Thelonious Monk, music · Sally Swisher, lyrics (1988, as Dear Ruby) · First recorded for Blue Note, 1947
Ruby, My Dear
A ballad by Thelonious Monk, written around 1945 and first recorded for Blue Note in 1947. Each A section climbs through three keys, with chromatic passing chords linking them. You will hear it on Monk's own records, in Carmen McRae's sung version and in tenor saxophone features.
▶ Plays the whole path in order, one recording after another.
- 1 Learn the song Thelonious Monk Trio✓
- 2 Hear a horn take the tune Thelonious Monk Quartet✓
- 3 Hear the words Carmen McRae✓
- 4 Hear it alone Thelonious Monk✓
- 5 Hear a piano trio Kenny Drew Trio✓
- 6 Hear it on guitar Wes Montgomery and the Eddie Higgins Trio✓
- 7 Hear a tenor saxophone feature Dexter Gordon Quartet✓
- 8 Hear a modern duo Brian Landrus and Fred Hersch✓
How the tune works
Four eight-bar sections in the order A A B A. Each A is one climb in three steps: a ii-V-I in E♭ (Fm7, B♭7, E♭maj7), the same move in F (Gm7, C7, Fmaj7), then once more in A♭ (B♭m7, E♭7, A♭maj7). A chain of passing chords rises through bars 2 and 4 to link the steps. Bars 7 and 8 pass through B♭m7, A6, Bm7 and B♭7 and then either go back to the top or, after the second A, lead into the bridge. The bridge starts in A major, moves to C minor with a D7 near the end, and lands on A♭6/9 and E♭7♯9 before the last A. In the last A, bar 31 goes to E7sus4 and the bar after it holds F♯6/9, B7♭9 and B♭7♭9. Monk often plays a short introduction first, and it changes from one performance to the next.
Read each line as four bars of 4/4. Chords in one bar change in the order shown: two chords usually split the bar, and where three or four share a bar they move quickly. A key tag marks the first bar where a new key area arrives. Bar 8 of the first A is the ending that repeats the A, and bar 16 is the ending that goes into the bridge. Use the key buttons to move the chart to the key you play in.
Source is the lead sheet transcribed by P. Karayorgis (copyright 2014 D. Elaine Alt). It is an E♭ instrument part, so its chord symbols sit a minor third below concert pitch; they are moved up here to concert E♭, the key of the Jazz Guitar Forum analysis of the Monk and McRae recordings. The sheet does not name the recording it transcribes. It writes a rising run of passing chords in bar 2 (from Fm7 and F♯m7 up to A♭maj7, Amaj7 and B♭maj7) and in bar 4 (Gm7, G♯m7, Am7 over the F bar); the chart shows the main chord of each bar. The sheet writes plain triads in bars 2, 4 and 6 where the forum transcription has major sevenths, and the chart uses major sevenths. The forum and the Jazzshelf essay read parts of the bridge differently (the forum has Amaj7 then Bb6 and G7/B, Jazzshelf has C minor, D minor and E♭ minor in the second half), so treat bars 20 to 24 as one reading. The sheet adds a coda after the last A: F♯6/9, B7♭9, B♭7♭9, then A7 with a whole-tone run, A♭ and D♭6, and a short introduction before the first A that is left out here.
Listen in this order
Play all 8 on YouTube ↗You hear Monk's own trio first, then Monk with Coltrane, a singer with words, and Monk alone. A piano trio, a live guitar set, a tenor saxophone feature and a modern duo follow.
-
Step 1 · Learn the song Now playing
Thelonious Monk Trio 1947
“Ruby My Dear”, Ruby My Dear / Evidence
Couldn't play this one here. Try the links below.
- Listen for
- Follow the first eight bars: three ii-V-I changes in a row, each one higher than the last. Count eight bars at a time, because the tune is 32 bars in four sections.
- Try this
- Play one chord per bar from the first eight bars of the chart along with the recording. Pause after eight bars and check that you are on the same chord.
-
Step 2 · Hear a horn take the tune Now playing
Thelonious Monk Quartet (Thelonious Monk with John Coltrane) 1957
Thelonious Monk with John Coltrane
Couldn't play this one here. Try the links below.
- Listen for
- Coltrane plays the melody on tenor saxophone. Listen for Monk's chord under each phrase and match it to the chart's three rising steps.
- Try this
- Play or hum the melody along with Coltrane, one phrase at a time. Stop after each phrase and listen to the chord Monk plays under the next one.
-
Step 3 · Hear the words Now playing
Carmen McRae 1988
“Dear Ruby”, Carmen Sings Monk
Couldn't play this one here. Try the links below.
- Listen for
- McRae sings Swisher's words with Clifford Jordan, Eric Gunnison, George Mraz and Al Foster credited on the track. Listen for how each sung line fits the chart's eight-bar sections.
- Try this
- Play the melody along with her for one chorus and mark where each line of words begins. Then play just the chart's chords under the first eight bars.
-
Step 4 · Hear it alone Now playing
Thelonious Monk 1959
Thelonious Alone in San Francisco
Couldn't play this one here. Try the links below.
- Listen for
- With no bass or drums, the piano carries every chord. Count the 32 bars and follow each eight-bar section on its own.
- Try this
- Play one chord per bar from the chart's first eight bars, slowly. Then compare your chords with what Monk plays at the same spot.
-
Step 5 · Hear a piano trio Now playing
Kenny Drew Trio 1956
Kenny Drew Trio
Couldn't play this one here. Try the links below.
- Listen for
- A trio of piano, bass and drums. Listen to the bass under the piano and match each bass note to a chord in the chart.
- Try this
- Play only the root of each chord, one per bar, on bass or with your left hand, along with the recording.
-
Step 6 · Hear it on guitar Now playing
Wes Montgomery and the Eddie Higgins Trio 1959
One Night in Indy
Couldn't play this one here. Try the links below.
- Listen for
- The track runs over eight minutes, so the 32-bar form comes round many times. Count the choruses and note when the guitar plays and when the piano plays.
- Try this
- Play the first eight bars of the chart once, then wait out the rest of the chorus and come back in at the next one.
-
Step 7 · Hear a tenor saxophone feature Now playing
Dexter Gordon Quartet 1978
Great Encounters
Couldn't play this one here. Try the links below.
- Listen for
- The track runs over eight minutes, so the 32-bar form comes round many times. Count the choruses and note which instrument has the lead in each one.
- Try this
- Play the root of each chord from the chart, one per bar, for one chorus of the recording.
-
Step 8 · Hear a modern duo Now playing
Brian Landrus and Fred Hersch 2019
For Now
Couldn't play this one here. Try the links below.
- Listen for
- Only two players take part, Brian Landrus and Fred Hersch. Listen to the piano for the chart's chords under the other instrument.
- Try this
- Play it with a friend: one of you plays the melody and the other plays the chart's chords, one per bar.
More great versions
-
Thelonious Monk with Coleman Hawkins 1957
Monk's Music
Coleman Hawkins is the only horn on this take, with Monk, Wilbur Ware and Art Blakey, from the Monk's Music session of June 26, 1957.
-
The Johnny Griffin and Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis Quintet 1961
Lookin' at Monk!
Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis is the credited saxophonist on the Jazzland single of this track, from the Lookin' at Monk!
-
Thelonious Monk 1965
Solo Monk
Monk plays alone at the piano; this is take 3 from the sessions for the Columbia album Solo Monk, released in 1965.
-
Thelonious Monk Quartet 1968
“Ruby, My Dear (Live)”, Palo Alto
Monk's quartet with Charlie Rouse plays it at a Palo Alto High School concert on October 27, 1968; the tape was first released in 2020.
-
Steve Lacy Quartet 1969
“Ruby My Dear”, Epistrophy
Steve Lacy plays soprano saxophone with bass and drums and no piano on this track, recorded in Paris in September 1969.
-
Kenny Drew Trio 1977
“Ruby My Dear”, Ruby, My Dear
Kenny Drew recorded it in 1977 with David Friesen on bass and Clifford Jarvis on drums, and the 1980 album shares its title.