Ron Carter Esperanza Spalding - Downbeat

pro session
Woodshed | By lou pallo
Sittin’ In & Playin’
Standards
So many musicians come out to see me on my
gigs leading Les Paul’s Trio at The Iridium in
New York and fronting my own trio at Rupperts
in Riverdale, N.J. Many of them are rock guitar
players who are interested in learning what
changes to play over standards from the 1930s,
’40s and ’50s. I tell them that if they learn a few
of these old tunes, many of which follow an
AABA 32-bar form, they can easily relate one to
another. That way, if they find themselves sitting
on a gig but don’t have music in front of them,
they’ll have a fighting chance.
For starters, learn the basic chords at the
heart of every key: the I, IV and V, and also the
relative minor (vi). To figure out what key a standard
is in, look to the last chord of the song—
that’s usually your key, with very few exceptions.
The next step is to learn the cycle of fifths
and the cycle of fourths and get a feel for how
standards use that kind of harmonic movement
to get from one point of a song to the next.
Now, let’s say we’re playing a tune in the key
of G that starts on a G chord and moves to a B7
(a common first step in many old standards).
From that point, there are lots of possibilities as
to what the next chord will be. You could go to
the relative minor (Em), or you might go to an E7.
From the Em or E7, you might follow a cycle of
fourths—to an A, a D and right back to G.
The same basic principles apply to tunes that
are in a minor key, like “Autumn Leaves.” Let’s
say we’re playing it in Em, the relative minor of
G. The tune starts on an Am (the IV of Em) and
goes to D7, G and Em; from there it moves to C
(the IV of G), takes a chromatic step down to B7
(the V of Em), then goes back to the Em to complete
the first “A” section. The entire pattern is
based on a similar concept of cyclical movement.
One thing I haven’t mentioned yet is that the
II chord in many standards can be a minor chord
or a major chord. If you’re following a cycle
whose roots are B–E–A–D–G, the third chord
could be an Am instead of A major leading into
the D. That’s where substitutions come in.
If you want to play some prettier-sounding
chords in place of your V chord (D7, still in the
key of G), you can play Am–D7 as a substitution
(Am7 and Am6 also work nicely). If you come
across a G chord for two measures followed by a
D7 for two measures, you could instead play Am
for two beats, D7 for two beats, Am again, back
to D7, and then land on the G—which gives the
harmony a little movement and makes it sound
nice and smooth. Other valid substitutions for a
G major chord are Gmaj7 and G6, and also the
relative minor, Em.
Another important tool for finding your way
Lou Pallo (left) with Les Paul
through standards is to learn some basic turnarounds,
which tend to come at the end of the “A”
sections of AABA tunes. The first “A” is going to
lead you back to the second “A” of the form, and
there are many interesting ways to get there. In
the key of G, the simple turnaround from the first
“A” section would be to play G for two measures,
Em for two measures, Am for two measures and
D7 for two measures before returning to G (note
the use of the cycle of fourths). Or, you could play
Bm7, to E7, to Am7, to D7 and back to G.
At the end of your second “A” section, you
have to finish the phrase and lead into the bridge.
The best turnaround to play here is to go from
the I (G) up to the IV (C) and back to G. A more
interesting-sounding option would be to play a
G7 before the C, followed by a Bbdim back down
to G before heading into the bridge. There is no
need for a turnaround after the bridge. And the
chords to your last “A” section are likely going to
be similar to those in the second “A.”
My final piece of advice for guitarists who
want to sit in is to memorize the bridges to some
well-known standards, as these same bridges
will appear in dozens, even hundreds, of other
tunes. If we’re on the bandstand, coming out of
the second “A,” I might look around and yell
out, “‘I’m Confessin’,’ coming up!” Right away,
everybody knows we’re going into that particular
bridge. If you know the bridge to that tune, and
can recognize it when you hear it, then you’ll be
all set to play the bridges on about 40 percent of
all standards you encounter.
If you’re going to sit in and you don’t know
the song, keep your ears open for these types of
familiar patterns and chordal movements. Follow
these bits of advice, and you can’t go wrong. You
might hit some wrong changes along the way, but
you’ll at least be in the ballpark.DB
Lou Pallo, who worked alongside Les Paul for 27
years, is a guitarist based in New Jersey. His most
recent CD/DVD with Les Paul’s Trio, Thank You Les
(Showplace Music Productions), features guest
guitarists Keith Richards, Steve Miller, Slash,
José Feliciano, Bucky Pizzarelli, Frank Vignola,
Billy F. Gibbons, Arlen Roth, Nokie Edwards, Bob
Leive, Tommy Doyle, Jon Paris and Johnny A.
Chris Lentz