Usually, you’ll learn to sing jazz with a certain repertoire. The so-called Jazz Standards. Virtually every jazz musician in the world knows them. They are the ‘go to’ tunes on jam sessions and even concerts.
What songs are great to start with?
I included a list of great jazz standards for you. These songs are known all over the world, so whenever you feel like singing on an international stage, you’ll be fine with these. You’ll find them at the bottom of this page.
Many titles yet may be unfamiliar to you. In that case, you can always go to Youtube and hear one of the greats like Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan or Frank Sinatra sing that certain song. The list I included are a great starting point and you could make it your first goal to sing all these songs.
Then… when you want to go a step further – it’s a good thing to be aware of this:
Finding repertoire that fits you like a glove and that helps you expressing who you are as a jazz singer is a wonderful and interesting journey.
In the Great American Songbook, the canon of the most important and influential American popular songs and jazz standards from the early 20th century, you will come across songs by famous composers such as George Gershwin, Cole Porter, Richard Rodgers, Irving Berlin, Jerome Kern, Johnny Mercer, Harold Arlen and Duke Ellington. The vocal jazz repertoire isn’t limited to this material, but it is an essential part and a great place to start since it is part of the repertoire of virtually every jazz musician. It has become part of the jazz language.
Real- and Fakebooks are books that contain collections of songs by many composers; the ones just mentioned and others. They are an important source!!!
Real/Fake books can be purchased! For high (usually women) or low voices (usually men)! Including lyrics! Here they are on Amazon, but Google “Vocal Real Book” and add “high voice” or “low voice” and you’ll find other vendors as well.
Low voices: https://www.amazon.com/Real-Book-Vol-Low-Voice/dp/1423451228
High voices: https://www.amazon.com/Real-Vocal-Book-voice-Second/dp/0634060805
Going through individual songbooks of those composers is a great way of finding lesser known repertoire.
Recommended repertoire
50 songs for the beginning & advanced jazz singer in keys that fit most female jazz singers. Male singers usually can use the original keys in which the song is written, but not always :) These keys provide a general direction for you to look for your key. The keys shown are the ‘easy keys’ for musicians. Your key is however highly personal.
Title (female keys) (male keys) – Composer/lyrics
Blues songs
Centerpiece (Bb or C) (F or G) – Edison, Hendricks
Route 66 (Bb or C) (F or G) – Bobby Troup
Well alright, okay, you win – (Bb or C)(F or G) – Watts, Wyche
Fine and mellow – (C or Eb) (G or Bb) – Billie Holiday
Swing, Latin and Ballads
Ain’t misbehavin’ (F or G) (Bb or C) – Fats Waller
All of me (Eb or F) (Bb or C) – Simons & Marks
All the things you are (C) (G) – Kern & Hammerstein
Angel Eyes (Gm or Am) (Cm or Dm) – Dennis & Brent
Autumn leaves (Am or Cm) (Dm or Fm) – Kosma & Mercer
Beautiful love (Gm or Am) (Cm or Dm) – Young, Alstyne & Gillespie
Body and soul (G or Ab) (C or Eb) – Green, Heyman, Sour, Eyton
But not for me (G, Ab or Bb) (C, Eb or F) – George & Ira Gershwin
Bye bye blackbird (Bb or C) (F or G) – Henderson & Dixon
Corcovado (Bb or C) (F or G) – Jobim, Lees
Cry me a river (G or Ab) (C or Eb) – Hamilton
Don’t be that way (G or Ab) (C or Eb) – Sampson
Don’t get around much anymore (C or Eb) (G or Bb) – Ellington & Russell
Fly me to the moon (F or G) (Bb or C) – Howard
Georgia on my mind (Ab or Bb) (Eb or F) – Arlen & Gorrell
Girl from Ipanema (C or Eb) (G or Bb) – Jobim, DeMoraes, Gimbel
Honeysuckle Rose (Bb or C) (F or G) – Fats Waller
How high the moon (Bb or C) (F or G) – Hamilton & Lewis
How insensitive (Gm or Am) (Cm or Dm) – Jobim
I can’t give you anything but love (Bb or C) (F or G) – Fields & Mc Hugh
I got rhythm (Bb or C) (F or G) – George & Ira Gershwin
I thought about you (G, Ab or Bb) (C, Eb or F) – Van Heusen & Mercer
In a mellow tone (C or Eb) (G or Bb) – Ellington
I didn’t know what time it was (Bb or C) (F or G) – Rodgers & Hart
It don’t mean a thing if it ain’t got that swing (Bb or C) (F or G) – Ellington, Mills
Just Friends (Bb or C) (F or G) – Lewis & Klenner
Love me or leave me (Bb or C) (F or G) – Kahn, Donaldson
Loverman (Bb) (F) – Davis, Ramirez, Sherman
Lullaby of Birdland (Bb or C) (F or G) – Shearing, Forrester
Mack the knife (Eb, F or G) (Bb or C) – Kurt Weill
Misty (Ab or Bb) (Eb or F) – Garner & Burke
Nature Boy (Gm or Am) (Cm or Dm) – Eden Ahbez
Night and Day (G, Ab or Bb) (C, Eb or F) – Cole Porter
On the sunny side of the street (Eb or F) (Bb or C) – Mc Hugh & Fields
One note samba (F or G) (Bb or C) – Jobim & Mendolina
Softly, as in a morning sunrise (Fm or Gm) (Cm or Dm) – Romberg
Someday my prince will come (G, Ab or Bb) (C, Eb or F) –
Stormy weather (G, Ab or Bb) (C, Eb or F) – Arlen & Koehler
Summertime (Am or Cm) (Dm or Fm) – Gershwin, Gershwin, Heyward
Take the A-train (Bb or C) (F or G) – Billy Strayhorn
Teach me tonight (F or G) (Bb or C) – Cahn & DePaul)
There’ll never be another you (G, Ab or Bb) (Bb, C or Eb) – Warren & Gordon
They can’t take that away from me (G, Ab or Bb) (Bb, C or Eb) – George & Ira Gershwin
Willow weep for me (Ab or Bb) (Eb or F) – Ann Ronell
You don’t know what love is (Am or Bbm) (Dm or Fm) – Raye & DePaul
You’d be so nice to come home to (Eb or F) (Bb or C) – Cole Porter
