Charlie Parker, music · First recorded for Dial by the Charlie Parker Quintet in New York, 1947
Scrapple from the Apple
Scrapple from the Apple is a bebop tune by Charlie Parker, first recorded in 1947. It puts a new melody on the chords of Honeysuckle Rose and the rhythm changes bridge. Gerry Mulligan, Dexter Gordon and Keith Jarrett's trio all recorded it.
▶ Plays the whole path in order, one recording after another.
- 1 Learn the song Charlie Parker Quintet✓
- 2 Hear Parker live Charlie Parker Quintet✓
- 3 Hear a second alto player Phil Woods with Red Garland✓
- 4 Follow the chart Stan Getz and Gerry Mulligan✓
- 5 Hear a saxophone with a piano trio Sonny Stitt with the Oscar Peterson Trio✓
- 6 Hear a tenor saxophone Dexter Gordon✓
- 7 Hear it without a piano Jim Hall✓
- 8 Hear a modern trio Keith Jarrett, Gary Peacock, Jack DeJohnette✓
How the tune works
Thirty-two bars in four sections of eight, A A B A, in F. The A sections use the chords of Honeysuckle Rose. Each one starts with Gm7 and C7, one bar each, played twice, then settles on Fmaj7 in bar 5. Bar 6 plays Gm7 and C7 again, and bar 7 plays Fmaj7 and Gm7. The first A ends with Am7 and D7, which lead back to the start of the second A, and the second A ends on F. The bridge follows the rhythm changes bridge in F: A7, D7, G7 and C7, two bars each. The last A brings the tune home to F.
The changes under Gerry Mulligan's baritone solo on his October 1957 session with Stan Getz, transcribed in the Weimar Jazz Database. Other charts differ in places.
Use the key buttons to move the chart to the key you play in.
Source: Weimar Jazz Database: Gerry Mulligan, Scrapple from the Apple
Listen in this order
Play all 8 on YouTube ↗The path opens with Parker's 1947 studio record and a live set from 1950. It then moves through Phil Woods's quintet, the Mulligan and Getz session the chart comes from, Sonny Stitt with a piano trio and Dexter Gordon in Paris, and ends with a guitar trio and a piano trio.
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Step 1 · Learn the song Now playing
Charlie Parker Quintet 1947
Scrapple from the Apple / Don't Blame Me
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- Listen for
- Parker plays alto sax and Miles Davis plays trumpet, with Duke Jordan on piano, Tommy Potter on bass and Max Roach on drums. Count the 32-bar form: A, A, bridge, A.
- Try this
- Play the chart's chords along with the recording, first chord of each bar only. If you lose your place, wait for the bridge at bar 17 and come back in.
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Step 2 · Hear Parker live Now playing
Charlie Parker Quintet 1950
“Scrapple from the Apple (live at St Nicholas Arena)”, Bird at St. Nick's
Couldn't play this one here. Try the links below.
- Listen for
- The tape favors Parker's solos, so follow his alto line through the 32-bar form. Red Rodney plays trumpet, Al Haig piano, Tommy Potter bass and Roy Haynes drums.
- Try this
- Pick one of Parker's choruses and tap the 8-bar bridge each time it comes around. Then play the bridge chords (A7, D7, G7, C7, two bars each, in F) with the recording, and use the key buttons if the take sits elsewhere.
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Step 3 · Hear a second alto player Now playing
Phil Woods with Red Garland 1957
Sugan
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- Listen for
- Phil Woods plays alto sax and Ray Copeland plays trumpet, the same two instruments as Parker and Davis on the 1947 record. The take runs 7:38.
- Try this
- Count the 32-bar choruses as they pass, tapping beat 1 of each A section. When you can count to the end, play the chart's first chord of each bar with the recording.
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Step 4 · Follow the chart Now playing
Stan Getz and Gerry Mulligan 1957
Stan Getz and Gerry Mulligan / Stan Getz and the Oscar Peterson Trio
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- Listen for
- Mulligan's baritone sax solo runs four choruses, from about 0:58 to 2:59. The chord chart on this page comes from that solo.
- Try this
- Play the chart along with Mulligan's four choruses, first chord of each bar only. The tempo is about 252 beats per minute. If that is too fast, slow the recording down, or play only the first chord of each four-bar line.
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Step 5 · Hear a saxophone with a piano trio Now playing
Sonny Stitt with the Oscar Peterson Trio 1959
Sonny Stitt Sits In with the Oscar Peterson Trio
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- Listen for
- Stitt plays alto sax with Oscar Peterson on piano, Ray Brown on bass and Ed Thigpen on drums. The take runs 4:21.
- Try this
- Listen once for the bass alone. Then play the root of each bar's first chord along with the recording, A section first.
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Step 6 · Hear a tenor saxophone Now playing
Dexter Gordon 1963
Our Man in Paris
Couldn't play this one here. Try the links below.
- Listen for
- Gordon plays tenor sax, a lower voice than Parker's alto. Bud Powell is on piano, Pierre Michelot on bass and Kenny Clarke on drums.
- Try this
- Play the bridge chords from the chart (A7, D7, G7, C7, two bars each, in F) with the recording. If they do not fit, find the key by ear and move the chart with the key buttons.
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Step 7 · Hear it without a piano Now playing
Jim Hall 1975
Jim Hall Live!
Couldn't play this one here. Try the links below.
- Listen for
- With no piano in the trio, the chords come from Hall's guitar. Listen for how the guitar and Don Thompson's bass mark the changes during the solos.
- Try this
- Play only the root of each bar's first chord along with the recording. Guitar players can add the third and seventh to make a three-note chord on each root.
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Step 8 · Hear a modern trio Now playing
Keith Jarrett, Gary Peacock, Jack DeJohnette 1998
“Scrapple from the Apple (Live)”, After the Fall
Couldn't play this one here. Try the links below.
- Listen for
- Jarrett, Peacock and DeJohnette play as a trio with no horn. The take runs 8:47, the longest on the path.
- Try this
- Play through the chart once with the recording, first chord of each bar only. If you can play the melody, try it over the trio's opening chorus.
More great versions
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Les Double Six 1961
“Scrapple from the Apple (À bâtons rompus)”, Les Double Six
A Paris vocal group sings the tune, with singers taking the alto sax and trumpet solos from the Parker and Miles Davis record.
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Oscar Peterson Trio 1961
“Scrapple from the Apple (Live at The London House, Chicago, 1961)”, The London House Sessions
A live piano trio set from the London House in Chicago, issued in 1996 on The London House Sessions.
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Sonny Stitt 1963
Stitt Plays Bird
An alto sax and guitar recording from an all-Parker album: Sonny Stitt with John Lewis on piano and Jim Hall on guitar.
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Art Pepper Quartet 1977
“Scrapple from the Apple (Live at the Village Vanguard)”, More For Les: At the Village Vanguard, Vol. 4
A live Village Vanguard set from July 1977 with Art Pepper, George Cables, George Mraz and Elvin Jones, running 11:34.
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Tom Harrell Quintet featuring Kenny Garrett and Kenny Barron 1985
Moon Alley
A hard bop quintet recorded at Rudy Van Gelder's studio in December 1985, with Kenny Garrett on alto sax and Kenny Barron on piano.
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Keith Jarrett Trio 2002
Up for It
The Jarrett trio live at Jazz à Juan in July 2002, from the album Up for It.