“Rhythm Changes”: The Frst 4 Bars of the Aʼ Section Embellishments:

By Avi Rothbard

Being able to solo over “rhythm changes” is probably one of the most important skills that any jazz
improviser strives for in his/her ongoing musical development as an improviser. Personally, I have always
tried to use “Rhythm Changes” as a part of my practice routine. It is very effective to utilize “rhythm
changes” various progressions and substitute chords while practicing few topics like an un-accompanied
solo (“strolling”), playing different background chords(in and out of time) and soloing over odd meters.

Historically speaking, “I Got Rhythm" is a song composed by George Gershwin with lyrics by Ira
Gershwin, first published in 1930. Its 32 bars form is the foundation for many other fast and medium
tempo popular swing and bebop era tunes such as “Lester Leaps in”(Lester Young),
“Cottontail”(Ellington), “Anthropology”(Parker), “Oleo”(Rollins), Salt Peanuts(Dizzy Gillespie) and so
many others. The “rhythm changes” song form became a jazz standard which was used as a testing tool
between jazz musicians during a “battle” of two or more instrumentalists. RC can be a challenging
platform due to its quick moving chords and its often fast tempo pace. The B’ section and the other
segments of this song form will not be discussed at this time, but I will elaborate on that topic in the
future.

Without trying re inventing the wheel again, I would like to focus on the first 4 bars of the A’ sections
and its common variations, while showing a possible fingerings for the guitar. These chord
progressions will not allow you to lock in onto one single scale so try to focus on each chord as an
“entity”of itself by exploring its chord tones and the chord scales while composing your own lines.

The Examples:

Ex. 1) This is a quick survey of a full 8 bard A1 section with its original progression.

Ex. 2)”Lady Bird” by Tadd Dameron: The Dameron “turnback” can be created from the Standard (I-vi-ii-
V) Progression by applying the chord quality and tritone substitutions as shown in that example
(I-bIII7-bVI-bII). In Lady Bird, the actual cycle did not employ any dominant chords-they were all major (6,
Major 7th) chords.

Ex. 3)”Brownie Speaks” by Clifford Brown: These progressions consists of a first two bars of a Dameron
turnback and another two of descending dominants in two whole steps and a half.
Example: (I-bIII7-bVI-bII7, I7-bVII7-bVI7-V7).

Ex. 4) “Humph” by Thelonious Monk: Another embellishment of the rhythm changes that consists of the
descending dominants in the cycle of fifths. Bb: (F#7-B7-E7-A7-D7-G7-C7-F7)

Ex. 5)”CTA” by Jimmy Heath: It is basically a close relative of “Brownie Speaks”, but it employs only the
second half of it twice. The progression is ( I7-bVII7-bVI7-V7, I7-bVII7-bVI7-V7)

Ex. 6)“Reduction time”:These changes can be found on classics like “Dameronia”(Tadd dameron) and
“Well You Needn’t” (Monk). One could also be experimenting with the harmonic rhythm of the first 4 bars
of the RC by reducing the number of chords to only one or two. It would certainly allow the improviser to
“breeze” a little. Obviously, this type of approach is much more stationary and modal(relying on one or two
scales per progression).

Ex.7) Another reduction example by employing the harmony based on “Killer Joe”(Benny Golson).

.. I hope that you will have fun playing and composing more ideas over these classic harmonic
embellishments...cheers!
 "Rhythm Changes-The First 4 Bars"
And it's common variations
Avi Rothbard

Ex 1.) A standard "I Got Rhythm Changes"(Gershwin):

A full A1 section
B b6
œ œ œ b œ
4 œ œ b œ œ
G7 F7 D-7C-7 G7 C-7 F7

&b
b
4 .. œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ nœ œ #œ œ œ œ œ œ Œ

T . 5 6 5 4 3

.8
6 6 8 8 7 6 6 7 4 3 6 4
5 7 8 7 8 8 7 5 4 5
A 7 8
B

F-7 B b7 E bMaj7 E b-7 D-7 G7 C-7 F7

b b Œ œ œ œ
b œ œ œ œ œ œ bœ œ œ œ nœ œ bœ œ ..
& œ #œ œ œ œ œ œ
5

3 3 6 4 6 7 4 3 3 .
5
5 3
6 3 4 5
3 5 4 2 3
3
5 6
3 .

Ex. 2)Double "Turn Around" of a triton substitutions( or the last 2 bars of "Lady Bird" by Dameron)

Bb D b7 Gb Bb D b7 Gb
bb .. œ œ œ œ b œ b œ œ œ b œ œ œ bœ #œ nœ bœ #œ #œ #œ #œ nœ œ .
B7 B7

bœ bœ œ Œ ‰ œ œ Œ .
&
9
nœ

.68 6 6 9 7
.
.
10 9 7 6 6 7 6 9 7 9 7

9
8 6
8 6
9 8
8
7 6
.
7

©Rothbard Music 2012

 "Rhythm Changes-The First 4 Bars" Cont' p.2

Ex. 3) Based on"Brownie Speaks"(Clifford Brown) Changes:

B b6 D b7 G b6 B b7 A b7 G b7
œ bœ bœ œ
B7 F7

b b .. œ œ œ œ b œ b œ b œ n œ œ b œ Œ Œ œ œ œ b œ œ # œ # œ # œ # œ œ œ Œ ..
& œ
13

.
.6 .
.
6 6 9 7 6

13
8 7 6
9 6 7 8
6 8 7 5
8 6
6 8 9
6 8
6 8
.

Ex. 4) Based on "Humph"(Monk).

F #7
#œ #œ #œ nœ
B7 E7 A7 D7 G7 C7 F7

b . #œ œ Œ ‰nœ #œ nœ œ nœ #œ œ œ nœ #œ œ œ œ Œ ‰nœ œ œ œ œ bœ .
b
& . œ .
17

. 6 9 7 4 7 5 5
.
.
7 9 7 5 8 7 5 5 7 8 5 6

17
7 7 5
8 7
5 8
.

Ex. 5) Based on "C.T.A" (CTA) by Jimmy Heath.

B b7 A b7 A b7 F #7 B b7 #
œ œ b œ F7 F7 F7
b œœœœœœœœ œœ œ œ Œ #œ #œ #œ œ nœ nœ Œ .
& b .. #œ #œ œ #œ œ nœ œ .
21

.6 6 3 4 2 2 1
.
.
4 3 4 6 4 3 3 6 4 2 4

21
5 3 5 5 3
4
3 6 5 4
.
©Rothbard Music 2012
 "Rhythm Changes-The First 4 Bars" Cont' p.3

Ex. 6) Based on "Damerronia" or "well you needn't" changes( Dameron/Monk)

B b6 B7 B b6 B7

b b .œ œ Œ Ó ‰ œ #œ nœ nœ nœ Œ ‰ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ #œ #œ œ œ Ó ..
& .
25

.6 .
.
6 7 6 3 6 3

25
7 9
9
3 5 3
3 6 4 6 4 .
Ex. 7) Based on"Killer Joe"(Golson)
B b6 A b7
œœœ
B b6 A b7

b b .. œ œ œ œ œ œ œ b œ œ bœ œ œ Œ Œ œ œ œ bœ œ ..
& œ bœ bœ
29
œ˙

.3 5
.
.
3 4 3 6 4 8 6

29
5 5 3
3 4 6
3 6 7 5
8
6
8
9 8
.
6

©Rothbard Music 2012