Treat Me Rough: Lead Sheet

Gershwin's harmonic language and melodic contours demand close listening and thoughtful interpretation from guitarists. This collection captures one of America's greatest songwriting legacies in lead sheet form, letting you explore the bones of these pieces and find your own voice in them rather than relying on a single arrangement.

Gershwin's melodies sparkle with wit and charm while his harmonies surprise and delight. These pieces carry the energy of 1920s and 1930s New York, sophisticated yet utterly accessible, with the kind of harmonic color that rewards repeated exploration.

Jazz guitarists, standards players, and musicians who want to deepen their understanding of American songwriting through the work of one of its defining figures. This resource serves players who can read lead sheets and improvise fluently over changes.

• Pay attention to the harmonic rhythm Gershwin uses to shape phrasing; his chords often shift more frequently than you'd expect, and respecting those changes will sharpen your comping and soloing.
• Experiment with reharmonization on repeated sections. Gershwin's melodies are strong enough to support it, and the lead sheet format invites you to develop your own voicings.
• Use the melody as a conversation partner with the chords rather than an ornament; these songs work best when both lines have weight and clarity.

Solo these songs in recitals or jazz combos, or use them as the foundation for teaching harmonic analysis and improvisation. The breadth of the collection lets you program thematically by mood or era within Gershwin's catalog.

• Reading and interpreting lead sheet notation
• Navigating jazz harmony and chromatic voice leading
• Improvising over standards with complex harmonic movement
• Developing personal comping voicings and accompaniment patterns
• Understanding the relationship between melody and chord progression in American songwriting