Jazz Guitar Lessons

Six Standards You Should Know – “On Green Dolphin Street”

Published

9 months ago

June 17, 2022

Third in the series – jazz guitarist, composer, and arranger Dave Frackenpohl outlines what jazz standards players are expected to know at gigs and jam sessions.

Players are expected to know jazz standards at gigs and jam sessions. Knowing them from memory can make a good impression and help you get more gigs!

Tune Three – On Green Dolphin Street

This is one of the most called standards at jam sessions and gigs.

The form of this tune is ABAC – a very common form. Letter B has two 4 bar ii V I’s, making it a great vehicle for working on playing over this progression. Letter C has a tricky walk down sequence – going from ii to V of vi to vi, then a V of iii to iii. This type of progression shows up in many standards – including: Whisper Not, How Deep is the Ocean, and Triste.

See the layout of the harmony using roman numerals. Using this system is a good way to think of progressions – with practice it can help you play the tune in any key, no ireal pro app needed!

It’s great for your ear and phrasing development to try and learn the melody by ear. There are numerous recordings of this tune. Two that stand out: Miles Davis – 1958 version. Barney Kessell – from the Poll Winners album.