Rhythm changes

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In jazz, rhythm changes are a modified form of the chord progression of George Gershwin's song "I Got Rhythm", which form the basis of countless (usually uptempo) jazz compositions. Rhythm changes were popular with swing-era musicians – they are used in "Shoe Shine Boy" (Lester Young's 1929 breakout recording with Count Basie) and "Cottontail" (Ellington, 1940), for instance. But their enduring popularity is largely due to their extensive use by early bebop musicians. "I Got Rhythm" was already a popular jazz standard, and by writing a new song over its chord changes (a type of composition known as a contrafact), the tune could be copyrighted to the artist instead of requiring that royalties be paid to the Gershwin estate.

"Rhythm changes" are a thirty-two-bar form. In Roman numeral shorthand, the actual chords used in the "A" section are I-vi/ii-V (tonic-submediant-supertonic-dominant) repeated twice, then I-I7/IV-#iv(dim)/I-V/I (or I-I7/IV-iv, which is what Gershwin originally wrote). In C major, for example, these chords would be C-Am/Dm-G (twice), then C-C7/F-F#dim/C-G/C (or C-C7-F-Fm). The "bridge" consists of a series of dominant sevenths that follow the circle of fifths, sustained for longer intervals and thus conveying the sense of a shifting key center. In our example, we begin with an E7, followed by an A7, then D7 and finally G7, bringing us back to the original key for a final reprise of the A section. A two-bar "tag" at the end of the Gershwin tune is generally omitted. While rhythm changes can be played in any key, they are most commonly played in concert B-flat and sometimes E-flat. (However, a proficient jazz musician should be able to apply the changes to any key.)

Variant versions of the A section changes are legion: often the beboppers, for instance, would superimpose series of "two-fives" (passing sequences of minor-7th and dominant-7th chords) on the A section in order to make things interesting for themselves (and in order to discourage lesser musicians from sitting in on the bandstand).

The component A and B sections of rhythm changes were also sometimes used for other tunes: for instance, Charlie Parker's "Scrapple from the Apple" uses the chord changes of "Honeysuckle Rose" for the A section, but replaces the B section with "Rhythm"'s III7-VI7-II7-V7 bridge. Other tunes, such as Sonny Stitt's "The Eternal Triangle", or "the Muppet Show Theme", use the A section of "Rhythm" but have a different bridge. Often in rhythm changes tunes, the B section is left free for improvisation even during the head (e.g. in Sonny Rollins' "Oleo").

There are copious Rhythm Changes tunes. This list is mostly adapted from: http://abel.hive.no/oj/musikk/trompet/tpin/rhytm-changes.html

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org../../../r/h/y/Rhythm_changes.html"
Advanced Search
Included Web Search Engines


Safe Search

close

Top Matching Results

Occasionally Search.com will highlight specialized results that are based on the context of your query. Examples of specialized results include specific links to news, images, or video.

Top Matching Results may highlight information from other Search.com pages, content from the CNET Network of sites, or third party content. The listings are based purely on relevance. Search.com does not receive payment for listings in this section but our partners that provide this data may get paid for listing these products.

Sponsored Links

This section contains paid listings which have been purchased by companies that want to have their sites appear for specific search terms and related content. These listings are administered, sorted and maintained by a third party and are not endorsed by Search.com.

Search Results

Search.com sends your search query to several search engines at one time and integrates the results into one list which has been sorted by relevance using Search.com's proprietary algorithm. You can customize the list of search engines included in your metasearch from the preferences.

The search engines that are used in your metasearch may allow companies to pay to have their Web sites included within the results. To view the Paid Inclusion policy for a specific search engine, please visit their Web site. Search.com does not accept payment or share revenue with any search engine partner for listings in this section.