George Gershwin, music · DuBose Heyward, lyrics · From the 1935 opera Porgy and Bess
Summertime
Summertime is a slow lullaby from George Gershwin's 1935 opera Porgy and Bess, with words by DuBose Heyward. Players love it because it is only 16 bars long and moves through a few minor chords, which leaves room to change the feel, the key and the solos. You will hear it at jam sessions, on records by singers, jazz horn players and rock bands, and in many film scenes.
▶ Plays the whole path in order, one recording after another.
- 1 Learn the song Louis Armstrong & Ella Fitzgerald✓
- 2 Hear it as a jazz tune Billie Holiday✓
- 3 Play it as a slow blues Sidney Bechet Quintet✓
- 4 Hear the bebop decoration Charlie Parker with Strings✓
- 5 Hear it arranged for orchestra Miles Davis with Gil Evans✓
- 6 Hear the long solo John Coltrane✓
- 7 Hear it outside jazz Big Brother & The Holding Company, Janis Joplin✓
- 8 Hear a modern take Greg Osby✓
How the tune works
The tune runs 16 bars in two halves of eight. Both halves open the same way: an A minor chord, then a minor ii–V that comes back to A minor. The first half then moves to D minor and F7 before another ii–V returns to A minor. The second half swings briefly toward C major in bars 12 and 13, then closes with a ii–V back to A minor that leads into the next chorus.
Shown in A minor, the key most charts use. Ella and Louis sing it in B minor: press + twice to play along with step 1. Each line is four bars; the ii–V in each line is Bm7♭5 to E7.
Taken from one harmonic analysis, not a printed lead sheet. Fake-book charts differ in detail, so compare it with the chart you play from and with the recording.
Source: Learn Jazz Standards: Summertime Chords and Analysis
Listen in this order
Play all 8 on YouTube ↗Eight versions, from the song sung straight to a modern jazz reworking. On the way you hear it swung, decorated, arranged for orchestra, stretched into a long solo and played by a rock band.
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Step 1 · Learn the song Now playing
Louis Armstrong & Ella Fitzgerald 1957
Porgy and Bess
Couldn't play this one here. Try the links below.
- Listen for
- Follow the vocal through both eight-bar halves. The second half starts like the first and then turns to a different ending.
- Try this
- Sing the tune along with the track until you can start it on your own. Then play it on your instrument in the key that suits you.
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Step 2 · Hear it as a jazz tune Now playing
Billie Holiday and Her Orchestra 1936
Vocalion 3288
Couldn't play this one here. Try the links below.
- Listen for
- How Holiday places the melody a little behind the beat while the rhythm section keeps steady time. Listen for the trumpet and clarinet answering her.
- Try this
- Play the melody twice. First exactly as written, then a hair late in each phrase, the way Holiday sings it.
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Step 3 · Play it as a slow blues Now playing
Sidney Bechet Quintet 1939
Blue Note 6
Couldn't play this one here. Try the links below.
- Listen for
- The slow pace and how Bechet bends and holds notes like a singer, while the rhythm section lays down a plain pulse.
- Try this
- Play the melody at half your usual speed with slides into some notes. Keep the pulse even underneath.
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Step 4 · Hear the bebop decoration Now playing
Charlie Parker with Strings 1949
Charlie Parker with Strings
Couldn't play this one here. Try the links below.
- Listen for
- How Parker moves around the written melody while the strings and rhythm section keep a slow background. Notice where he adds quick phrases.
- Try this
- Play the first eight bars as written. Then add one short, fast phrase between two melody phrases, using notes from the chord underneath.
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Step 5 · Hear it arranged for orchestra Now playing
Miles Davis with Gil Evans and His Orchestra 1958
Porgy and Bess
Couldn't play this one here. Try the links below.
- Listen for
- How the orchestra's chords move under Davis's lines, and where the arrangement stays quiet to leave him room.
- Try this
- Loop the chords and play the melody in long notes with rests between them, letting the harmony fill the space.
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Step 6 · Hear the long solo Now playing
John Coltrane 1960
My Favorite Things
Couldn't play this one here. Try the links below.
- Listen for
- How Coltrane's solo builds across repeats of the form, and how Tyner and Jones respond to him.
- Try this
- Loop the 16 bars. Play two choruses using only the A minor scale, then play two more that follow each chord change.
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Step 7 · Hear it outside jazz Now playing
Big Brother & The Holding Company, Janis Joplin 1968
Cheap Thrills
Couldn't play this one here. Try the links below.
- Listen for
- How the two electric guitars take the place of the orchestra, and where Joplin pushes the vocal toward a shout.
- Try this
- Count the 16-bar form against the track. Then play the melody with a rock feel, with even eighth notes instead of swing.
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Step 8 · Hear a modern take Now playing
Greg Osby 2003
St. Louis Shoes
Note: The recording date and the lineup on this track come from one secondary source.
Couldn't play this one here. Try the links below.
- Listen for
- How far the band moves from the tune you learned in steps 1 to 7, and whether you can still count the 16-bar form.
- Try this
- Play the chart along with the first chorus. Mark one bar where what you hear doesn't match the chart, and work out what changed: the chord, the rhythm or the bass line.
More great versions
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Sarah Vaughan 1957
Sarah Vaughan Sings George Gershwin
Vaughan sings the tune in front of a Hal Mooney orchestra on her Gershwin songbook album.
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Oscar Peterson Trio 1959
Oscar Peterson Plays Porgy & Bess
The classic piano trio of Peterson, Brown and Thigpen plays the tune as part of a full Porgy and Bess album.
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Albert Ayler 1963
My Name Is Albert Ayler
Free-jazz tenor saxophonist Ayler plays the tune with a Danish rhythm section.
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Oscar Peterson & Joe Pass 1976
Porgy and Bess
A duet for piano and acoustic guitar, from an album of Porgy and Bess songs.
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Herbie Hancock (feat. Joni Mitchell) 1998
Gershwin's World
Hancock arranges the tune on his Gershwin tribute album, with Joni Mitchell singing.
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Joshua Redman 1998
Timeless Tales
Redman's quartet with Mehldau, Grenadier and Blade plays the tune on an album of standards and pop covers.