“All of Me” Tutorial
In this lesson we’re going to create a solo piano arrangement of the well known jazz standard “All Of Me”, written by Gerald Marks and Seymour Simons, first heard by singer Belle Baker 1931 and shortly after recorded by Paul Whiteman and His Orchestra.
Notable Recordings
“All Of Me” is one of the most popular and most recorded songs in the history of jazz and the American songbook. Good Versions to check out are of course the first recording by Paul Whiteman, Louis Armstrong’s version from the year 1932, Frank Sinatra and, for example, Count Basie and his orchestra have plenty of iconic versions where Basie plays the melody with brilliant variations.
Related Lessons
We will work on our recognition of major 9th, minor 9th, & dominant 13th rootless voicings using a left hand stride drill.
For this masterclass, we will be using closed position voicings, meaning that the notes of the chord are inside a single octave.
In this lesson I explain what drop 2 voicings are, how to construct them and how to practice drop 2 so that you are familiar with them in all 12 keys.
Practice Tips
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Spend some time to listen to the famous versions of this tune. It will give you more insight into phrasing of the melody and the meaning behind the lyrics.
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This tune is a great starting point to become more familiar with standard jazz harmony as the harmonic movement is very clear and the harmonic rhythm is relatively slow.
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Try taking this arrangement as a starting point and play the tune in different styles. For example, this would be a great tune to practice playing stride.
