12/03/15 Blue in Green: Chord Melody for Jazz Guitar (w/ VIDEO)

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Blue in Green
(by Miles Davis) from the album Kind of
Blue
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Blue in Green (PDF of Chord Melody, Lead Sheet and CHORD SHEET)
1

Written in 1959 by Miles Davis for the classic album Kind of Blue , Blue in
Green is an incredible ballad. It should be part of every jazz guitarists trick
bag. The harmony is soulful and daunting, and the melody is timeless.

The piece is usually performed very (very) slow as ballad; watch out for
the tricky 10-bar form! It messes up everyone not paying attention.
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12/03/15 Blue in Green: Chord Melody for Jazz Guitar (w/ VIDEO)

Around bar number 8, youll feel like its coming back to the top of the
form but its not! So, always be careful and vigilant.

To complicate things a bit further, the form is often altered for soloing: it
goes in real double time. Every chord lasts half the time of its actual
written value (see the chart for reference). The form is thus 5 bars long! I
personally like to to solo on this 5-bar form when I play this tune.

Listen to the original album, it should clear things up. Be extra careful and
practice it for a while before calling this tune at jam session. The jazz
guitar chord melody arrangement presented here is again very minimal:
you should take the time to find how you like to play that song and which
voicings fit best with the way you phrase the melody.

Also, try the melody an octave down.

Have fun!

Video Demonstration

Heres the video of the Blue in Green jazz guitar chord melody
demonstrated, with some improvisation. See the pdf (with TABS) for the
complete arrangement. The chord melody PDF contains :

the leadsheet (chord symbols + melody),

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12/03/15 Blue in Green: Chord Melody for Jazz Guitar (w/ VIDEO)

the chord melody arrangement (played in the video here),

a basic chord chart (basic guitar shapes for you to use.)

Suggested Listening

Kind of Blue (1959): Classic album that launched the modal era of jazz. It
should be the first album added to any jazz record collection! No kidding.

Bill Evans Live: I heard him on various album. Incredible, as always.

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