A Road Map Through Song

Remembering songs is all about the form and harmonic content and movement with taking in the similarities between songs. And, just like a road map they're landmarks that will trigger memories of how to get through various sections, changes or parts of a song.

This section of a song's page presents some tips on how I try and remember a particular song.

I'll Remember April is a jazz standard typically played in the key of G major. Like most jazz standards vs. simple pop, folk, rock, blues and country songs that stay in one key, I'll Remember April starts in G major and then modulates through a few other keys along the way.

Here is how I remember I'll Remember April in the key of G.

• Start on the I major 7 chord Gmaj7 for four bars, then a parallel minor Im7 minor seven chord Gm7 for four bars.
• up a whole step, a major second and an unresolved minor II V for Am7b5 E7
• up a whole step again, a major second and an unresolved minor II V for Bm7b5 F7
• back to a major II V I in the starting key for Am7 D7 Gmaj7
• from the Gmaj7 (I) chord up a perfect fourth to a m7 for a II V I modulation to the key of Bb major for Cm7 F7 Bbmaj7 repeat this II V I again
• down a half step, a minor second to a II V I for Am7 D7 Gmaj7 which is back to the home starting key.
• down a half step, a minor second to a II V I for F#m7 B7 Emaj7
• Then a II V I in the home key of G for Am7 D7 Gmaj7 for the turn to the final section of the song which is the same changes as the beginning A section.

Shorthand for I'll Remember April - Key of G

Over the years I tried to come up with a short hand notation for condensing the longhand version above. Here is what I've come up with so far. See if you can decode it without a legend.

This song can be considered to have an A1 B A2

I'll Remember April starts similar to How High the Moon and On Green Dolphin Street with the move from major the minor on the same root (prime`)

• I `prime Im7
• M2 II V
• M2 II V
• II V I
• P4 II V I (2x
• m2 II V I ( home key )
• m2 II V I
• TB II V I and repeat the A section

Performing a harmonic analysis to determine how chords are functioning harmonically within a song or chord progression allows you to:

1. Actually remember a song and compare it to other songs with similar harmonic characteristics.
2. Allow transposition to other keys on the fly - getting off the paper and out of the book.
3. Communicate with like minded musicians.
4. Select scale and chord substitutions for performance and creative exploration.

You'll get to a point in your development as a musician where your repertoire is too vast to actually be able to rehearse all the songs you know on a daily basis. You need tools to help recall songs that you haven't performed in a long time or even never performed.