first experience with blogging so I guess we will figure this out as we go. As you may have guessed, I have a serious interest in all things drums and drumming. Been playing since I was 7 years old (that makes for about 44 years worth of "bangin' around" on cans.

Hopefully I can stay on topic but not necesssarily guaranteed.

Other interests/hobbies/passoins include sailing (both small and medium sized boats), and maybe very soon motorcycling!