this page is a reference page for the 2018-2019 TMEA All-State Jazz Audition Etudes.
here are a few great websites to check out to learn more about the great songs of the jazz world, usually called “jazz standards” and frequently are part of what is also called the “Great American Songbook.”
https://www.jazzbooks.com/ – Jamey Aebersold has been contributing to the field of jazz education with his play-along series since the 1970s. literally tens of thousands (or more!) of aspiring jazz musicians have attended his camps or used his resources to improve their playing. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
www.jazzstandards.com – fantastic website with hundreds of songs listed, with song histories, artist biographies, chord study, recommended recordings, and more
www.learnjazzstandards.com – another great website with lots of interactive elements, courses you can take, and great play-along tracks you can use while learning songs
about the etudes
SAXOPHONE
Sax Etude One – based on the changes to “Donna Lee” by Miles Davis – this is a classic (and challenging!) bebop melody http://www.jazzstandards.com/compositions-1/donnalee.htm
Sax Etude Three – based on the changes to “I Mean You” by Coleman Hawkins and Thelonious Monk
http://www.jazzstandards.com/compositions-6/imeanyou.htm
TRUMPET
Trumpet Etude One – based on the changes to “Back Home in Indiana” by James Hanley and Ballard MacDonald– these are the changes that “Donna Lee” were based on
http://www.jazzstandards.com/compositions-0/indiana.htm
Trumpet Etude Three – based on the changes to “St. Thomas” by Sonny Rollins – this is one of his most well known and often played compositions, written in a Caribbean calypso style
http://www.jazzstandards.com/compositions-3/stthomas.htm
TROMBONE
Tenor Trombone Etude One – based on the changes to “All of Me” by Gerald Marks and Seymour Simons – this is one of the all time most played and recorded standards
http://www.jazzstandards.com/compositions-0/allofme.htm
Bass Trombone Etude Two – based partially on the changes to “Polka Dots and Moonbeams” by Jimmy Van Heusen and Johnny Burke – a beautiful ballad
http://www.jazzstandards.com/compositions-0/polkadotsandmoonbeams.htm
GUITAR
Guitar Etude One – based on the changes to “Just Friends” by John Klenner and Sam M. Lewis – another great standard that can be played as a ballad, medium swinger, or up-tempo cooker
http://www.jazzstandards.com/compositions-0/justfriends.htm
Guitar Etude Two – based on the changes to “Stella By Starlight” by Victor Young and Ned Washington – a beautiful ballad that was debuted in the 1944 movie “The Uninvited” – the lyrics by Washington were added after the movie was released
http://www.jazzstandards.com/compositions-0/stellabystarlight.htm
about the improvisation
Region Improv is based on the 12-bar blues, using more jazz chords than a typical 12-bar blues
http://www.jazzstandards.com/theory/blues.htm
State Improv is based on the chord changes to “Take the ‘A’ Train” by Billy Strayhorn, a classic composition from the Duke Ellington songbook
http://www.jazzstandards.com/compositions-0/taketheatrain.htm
Ponder East 