06.26.08
Playing the “right” chord changes
When I play with different people, everyone has their own idea of the way a song should be played. Some people learn the song from a fakebook, some from the original sheet music, others from a recording.
Every once in a while, though, I meet someone who will try to tell others that they are playing the wrong chords. To me, this makes no sense, especially when dealing with an old jazz standard.
With certain songs, there is a more absolute way of playing the chords (a song like “Recordame” by Joe Henderson or “Giant Steps” by John Coltrane). With older songs, a lot of times they have been played and recorded so many ways that right and wrong is subjective. A good example of this is “Honeysuckle Rose”. Many people play this tune in slightly different ways (particularly in the 2nd half of the A section). I-I7-IV-#IVdim? I-VI-ii-V7? I will say that I respect the folks that seek out the original sheet music to those types of tunes in order to try to find out what the composer intended (though I can’t say I have ever done that myself).
Check out Anita O’day doing this tune (I-I7-IV-IVmin):
Or check out this other Anita version, with different changes (I-I7-IV-#IVdim):
Anyway, it is always good to be open to different interpretations of music. As soon as you start seeing music in absolutes, you start sounding like a curmudgeon and close yourself off to things which you may learn from or appreciate…
That being said, a lot of people play weird chord changes because they haven’t taken the time to learn the song from a good source other than a fakebook (which often has mistakes). A good example of this is the song “Footprints” by Wayne Shorter. In the illegal fakebook, the changes are definitely not from the recordings I have heard…
David
Alison said,
June 26, 2008 at 10:12 pm
What great examples to use to make your point. Wow! She was so amazing, and that’s my favorite song! I love the way she says the word “why.”