Michael Jefry Stevens

Original composition Lead Sheets

Lead sheets are an essential tool for jazz musicians. They are the springboard for an entire arrangement. They have served me well for over four decades of performing and recording.

Lead sheets can be used in a variety of ways. You can put them in SmartScore 64 Pro, save them as an XML file, then upload them to Band in a Box or your favorite notation program for transposition or reharmonization.

Some of these lead sheets are also in the small group category where they are arranged for quartet, quintet, sextet, and other small ensemble configurations. 

Lead sheet prices range from $1.95 (one page) – $3.95 (multiple pages)

Chose Lead Sheets By Style

Tap or click the lead sheet title to read more and to purchase.

Chose Lead Sheets By Difficulty Grade

Tap or click the lead sheet title to read more and to purchase.

  • 12 Chatham Road (abstract/free)
  • Graduation (swing)
  • Email (swing)
  • Boppin' Along (swing)
  • Polymorphous (electric/funky)
  • Specific Gravity (electric/funky)
  • Memorial (Latiun)
  • Eternal Vision (ballad)
  • Maria's Laugh (ballad)
  • Tina's Little Song (ballad)
  • Four Wheeler)
  • The Innocence of Spring (swing)
  • Could This Be a Polka? (odd time)
  • Raga (odd time)
  • Ode to Jay (abstract/free)
  • Nowhere Blues (blues)
  • Almost a Rhythm Tune (blues)
  • Oskar (blues)
  • The Gospel Truth (blues)
  • Memphis Ramble (blues)
  • The Griffith Family (blues)
  • Be Bopped (swing)
  • Bon Voyage (swing)
  • Detour (swing)
  • Bass Song (Electric/Funky)
  • Disenchantment (Electric Funky)
  • Song for Rio (Latin)
  • For Us (ballad)
  • A summer's Morning (ballad)
  • Any Other Time (ballad)
  • Autumn (ballad)
  • Snapshot (ballad)
  • Love's Song (ballad)
  • A Question of Love (ballad)
  • Snowspring (ballad)
  • Icicles (ballad)

Break Song

Style: Swing

Grade: 2

I wrote this piece as a break song for the Fonda/Stevens Group.  The composition is divided into three distinct harmonic sections.  Each section consists of a series of dominant chords resolving into a minor open harmonic vamp.

Break Song

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Be Bopped

Style: Swing

Grade: 3

This piece is composed in the bebop tradition. Lots of changes to navigate and a quick melody to learn. At a slower tempo this could be easily managed by younger students.

Be Bopped

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Bon Voyage

This piece has an open straight 1/8 note feel. Lots of harmonic movement which is more modal than functional. I wrote this in the early 1990's on my way to begin a European tour with the Fonda/Stevens Group.

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Bon Voyage

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Detour

Style: Swing

Grade: 3

This is a fun modern swing tune with some interesting changes.

Detour

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Four Wheeler

Style: Swing

Grade: 2

An open swing feel features a chromatic chord sequence and several polychords.  The changes move quickly making the piece difficult for the soloist to navigate. The melody is not difficult but overall the piece is challenging.

Four Wheeler

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The Innocence of Spring

This medium swing tune consists of an extended melody and long form.  The harmonies are very chromatic and include some hybrid chordal structures as well.

The Innocence of Spring

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Graduation

Style: Swing

Grade: 4

An early fast swing piece from the early 1980s. The bridge has 9 bar phrases which makes the piece somewhat difficult.

Graduation

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Email

Style: Swing

Grade: 4

Email was recently released on my “The Slope” CD. It is a fun up-tempo swing tune with some interesting changes. The music starts out in C minor but quickly proceeds through a variety of moving harmonies. This is really a fun tune to play.

Email

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Boppin’ Along

Style: Swing

Grade: 4

This is a medium swing tune with a multitude of chromatic II V I’s and tritone substitutes. Challenging but lots of fun.

Boppin’ Along

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Kulturshock

Style: Swing

Grade: 5

This is a very adventurous composition. The harmonies are very difficult and the rhythms are quite unusual. A great challenge for the advanced player.

Kulturshock

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Song for Rio

Style: latin
Grade: 3

 

I wrote this bossa nova after visiting Rio in 1959.  This a fun to play and the bridge of the song is quite chromatic.

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Memorial

Style: latin
Grade: 4

This piece features a Latin feel written out in the piano part.  The changes are pretty standard and move slowly enough for the student to navigate quite easily. The bridge of the tune is a fun release from all the harmonic movement in the beginning section of the composition.

Mountain Song

Style: Swing

Grade: 4

I wrote this song while I was living in Brooklyn, NY and spending quite a bit of time in Woodstock, NY.  This is the closest thing to a “country music” song I have ever written.

Mountain Song

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Alisiah

Style: swing
Grade: 1

For My Brother

Style: Ballad

Grade: 2

The harmonies move quite slowly in this ballad.  The most challenging aspect of the piece is the 2/4 bars.

For My Brother

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Lei’s Song

Style: Waltz

Grade: 2

This is one of my favorite compositions.  Written in 3/4 time, but with phrases grouped in three’s, four’s and other odd groupings this is a very unique piece.  Also, it is made up entirely of minor 7 chords.

Lei’s Song

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The Beauty That We Are

Style: Ballad

Grade: 1

This ballad is quite easy to play.  The changes move very slowly giving the student plenty of time to navigate the harmonic landscape.

The Beauty That We Are

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The Moffett Family

Style: Blues

Grade: 2

This piece was composed in the early 1980's and dedicated to Charnett Moffett and his family band. I played with the band for one year. The tune is a simple form containing only dominant chords. The feel is very bluesy.

The Moffett Family

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Red's Blues

Style: blues
Grade: 1

 This is a very simple “swing” composition with a bluesy feel but not in a Blues form. The changes are very simple.  The head is a question-and-answer with the melody and the rhythm section. Very simple piece and lots of fun.  A good piece to introduce the blues scale.

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A Summer's Morning

Style: Ballad
Grade: 3

A Summer’s Morning is a ballad with a very short 8 bar form. The changes all revolve around ii-V-I sequences in both major and minor keys.  A good piece for both beginners and intermediate players.

The Beauty That We Are

Style: ballad
Grade: 2

This ballad is quite easy to play.  The changes move very slowly giving the student plenty of time to navigate the harmonic landscape.