How to Play Sonnymoon For Two
Sonnymoon for Two is a Bb Blues by the great Sonny Rollins, and was first recorded in 1957. The original recording was released in 2005 on the “Freelance Years” album and features the following personnel:
Saxophone: Sonny Rollins
Trombone: Jimmy Cleveland
Piano: Gil Coggins
Double Bass: Wendell Marshall
Drums: Kenny Dennis
You will find a lot of resources around how to play Sonnymoon for Two on this website. All my resources are based off the Freelance Years album. As of publish, all my resources use the same simple chord changes (no turnarounds, for educational purposes).
I have created a backing track as well as PDFs that can be downloaded for free. Check out the YouTube playlist for the backing track, the Freelance Years version of the tune, and some additional listening options.
First, become familiar with the melody of the song by playing along with the recording. The melody for this tune is the descending minor pentatonic scale.
Then, learn the arpeggios - play each note in the chord in linear order. Root, third, fifth, seventh. See below for the notation written for all different instruments.
Once you have mastered the arpeggios, learn the guide tones, or the 3rds and 7ths of each chord.
You will also benefit from learning a walking bass line. The bass line works on any Bb blues and is written out for all different instruments.
I hope that is helpful!
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