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