Jazz Changes

Jack Strachey and Harry Link, music · Eric Maschwitz, lyrics · From the 1936 London revue Spread It Abroad

These Foolish Things

These Foolish Things is a ballad with music by Jack Strachey and lyrics by Eric Maschwitz. Its 32-bar AABA form and E♭ major home key make it easy to follow while comparing players. Billie Holiday, Lester Young, Art Pepper, Chet Baker, and Bryan Ferry all recorded it.

E♭ major · 32 bars · A A B A form · how it works

Listen in this order

Start with a vocal ballad and a tenor saxophone, then hear an alto saxophone, a quartet without piano, two piano trios, a trumpet ballad, and solo piano. Every step plays the same 32-bar form.

8 recordings, 1952 to 1960 · Play all 8 on YouTube ↗

  1. Billie Holiday1952 · Vocal
  2. Lester Young with the Oscar Peterson Trio1952 · Cool jazz
  3. Art Pepper Quartet1952
  4. Lee Konitz with the Gerry Mulligan Quartet1953 · Bebop
  5. Clifford Brown & Max Roach Quintet1954 · Bebop
  6. Hampton Hawes Trio1955 · Bebop
  7. Chet Baker Quartet1955 · Cool jazz
  8. Red Garland1960 · Hard bop

Step 1 of 8 Now playing✓ Heard

Learn the song

Billie Holiday · 1952 · Vocal

Solitude

Listen for
Follow Holiday's voice first, then listen for Shavers on trumpet and Phillips on tenor saxophone.
Try this
Play the first four bars as E♭maj7 Cm7, Fm7 B♭7, E♭maj7 Cm7, Fm7 B♭7, then play the melody over them.
Apple Music ↗YouTube ↗

Step 2 of 8 Now playing✓ Heard

Hear a tenor saxophone version

Lester Young with the Oscar Peterson Trio · 1952 · Cool jazz

The President Plays with the Oscar Peterson Trio

Listen for
Follow Young's tenor saxophone first, then listen for Kessel's guitar and Peterson's piano.
Try this
Play the melody slowly on your instrument and leave a breath at the end of each phrase.
Apple Music ↗YouTube ↗

Step 3 of 8 Now playing✓ Heard

Hear an alto saxophone version

Art Pepper Quartet · 1952

Two Altos

Listen for
Follow Pepper's alto saxophone, then listen for Hawes's piano and Bunker's drums.
Try this
Play the eight-bar A section twice, once with the melody and once with only the chords from the chart.
Apple Music ↗YouTube ↗

Step 4 of 8 Now playing✓ Heard

Hear a quartet with no piano

Lee Konitz with the Gerry Mulligan Quartet · 1953 · Bebop, Cool jazz

“These Foolish Things (Live at the Haig, Los Angeles, 1953)”, Konitz Meets Mulligan

Listen for
The lineup has three horns, bass, and drums, with no piano or guitar. Listen for how the horns share the song.
Try this
Play the melody over a bass line of chord roots only, which is E♭, C, F, B♭ for the first four bars.
YouTube ↗

Step 5 of 8 Now playing✓ Heard

Follow a piano trio

Clifford Brown & Max Roach Quintet (Richie Powell, George Morrow, and Max Roach trio track) · 1954 · Bebop

More Study in Brown

Listen for
The track lists piano, bass, and drums. Listen for how Roach's drums and Morrow's bass sit behind Powell's piano.
Try this
Play the chords with your left hand and the melody with your right, one chord per half bar for the first four bars.
Apple Music ↗YouTube ↗

Step 6 of 8 Now playing✓ Heard

Follow a piano trio at length

Hampton Hawes Trio · 1955 · Bebop, Hard bop

“These Foolish Things (Remind Me of You)”, Hampton Hawes Trio, Vol. 1

Listen for
Follow Hawes's piano, then listen for Mitchell's bass.
Try this
Play the chords with your left hand and the melody with your right, and keep the left hand steady at one chord per half bar.
Apple Music ↗YouTube ↗

Step 7 of 8 Now playing✓ Heard

Hear a trumpet ballad

Chet Baker Quartet · 1955 · Cool jazz, Bebop

“These Foolish Things (Remind Me of You)”, Chet Baker Quartet Vol. 2

Listen for
Follow Baker's trumpet, then listen for Gustin's piano.
Try this
Play the melody at the slowest tempo you can keep steady.
Apple Music ↗YouTube ↗

Step 8 of 8 Now playing✓ Heard

Hear the song alone at the piano

Red Garland · 1960 · Hard bop

Red Alone

Listen for
Garland plays alone, so every chord change comes from the piano. Follow the changes against the chart.
Try this
Play the whole 32-bar form once from the chart, with the melody in your right hand and the chords in your left. Start with just the first A section if the whole form is too much.
Apple Music ↗YouTube ↗

More great versions

5 more, from 1936 to 1973. Tap a cover to play it here.

  1. Billie Holiday & Teddy Wilson1936 · Swing
  2. Stan Getz Quintet1952 · Bebop
  3. Charlie Parker with the Joe Theimer Orchestra1953 · Bebop
  4. Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong1957
  5. Bryan Ferry1973 · Vocal

How the tune works

E♭ majorusual key
32 barsA · A · B · A form
E♭ major · A♭ major · G minor · B♭ majorkeys it moves between

Each eight-bar A section opens in E♭ major with the turnaround E♭maj7 Cm7, Fm7 B♭7, played twice. Bars 5 and 6 move to A♭ major through B♭m7, E♭7 and A♭maj7, and the last two bars turn back to E♭. The bridge starts in G minor for four bars, then settles in B♭ major for four bars, and ends on Fm7 B♭7, which leads into the final A section. These key areas summarize the form and leave out passing chords.

Play the changes

E♭ major
Open in iReal Pro ↗
A10 bars
E♭maj7Cm7
Fm7B♭7
E♭maj7Cm7
Fm7B♭7
B♭m7E♭7
A♭maj7G7C7
1.F7
Fm7B♭7
2.F7B♭7
E♭6Am7♭5D7
B8 bars
Gm7Em7♭5
Am7♭5D7♭9
Gm7
C7F7
B♭maj7Gm7
Cm7F7
B♭7E°7
Fm7B♭7
A8 bars
E♭maj7Cm7
Fm7B♭7
E♭maj7Cm7
Fm7B♭7
B♭m7E♭7
A♭maj7G7C7
F7B♭7
E♭6Fm7B♭7

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