This week’s Jam Tune Kit is Autumn Leaves. Here’s what you need to walk it at a jam session: the key, the form and every chord, a free play-along with piano and drums and no bass, Cole’s lesson on the tune, and a way to find a jam to bring it to.
The tune at a glance
Key: G minor · Form: AABC, 32 bars · Feel: medium swing · First chord: Cm7
The changes
All 32 bars in G minor, four to a line, with the section letters. A bar with two chords splits evenly, two beats each.
Play it with the band
This link opens the free jazz backing tracks with no bass on Autumn Leaves in G minor at 140 bpm. Change the key, the feel or the tempo there, tap Big screen to read the chords from your music stand, and turn on Band drops out every other chorus when you want to test yourself.
Play Autumn Leaves with the band
Learn the line
Cole’s free lesson on this tune: Autumn Leaves Walking Bass Line: Learn 8 Bars, Walk the Whole Tune.
A week with the tune
- Learn the roots with the band. Open the play-along at a slow tempo and play the root of each chord on beat one until you can follow the form without the chart.
- Write the first note of every bar, the way Cole does in how to learn jazz standards on bass. Land those notes on beat one with the band, then fill in the rest.
- Walk it at 140 bpm. Then turn on Band drops out every other chorus and walk a chorus on your own.
- Move it to another key. The key menu in the play-along moves the whole tune.
- Put it on your set. Add it to the setlist cheat sheet and print it for the stand.
Why this one first? Cole puts it this way:
And there's one tune in the Great American Songbook that provides a foundation for all the other tunes. … And that tune is Autumn Leaves. If you can play Autumn Leaves and you can play an F blues, then you're ready to play jazz.
Cole Davis
About the tune
- Joseph Kosma composed it in 1945. Jacques Prévert wrote the original French lyrics, and Johnny Mercer wrote the English ones in 1950.
- It's in AABC form, and the chord progression is almost all ii-V-I and ii-V sequences.
- It's mostly played in G minor, though the original key was A minor.
Take it to a jam
When you can walk it without the chart, take it out. The Jazz Jam Finder lets you search a city for a jam session.
Lesson 5 of Cole's Walking Basslines course takes the whole method to Autumn Leaves, and the course comes with piano and drums backing tracks for it.
Go deeper
Walking Basslines on Upright Bass: From the Beginning
A 5-lesson upright method built on the 1-3-5-7, the walking approach Ron Carter taught Cole at Juilliard.
FAQ
What key is Autumn Leaves in?
It's mostly played in G minor, though the original key was A minor. This kit and its play-along use G minor, where the first chord is C minor 7, and the play-along can move it to any of the 12 keys.
What's the form of Autumn Leaves?
AABC, 32 bars: two 8-bar A sections, then an 8-bar B and an 8-bar C. The chord progression is almost all ii-V-I and ii-V sequences.
Is there a play-along for Autumn Leaves without bass?
Yes. The free Better Bass Lessons play-along plays piano and drums through the changes with no bass, in any key, from 40 to 320 bpm.
Sources
- iReal Pro Jazz 1460 chart (read from the mikeoliphant/JazzStandards data file) (used in the BBL tune list for: changes, key, feel)
- OpenBook chord transcription of the Real Book / Fake Book chart (used in the BBL tune list for: changes, key (chord parts only))
- Jazzadvice chord chart (C instruments) (used in the BBL tune list for: changes)
- Jazzadvice tune page (used in the BBL tune list for: common key, form, bars)
- Wikipedia (used in the BBL tune list for: composer, year, form, facts)
- jazzstandards.com (used in the BBL tune list for: year, credits, original key, form)
- Quote: Autumn Leaves Walking Bass Line: Learn 8 Bars, Walk the Whole Tune
- Jazz Jam Finder
- Walking Basslines on Upright Bass: From the Beginning (course page)
- Free jazz backing tracks with no bass (play-along)
- How to learn jazz standards on bass