Autumn Leaves with chords
As I just said, part 1 of this song can be played but, usually, it is only part 2 that is played in jazz. This part 2 is made up of three verses.
The verses 1 and 2 are played in the same way.
The verse 3 is played differently.
So we will look at verse 1 and verse 3.
Part 2 | jazz melody
First and second verse
Here are the chords you will be using in the first two verses :
When you have these chords ready, you can follow the framework below to play the first verse and, following the lyrics, the second verse.
Remember that the chords are written above the lyrics so that you can play them at the right time. Therefore, it’s better to play while singing. Chords that are to the right of a phrase (not above a word) are played between the two phrases.
Third verse
For the third verse, you need to know any new chords.
When you have these and the previous ready, you can continue and play following this tab :
Autumn Leaves video with tab
You can also find on Decibel Score other Jazz tab like the famous song of Duke Ellington Caravan.
Autumn Leaves lyrics
The lyrics of the song Autumn Leaves by Kosma and Prévert are composed of two parts. The melody we are used to hearing in Jazz has to do with part 2.
So we will see only part 2 which is the part played in Jazz.
Part 1
Oh, je voudrais tant que tu te souviennes
(…)
La chanson que tu me chantais
Part 2
C’est une chanson Qui nous ressemble
Toi tu m’aimais, Et je t’aimais
Nous vivions tous Les deux ensemble
Toi qui m’aimais, Moi qui t’aimais
Mais la vie, sépare ceux qui s’aiment, Tout doucement, sans faire de bruit
Et la mer efface sur le sable
Les pas des amants désunis
If you wish, you can try to improvise with our guitar pentatonic scale.
Easy score for beginners
The following score is a “home-made” easy score for beginners that we created according to the above frameworks and explanations.
Summarizes everything we just covered. You can download it for free to play the jazz song Autumn Leaves by Kosma and Prévert on guitar.