Santa Claus Is Coming To Town
This jazzy Christmas tutorial on ‘Santa Claus Is Coming To Town’ is based on the chords and changes from the Bill Evans arrangement – check it out if you haven’t heard it already.
We simplify and shorten the arrangement into a 2 page transcription that can be downloaded below. Print yourself a copy which will be a useful supplement when watching the lesson.
The arrangement is quite challenging, containing upper structure triads and examples of suspended harmony – it’s nice to see how a master of jazz piano employs these devices in his playing.
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Hayden,
Thanks for this beautiful arrangement. I love it!
As I was working on it today, I noticed a few little points that I thought may help others avoid confusion while looking at it (or perhaps serve as some discussion points for theory buffs)::
Bar 2 begins with Am6 but the F is natural. Wouldn’t that be an F/A?
Bar 12 shows a D# but a D natural is played in the demonstration which I think is more fitting with the 4th/5th voicing.
Bar 22 indicates Abm6 but the D natural implies an Abdim aka E7b9/G# which leads nicely to the following Am. (V-I minor progression)
Bar 23 has a G natural but the chord is notated as D13#11 which would suggest a G# and that works nicely as well. The G natural seems to clash with the F# in the left hand but if the left hand were also changed to a G natural then you would have a Dsus here which also sounds good.
Anyways, perhaps my points are somewhat subjective but I thought I’d share my thoughts with others as I worked through this. Hopefully it’s helpful.
Regards,
Scott