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Thelonius Monk

Blue Monk

Thelonius Monk

800px-Thelonious_Monk,_Minton's_Playhous

Thelonius Monk (1917 - 1982) was an American pianist and composer.
His playing was  very different from anyone who came before him, often percussive and discordant. He used to say 'the piano ain't got no wrong notes'

Listen to him playing Blue Monk with his band in 1954

Our Version

Blue MonkDEMO
00:00 / 01:18
Our version

There 4 parts in our version:

1. Easy trumpet or trombone

    This follows the same rhythm as the main melody but with fewer notes and no high ones!
    There are two notes that might be new to you: Low B and F#. On the trumpet these are both played with the 2nd            valve; on the trombone they're both in 2nd position - midway between 1 and 3:

B F#.png

These are both notes in the G major scale. If you'd like to learn it click here

2. Trumpet 1

    This is the main tune. Trombonists might like to learn it too.

    It's got lots of chromatic bits. Practice your chromatic scales here.

    Bar 6 has some quite high notes. If you're not quite ready for them yet but can play the rest of it, play bar 5 twice

    - it'll sound fine!

3. Trumpet 2

    This is the harmony and mostly follows the main tune 3 steps down. It will also work on the trombone. 

4. Trombone bass line

    This is a bit harder than the easy part, but much easier than the tune and the harmony.
    Lot's of opportunities to slide around and have fun with glissandos!

Score and parts to print

Easy Part

Easy part
Blue MonkEasy trumpet
00:00 / 01:20
Blue MonkEasy trombone
00:00 / 01:20
Blue MonkJust the accompaniment
00:00 / 01:20
BLUE MONK* - Easy brass.png
Easy - no letters
Easy part without the letters!
BLUE MONK - Easy brass.png
Blue MonkJust the accompaniment
00:00 / 01:20

Top part - melody

Blue MonkTrumpet 1
00:00 / 01:20
Blue MonkJust the accompaniment
00:00 / 01:20
Top part
BLUE MONK_2 - part 1.png
Top part without the letters!
Blue MonkJust the accompaniment
00:00 / 01:20
BLUE MONK - Brass 1.png
Top - no letters

2nd part - Harmony

Second part
Blue MonkTrumpet 2
00:00 / 01:20
Blue MonkJust the accompaniment
00:00 / 01:20
BLUE MONK* - Brass 2.png
Second - no letters
2nd part without the letters
Blue MonkJust the accompaniment
00:00 / 01:20
BLUE MONK - Brass 2.png
Bass line

Trombone - bass line

Blue MonkTrombone
00:00 / 01:20
Blue MonkJust the accompaniment
00:00 / 01:20
BLUE MONK_2 - Trombone letters.png
Bass line without the letters
Blue MonkJust the accompaniment
00:00 / 01:20
Bass - no letters
BLUE MONK_2 - Trombone no letters.png

C Blues scale

Blue MonkComplete (4 solo choruses)
00:00 / 04:08
Improvise!
C blues scale.png

These aren't the only notes that fit. Experiment and USE YOUR EARS !

Remember Thelonius Monk said ' there are no wrong notes on the piano'?
This might also true on the trumpet and trombone, although some will probably sound better to you than others!

PDFs to print
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