Credited to Miles Davis, music · Eddie Vinson also claimed it · First recorded for Prestige in New York
Tune Up
Tune Up is a jazz standard credited to Miles Davis, though Eddie Vinson also claimed to have written it. Players like it for its ii–V–I cadences in D, C and B♭, a compact lesson in moving keys. You will hear it on records by Miles Davis, Sonny Rollins, Grant Green and Hank Mobley.
▶ Plays the whole path in order, one recording after another.
- 1 Learn the song Miles Davis Quartet✓
- 2 Hear a tenor saxophone quartet Sonny Rollins✓
- 3 Hear the same changes reharmonized John Coltrane✓
- 4 Hear the quintet version in B♭ Miles Davis Quintet✓
- 5 Hear a piano trio Tete Montoliu Trio✓
- 6 Hear a guitar quartet Grant Green✓
- 7 Hear three horns and a long take Hank Mobley✓
- 8 Hear a tenor and bass duo Stephen Riley✓
How the tune works
Tune Up has 32 bars in two strains of 16 that match for the first 12 bars. Each strain opens with a ii–V–I in D (Em7, A7, Dmaj7), steps down a whole tone to a ii–V–I in C (Dm7, G7, Cmaj7), and steps down again to B♭ (Cm7, F7, B♭maj7, with an E♭maj7 in bar 12). The last four bars lead back to D. The first strain ends on Em7, F7, B♭maj7 and a turnaround of Em7 and A7. The second strain ends on Em7, A7 and Dmaj7, then the same turnaround. Printed lead sheets disagree about bars 13 to 16, and some sources count the tune as one 16-bar form with two endings.
The changes under Miles Davis's trumpet solo on his 1953 quartet recording, transcribed in the Weimar Jazz Database. Published charts differ in bars 13 to 16.
Use the key buttons to move the chart to the key you play in.
Listen in this order
Play all 8 on YouTube ↗The path starts with Miles Davis's 1953 record and Sonny Rollins's 1957 tenor quartet, then hears Coltrane's Countdown, which reuses the changes, and the 1956 Davis quintet in B♭. It ends with a piano trio, a guitar quartet, a three-horn sextet and a tenor and bass duo from 2007.
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Step 1 · Learn the song Now playing
Miles Davis Quartet 1953
Miles Davis Quartet
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- Listen for
- A quartet of trumpet, piano, bass and drums plays the tune in 3:56. John Lewis is at the piano and Max Roach on drums.
- Try this
- Play Em7, A7, Dmaj7 (Dmaj7 for two bars) from the chart at a slow tempo, then Dm7, G7, Cmaj7 the same way. Smaller version: play only the root of each chord, one per bar.
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Step 2 · Hear a tenor saxophone quartet Now playing
Sonny Rollins 1957
Newk's Time
Couldn't play this one here. Try the links below.
- Listen for
- Rollins plays tenor saxophone over a rhythm section of Wynton Kelly on piano, Doug Watkins on bass and Philly Joe Jones on drums. The track runs 5:44.
- Try this
- Play bars 1 to 8 of the chart one chord per bar at a slow tempo. Smaller version: play only the root of each chord.
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Step 3 · Hear the same changes reharmonized Now playing
John Coltrane 1959
“Countdown”, Giant Steps
Couldn't play this one here. Try the links below.
- Listen for
- Coltrane plays tenor saxophone with Tommy Flanagan on piano, Paul Chambers on bass and Art Taylor on drums. The whole track runs 2:25.
- Try this
- Play Countdown's opening chords from Wikipedia, Em7 F7, B♭maj7 D♭7, G♭maj7 A7, Dmaj7, at a slow tempo. Then play Em7, A7, Dmaj7 from the Tune Up chart and notice that both reach Dmaj7. Smaller version: play only the first chord of each group.
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Step 4 · Hear the quintet version in B♭ Now playing
Miles Davis Quintet 1956
“Tune Up / When Lights Are Low”, Cookin' with the Miles Davis Quintet
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- Listen for
- Davis on trumpet, Coltrane on tenor saxophone and Garland on piano solo in B♭, very fast, at about 315 beats per minute. The track runs straight on into When Lights Are Low.
- Try this
- Use the chart's key buttons to put the chart in B♭, then play bars 1 to 4, Cm7, F7, B♭maj7, B♭maj7, at a slow tempo. Smaller version: play only the root of each chord.
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Step 5 · Hear a piano trio Now playing
Tete Montoliu Trio 1980
“Tune-Up”, Catalonian Nights, Vol. 2
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- Listen for
- Only piano, bass and drums play. Listen for John Heard's bass and Albert Heath's drums next to Montoliu's piano over the 5:53.
- Try this
- Play the chart's chords one per bar at a slow tempo, with a single root note low and the chord above it. Smaller version: play only bars 1 to 4 and repeat them.
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Step 6 · Hear a guitar quartet Now playing
Grant Green 1962
“Tune-Up”, Oleo
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- Listen for
- Green plays guitar and Sonny Clark plays piano, with Sam Jones on bass and Louis Hayes on drums. At 7:20 the track runs through the form many times.
- Try this
- Loop bars 1 to 4 of the chart, Em7, A7, Dmaj7, Dmaj7, at a slow tempo until the move from A7 to Dmaj7 feels easy, then add bars 5 to 8.
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Step 7 · Hear three horns and a long take Now playing
Hank Mobley 1957
Poppin'
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- Listen for
- Art Farmer's trumpet, Hank Mobley's tenor saxophone and Pepper Adams's baritone saxophone play together. The track lasts 10:52, so the form comes round many times.
- Try this
- Play the chart's chords through one full chorus at a slow tempo, then repeat it three times without stopping. Smaller version: play the first 16 bars twice.
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Step 8 · Hear a tenor and bass duo Now playing
Stephen Riley 2007
Once Upon a Dream
Couldn't play this one here. Try the links below.
- Listen for
- Only tenor saxophone and bass play, so listen to John Brown's bass for the chord changes under Riley's tenor. They play it in C, very fast, at about 344 beats per minute.
- Try this
- Play only the root of each chord on a bass or with your left hand, one note per bar, and hum the melody over it. Smaller version: play the roots of bars 1 to 8 only.
More great versions
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J.J. Johnson Quintet 1958
J.J. in Person!
J.J.
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Chet Baker 1959
Chet Baker in Milan
Chet Baker recorded Tune Up in Milan on September 26, 1959, in a sextet with Glauco Masetti on alto saxophone and Gianni Basso on tenor saxophone.
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Wes Montgomery 1960
“Tune-Up”, Movin' Along
On this track Wes Montgomery plays bass guitar in a quintet with James Clay on flute, Victor Feldman on piano, Sam Jones on bass and Louis Hayes on drums.