Post 181: IMPROVISING ON MIDDLE EIGHTS

Many of our tunes (such as 12-bar blues) do not have Middle Eights, of course. And 32-bar tunes frequently consist of two 16-bar blocks, where there is no conventional Middle Eight.

However, hundreds of tunes (especially 32-bar songs built on an a - a - b - a structure) do have a Middle Eight (the 'b' section).

We can easily be flummoxed by Middle Eights. If you're not sure of the melody or the chord sequence in those eight bars, you can find yourself in trouble.

And some tunes are notorious for their unusual and tricky Middle Eights. Think, for example, of Have You Met Miss Jones?, Do You Know What it Means to Miss New Orleans? and Smoke Gets in Your Eyes. Even I'm Putting All My Eggs in One Basket needs care (don't break the eggs!).

In many of the good old standards, it is possible to spot familiar chord progressions (with the famous 'circle of fifths' working its magic). But I'm sorry to say I have discovered no simple trick to help me master Middle Eights. You just have to work hard at them and learn them one by one.

Below are twenty Middle Eights (in their most simplified form) of some popular traditional jazz tunes. As you can see, there is much variety even among them. There are a few cases (e.g. the first three songs below) where you find two or more tunes using pretty much the same progression.

In my examples, I use the numerical system. So, in the Key of C:

1    27    4m    5

would mean:

C    D7      Fminor    G.
-------------------------------------------------------

Yes, Sir, That's My Baby

1   1   4   4   27   27   57   57

We'll Meet Again
17   17   4   4   27   27   57   57

On the Sunny Side of the Street

17   17   4   4   27   27   57   57

I Want a Little Girl to Call My Own

17   17   4   4   67   67   27   57

Egyptian Ella

2m   2m  6m  6m  2m   2m  77   37

(a typical minor key tune's Middle Eight)

Has Anybody Seen My Girl?

37   37  67   67   27   27   57   57

Fingering With Your Fingers

37   37  67   67   27   27   57   57

Girl of my Dreams

37   37   6m   6m   27   27   57   57   

Sweet Emmalina
37   37   67   67   27   27   57   57

I Got Rhythm

37   37  67   67   27   27   27   57

Ice Cream

4   4   1   1   27   27   57   57

Carolina Moon

4   4   1   1   27   27   57   57

When You and I Were Young, Maggie

4   4   1   1   5   27   57   57

I'm Sitting on Top of the World
4   77   1   1   6m   6m   27   57

Lady Be Good

4   57   1   1   6m   6m   2m7    57

My Blue Heaven

4   67   2m   2m   57   57   1   1

I'm Putting All My Eggs in One Basket

4   4  6b7  6b7  3b7  3b7   57   57  

(Note the tricky bit)

Beautiful Dreamer

57   57   1   1   27   27   57   57

Way Down Upon the Swanee River
57   57   1   17   4   4   1   57

When Somebody Thinks You're Wonderful

57   1   57   1   67   27   27   57

Post 118: WALTER DOYLE'S 'EGYPTIAN ELLA' - A FINE TUNE FOR JAZZ BANDS

I had never heard of the song Egyptian Ella until 2012 when on YouTube I came across some of the New Orleans street bands performing it. The music appeals to me because the Chorus (32 bars, structured a - a - b - a) is a moderately fast, catchy tune with the 'a' section tumbling down the chromatic scale. Also it's a tune in a minor key and we don't get enough of those in traditional jazz. There are plenty of versions of it on YouTube but beware: some of them do not include the Verse.

This song is very much of its time. It would not be considered 'politically correct' today. But it is fun.

It was written in 1931 by Walter Doyle who was a popular vaudeville composer. I guess he wrote the words as well as the tune. He also composed Mysterious Mose, which is still sometimes heard.

As well as its 32-bar chorus, Egyptian Ella has a 24-bar verse - worth including if you have a singer, as it sets the scene with regard to Ella's biography.

I doubt whether I shall ever get to perform this tune with a band but I decided to add it to my mini-filofax collection, so that I could learn it, at least for my own amusement. It sounds good in C minor, so I put it in D minor to suit my Bb cornet.

The words tell the story of a dancer called Ella who 'started getting fat'. She soon got the sack and also 'lost her fella'. So she went off to Egypt and started a new life. But she found they liked fat dancers there! So she is now a big star. 'She weighs two twenty but they don't care; they like 'em plenty that way out there'. When she dances by the River Nile, 'the boys all take their old sweethearts and throw 'em to the crocodiles'! 'How they love Egyptian Ella!'

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Post 17: USING MINOR KEYS IN TRADITIONAL JAZZ

In other posts, I have classified (by chord progressions) types of tunes in the repertoire of traditional jazz bands. I have done so mainly by looking at their opening bars.

There is another small group of tunes that are distinctive. These are the tunes in a minor key (or sometimes with just one theme in a minor key). I am surprised there are not more tunes in the traditional jazz repertoire using minor keys. The effect of the minor is striking and unusual. For an obvious example of this, just hum St. James' Infirmary to yourself.

Most of these tunes are usually played not in any old minor key but specifically in C minor, G minor or D minor.

The important point is that playing an occasional tune in a minor key gives variety to a jazz concert. And variety is necessary if you want to interest and entertain your audience.

To improvise on minor-key tunes, you have to make a mental adjustment and 'think minor'.

Some you might consider using are:

A Bientôt
A Jazz Battle
At the Jazz Band Ball (usually starts in G minor - part A)
Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen
Big Chief Battleaxe [one theme]
Big House Blues [final theme]
Black and Blue
Blue Drag (sample it - sung by Albanie - by clicking here)
Blue Skies
Blues My Naughty Sweetie Gives to Me
The Boy in the Boat
Caravan
Comes Love
Crying for the Carolines
Crumpled Papers (interesting 12-bar normally in D minor)
Dark Eyes (though the opening chord is the dominant seventh - not minor)
Deep Bayou Moan (Shaye Cohn's lovely 2017 composition - click here )
Diga Diga Doo
Egyptian Ella
Fourth Street Mess Around
Green Leaves of Summer
Hush-a-Bye
I Lost My Gal from Memphis
I'm Humming to Myself
I'm the King of the Swingers (part A)
It Don't Mean a Thing if it Ain't Got That Swing
La Roulotte
Joseph Joseph
Joshua Fit De Battle of Jericho
King of the Zulus
(Sweet) Lotus Blossom
Lullaby of the Leaves (little known but well deserving a revival)
Michigander Blues
Midnight in Moscow
Minor Drag
Mother's Son-in-Law
My Heart Belongs to Daddy
New Orleans (the Hoagy Carmichael tune)
New Orleans Bump
No Moon at All
The Panic is On
Petite Fleur
Puttin' on the Ritz (Chorus)
Russian Rag (great example at 23 minutes 20 seconds in this Tuba Skinny video: Click here to watch )
Satan, Your Kingdom Must Come Down
Shout 'Em, Aunt Tillie
Sing Sing Sing
Steppin' Out With My Baby
St. James' Infirmary
Summertime
Take Me Away from the River
That Da Da Strain (usually starts in G minor - part A)
The Mooche
Tight Like This
Sway
You Let Me Down
When I Get Low I Get High
Willie the Weeper [first theme]
Who Walks In
Why Don't You Do Right?