Learn My Funny Valentine on sax - McGill Music Sax School Online (2024)

I’ve got something special for you today from jazz sax maestro and Sax School PRO tutor Joel Purnell.

In this free lesson you’ll learn My Funny Valentine on sax in simple steps that I think you’re going to love.

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Our Explore Jazz Series

Joel’s been creating a fantastic collection of courses for our Sax School PRO members called Explore Jazz.

Each month, Joel digs deep into a jazz standard. Our members are learning the melody, and the harmony, and they’re learning improvising tactics. So then they’re able really quickly to make fantastic solos themselves. They’re loving these courses, and I just had to share a part of them with you today.

Now, Explore Jazz is normally just for our thousands of members learning within Sax School PRO. But of course, it’s completely free for you today. If you would like to see the rest of the course though, grab the 14-day trial, which is running at the moment. With the 14-day free trial, you’ll get access to the entire course from Joel and all the other courses, and there are a thousand other lessons to keep you busy too. You’ll love it! Click here to get started.

Right, now I’ll hand it over to Joel. Check out the way he teaches you the melody. I think you’re going to love this.

Learn My Funny Valentine on sax

In our Explore Jazz series, we’ll look at different tunes, and different standards each month. By following these courses you will increase your repertoire, so you can go out and do gigs and play at jams. And that’s what it’s all about – playing with other people and just having fun. So let’s have a look at this month’s tune.

This month’s tune is My Funny Valentine, which was written by Rogers and Harts in 1937 for the musical Babes in Arms. And it’s a beautiful ballad. It’s not the most politically correct set of lyrics I’ve ever heard, but it is a beautiful melody.

Our Sax School tutor team always say it’s a great idea to listen to the lyrics when you’re learning a new song. Having a good idea of the lyrics helps you phrase, and I think that’s especially important on ballads – these slower tunes.

Some Examples

Watch the video to hear some different versions of My Funny Valentine. We’ve already heard a version by Frank Sinatra.

First, let’s listen to a version from Barney Wilen – a great soprano sax version.

So let’s work our way through the saxophones. Next, let’s have to listen to Art Pepper on alto sax playing his version of My Funny Valentine.

Then let’s listen to Ben Webster playing my Funny Valentine on tenor.

So when you want to learn My Funny Valentine on sax, it’s always good to listen to different versions. And not just by saxophone players. And this is possibly my favourite version of My Funny Valentine – by the pianist, Keith Jarrett.

The Melody: The Minor Bit

So let’s get into the melody for my Funny Valentine.

Now, as you probably realise, it’s quite a long melody. So you may be a little bit daunted. How are you going to learn that?

However, you can break this tune down, and look at it in 2 different ways. And that’s about the key signature.

For alto sax, it’s in the key of C Major. You can also look at it as A Minor as it has the same key signature – no sharps or flats.

And for tenor, it’s in the key of F Major or D Minor, which just has one flat in the key signature – a B flat.

So you can break down this melody based on the key signature. Parts of this tune are based on the Minor, and parts of the tune are based on the Major.

Before you tackle memorising this tune, make sure you’ve listened to lots of versions. Vocal versions are best because they don’t tend to mess around with the tune as much as instrumentalists.

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So now you’ve got a really clear idea of how the tune goes. That means you can negate the need to know the rhythms. And also you’ll know whether you’re playing it right or wrong because you know how the tune goes. And it’s going to be very helpful as well in the way that we break down this tune today.

First 8 Bars

The first 8 bars are based on the minor. So that’s A minor for alto and D minor for Tenor. And it starts on the root of that minor chord. And the beginning of the melody always follows the same pathway. It goes 1, 2, 3, 2, 3, 2. And it does that over and over again. Listen to me play this section.

So we get that same shape twice.

And then it does pretty much the same thing but with a little change at the end. So this time, instead of going 1, 2, 3, 2, 3, 2, this time it goes 1, 2, 3, 7, which, in the case of A Minor, is G.

And then it plays down the scale in the key. It’s so simple. And that’s the first eight bars.

The Major bit

Now in the next 8 bars, it does the same thing – but now in the Relative Major. So the alto is in C major, and the tenor is in F Major.

It starts on note C, and it does the same shape – 1, 2, 3, 2, 3, 2. Even the jump up also goes to the seventh like it did on the minor – 1, 2, 3, 7.

And then it comes down the scale in the same way. Except this time, it has an extra chromatic passing note, just approaching the last note. Now on alto, that approach note will be an F sharp going to the F as you come down the scale. And on tenor, that approach note is going to be be a B natural going to the B flat.

Now listen to the second 8 bars.

And hopefully, you can hear that passing note happening at that point. Now let’s put the first 16 bars together.

Okay, so that’s our first 16 bars. Let’s recap.

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First 8 bars:

• based on the minor
• jumps up to the seventh
• goes down the scale.

Second 8 bars:

• based on the major
• jumps up to the seventh of the major
• comes down the scale
• with an extra little chromatic note just before the last note as you come down the scale.

The Middle

Okay. Then the melody continues down the scale. So we’ve landed on note F on alto (B flat on tenor) at the end of those 16 bars, and it just continues down 2 notes – E D on alto and AG on tenor – . as a precursor to the C-section of this tune (or “bridge” section) of the tune.

The Middle: Bridge

The bridge section is once again based on the major. So it goes 5, 1, 1, 7, 1, and then 6, 1, 1, 7, 1, then 7, 1, 1, 7, 1.

So it’s really simple. We go to 5, 6, then 7, with that little 1, 1, 7, 1 after it every time.

And then when we’ve played up to the seventh and come back down, we start playing up the scale this time. So we’ve landed on our C on alto and our F on tenor, and we’re going to go C, D, E or alto (F G A on tenor). And then it jumps to the note that’s the root of the relative minor. So on alto, that’s an A, on tenor, that’s a D. So going from the seven notes at the top, and that’s the bridge section.

Okay, So let’s put all that together. Watch as I play the bridge section.

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So let’s recap on the C section (Bridge)

• based on the major
• 5 to 171
• 6 to 171
• 7 to 171
• Up scale and jump to root of minor

Last Section

So then we come to the final A-section, or as I’ve written it on the charts, the D section – because each section is very slightly different.

So I just wanted to differentiate between those. And here we get a mixture of both the minor version and the major version. So it starts with the original minor version.

But then the next phrase is the major version.

And then the next phrase is the minor version again – but up the octave.

And after this phrase, you get a sustained note. So it goes 1, 2, 3, and then goes back to 2, and then it goes back to 3 and stays there.

Listen to this section on the video.

And then the very final phrase jumps back down to the major version to finish.

D Section Recap:

• Based on Minor
• Based on Major
• Based on minor up the octave with held note
• based on Major

Things to remember

So as we learn My Funny Valentine on sax, we’ve got some bullet points to keep in mind.

A section

• based on the minor
• jumps up to the seventh
• and down the scale.

The B section

• based on the major.
• jumps up to the seventh
• comes down the scale with the passing note.
• carries on down the scale as a precursor to the C-section.

C Section

• goes 5, 1, 7, 1,
• then 6 171
• then 7 171
• 23 and then to that minor root

D Section

• has an extra four bars, so it’s a 12-bar section
• the phrase in the minor
• phrase in the major
• phrase in the minor, but up the octave with the held note
• comes back down and plays it in the major to finish.

Standard Structure

And this is a stereotypical thing, which you’ll find if you analyse a lot of jazz standard tunes. They use the tune written in the major, and then they use it written in the minor. There are loads of tunes that use this.

Or if the melody doesn’t use this method, the chords use this method. So for example, you’ll have the 2 5 1 in the major, and then you’ll have the minor 2 5 1 going to that relative minor. So it’s a classic technique that composers use and a very effective one.

It’s a great way of building a tune but maintaining a motif consistency. And what I mean by that, is you can still recognise the main crux of the melody as you’re playing it.

So hopefully that makes sense as a way to learn My Funny Valentine on sax. And you can see how you can learn a long tune by just remembering several bullet points, and relating it back to the key signature.

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Thinking about Key Signatures

And just one other final point. There is no real difference between a C major key signature and Aminor key signature when it comes to playing. So it’s purely terminology. The harmony and the way the chords work are pretty much the same, except at tune in the minor tends to come home to that minor chord. However, tunes in the major, tend to come home to the major chord.

But really from our point of view, and as improvisers, coupling those both together in your head is a really good idea. It saves you learning everything twice with different numerical values and numbers attached to them. And it helps you convert what seems like more complicated material into just major scales. And that’s the way I tend to think of it.

I just think of everything as major and then I’m aware that there’s this relative minor relationship. And obviously if I’m doing an academic class, then I can easily convert that major harmony and that knowledge into a minor. It’s just a case of changing some roman numerals generally, and that’s pretty much it.

Final Thoughts from Nigel

I hope you enjoyed that lesson There’s so much more information from Joel on how to learn My funny Valentine on sax, in the full course.

He digs deep into the harmony, and the chords, and understanding how to improvise. But he makes it easy to understand so that our students can quickly get up and improvise confidently over these changes and make fantastic solos.

You even get to do some jamming with Joel – it’s a whole lot of fun.

So, if you want to come and get access to the full course and see what we’re doing over in Sax School, start today with Sax School. And keep having fun on your saxophone!