Autumn Leaves

[metaljustice83]

My guitar teacher is teaching me Autumn Leaves, and I'm enjoying it by the way, But my question is does anyone know where I can find the sheet music for the melody, in the key of Bb??? :confused:

[SweeDee]

You can find that in any fakebook. Autum leaves is probably the most famous guitar standard on the planet. I guess you're learning it in E flat? I'll bet it's on the web somewhere. Sorry I'm useless on this one.

[JeffN]

http://www.guitarnoise.com/downloads/pdf/autumn_leaves.pdf

Have fun. I'm still working on this one.

[metaljustice83]

exactly what I was looking for thank you very very much.

[JeffN]

Hehe, no problem. It's a fun song. I still haven't found a way to play the chords over it that sounds good though. :(

[DanF]

Well, the chords (voicings) that they give in that pdf are kind of lousy.

-Dan

[JeffN]

Well, the chords (voicings) that they give in that pdf are kind of lousy.

-Dan
Are they?

What's wrong with them?

[Doug McMullen]

Quote:
Originally Posted by DanF
Well, the chords (voicings) that they give in that pdf are kind of lousy.
-Dan

Are they?

What's wrong with them?

Well, take the first chord given, the Cm7... What's the highest note in that chord-grip they give... it's C. Now, check the melody at that chord: it's an Eb for four beats. So, if you're trying to hear the melody of Autumn leaves as you strum, that chord isn't going to get the job done at all.

Plus: it's a lame grip that no self-respectin' jazz dude would play (big six string barre chords with lots of doubled notes are generally frowned upon).

Plus -- and this is the part that really matters and which the rest of this post is concerned with: No lead sheet style chart like that should give chord shapes like that -- it's a crutch for guitarists that actually hurts guitarists very very badly by giving them the wrong idea about how a lead sheet works. Those chord diagrams kill guitarists with kindness.

A tune like Autumn Leaves simply isn't played by strumming chord shapes like that! Strum the same exact shape for four or in some cases eight beats and you _will_ sound lame.

So, understand the following concept and a big door will open for you creatively as play from lead sheets:

Those "chord symbols" along the top of the melody staff of a lead sheet aren't telling you to play a specific chord -- chord symbols along the top staff are telling you to play with a chord ! Play with the harmony.

Cm7 doesn't mean play a Cm7 chord shape! It means: We (the lead sheet writers) suggest sketching into these four beats of sound some Cm7 harmony.

My guitar teacher explained this to me years ago this way: "Ever see a piano player going like this?" ...*he mimes playing piano with hands flying up and down and all around the keyboard*... "and you ask the piano player what he's playing, and the piano player looks up and goes, "F."

You've got to be creative to use lead sheets. If you want music that lays out exactly what to play, when, that's called an arrangement, there are many arrangements for solo guitar of Autumn Leaves. But the beauty of a lead sheet is that it isn't an arrangement (well, legally it is, but in practical terms it isn't) a lead sheet is a loose sketch/outline around which a performer can create a spur of the moment arrangement.

Don't get the wrong idea... I'm not saying you have to overplay. There might be times many times when you play very sparsely within four beats... the point isn't to play a lot or a little, it's to play musically, to convey some interpretation of the melody and harmony.

Autumn Leaves is a good tune for this. It has a pretty clear structure to work with: It is basically: melody is active for four beats (one measure) then melody hits a wholenote while the harmony changes. There's a loose but lovely call and response structure to the tune, where the melody is the call and then comes a chord-change response.

good luck, have fun.

Doug.

[Koala]

Very interesting post Doug, thanks. (and ill hafta steal that piano joke)

[JeffN]

Thanks a lot for the post Doug, I've been doing this wrong! So, to get started, I should try and follow the melody by incorporating it into my chords?

Also, I'm not sure what you meant by

"Cm7 doesn't mean play a Cm7 chord shape! It means: We (the lead sheet writers) suggest sketching into these four beats of sound some Cm7 harmony."

Could you explain a bit more?

[DanF]

Thanks for grabbing that one Doug, couldn't have said it better meself. :)

-Dan

[JeffN]

I decided to take a stab at it. I edited some of those chords.

Cm7
11
8
8
8
10
8

F7

11
10
8
10
8
x

Bb maj7


10
10
10
12
13
x

Ebmaj7

10
11
12
13
x
x

Am7b5

8
8
8
10
12
x

D7

x
13
11
10
12
10

Gm7

10
11
10
12
10
x

I only got that far. Did I have the right idea, or am I completely off? Either way, I had a lot of fun building those chords and playing them with the melody. I felt like Joe Pass. :cool:

[DanF]

Well you came up with some interesting voicings, it's really up to your ear. I would say that in my opinion you're still using too many notes, try to cut it down a bit. Remember that you can voice most chords with 3 notes, 4 tops. ie your Cm7 could be cut down to 8x888x

Fun ain't it?

-Dan

EDIT: Oh yeah, wanted to point out that if you wanted to play a chord melody style (you'd be pretty masochistic ;)) but you would probably want another voicing with the Eb as the melody note.

[JeffN]

Well you came up with some interesting voicings, it's really up to your ear. I would say that in my opinion you're still using too many notes, try to cut it down a bit. Remember that you can voice most chords with 3 notes, 4 tops. ie your Cm7 could be cut down to 8x888x

Fun ain't it?

-Dan

EDIT: Oh yeah, wanted to point out that if you wanted to play a chord melody style (you'd be pretty masochistic ;)) but you would probably want another voicing with the Eb as the melody note.
Hmm...I've been trying to both follow the melody with the highest notes of my chords while keeping them in root position since I'm trying to play this solo. I'll definitely try out the smaller voicings.

I've been trying to build up speed and working on my legato lately that I've been neglecting stuff like this. A lot of fun for sure. :)

[SweeDee]

It works to to drop fifths and roots from some chords like:

Cmin7

8
8
8
8
x
8

F7

8
6
8
7
x
x

Bbmaj7

x
6
3
x
5

It's also helpfull to play a walking bass line over the chords by focusing on the I, 3 and 5 and.... 7 a bit.

[JeffN]

I'm very confused now. Both DanF's and SweeDee's versions of Cm7 doesn't have the Eb as the highest note. I thought that the idea was to have the melody note stacked highest in the chord so the melody sounds better?

Also, DanF, I don't unserstand you say that I should have another voicing eith the Eb as the melody note other than Cm7 and F7. Shouldn't I make the melody note for Bbmaj7 and Ebmaj7 D, since there is a D for a whole bar?

Thanks for the help guys, I'm really learning a lot from this. Also, metaljustice83: sorry for highjacking your thread. :)