Substitutions : " Frosty the Snow Man " reed : A nice holiday tune by Steve Nelson and Jack Rollins. The original chords are kind of sparse so try and liven things up a bit. The first four bars in the sheet music are: C | C C7 | F F#dim |C | F instead I try: C Dm7,G7 | C C7 | F F#m7b5,B7 | C C7 | F The next four bars in the original sheet music are: F F#dim | C A7 | Dm7 G7 | C G7 | I try: F F#m7b5,B7 | Em7 A7 | Dm7 G7 |Em7,A7 Dm7,G7 | The next eight are essentially the same except for the modulation to F on the bridge. I use: C Dm7,G7 | C C7 | F F#m7b5,B7 | C C7 | F F#m7b5,B7 | Em7 A7 | Dm7,Ab7 G7sus,G7 | C C7 | The first four bars of the bridge in the sheet music are: F F#dim | C | Dm7 G7 | C | G I used : F F#m7b5,B7 | Em7 A7 | Dm7 G7sus,G7 | C | The sheet music continued with: G | G Ddim | Am D7 | G G+ | C Instead I used: G C7 | Bm7 E7 | Am7 D7 | Dm7 G7 | C For the last eight, I begin with a different move for variety even though the sheet music remains the same as the beginning: C F#m7b5,Fm6 | Em7 A7 | Dm7 G7 | C C7 | The ending is the same I used for the second eight so I end up with in total: C Dm7,G7 | C C7 | F F#m7b5,B7 | C C7 | F F#m7b5,B7 | Em7 A7 | Dm7 G7 |Em7,A7 Dm7,G7 | C Dm7,G7 | C C7 | F F#m7b5,B7 | C C7 | F F#m7b5,7 | Em7 A7 | Dm7,Ab7 G7sus,G7 | C C7 | F F#m7b5,B7 | Em7 A7 | Dm7 G7sus,G7 | C | G C7 | Bm7 E7 | Am7 D7 | Dm7 G7 | C F#m7b5,Fm6 | Em7 A7 | Dm7 G7 | C C7 | F F#m7b5,B7 | Em7 A7 | Dm7,Ab7 G7sus,G7 | C | [end frosty] substitutions: "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" reed: A great holiday song by Hugh Martin and Ralph Blake. THe original sheet music changes are okay but fairly repetitive. In the sheet music, the first four bars are C | Dm7 G7 | C | Dm7 G7 | C I use: C,Bb7 Am7,A7 | Dm7,Ab7 G7sus,G7 | C,Bb7 Am7,D7 | Dm7 G7 | The next four originally are: C Am7 | Dm7 G7 | E7 A7 | D7 G7 | C.... Try: C A7 | Dm7 G7 | Bb7 A7 | D7 G7sus,G7 | C The next four bars repeat the first four so I use the same changes. Then they have a modulation to F: C Am7 | Dm7 E7 | Am | C7 | F I tried: C#m7b5 F#7 | Bm7 E7 | Am7 D7 | Gm7 C7 | F which worked quite nicely. That gives for the first sixteen bars: C,Bb7 Am7,A7 | Dm7,Ab7 G7sus,G7 | C,Bb7 Am7,D7 | Dm7 G7 | C A7 | Dm7 G7 | Bb7 A7 | D7 G7sus,G7 | C,Bb7 Am7,A7 | Dm7,Ab7 G7sus,G7 | C,Bb7 Am7,D7 | Dm7 G7 | C#m7b5 F#7 | Bm7 E7 | Am7 D7 | Gm7 C7 | The next four in the sheet music are: F Fm | C Ebdim | Dm7 G7 | C Am7 | I tried F#m7b5 Fm6,Bb7 | Em7 Ebdim7 | Dm7 G7 | C | Then the sheet music had: F#m7b5 B7 | Em G+/A | G/D D7sus,D7 | Dm7 G7 | C I tried: F#m7b5 B7 | Em7 A7 | Am7 D7 | Dm7 G7 | C So for these eight I get: F#m7b5 Fm6,Bb7 | Em7 Ebdim7 | Dm7 G7 | C | F#m7b5 B7 | Em7 A7 | Am7 D7 | Dm7 G7 | The last eight starts originally with the same four bars as the beginning of the tune so I use the same as in the beginning. C,Bb7 Am7,A7 | Dm7,Ab7 G7sus,G7 | C,Bb7 Am7,D7 | Dm7 G7 | Then originally we have C Am7 | Dm7 E7 | Am | C7 | F I tried: C,Bb7 Am7,A7 | Dm7 Bm7b5,E7 | Am7 D7 | Gm7 C7 | F The last four in the original sheet music were: F Am7 | Dm7 G7 | C | | I used: F Em7,A7 | Dm7 G7sus,G7 | C | | So I got in total: C,Bb7 Am7,A7 | Dm7,Ab7 G7sus,G7 | C,Bb7 Am7,D7 | Dm7 G7 | C A7 | Dm7 G7 | Bb7 A7 | D7 G7sus,G7 | C,Bb7 Am7,A7 | Dm7,Ab7 G7sus,G7 | C,Bb7 Am7,D7 | Dm7 G7 | C#m7b5 F#7 | Bm7 E7 | Am7 D7 | Gm7 C7 | F#m7b5 Fm6,Bb7 | Em7 Ebdim7 | Dm7 G7 | C | F#m7b5 B7 | Em7 A7 | Am7 D7 | Dm7 G7 | C,Bb7 Am7,A7 | Dm7,Ab7 G7sus,G7 | C,Bb7 Am7,D7 | Dm7 G7 | C,Bb7 Am7,A7 | Dm7 Bm7b5,E7 | Am7 D7 | Gm7 C7 | F Em7,A7 | Dm7 G7sus,G7 | C | | Also, for the most part you can replace C,Bb7 Am7,A7 with F#m7b5,Fm6 Em7,A7 in the tune for variety. [end Have Yourself a Merry Little Xmas] Substitutions: "Jingle Bells" reed Another festive tune. Words and music by J. Pierpont. The first eight in the sheet music are: G | | | C | C Am | D7 | | G | I tried: G D7sus | G Am7,D7 | G Dm7,G7 | C Bm7,E7 | Am7 E7 | Em7 A7 | Am7 D7 | G D7sus,D7 | The original sheet music has for the next eight: G | | | C | C Am | G/D |D7 | G D7 | I tried: G D7sus | G Am7,D7 | G Dm7,G7 | C Bm7,E7 | Am7 D7,C7| Bm7 E7 | Am7 D7 | G D7 | The original sheet music has for the next eight: G | G | G | G G7 | C | C/G,G | A7 | D7 | I tried: G Am7,D7 | Bm7 Am7,D7 | G Am7,D7 | G Dm7,G7 | C F7 | C6/G,G Bm7,E7 | Em7 A7sus,A7 | D7sus D7 | The last eight in the original sheet music are: G | G | G | G G7 | C | C/G,G | D7 | G | I tried: G Am7,D7 | Bm7 Am7,D7 | G Am7,D7 | G Dm7,G7 | C F7 | C6/G,G Bm7,E7 | Am7 D7sus,D7 | G | So in total: G D7sus | G Am7,D7 | G Dm7,G7 | C Bm7,E7 | Am7 E7 | Em7 A7 | Am7 D7 | G D7sus,D7 | G D7sus | G Am7,D7 | G Dm7,G7 | C Bm7,E7 | Am7 D7,C7| Bm7 E7 | Am7 D7 | G D7 | G Am7,D7 | Bm7 Am7,D7 | G Am7,D7 | G Dm7,G7 | C F7 | C6/G,G Bm7,E7 | Em7 A7sus,A7 | D7sus D7 | G Am7,D7 | Bm7 Am7,D7 | G Am7,D7 | G Dm7,G7 | C F7 | C6/G,G Bm7,E7 | Am7 D7sus,D7 | G | [later...] For the first 8, also try: G C9 | Bm7 Am7,D7 | G B7 | C Bm,E7 | Am F9 | Em7 A7 | Am7 D7 | G D7sus, D7 | The B7 possibility is one I shouldnt have missed. That is a standard back door move which even occurs in tunes like the beginning of "Some Day My Prince Will Come". The F9 is an option to the E7 I had. Both will work though the F9 has somewhat better bass motion. [end Jingle Bells] Substitutions : Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow! reed A great holiday tune by Jule Styne and Sammy Cahn. The first eight bars in the original sheet music are: F C7 | F | F/A Abdim | C7/G ,D7/F# | Gm D7 | Gm Abdim | C7/G C7 | F | I tried: F Gm7,C7 | F Bb7 |Am7 Abdim7 | Gm7 Am7, D7 | Gm7 D7 | Gm7 Bdim7 |C7sus C7 | F/A,Abdim7 Gm7, C7 | The next eight are the same except for the modulation to C on the bridge: F Gm7,C7 | F Bb7 |Am7 Abdim7 | Gm7 Am7, D7 | Gm7 D7 | Gm7 Bdim7 |C7sus C7 | F Dm7 G7 | The first four bars on the bridge I basically leave alone and get: C | C#dim7 | Dm7 G7 | C Dmi7,G7 | The next four are originally: C | C,B+ Gm,A7 | D7 G7 | C7 | I used: C Bb7 | Am7 A7 | D7 G7 | C7sus, C7 | THen the last eight are the same as the second eight so I get in total: F Gm7,C7 | F Bb7 |Am7 Abdim7 | Gm7 Am7, D7 | Gm7 D7 | Gm7 Bdim7 |C7sus C7 | F/A,Abdim7 Gm7, C7 | F Gm7,C7 | F Bb7 |Am7 Abdim7 | Gm7 Am7, D7 | Gm7 D7 | Gm7 Bdim7 |C7sus C7 | F Dm7 G7 | C | C#dim7 | Dm7 G7 | C Dmi7,G7 | C Bb7 | Am7 A7 | D7 G7 | C7sus, C7 | F Gm7,C7 | F Bb7 |Am7 Abdim7 | Gm7 Am7, D7 | Gm7 D7 | Gm7 Bdim7 |C7sus C7 | F | [end reed] [Re: question from Bert about use of diminished vs. m7b5 in last section...] The idea is that instead of Gm7 Bdim7 | C7sus... As in the tune earlier: He uses: Gm7 Bm7b5,E7 | Am7,D7 Gm7,C7 | [re:] What is a minor plagal sequence? In C minor it is: Fm Cm However, the chord can be used in a major key too, like: Fm C In jazz they frequently put the V of the iv minor chord Fm7, Bb7 C Thats how "Just Friends" in C starts out: F | | Fm7 | Bb7 | C The F is the IV of C. Its a IV to ivm to I . Thats why that Bb7 can resolve to C. THe Bb7 is technically just an Fm6/Bb. In other words it's not really a dominant 7th chord but rather a minor 6th chord over a different bass note. [end reed] jules: Smith Dobson hates diminished chords and he always plays something like Bm7b5 E7 in place of Bdim7. Bert and you seem to be saying that. For non san jose residents on Reed's list, Smith Dobson is the top jazz pianist in our area and many people listen to what he does, including myself and Reed. [end jules] [end Let It Snow] Substitutions: "Santa Claus is Comin' to Town" reed: Seeing how it's the holiday season I thought some christmas song changes might be appropriate. I couldnt find the original sheet music but I found a lead sheet that is probably pretty close. I like to start a reharmonization from as basic a set of changes as possible. There are alot of repetitive parts to this tune and I provide alot of alternate subs so you can mix and match quite a bit. The first two bars are originally: C C7 | F Fm | C .... The Fm is a minor plagal cadence so subsituting Bb7 is an obvious choice or even Fmi7 Bb7 . So either: C C7 | F Bb7 | C .... or C C7 | F Fm7,Bb7 | C .... Bar 1 can be fixed with essentially using a Db7 tritone sub of G7 (We can always go something like C,G7 C7 since G7 is the V of C7) Thus: C,Db7 C7sus,C7 | F Fm7,Bb7 | C .... Bar two has a number of possibilites. we can avoid the static bass note F but substituing F#mi7b5 . C,Db7 C7sus,C7 | F#m7b5 Fm7,Bb7 | C .... or C,Db7 C7sus,C7 | F#m7b5 Fm6 | C .... or C,Db7 C7sus,C7 | F#m7b5,B7 Fm7,Bb7 | C .... The next two bars are the same so I choose a different path for variety: The original is: C C7 | F Fm | C.... So I use C Db7 Gm7,C7 | F#mi7b5,B7 Fm7,Bb7 | C.... This gives for the first four bars: C,Db7 C7sus,C7 | F#m7b5,B7 Fm7,Bb7 | C Gm7,C7 | F#mi7b5,B7 Fm7,Bb7 | C... The next four starts with a two bar turnaround: C Am7 | Dmi7 G7 | C ... There are alot of variations here. Two possibilites are : C,Bb7 Am7,A7b9 | Dm7,Ab7 G7sus,G7 | C.... Another interesting one is: C,Bb7 Am7,A7b9 | Dm7,G7 Abm7,Db7 | C.... The next two bars in the original is just a turnaround: C | G7 | There is a turnaround I like to use here and that is: Abmaj7 Dbmaj7 | Dm7 G7 | C... The melody note is C for the first 5 beats in the original but I only use C against the Abmaj7, then I follow it with Eb melody note for Dbmaj7, E melody note for Dm7 and G melody note for G7 . Thus for the first eight I like. C,Db7 C7sus,C7 | F#m7b5,B7 Fm7,Bb7 | C Gm7,C7 | F#mi7b5,B7 Fm7,Bb7 | C,Bb7 Am7,A7b9 | Dm7,Ab7 G7sus,G7 |Abmaj7 Dbmaj7 | Dm7 G7 | The next eight in the original are the same so I use essentially the same except for replacing bar 6 with Dm7,G7 Abm7,Db7 which is what I mentioned as a possibility earlier. The last two bars is a modulation to the key of F but with the first bar of the bridge being Gm7. C | | Gm7.... Some kind of cycle is best there a a million paths. I like : C Bb7 | Am7 Ab7 | This gets for the first sixteen: C,Db7 C7sus,C7 | F#m7b5,B7 Fm7,Bb7 | C Gm7,C7 | F#mi7b5,B7 Fm7,Bb7 | C,Bb7 Am7,A7b9 | Dm7,Ab7 G7sus,G7 |Abmaj7 Dbmaj7 | Dm7 G7 | C,Db7 C7sus,C7 | F#m7b5,B7 Fm7,Bb7 | C Gm7,C7 | F#mi7b5,B7 Fm7,Bb7 | C,Bb7 Am7,A7b9 | Dm7,G7 Abm7,Db7 | C Bb7 | Am7 Ab7 | The bridge is originally: Gm7 C7 | F | Gm7 C7 | F | Am7 D7 | G G#dim | Am7 D7 | G7sus G7 | I like: Gm7 C7 | Am7 D7 | Gm7 C7 | F | Am7 D7 | Bm7 E7 | Am7 D7 | Dm7,Ab7 G7sus,G7 | The last eight are the same as the original. For repeats I use a dom 7 turnaround so I get in total something like: C,Db7 C7sus,C7 | F#m7b5,B7 Fm7,Bb7 | C Gm7,C7 | F#mi7b5,B7 Fm7,Bb7 | C,Bb7 Am7,A7b9 | Dm7,Ab7 G7sus,G7 |Abmaj7 Dbmaj7 | Dm7 G7 | C,Db7 C7sus,C7 | F#m7b5,B7 Fm7,Bb7 | C Gm7,C7 | F#mi7b5,B7 Fm7,Bb7 | C,Bb7 Am7,A7b9 | Dm7,G7 Abm7,Db7 | C Bb7 | Am7 Ab7 | Gm7 C7 | Am7 D7 | Gm7 C7 | F | Am7 D7 | Bm7 E7 | Am7 D7 | Dm7,Ab7 G7sus,G7 | C,Db7 C7sus,C7 | F#m7b5,B7 Fm7,Bb7 | C Gm7,C7 | F#mi7b5,B7 Fm7,Bb7 | C,Bb7 Am7,A7b9 | Dm7,G7 Abm7,Db7 | C A7 | D7 G7 | A nice ending is to replace the last two bars with the four bars: F#m7b5 Fm6 | C6/E Ebm7 | Dm7 G7 | C | For blowing changes I like: C C7 | F Bb7 | C C7 | F Bb7 | C Am7 | Dm7 G7 | Abmaj7 Dbmaj7 | Dm7 G7 | C C7 | F Bb7 | C C7 | F Bb7 | C Am7 | Dm7 G7 | C7 Bb7 | A7 D7 | Gm7 C7 | Am7 D7 | Gm7 C7 | F | Am7 D7 | Bm7 E7 | Am7 D7 | Dm7 G7 | C C7 | F Bb7 | C C7 | F Bb7 | C Am7 | Dm7 G7 | C A7 | D7 G7 | [later...] All those chords will take a C melody note until the G7 . Before doing this post, I always played essentially the blowing changes even when I play solo piano. The blowing changes are fairly close to what Bill Evans used to play though he didnt use that nice turnaround Abmaj7 Dbmaj7 | Dm7 G7 | . Bill recorded the tune originally in G on the "Trio 63" album. The best recording I've heard of him playing it though is on "Bill Evans, The Solo Sessions Vol. 2", released after his death. I had a half hour last night before a student showed up and thought I would see if there was anything else for changes before I went and did the post and came up with all these variations. That's one of the fun things for me on this list. I try and challenge myself when I do these chord subs posts. [end Santa Clause Is Coming to Town] Substitutions - "Silver Bells" reed : A nice holiday tune by Jay Livingston and Ray Evans . The original sheet music has for the first eight bars: (remember the tune is in 3/4) Bb | Dm Bb7 | Eb | Eb6 | F7 Dm C#m | Cm Dm F7 | Cm7 Bb Bb | Eb Bb7 Cm7 | I tried: Bb Bb F7sus | Bb Bb7 Fm7,Bb7 | Eb Eb Db7 | C7sus C7sus C7 | F7 F7 C#m7 | Cm7 Cm7 F7 | Bb | Cm7 Cm7 F7sus | The next eight is basically the so I get for the first 16: Bb Bb F7sus | Bb Bb7 Fm7,Bb7 | Eb Eb Db7 | C7sus C7sus C7 | F7 F7 C#m7 | Cm7 Cm7 F7 | Bb | Cm7 Cm7 F7sus | Bb Bb F7sus | Bb Bb7 Fm7,Bb7 | Eb Eb Db7 | C7sus C7sus C7 | F7 F7 C#m7 | Cm7 Cm7 F7 | Bb | Cm7 Cm7 F7 | The next 8 in the original sheet music are: Bb | Bb | Eb | Eb | F F C7 | F7 | Bb | Cm7 Bb Cm7 | Bb.... I tried: Bb B7 | Fm7 Bb7 | Eb | Edim 7 | F7 F7 Edim7 | F7 | Bb | Cm7 F7 | The next 8 are bascially the same so I tried in total: Bb Bb F7sus | Bb Bb7 Fm7,Bb7 | Eb Eb Db7 | C7sus C7sus C7 | F7 F7 C#m7 | Cm7 Cm7 F7 | Bb | Cm7 Cm7 F7sus | Bb Bb F7sus | Bb Bb7 Fm7,Bb7 | Eb Eb Db7 | C7sus C7sus C7 | F7 F7 C#m7 | Cm7 Cm7 F7 | Bb | Cm7 Cm7 F7 | Bb B7 | Fm7 Bb7 | Eb | Edim 7 | F7 F7 Edim7 | F7 | Bb | Cm7 F7 | Bb B7 | Fm7 Bb7 | Eb | Edim 7 | F7 F7 Edim7 | F7 Cm7 F7 | Bb | | [end Silver Bells] Substitutions: "The Christmas Song" reed : A great song by Mel Torme and Robert Wells . (Often callled "Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire"). I have a bunch of basic improvements but I won't quote all the original changes since I think if you get the music and have been following my past posts, the improvements will be obvious. Eb Fm7, Bb7 | Eb Fm7,Bb7 | Bbm7 Eb7sus,Eb7 | Ab Db7 | Eb Abm7,Db7 | Eb,Bbm7 Am7,D7| G Abm7,Db7 | Gb,Cb Fm7,Bb7 | Eb Fm7, Bb7 | Eb Fm7,Bb7 | Bbm7 Eb7 | Ab Db7 | Eb Abm7,Db7 | Eb,Bbm7 Am7,D7| Gm7,C7 Fm7,Bb7 | Eb | Bbm7 Bbm#7 | Eb7sus Eb7 | Bbm7,Bbm#7 Eb7sus,Eb7 | Ab | Abm7 Db7sus,Db7 | Gb Dbm7,Gb7 | Cm7 F7 | Fm7 Bb7 | Eb Fm7, Bb7 | Eb Fm7,Bb7 | Bbm7 Eb7 | Ab Db7 | Eb Abm7,Db7 | Eb,Bbm7 Am7,D7| Gm7,C7 Fm7, Bb7 | Eb | [end The Xmas Song] Substitutions: "Winter Wonderland" reed : "Winter Wonderland" is a nice tune by Richard Smith and Felix Bernard. I had alot of fun with this one. Thanks to Lawson for suggesting it. I've never worked on this tune before. I don't have the original sheet music but have a fakebook page probably fairly close. The original first eight bars is: Eb | Eb Edim7 | Fm7 Bb7 | Fm7 Bb7 | Fm7 Bb7 | Fm7 Bb7 | F9 Bb7 | Eb Bb7 | Eb ... Boring!!! I came up with: Eb,Db7 C7sus,C7 | Fm7 Bb7 | Gm7 C7 | Fm7 Bb7 | Am7 D7 | Gm7 C7 | F7 Fm7,Bb7 | Eb Fm7, Bb7| Eb There is some other possibilities for bar eight. Remember that we are going to Eb, so I like using a minor plagal cadence idea here. Eb Abm7,Db7 | .... However this opens up the possibility of replacing the Eb with Am7b5,D7 Am7b5,D7 Abm7 Db7 | Eb.... There are alot of other variations. You can leave out the D7 for example. So I like for the first eight: Eb,Db7 C7sus,C7 | Fm7 Bb7 | Gm7 C7 | Fm7 Bb7 | Am7 D7 | Gm7 C7 | F7 Fm7,Bb7 | Am7b5,D7 Abm7 Db7 | Eb The second eight are the same as the first except that it modulates to G at the beginning of the bridge. Also, because of the way things are moving , I can replace the first chord with Gm7 and take a slightly different route: Gm7 C7 | Fm7 Bb7 | Gm7 C7 | Fm7 Bb7 | Am7 D7 | Gm7 C7 | F7 Fm7,Bb7 | Eb Am7b5,D7 | G The first four bars of the bridge are originally: G Am7,D7 | G | G Am7, D7 | G | Bb I use: G,E7 Am7,D7 | Bm7,E7 Am7,D7 | G,E7 Am7, D7 | G,G7 Cm7,F7 | Bb The next four bars are originally: Bb Cm7,F7 | Bb Gm7 | C9 F7 | Fm7 Bb7 | I use: Bb,G7 Cm7,F7 | Bb,A7 Ab7,G7 | C9 F7 | Fm7 Bb7 | The last eight are essentially the same as the first eigth so I just use some slight variations. Eb Edim7 | Fm7 Bb7 | Gm7 C7 | Fm7 Bb7 | Am7 D7 | Gm7 Abm7,Db7 | F7 Fm7,Bb7 | Db,D Eb | The Abm7 is a minor plagal cadence idea. So I get in total: Eb,Db7 C7sus,C7| Fm7 Bb7 | Gm7 C7 | Fm7 Bb7 | Am7 D7 | Gm7 C7 | F7 Fm7,Bb7 | Am7b5,D7 Abm7 Db7 | Gm7 C7 | Fm7 Bb7 | Gm7 C7 | Fm7 Bb7 | Am7 D7 | Gm7 C7 | F7 Fm7,Bb7 | Eb Am7b5,D7 | G,E7 Am7,D7 | Bm7,E7 Am7,D7 | G,E7 Am7,D7 | G,G7 Cm7,F7 | Bb,G7 Cm7,F7 | Bb,A7 Ab7,G7 | C9 F7 | Fm7 Bb7 | Eb Edim7 | Fm7 Bb7 | Gm7 C7 | Fm7 Bb7 | Am7 D7 | Gm7 Abm7,Db7 | F7 Fm7,Bb7 | Db,D Eb | [end winter wonderland] [end]