Jazz Standards Overview

The terms “standard” and “jazz standard” are often used when one is referring to popular and jazz music compositions. A quick search of the internet reveals, however, that the definitions of these terms can vary widely. So what is a standard? Comparing definitions from a number of dictionaries and music scholars (see External Definitions, below) and basing a definition on the points on which they are in agreement, it is reasonable to state:

A “standard” is a composition that is held in continuing esteem and is commonly used in musical repertoires.

And,

A “jazz standard” is a composition that is held in continuing esteem and is commonly used as the basis of jazz arrangements and improvisations.

Sometimes the term “jazz standard” is used to imply a jazz composition that has become a standard. Words and phrases often have multiple valid meanings and this term is no exception. At this site we will use the definition having the more general acceptance, one that allows compositions from any origin. To better understand our decision, consider the contents of the following sheet music collection titled Jazz Standards:

Jazz Standards: Melody Line, Chords and Lyrics for Keyboard, Guitar, Vocal (Hal Leonard Publishing, 1998

All the Things You Are

Autumn in New York

Bewitched

Cry Me a River

Don’t Get Around Much Anymore

A Fine Romance

I Can’t Get Started With You

I’ve Got You Under My Skin

The Lady Is a Tramp

Manhattan

Misty

My Funny Valentine

Old Devil Moon

Prelude to a Kiss

Route 66

Smoke Gets in Your Eyes

There’s a Small Hotel

(and more)

Clearly the majority of these “jazz standards” were not originally jazz compositions. When music publishers include the term “jazz standards” in a description or title they almost always are referring to compositions used as the foundation for jazz arrangements or improvisations, regardless of whether or not they were written by a jazz composer.

In general, music authors and theorists also favor the broader definition. Will Friedwald, in his book Stardust Melodies, comments how Coleman Hawkins did more than anyone else to establish Johnny Green’s “Body and Soul” as an all-time jazz standard. In Listening to Class American Popular Songs, Allen Forte, author and Battell Professor of the Theory of Music at Yale University, refers to Jerome Kern’s ”The Way You Look Tonight” as a jazz standard, a song that was introduced by Fred Astaire in the RKO musical Swing Time.

External Definitions

“A composition that is continually used in repertoires.”

American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition, Houghton Mifflin company 2000 ISBN 0-395-82517>p>

“A musical piece of sufficiently enduring popularity to be made part of a permanent repertoire, especially a popular song that is held in continuing esteem and is commonly used as the basis of jazz arrangements or improvisations.”

The Unabridged Random House Dictionary 1967 Random House, Inc.

“A standard is a popular song that is well known, frequently performed, and remains in the popular repertoire for at least several years.”

Enjoying Jazz by Henry Martin Schirmer Books, 1986 ISBN 0-02-873130-1

“Composition or song that has, by dint of its lasting memorability and general worth, become a regularly used item in some field of music -a jazz standard, for example.”

The Oxford Companion to Popular Music 1991, Peter Gammond, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-311323-6