Jazz Changes

Johnny Green, music · Edward Heyman, lyrics · Added to the 1933 film I Cover the Waterfront

I Cover the Waterfront

I Cover the Waterfront is a 1933 ballad by Johnny Green, with words by Edward Heyman. Its 32-bar AABA form and slow pace leave plenty of room for singers and soloists. You will hear it from singers, solo pianists, trios, saxophonists, and guitarists.

G major · 32 bars · A A B A form · how it works

Listen in this order

The path begins with two vocal readings from 1941 and a live vocal trio, then moves to solo piano, two piano trios, a saxophone quartet, and a guitar trio. Use the exercises to play the melody and the basic chords.

8 recordings, 1941 to 1970 · Play all 8 on YouTube ↗

  1. Billie Holiday1941 · Swing
  2. Louis Armstrong1941
  3. Art Tatum1949 · Swing
  4. Erroll Garner1955 · Bebop
  5. The Bud Powell Trio1956 · Bebop
  6. Sarah Vaughan1957 · Swing
  7. The Sonny Stitt Quartet1959 · Bebop
  8. Joe Pass1970 · Bebop

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Learn the song

Billie Holiday and Her Orchestra · 1941 · Swing

Lady Day: The Complete Billie Holiday on Columbia

Listen for
Follow Holiday's voice through the song, then listen for Emmett Berry's trumpet and Teddy Wilson's piano.
Try this
Play the melody once at a slow tempo and leave a short breath between phrases.
Apple Music ↗YouTube ↗

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Hear a trumpeter sing it

Louis Armstrong and His Orchestra · 1941

Decca 3700

Listen for
Armstrong sings and plays trumpet on this record. Notice how his voice and his trumpet each handle the song.
Try this
Sing or hum the melody once, then play it on your instrument and compare the two.
Apple Music ↗YouTube ↗

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Hear a live trio behind a singer

Sarah Vaughan · 1957 · Swing, Big band

At Mister Kelly's

Listen for
Follow Vaughan's voice, then listen to Jimmy Jones's piano underneath it.
Try this
Play the first eight bars of chords from the chart, in G, while you hum the melody on one syllable.
Apple Music ↗YouTube ↗

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Hear the song on solo piano

Art Tatum · 1949 · Swing

The Complete Capitol Recordings of Art Tatum

Listen for
Tatum is the only artist credited on this track, so listen for how one pianist covers the melody and the chords.
Try this
Play the melody with your right hand and one chord root per bar with your left. If that is easy, add the third of each chord.
Apple Music ↗YouTube ↗

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Hear a trio with bass and drums

Erroll Garner · 1955 · Bebop

The Complete Concert by the Sea

Listen for
Garner leads a piano trio on this concert recording. Listen to what Eddie Calhoun's bass and Denzil Best's drums do while Garner plays.
Try this
Play the melody while a partner plays one bass note per chord. Alone, tap a steady pulse with your foot as you play.
Apple Music ↗YouTube ↗

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Compare a second piano trio

The Bud Powell Trio · 1956 · Bebop, Cool jazz

Strictly Powell

Listen for
Powell's trio plays with Duvivier on bass and Taylor on drums. This studio take runs 2:34, shorter than Garner's live one.
Try this
Play the melody once with a metronome, then count the eight-bar sections aloud before you start each one.
Apple Music ↗YouTube ↗

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Follow a saxophone melody

The Sonny Stitt Quartet · 1959 · Bebop

Saxophone Supremacy

Listen for
Stitt plays the melody on alto saxophone with Lou Levy's piano, Leroy Vinnegar's bass, and Mel Lewis's drums behind him.
Try this
Play the melody twice, and make the second pass softer than the first.
Apple Music ↗YouTube ↗

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Hear a guitar trio

Joe Pass · 1970 · Bebop

Intercontinental

Listen for
Joe Pass plays guitar with Eberhard Weber on bass and Kenny Clare on drums. Listen to the guitar first, then to the bass.
Try this
If you play guitar or piano, play the first eight bars of chords from the chart in G while you hum the melody on one syllable.
Apple Music ↗YouTube ↗

More great versions

5 more, from 1941 to 1991. Tap a cover to play it here.

  1. Artie Shaw1941
  2. Clifford Brown1953
  3. Frank Sinatra1957 · Vocal
  4. Jackie McLean Quartet1957 · Hard bop
  5. Hank Jones1991

How the tune works

G majorusual key
32 barsA · A · B · A form
G major → A major → G majorkey centers

Two eight-bar A sections establish G major. The eight-bar bridge starts in G major, and its fifth to seventh bars lean briefly toward A major, using a ii-V into A before returning to G. The final A section repeats the opening harmony and ends the song at home. These key areas summarize the form and skip passing chords.

Play the changes

G major
Open in iReal Pro ↗
A8 bars
Em7A7
Am7D7
Gmaj7Cmaj7
Bm7B♭°7
Am7
D7susD7
Gmaj7
Bm7♭5E7♭9
B8 bars
Am7D7
Bm7E7
Am7D7
Gmaj7
Bm7E7
Amaj7F♯m7
Bm7E7
Am7D7
A8 bars
Em7A7
Am7D7
Gmaj7Cmaj7
Bm7B♭°7
Am7
D7susD7
Gmaj7
Bm7♭5E7♭9

Chart from iReal Pro's Jazz 1460 playlist, contributed by its users.