Changing My Tune: Lead Sheet

This collection assembles over 100 Gershwin standards in lead sheet form, making it an essential reference for jazz guitarists, interpreters, and musicians studying American songwriting. The high production standards and the Gershwin estate's involvement ensure accuracy and respect for the originals, giving you reliable charts for repertoire you'll return to throughout your career.

Opening this book feels like walking into a room where some of the most gifted melodists and lyricists of the American century are working. The music crackles with wit, yearning, and rhythmic energy. Whether you're playing a tender ballad or a spirited up-tempo number, Gershwin's language feels both historically rooted and startlingly alive.

Jazz guitarists building their standards vocabulary, musicians exploring American songbook classics, and anyone seeking reliable lead sheets for some of the 20th century's most important compositions. This is equally valuable for a working musician gigging regularly and a serious student studying the architecture of great song.

• Study the harmonic movement beneath each melody. Gershwin's chord progressions often contain chromatic passing chords and unexpected reharmonizations that reward attention and shape your interpretive choices.
• Use the lead sheet as a starting point for your own accompaniment voicings. Jazz guitarists thrive when they make these standards their own, and Gershwin's melodies are sturdy enough to support varied harmonic treatments.
• Pay attention to the melodic shape and phrasing rather than rushing tempos. Many of these songs gain depth when you give the lines room to breathe.

Use this as your primary reference for programming Gershwin standards in jazz combos, chamber settings, or solo recitals. The breadth of the collection means you can build an entire evening of music around these songs, or select carefully to pair with other 20th-century repertoire. Many charts work equally well as teaching tools for understanding song form and harmonic function.

• reading lead sheets and interpreting harmonic notation
• recognizing and playing chromatic passing chords and jazz reharmonization
• understanding song form and melodic phrasing in American standards
• accompanying yourself while maintaining strong harmonic awareness
• transposing and adapting charts to different keys for ensemble play