Bidin' My Time: Lead Sheet / Fake Book

This lead sheet captures a tune that rewards both singers and instrumentalists with its straightforward harmonic movement and singable melody. The accessibility of the changes makes it ideal for musicians building their jazz vocabulary, yet the song's inherent elegance means it never sounds pedestrian in performance.

There's an unhurried ease to this tune, even when the harmonic rhythm picks up. The melody sits comfortably in the voice, and the overall character is intimate and conversational, like someone sharing a thought over coffee rather than delivering a performance piece.

Jazz pianists and vocalists building their standards repertoire will find this a cornerstone tune. It works equally well for students learning to comp from a lead sheet and for experienced performers seeking vehicles for stylistic exploration.

• Sit into the back half of each beat to echo the relaxed, unhurried quality the title suggests. The song works against pushing the tempo.
• Let the melody breathe naturally rather than accent every note. Gershwin's phrasing here follows speech rhythms, not symmetrical phrasing patterns.
• Explore the space between the melody notes. This tune rewards singers who find the conversational pauses built into Ira's lyric setting.

Slot this into a jazz standards set, a swing or Great American Songbook concert, or a repertoire study of Gershwin's theatrical works. Its brevity and clarity make it useful for opening rehearsals or filling time slots while introducing musicians to essential changes and song forms.

• Reading lead sheet notation and chord symbols
• Navigating diatonic and chromatic harmony typical of 1930s popular song
• Phrasing vocal melody with conversational inflection
• Comping piano accompaniment from chord symbols
• Understanding the relationship between lyric meter and musical phrasing